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HISTOEY "m-^ 



OF 



CRAWFORD COUNTY 



OFIIO. 



Containing a History of the State of Ohio, from its earliest settlement to the present time, embracing 
its topography, geological, physical and climatic features; its agricultural, stock-growing, rail- 
road interests, etc.; a History of Crawford County, giving an account of its aboriginal 
inhabitants, early settlement by the whites, pioneer incidents, its growth, its 
improvements, organization of the County, its Judicial and political 
history, its business and industries, churches, schools, etc.; 
Biographical Sketches ; Portraits of some of the Early 
Settlers afid Prominent Men, etc. , etc. 



ii:irjUsa?K.^TEiD. 




CHICAGO : 

BASKIN & BATTEY, HISTORICAL PUBLISHERS, 

1 86 Dearborn Street. 

1881. 



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PREFACE 



rr HE work is now closed, which for the past three months, has engaged the efforts of our 
T™ torians W. H. Pemn, J. H. Battle and W. A. Goodspeed. Upon these pages they 
have~th; jonmey of the pioneer from ho.es of con,.rt and ------- 

„nd, of the West- they have noticed the rearing of cabins, the feUmg of the forests, the 
: tion ofThe :^^^^^ '^-ic fortitnde with which the pioneer surn^onnted 

t s oblc es, and the patient toil that has "made the wilderness to rejoice and blossonr as 
the ose They have maLd the coming of the schoolmaster, and that greater teacher, the 
minuet of the Gospel , the rise of the schoolhouse and chnrch. and their rnauence ,o mold- 

"' "to work we have undertaken in the belief that there is a demand that the events which 
relate t The early times shonld «nd a permanent record, and with what MeUty te. facts and 
r, at patienc^ of research the task has been accomplished, we shall leave - «- 
of onr patrons, in whose keeping the traditions of that day rema.n, and for whom the work 
was undertaken Our historians have availed themselves of such manuscripts and pubhca- 
: s as"but the chief source of information has been the traditions which have come 
doTn f om the original pioneers. These have generally been verified from other sources, ut 
Isle non-essential particulars, their dependence has been upon tradition alone, and some 

errors may thus have been sanctioned. 

Before closing our work, we desire to thank the citizens everywhere in the countj «ho 
have so cordially^ided our historians in gathering the materials for ^^^^ 
express our special indebtedness to the public spirit of the county press. To then interest 
n the eX u'tory of the county, and to their Judgment and enterprise in securing a perma- 
nent 1" of tte ioneer days, is due much of the matter which will be found in these pages, 
hs Aspect, w desire to express our obligations to Mr. Job. Hop..v of the Jo.n,„,^ 
he editor o'f the For.., .n, to the other gentlemen of the county press. f°' ^l^- -J*^; 
in this direction. In this connection, we would express our '"-^ " *^ f;~ 
who have been associated with our historians in the various parts of the woik .<-^^ 
ABAMS. Esq., to Dr. GEoaoK K.l.ek. and to others whose names appear with 

contributions. ^^ PUBLISHERS. 

January, 1881. 



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HISTORY OF OHIO. 



CHAPTER I, 



INTRODUCTORY -TOPOGRArHY -GEOLOGY -PRIMITIVE -RACES -ANTIQUITIES -INDIAN 

TRIBES. 



THE present State of Ohio, comprising an 
extent of country 210 miles north and south, 
220 miles east and west, in length and breadth — 
25,576,969 acres — is a part of the Old Northwest 
Ten-itory. This Territory embraced all of the 
present States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, 
Wisconsin and so much of Minnesota as lies east 
of the Mississippi River. It became a corporate 
existence soon after the formation of the Virginia 
Colony, and when that colony took on the dignity 
of State government it became a county thereof, 
whose exact outline was unknown. The county 
embraced in its limits more territory than is com- 
prised in all the New England and jMiddle States, 
and wa.s the largest county ever known in the 
United States. It is watered by the finest system 
of rivers on the glolie ; while its inland seas are 
without a parallel. Its entire southern boundary 
is traversed by the beautifid Ohio, its western by 
the majestic Mississippi, and its northern and a 
part of its eastern are bounded by the fresh-water 
lakes, whose clear waters preserve an even temper- 
ature over its entire surface. Into these reservoirs 
of commerce flow innumerable streams of limpid 
water, which come from glen and dale, from 
mountain and valley, from forest and prairie — all 
avenues of health, commerce and prosperity. 
( )hio is in the best part of this territory — south 
of its river arc tropical heats ; north of Lake Erie 
are polar snows and a polar climate. 

The territory comprised in Ohio has always re- 
mained the same. Ohio's history differs somewhat 
i'rom other States, in that it was nin'cr under Ter- 
ritorial government. When it was created, it was 
made a State, and did not pass through the stage 
incident to the most of other States, i. e., exist as 
a Territory before being advanced to the powers of 



a Stato. Such was not the case with the other 
States of the West ; all were Territories, with Terri- 
torial forms of government, ere they became States. 

Ohio's boundaries are, on the north. Lakes Erie 
and IMichigan ; on the west, Indiana ; on the south, 
the Ohio'^River, separating it from Kentucky; 
and, on the east, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. 
It is situated between 38° 25' and 42° north 
latitude ; and 80° 30' and 84° 50' west longitude 
from Greenwich, or 3° 30' and 7° 50' west from 
Washington. Its greatest length, from north 
to south, is 210 miles; the extreme width, from 
east to west, 220 miles. Were this an exact out- 
line, the area of the State would be 46,200 square 
miles, or 29,568,000 acres ; as the outlines of the 
State are, however, rather in-egular, the area is 
estimated at 39,964 square miles, or 25,576,960 
acres. In the last census— 1870— the total num- 
ber of acres in Ohio is given as 21,712.420, of 
which 14,469,132 acres are improved, and 6,883,- 
575 acres are woodland. By the last statistical 
report of the State Auditor, 20,965,3711 acres are 
reported as taxable lands. This omits many acres 
untaxable for various reasons, which would make the 
estimate, 25,576,960, nearly con-ect. 

The face of the country, in Ohio, taken a.s a 
whole, presents the appearance of an extensive 
monotonous plain. It is moderately undulating 
but not mountainous, and is excavated in places by 
the streams coursing over its surfixce, whose waters 
have forced a way for themselves through cliffs of 
sandstone rock, leaving abutments of this material 
in bold outline. There are no mountain ranges, 
geological uplifts or peaks. A low ridge enters the 
Stated near the northeast corner, and cros.ses it in a 
southwesterly direction, emerging near the inter- 
section of tlie 40th degree of north latitude with 



12 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



the western boundary of the State. This " divide " 
separates the lake and Ohio River waters, and main- 
tains an elevation of a little more than thirteen 
hundred feet above the level of the ocean. The 
highest part is iu Logan County, where the eleva- 
tion is 1,550 feet. 

North of this ridge the surface is generally level, 
with a gentle inclination toward the lake, the ine- 
(jualities of the surface being caused by the streams 
which empty into the lake. The central part of 
Ohio is almost, in general, a level plain, about one 
thousand feet above the level of the sea, slightly 
inclining southward. The Southern part of the 
State is rather hilly, the valleys growing deeper as 
they incline toward the gi'eat valley of the Ohio, 
which is several hundred feet below the general 
level of the State. In the southern counties, the 
surface is generally diversified by the inequalities 
produced by the excavating power of the Ohio 
River and its tributaries, exercised through long 
periods of time. There are a few pi'airies, or plains, 
in the central and northwestern parts of the State, 
but over its greater portion originally existed im- 
mense growths of timber. 

The " divide," or water-shed, referred to, between 
the waters of Lake Erie and the Ohio River, is 
less elevated in Ohio than in New York and Penn- 
sylvania, though the difierence is small. To a per- 
son passing over the State in a balloon, its surface 
presents an unvarying plain, while, to one sailing 
down the Ohio River, it appears mountainous. 
On this river are bluffs ranging from two hundred 
and fifty to six hundred feet iu height. As one 
ascends the tributaries of the river, these bluffs 
diminish in height until they become gentle undu- 
lations, while toward the sources of the streams, 
in the central part of the State, the banks often 
become low and marshy. 

The principal rivers are the Ohio, Muskingum, 
Scioto and Miami, ou the southern slope, emptying 
into the Ohio ; on the northern, the Maumee, 
Sandusky, Huron and Cuyahoga, emptying into 
Lake Erie, and, all but the first named, entirely in 
Ohio. 

The Ohio, the chief river of the State, and from 
which it derives its name, with its tributaries, drains 
a country whose area is over two hundred thousand 
square miles in extent, and extending from the 
water-shed to Alabama. The river was first dis- 
covered by La Salle in 1GG9, and was by him nav- 
igated as far as the Falls, at Louisville, Ky. It is 
formed by the junction of the Alleghany and 
Monongahela rivers, in Pennsylvania, whose waters 



unite at Pittsburgh. The entire length of the 
river, from its source to its mouth, is 950 miles, 
though by a straight line from Pittsburgh to Cairo, 
it is only (515 miles. Its current is very gentle, 
hardly three miles per hour, the descent being only 
five inches per mile. At high stages, the rate of 
the current increases, and at low stages decreases. 
Sometimes it is barely two miles per hour. The 
average range between high and low water mark is 
fifty feet, although several times the river has risen 
more than sixty feet above low water mark. At 
the lowest stage of the river, it is fordable many 
places between Pittsburgh and Cincinnati. The 
river abounds in islands, some of which are exceed- 
ingly fertile, and noted in the history of the West. 
Others, known as " tow-heads," are simjjly deposits 
of sand. 

The Scioto is one of the largest inland streams 
in the State, and is one of the most beautiful riv- 
ers. It rises in Hardin County, flows southeast- 
erly to Columbus, whei'e it receives its largest 
affluent, the Olentangy or Whetstone, after which 
its direction is southerly until it enters the Ohio at 
Portsmouth. It flows through one of the rich- 
est valleys in the State, and has for its compan- 
ion the Ohio and Erie Canal, for a distance of 
ninety miles. Its tributaries are, besides the Whet- 
stone, the Darby, Walnut and Paint Creeks. 

The IMuskingum River is formed by the junc- 
tion of the Tuscarawas and Waldhouing Rivers, 
which rise in the northern part of the State and 
unite at Coshocton. From the junction, the river 
flows in a southeastern course about one hundred 
miles, through a rich and populous valley, to the 
Ohio, at Marietta, the oldest settlement in the 
State. At its outlet, the Muskingum is over two 
hundred yards wide. By improvements, it has 
been made navigable ninety-five miles above Mari- 
etta, as far as Dresden, where a side cut, three 
miles long, unites its waters with tho.se of the Ohio 
Canal. AH along this stream exist, in abundant 
profusion, the remains of an ancient civiliza- 
tion, whose history is lost in the twilight of antiq- 
uity. Extensive mounds, earthworks and various 
fortifications, are everywhere to be found, inclosing 
a mute history as silent as the race that dwelt here 
and left these traces of their evistence. The same 
may be said of all the other valleys in Ohio. 

The IMiami River — the scenes of many exploits 
in pioneer days — rises in Hardin County, near the 
headwaters of the Scioto, and runs southwesterly, 
to the Ohio, passing Troy, Dayton and Hamilton. 
It is a beautiful and rajiid stream, fluwing through 



7" 



>> 



HISTOPtY OF OHIO. 



13 



a highly prochictive and populous valley, in whieh 
limestone and hard timber are abundant. Its total 
length is about one hunared and fifty miles. 

The Maumee is the largest river in the northern 
part of Ohio. It rises in Indiana and flows north- 
easterly, into Lake Ene. About eighty miles of 
its course are in Ohio. It is navigable ao far as 
Perrysburg, eighteen miles from its mouth. The 
other rivers north of the divide are all small, 
rapid-running streams, affoi'ding a large amount of 
good water-power, much utilized by mills aud man- 
ufactories. 

A remarkable feature of the topography of 
Ohio is its almost total absence of natural lakes or 
ponds. A few very small ones are found near the 
water-shed, but all too small to be of any practical 
value save as watering-places for stock. 

Lake Erie, which forms nearly all the northern 
boundary of the State, is next to the last or lowest 
of America's " inland seas." It is 290 miles long, 
and 57 miles wide at its greatest part. There are 
no islands, except in the shallow water at the west 
end, and veiy few bays. The greatest depth of 
the lake is off Long Point, where the water is 312 
feet deep. The shores are principally drift-clay or 
hard-pan, upon which the waves are continually 
encroaching. At Cleveland, from the first sur- 
vey, in 1796, to 1842, the encroachment was 218 
feet along the entire city front. The entire coast 
is low, seldom rising above fifty feet at the water's 
edge. 

Lake Erie, like the others, has a variable sur- 
face, rising and falling with the seasons, like great 
rivei-s, called the "annual fluctuation," and a gen- 
eral one, embracing a series of years, due to mete- 
orological causes, known as the " secular fluctua- 
tion." Its lowest known level was in February, 
1819, rising more or less each year, until June, 
1838, in the extreme, to six feet eight inches. 

Lake Erie has several excellent harbors in Ohio, 
among which are Cleveland, Toledo, Sandusky, 
Port Clinton and Ashtabula. Valuable improve- 
ments have been made in some of these, at the 
expense of the General Government. In 1818, 
the first steamboat was launched on the lake. 
Owing to the Falls of Niagara, it could go no 
farther east than the outlet of Niagara Kiver. 
Since then, however, the opening of the "Welland 
Canal, in Canada, allows vessels drawing nut more 
than ten feet of water to pass from one lake to 
the other, greatly facilitating navigation. 

As early as 183(5, Dr. S.l\ Ilildreth, Dr. John 
Locke, Prof J. H. Riddle and Mr. I. A. Lapluan, 



were ajipointed a committee by the Legislature of 
Ohio to report the " best method of obtaining a 
complete geological survey of the State, and an 
estimate of the probable cost of the same." In the 
preparation of their report, Dr. Hildreth examined 
the coal-measures in the southeastern jiart of the 
State, Prof Kiddle and Mr. Lapham made exam- 
inations in the western and northern counties, 
while Dr. Locke devoted his attention to chemical 
analyses. These investigations resulted in the 
presentation of much valuable information con- 
cerning the mineral resources of the State and in 
a plan ft)r a geological survey. In accordance 
with the recommendation of this Committee, the 
Legislature, in 1837, passed a bill appropriating 
$12,000 for the prosecution of the work during 
the next year. The Geological Cor]is appointed 
consisted of W. W. Mather, State Geolodst, with 
Dr. Hildreth, Dr. Locke, Prof J. P. Kirtland, J. 
W. Foster, Charles Whittlesey and Charles Briggs, 
Jr., Assistants. The results of the first year's 
work appeared in 1838, in an octavo volume of 134 
pages, with contributions from JMather, Hildreth, 
Briggs, Kirtland and Whittlesey. In 1838, the 
Legislature ordered the continuance of the work, 
and, at the close of the year, a second report, of 
286 pages, octavo, was issued, containing contribu- 
tions from all the members of the survey. 

Succeeding Legislatures failed to provide for a 
continuance of the work, and, save that done by 
private means, nothing was accomplished till 
1869, when the Legislature again took up the 
work. In the interim, individual enterprise had 
done much. In 1841, Prof James Hall passed 
through the State, and, by his indentification of 
several of the formations with those of New York, 
for the first time fixed their geological age. The 
next year, he issued the first map of the geology 
of the State, in common with the geological maps 
of all the region between the Alleghanies and the 
jNIississippi. Similar maps were publi^^hed by Sir 
Charles Lyell, in 1845; Prof. Edward Hitchcock, 
in 1853, and by J. Mareon, in 1856. The first 
individual map of tlie geology of Ohio was a very 
small one, published by Col. Whittlesey, in 1848, 
in Howe's History. In 1856, he published a 
larger map, and, in 1865, another was issued by 
Prof. Nels(m Sayler. In 1867, Dr. J. S. Newberry 
published a geological map and sketch of Ohio in 
the Atlas of the State issued by H. S. Stebbins. 
Up to this time, the geological knowledge was very 
genei'al in its character, and, consequently, errone- 
ous in many of i:s details. Other States had been 



J^i 



14 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



accurately surveyed, yet Ohio remained a kind of 
terra iiicoffiiita, of whicli the geology was less 
known than any part of the surrounding area. 

In 1809, the Legislature appropriated, for a new 
survey, 813,900 for its support during one year, 
and appointed Pr. Ne\vl)erry Chief (geologist ; E. 
B. Andrews, Edward Orton and J. II. Klippart 
were appointed Assistants, and T. G. Wormley, 
Chemist. The result of the first year's work 
was a volume of 164 pages, octavo, published in 
1870. 

This report, accompanied by maps and charts, 
for the first time acL-urately defined the geological 
formations as to age and area. Evidence was given 
which set at rest (questions of nearly thirty years' 
standing, and established the fact that Ohio in- 
cludes nearly double the number of formations be- 
fore supposed to exist. Since that date, the sur- 
vey's have been regularly made. Each county is 
being surveyed by itself, and its formation ac- 
curately determined. Elsewhere in these pages, 
these results are given, and to them the reader is 
referred for the specific geology of the county. 
Only general results can be noted here. 

On the general geological map of the State, are 
two sections of the State, taken at each northern 
and southern extremity. These show, with the 
map, the general outline of the geological features 
of Ohio, and are all that can be given here. Both 
sections show the general arrangements of the 
formation, and prove that they lie in sheets resting 
one upon another, but not horizontally, as a great 
arch traverses the State from Cincinnati to the 
lake shore, between Toledo and Sandusky. Along 
this line, which extends southward to Nashville, 
Tenn., all the rocks are raised in a ridge or fold, 
once a low mountain chain. In the lapse of 
ages, it has, however, been extensively worn 
away, and n(jw, along a large part of its course, 
the strata which once arched over it are re- 
moved from its summit, and are found ri'sting in 
regular order on either side, dipping away from its 
axis. Where the ridge was highest, the erosion 
has been greatest, that being the reason why the 
oldest rocks are exposed in the region about Cin- 
cinnati. By following the line of this great arch 
from Cincinnati northward, it will be seen that the 
Ilclderberg limestone (No. 4), midway of the State, 
is still unbroken, and stretches from side to side ; 
while the Oriskany, the Corniferous, the Hamilton 
and the Huron fonuations, though generally re- 
moved from the crown of the arch, still remain 
over a limited area near Bcllefontaine, where they 



form an island, which proves the former continuity 
of the strata which compose it. 

On the east side of the great anticlinal axis, the 
rocks dip down into a basin, which, for several 
hundred miles north and south, occupies the inter- 
val between the Nashville and Cincinnati ridge and 
the first fold of the Alleghany Mountains. In 
this basin, all the strata form trough-like layers, 
their edges outcropping eastward on the flanks 
of the Aileghanies, and westward along the anti- 
clinal axis. As they dip from this margin east- 
ward toward the center of the trough, near its 
middle, on the eastern border of the State, the 
older rocks are deeply buried, and the surface is 
here underlaid by the highest and most recent of 
our rock formations, the coal measures. In the 
northwestern corner of the State, the strata dip 
northwest from the anticlinal and pass under the 
Michigan coal basin, precisely as the same forma- 
tions east of the anticlinal dip beneath the Alle- 
ghany coal-field, of which Ohio's coal area forms a 
part. 

The rocks underlying the State all belong to 
three of the great groups which geologists have 
termed " systems," namely, the Silurian, Devonian 
and Carboniferous. Each of these are again sub- 
divided, for convenience, and numbered. Thus 
the Silurian system includes the Cincinnati group, 
the Medina and Clinton groups, the Niagara 
group, and' the Salina and Water-Line groups. 
The Devonian system includes the Oriskany sand- 
stone, the Carboniferous limestone, the Hamilton 
group, the Huron shale and the Erie shales. The 
Carboniferous system includes the Waverly group, 
the Carboniferous Conglomerate, the Coal ]Meas- 
ures and the Drift. This last includes the surface, 
and has been divided into six parts, numbering 
from the lowest, viz.: A glacialed surface, the Gla- 
cial Drif^, the Erie Clays, the Forest Bed, the Ice- 
berg Drift and the Terraces or Beaches, which 
mark intervals of stability in the gradual recession 
of the water surface to its present level. 

" The history we may learn from these forma- 
tions," says the geologist, '' is something as Ibl- 
lows : 

" First. Subsequent to the Tertiary was a period 
of continual elevation, during which the topog- 
raphy of the country was much the same as now, 
the draining streams following the lines they now 
do, but cutting down their beds until they flowed 
sometimes two hundred feet lower than they do at 
present. In the latter part of this period of ele- 
vation, glaciers, descending from the Canadian 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



15 



islands, excavated and occupied the valleys of the 
great lakes, and covered the lowlands down nearly 
to the Ohio. 

"Second. By a depression of the land and ele- 
vation of temperature, the glaciers retreated north- 
ward, leaving, in the interior of the continent, a 
great basin of fresh water, in which the Erie clays 
were deposited. 

'■^ Third. This water was drained away until a 
broad land surface was exposed within the drift 
area. Upon this surface grew forests, largely of 
red and white cedar, inhabited by the elephant, 
mastodon, giant beaver and other large, now ex- 
tinct, animals. 

"Fourth. The submergence of this ancient land 
and the spreading over it, by iceberg agency, of 
gravel, sand and bowlders, distributed just as ice- 
bergs now spread their loads broadcast over the 
sea bottom on the banks of Newfoundland. 

"Fifth. The gradual draining-ofF of the waters, 
leaving the land now as we find it, smoothly cov- 
ered with all the layers of the drift, and well pre- 
pared for human occupation." 

" In six days, the Lord made the heavens and 
the earth, and rested the seventh day," records the 
Scriptures, and, when all was done. He looked 
upon the work of His own hands and pronounced 
it "good." Surely none but a divine, omnipotent 
hand could have done all this, and none can study 
the ''work of His hands" and not marvel at its 
completeness. 

The ancient dwellers of the Mississippi Valley 
will always be a subject of great interest to the 
antiquarian. Who they were, and whence they 
came, are still unanswered questions, and may 
remain so for ages. All over this valley, and, 
in fact, in all parts of the New World, evidences 
of an ancient civilization exist, whose remains are 
now a wonder to all. The aboriginal races could 
throw no light on these questions. They had 
always seen the remains, and knew not whence 
they came. Explorations aid but little in the solu- 
tion of the problem, and only conjecture can be 
entertained. The remains found in Ohio ecjual 
any in the Valley. Indeed, some of them are vast 
in extent, and consist of forts, fortifications, moats, 
ditches, elevations and mounds, embracing many 
acres in extent. 

"It is not yet determined," says Col. Charles 
Whittlesey, "whether we have discovered the first 
or the original people who occupied the soil of 
Ohio. Modern investigations are bringing to light 
evidences of earlier races. Since the presence of 



man has been established in Europe as a cotempor- 
ary of the fassil elephant, mastodon, rhinoceros 
and the horse, of the later drift or glacial period, 
we may rea.sonably anticipate the presence of man 
in America in that era. Such proofs are already 
known, but they are not of that conclusive charac- 
ter which amounts to a demonstration. It is, how- 
ever, known that an ancient people inhabited Ohio 
in advance of the red men who were found here, 
three centuries since, by the Spanish and French 
explorers. 

" Five and six hundred years before the amval 
of Columbus," says Col. Charles Whittlesey, "the 
Northmen sailed from Norway, Iceland and Green- 
land along the Atlantic coast as far a.s Long Island. 
They found Indian tribes, in what is now New En- 
gland, closely resembling those who lived upon the 
coast and the St. Lawrence when the French and 
English came to possess these regions. 

" These red Indians had no traditions of a prior 
people ; but over a large part of the lake country 
and the valley of the Mississippi, earth-works, 
mounds, pyramids, ditches and forts were discov- 
ered — the work of a more ancient race, and a peo- 
ple far in advance of the Indian. If they were 
not civilized, they were not barbarians. They 
were not mere hunters, but had fixed habitations, 
cultivated the soil and were possessed of consider- 
able mechanical skill. We know them as the 
Mound-Builders, because they erected over the 
mortal remains of their principal men and women 
memorial mounds of earth or unhewn stone — of 
which hundreds remain to our own day, so large 
and high that they give rise to an impression of 
the numbers and energy of their builders, such as 
we receive from the pyramids of Egypt." 

Might they not have been of the same race and 
the same civilization ? Many competent authori- 
ties conjecture they are the work of the lost tribes 
of Israel ; but the best they or any one can do is 
only conjecture. 

" In the burial-mounds," continues Col. Whit- 
tlesey, " there are always portions of one or more 
human skeletons, generally partly consumed by 
fire, with ornaments of stone, bone, shells, mica 
and copper. The largest mound in Ohio is near 
jMiamisburg, Montgomery County. It is the 
second largest in the West, being nearly seventy 
feet high, originally, and about eight hundred feet 
in circumference. This would give a supei-ficial 
area of nearly four acres. In 1864, the citizens 
of ]\Iiamisburg sunk a shaft from the summit to 
the natural surface, without finding the bones 



16 



HISTORY or OHIO. 



or ashes of the great man for wIkuu it was 
intended. Tlie exploration lias considerably 
lowered the mound, it being now about sixty feet 
iu height. 

" Fort Ancient, on the Little IMiami, is a good 
specimen of the military defenses of the Mound- 
liuildei-s. It is well located on a long, high, nar- 
row, precipitous ridge. The parapets are now 
from ten to eighteen feet high, and its perimeter 
is sufficient to hold twenty thousand fighting men. 
Another prominent example of their works exists 
near Newark, Licking County. This collection 
presents a great variety of figures, circles, rectan- 
gles, octagons and parallel banks, or highways, 
covering more than a thousand acres. The county 
fair-ground is permanently located within an 
ancient circle, a (juarter of a mile in diameter, 
with an embankment and interior ditch. Its high- 
est place was over twenty feet from the top of the 
moat to the bottom of the ditch." 

One of the most curious-shaped works in this 
county is known as the "Alligator," from its sup- 
posed resemblance to that creature. When meas- 
ured, several years ago, while in a good state of 
preservation, its dimensions were two hundred 
and ten feet in length, average width over sixty 
feet, and height, at the highest point, seven feet. 
It appears to be mainly composed of clay, and is 
overgrown with grass. 

Speaking of the writing of these people, Col. 
Whittlesey says : " There is uo evidence that they 
luid alphabetical characters, picture-writing or 
hieroglyphics, though they must have had some 
mode of recording events. Neither is there any proof 
that they used domestic animals for tilling the soil, 
or for the purpose of erecting the imposing earth- 
works they have left. A very coarse cloth of 
liemp, flax or nettles has been found on their 
burial-heartlis and around skeletons not consumed 
by fire. 

" The most extensive earthworks occupy many 
of the sites of modern towns, and are always in 
the vicinity of excellent land. Those about the 
lakes are generally irregular earth forts, while 
those about the rivers in the southern part of the 
State are generally altars, pyramids, circ;les, cones 
and rectangles of earth, among which fortresses or 
strongholds are exceptions. 

" Those on the north may not have been cotem- 
porary or liave been built by the same people. 
They are far less prominent or extensive, which 
indicates a people less in numbers as well as indus- 
try, and whose principal occupation was war among 



themselves or against their neighbors. This style 
of works extends eastward along the south shore 
of Lake Ontario, through New York. In Ohio, 
there is a space along the water-shed, between the 
lake and the Ohio, where there are few, if any, 
ancient earthworks. It appears to have been a 
vacant or neutral ground between different nations. 

" The Indians of the North, dressed in skins, 
cultivated the soil very sparingly, and numufactured 
no woven cloth. On Lake Superior, there are 
ancient copper mines wrought by the Mound- 
Builders over fifteen hundred years ago." Copper 
tools are occasionally found tempered sufficiently 
hard to cut the hardest rocks. No knowledge of 
such tempering exists now. The Indians can give 
no more knowledge of the ancient mines than they 
can of the mounds on the river bottoms. 

" The Indians did not occupy the ancient earth- 
works, nor did they construct such. They were 
found as they are now — a hunter race, wholly 
averse to labor. Their abodes were in rock shel- 
ters, in caves, or in tempoi'ary sheds of bark and 
boughs, or skins, easily moved from place to place. 
Like most savage races, their habits are unchange- 
able ; at least, the example of white men, and 
their cffijrts during three centuries, have made 
little, if any, impression." 

When white men came to the territory now em- 
braced in the State of Ohio, they found dwelling 
here the Iroquois, Delawares, Shawanees, Miamis, 
Wyandots and Ottawas. Each nation was com- 
posed of several tribes or clans, and each was 
often at war with the others. The first mentioned 
of these occupied that part of the State whose 
northern boundary was Lake Erie, as far west as 
the mouth of the Cuyahoga River, where the city 
of Cleveland now is ; thence the boundary turned 
southward in an iiTCgular line, until it touched the 
Ohio Iliver, up which stream it continued to the 
Pennsylvania State line, and thence northward to 
the lake. This nation were the implacable foes of 
the French, owing to the fact that Champlain, in 
1G09, made war against them. They occupied a 
large part of New York and Pennsylvania, and 
were the most insatiate conquerors among the 
aborigines. When the French first came to the 
lakes, these monsters of the wilderness were engaged 
in a war against their neighbors, a war that ended 
in their con(|uering them, possessing their terri- 
tory, and absorbing the remnants of the tribes into 
their own nation. At the date of Champlain's 
visit, the southern shore of Lake Erie was occupied 
by the Eries, or, as the orthography of the word is 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



17 



sometimes given, Erigos, or Errienous.* About 
forty years afterward, the Iroquois (Five Nations) 
fell upon them with such fury and in such force 
that the nation was annihilated. Those who 
escaped the slaughter were absorbed among their 
conquerors, but allowed to hve on their own lands, 
paying a sort of tribute to the Iroquois. This was 
the policy of that nation in all its conquests. A 
few years after the conquest of the Eries, the 
Iroquois again took to the war-path, and swept 
through Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, even attacking 
the Mississippi tribes. But for the intervention 
and aid of the French, these tribes would have 
shared the fate of the Hurons and Eries. Until 
the year 1700, the Iroquois held the south shore 
of Lake Erie so firmly that the French dared not 
trade or travel along that side of the lake. Their 
missionaries and traders penetrated this part of 
Ohio as early as 1650, but generally suffered 
death for their zeal. 

Having completed the conquest of the Hurons 
or Wyandots, about Lake Huron, and murdered 
the Jesuit missionaries by modes of torture which 
only they could devise, they permitted the residue 
of the Hurons to settle around the west end of 
Lake Erie. Here, with the Ottawas, they resided 
when the whites came to the State. Their country 
was bounded on the south by a line running 
through the central part of Wayne, Ashland, 
Richland, Crawford and Wyandot Counties. At 
the western boundary of this county, the line di- 
verged northwesterly, leaving the State near the 
noi'thwest corner of Fulton County. Their north- 
ern boundary was the lake ; the eastern, the Iro- 
quois. 

The Delawares, or " Lenni Lenapes," whom the 
Iroquois had subjugated on the Susquehanna, were 
assigned by their conquerors hunting-grounds on 
the Muskingum. Their eastern boundary was the 
country of the Iroquois (before defined), and their 
northern, that of the Hurons. On the west, they 



* Father Louis Hennepin, in his work published in 1684, thus 
alludes to the Eries: ''These good fathers," referring to the 
priests, " were great friends of the Hurons, who told them that the 
Iroquois went to war beyond Virginia, or New Sweden, near a lake 
which they called ' Erige,' or 'Erie,'' which signifies 'the cai,' or 
' nation of the cat,' and because these savages brought captives from 
this nation in returning to their cantons along this lake, the 
Hurons named it, in their language, ' Erige,' or ' Erike,' 'the lake of 
the €01,' and which our Canadians, in softening the word, have 
called ' Lake Erie.' " 

Charlevoix, writing in 1721, says: "The name it bf^ars is that 
of an Indian nation of the Huron (Wyandot) language, which was 
formerly seated on its banks, and who have been entirely destroyed 
by the Iroquois. Erie, in that language, signifies ' cat,' and, in 
Bome acounts, this nation is called the ' cat nation.' This name, 
probably, comes from the large numbers of that animal found in 
this region." 



extended as far as a line drawn from the central 
part of Richland County, in a semi-circular direc- 
tion, south to the mouth of Leading Creek. Their 
southern boundary was the Ohio River. 

West of the Delawares, dwelt the Shawanees, a 
troublesome people as neighbors, whether to whites 
or Indians. Their country was bounded on the 
north by the Hurons, on the east, by the Dela- 
wares ; on the south, by the Ohio River. On the 
west, their boundary was determined by a line 
drawn southwesterly, and again southeasterly — 
semi-circular — from a point on the southern 
boundary of the Hurons, near the southwest corner 
of Wyandot County, till it intersected the Ohio 
River. 

All the remainder of the State — all its western 
part from the Ohio River to the Michigan line — 
was occupied by the Miamis, Mineamis, Twigtwees, 
or Tawixtawes, a powerful nation, whom the Iro- 
quois were never fully able to subdue. 

These nations occupied the State, partly by per- 
mit of the Five Nations, and partly by inheritance, 
and, though composed of many tribes, were about 
all the savages to be found in this part of the 
Northwest. 

No sooner had the Americans obtained control 
of this country, than they began, by treaty and 
purchase, to acquire the lands of the natives. 
They could not stem the tide of emigration ; peo- 
ple, then as now, would go West, and hence the 
necessity of peaceflilly and rightfully acquiring the 
land. " The true basis of title to Indian territory 
is the right of civilized men to the soil for pur- 
poses of cultivation." The same maxim may be 
applied to all uncivilized nations. When acquired 
by such a right, either by treaty, purchase or con- 
quest, the right to hold the same rests with the 
power and development of the nation thus possess- 
ing the land. 

The English derived title to the territory 
between the Alleghanies and the Mississippi partly 
by the claim that, in discovering the Atlantic coast, 
they had possession of the land from "ocean to 
ocean," and partly by the treaty of Paris, in Feb- 
ruary, 1763. Long before this treaty took place, 
however, she had granted, to individuals and colo- 
nies, extensive tracts of land in that part of Amer- 
ica, based on the right of discovery. The French 
had done better, and had ac(juired title to the land 
by discovering the land itself and by consent of 
the Indians dwelling thereon. The right to pos- 
sess this country led to the French and Indian 
war, ending in the supremacy of the English. 



18 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



The Five Nations claimed the territory in ques- 
tion by right of cou(iuest, and, though professing 
friendship to the EngUsh, watched them with jeal- 
ous eyes. In 1G84, and again in 172G, that con- 
federacy made cessions of lands to the English, 
and these treaties and cessions of lands were re- 
garded as sufficient title by the English, and were 
insisted on in all subse(iuent treaties with the 
Western Nations. The following statements were 
collected by Col. Charles Whittlesey, which 
show the principal treaties made with the red men 
wherein land in Ohio was ceded by them to the 
whites : 

In September, 1726, the Iroquois, or Six Na- 
tions, at Albany, ceded all their claims west of 
Lake Erie and sixty miles in width along the 
south shore of Lakes Erie and Ontario, from the 
Cuyahoga to the Oswego River. 

In 1744, this same nation made a treaty at 
Lancaster, Penn., and ceded to the English all 
their lands "that may be within the colony of 
Virginia." 

In 1752, this nation and other Western tribes 
made a treaty at Logstown, Penn., wherein they 
confirmed the Lancaster treaty and consented to 
the settlements south of the Ohio River. 

February 13, 1763, a treaty was made at Paris, 
France, between the French and English, when 
Canada and the eastern half of the Mississippi 
Valley were ceded to the English. 

In 1783, all the territory south of the Lakes, 
and east of the Mississippi, was ceded by England 
to America — the latter country then obtaining its 
independence — by which means the country was 
gained by America. 

October 24, 1784, the Six Nations made a 
treaty, at Fort Stanwix, N. Y., with the Ameri- 
cans, and ceded to them all the country claimed 
by the tribe, west of Pennsylvania. 

In 178.5, the Chippewas, Delawares, Ottawas, 
and Wyandots ceded to the United States, at 
Fort Mcintosh, at the mouth of the Big Beaver, 
all their claims east and south of the " Cayahaga," 
the Portage Path, and the Tuscarawas, to Fort 
Laurens (Bolivar), thence to Loramie's Fort (in 
Shelby County ) ; thence along the Poi'tage Path to 
the St. Mary's River and down it to the "Omee," 
or jNIaumee, and along the lake shore to the 
"Cayahaga." 

January 3, 1786, the Shawanees, at Fort Fin- 
ney, near the mouth of the Great Miami (not 
owning the land on the Scioto occupied by them), 
were allotted a tract at the heads of the two 



Miamis and the Wabash, west of the Chippewas, 
Delawares and Wyandots. 

February 9, 1789, the Iroquois made a treaty 
at Fort Harmar, wherein they confirmed the Fort 
Stanwix treaty. At the same time, the Chippewas, 
Ottawas, Delawares, and Wyandots — to which the 
Sauks and Pottawatomies assented — confirmed the 
treaty made at Fort Mcintosh. 

Period of war now existed till 1795. 

August 3, 1795, Gen. Anthony Wayne, on 
behalf of the United States, made a treaty with 
twelve tribes, confirming the boundaries estab- 
lished by the Fort Harmar and Fort Mcintosh 
treaties, and extended the boundary to Fort Re- 
covery and the mouth of the Kentucky River. 

In June, 1796, the Senecas, represented by 
Brant, ceded to the Connecticut Land Company 
their rights east of the Cuyahoga. 

In 1805, at Fort Industry, on the Maumee, the 
Wyandots, Delawares, Ottawas, Chippewas, Shawa- 
nees, Menses, and Pottawatomies relinquished all 
their lands west of the Cuyahoga, as far west as 
the western line of the Reserve, and south of the 
line from Fort Laurens to Loramie's Fort. 

July 4, 1807, the Ottawas, Chippewas, Wyan- 
dots, and Pottawatomies, at Detroit, ceded all that 
part of Ohio north of the Maumee River, with 
part of Michigan. 

November 25, 1808, the same tribes with the 
Shawanees, at Brownstown, Mich., granted the 
Government a tract of land two miles wide, from 
the west line of the Reserve to the rapids of the 
IMaumee, for the purpose of a road through the 
Black Swamp. 

September 18, 1815, at Springwells, near De- 
troit, the Chippewas, Ottawas, Pottawatomies, Wy- 
andots, Delawares, Senecas and Miamis, having 
been engaged in the war of 1812 on the British 
side, were confined in the grants made at Fort 
Mcintosh and Greenville in 1785 and 1795. 

September 29, 1817, at the rapids of the 
Maumee, the Wyandots ceded their lands west of 
the line of 1805, as far as Loramie's and the St. 
Mary's River and north of the Maumee. The 
Pottawatomies, Chippewas, and Ottawas ceded the 
territory west of the Detroit line of 1807, and 
north of the Maumee. 

October 6, 1818, the Miamis, at St. Mary's, 
made a treaty in which they surrendered the re- 
maining Indian territory in Ohio, north of the 
Greenville treaty line and west of St. Mary's River. 

The numerous treaties of peace with the W^est- 
ern Indians for the delivery of prisoners were — 



^ 



liL 



HISTOKY OF OHIO. 



19 



one by Gen. Forbes, at Fort Du Quesne (Pitts- 
burgh), in 1758 ; one by Col. Bradstreet, at Ei-ie, 
in August, 17G-1; one by Col. Boquet, at the 
mouth of the Walhonding, in November, 17 64 ; 
in May, 17()5, at Johnson's, on the Mohawk, and 
at Philadelphia, the same year; in 1774, by Lord 
Dunmore, at Camp Charlotte, Pickaway County. 
By the treaty at the Maumee Rapids, in 1817, 
reservations were conveyed by the United States 
to all the tribes, with a view to induce them to 
cultivate the soil and cease to be hunters. These 
were, i'rom time to time, as the impracticability of 
the plan became manifest, purchased by the Gov- 
ernment, the last of these being the Wyandot 
Reserve, of twelve miles square, around Upper 
Sandusky, in 1842, closing out all claims and com- 
posing all the Indian difficulties in Ohio. The 
open war had ceased in 1815, with the treaty of 
Ghent. 

" It is estimated that, from the French war of 
1754 to the battle of the Maumee Rapids, in 
1794, a period of forty years, there had been at 
least 5,000 people killed or captured west of the 



Alleghany Mountains. Eleven organized military 
expeditions had been carried on against the West- 
ern Indians prior to the war of 1812, seven regu- 
lar engagements fought and about twelve hundred 
men killed. More whites were slain in battle than 
there were Indian braves killed in military expedi- 
tions, and by private raids and murders ; yet, in 
1811, all the Ohio tribes combined could not mus- 
ter 2,000 warriors." 

Attempts to determine the number of persons 
comprising the Indian tribes in Ohio, and their 
location, have resulted in nothing better than 
estimates. It is supposed that, at the commence- 
ment of the Revolution, there were about six 
thousand Indians in the present confines of the 
State, but their villages were little more than 
movable camps. Savage men, like savage beasts, 
are engaged in continual migrations. Now, none 
are left. The white man occupies the home of 
the red man. Now 

"The verdant hills 
Are covered o'er with growing grain, 
And white men till the soil, 
Where once the red man used to reign." 



CHAPTER II. 



EARLY EXPLORATIONS IN THE WEST. 



WHEN war, when ambition, when avarice 
fail, religion pushes onward and succeeds. 
In the discovery of the New World, wherever 
man's aggrandizement was the paramount aim, 
failure was sure to follow. When this gave way, 
the followers of the Cross, whether Catholic or 
Protestant, came on the field, and the result before 
attempted soon appeared, though in a different way 
and through different means than those supposed. 
The first permanent efforts of the white race to 
penetrate the Western wilds of the New World 
preceded any permanent English settlement north 
of the Potomac. Years before the Pilgrims 
anchored their bark on the cheerless shores of Cape 
Cod, "the Roman Catholic Church had been plant- 
ed by missionaries from France in the Eastern 
moiety of Maine; and LeCaron, an ambitious 
Franciscan, the companion of Champlain,had passed 
into the hunting-grounds of the Wyandots, and, 
bound by the vows of his life, had, on foot or pad- 
dling a bark canoe, gone onward, taking alms of the 
savages until he reached the rivers of Lake 



Huron." This was in 1615 or 1616, and only 
eight years after Champlain had sailed up the wa- 
ters of the St. Lawrence, and on the foot of a bold 
cliff" laid the foundation of the present City of 
Quebec. From this place, founded to hold the 
country, and to perpetuate the religion of his King, 
went forth those emissaries of the Cross, whose zeal 
has been the admiration of the world. The French 
Colony in Canada was suppressed socm after its es- 
tabhshment, and for five years, until 1622, its im- 
munities were enjoyed by the colonists. A gi-ant 
of New France, as the country was then known, was 
made by Louis XIII to Richelieu, Champlain, 
Razilly and others, who, immediately after the res- 
toration of Quebec by its English conquerors, entered 
upon the control and government of their province. 
Its limits embraced the whole ba.'^in of the St. 
Lawrence and of such other rivers in New France 
as flowed directly into the sea. While away to 
the south on the Gulf coast, was also included a 
country rich in foliage and claimed in wtue of 
the unsuccessful efforts of Coligny. 



:\ 



20 



IIISTOEY OF OHIO. 



Reliiiious zeal as much as commercial prosperity 
had influenced France to obtain and retain the de- 
pendency of Canada. The commercial monopoly 
of a privileged company could not foster a 
colony ; the climate was too vigorous for agricult- 
ure, and, at first there was little else except relig- 
ious enthusiasm to give vitality to the province. 
Champlain had been touched by the simplicity of 
the Order of St. Francis, and had selected its priest,s 
to aid him in his work. But another order, more 
in favor at the Court, was interested, and succeed- 
ed in excluding the mendicant order from the New 
World, established themselves in the new domain 
and, by thus enlarging the borders of the French 
King, it became entrusted to the Jesuits. 

This "Society of Jesus," founded by Loyola 
when Calvin's Institutes first saw the light, saw an 
unequaled opportunity in the conversion of the 
heathen in the Western wilds; and, as its mem- 
bers, pledged to obtain power only by influence of 
mind over mind, sought the honors of opening the 
way, there was no lack of men ready for the work. 
Through them, the motive power in opening the 
wilds of the Northwest was religion. " Religious 
enthusiasm," says Bancroft, "colonized New Eng- 
land, and religious enthusiasm founded Montreal, 
made a conquest of the wilderness about the upper 
lakes, and explored the Mississippi." 

Through these priests — increased in a few years 
to fifteen — a way was made across the West from 
Quebec, above the regions of the lakes, below 
which they dared not go for the relentless Mohawks. 
To the northwest of Toronto, near the Lake Iro- 
quois, a bay of Lake Huron, in September, 1634, 
they raised the first humble house of the Society of 
Jesus among the Hurons. Through them they 
learned of the great lakes beyond, and resolved 
one day to explore them and carry the Gospel of 
peace to the heathen on their shores. Before this 
could be done, many of them were called upon to 
give up their lives at the martyr's stake and re- 
ceive a martyr's crown. But one by one they 
went on in their good work. If one fell by hun- 
ger, cold, cruelty, or a terrible death, others stood 
ready, and carrying their lives in their hands, 
established other missions about the eastern shores 
of Lake Huron and its adjacent waters. The 
Five Nations were for many years hostile toward 
the French and murdered them and their red 
allies whenever opportunity presented. For a 
quarter of century, they retarded the advance of 
the missionaries, and then only after wearied with 
a long struggle, in which they began to see their 



power declining, did they relinquish their warlike 
propensities, and allow the Jesuits entrance to their 
country. While this was going on, the traders 
and Jesuits had penetrated farther and farther 
westward, until, when peace was declared, they 
had seen the southwestern shores of Lake Superior 
and the northern shores of Lake Michigan, called 
by them Lake Illinois.* In August, 1654, two 
young adventurers penetrated the wilds bordering 
on these western lakes in company with a band of 
Ottawas. Beturning, they tell of the wonderful 
country they have seen, of its vast forests, its 
abundance of game, its mines of copper, and ex- 
cite in their comrades a desire to see and explore 
such a country. They tell of a vast expanse of 
land before them, of the powerful Indian tribes 
dwelling there, and of their anxiety to become an- 
nexed to the Frenchman, of whom they have 
heard. The request is at once granted. Two 
missionaries, Grabriel Dreuillettes and Leonard 
Grareau, were selected as envoys, but on their way 
the fleet, propelled by tawny rowers, is met by a 
wandering band of Mohawks and by them is dis- 
persed. Not daunted, others stood ready to go. 
The lot fell to Rene Mesnard. He is charged to 
visit the wilderness, select a suitable place for a 
dwelling, and found a mission. With only a short 
warning he is ready, "trusting," he says, "in the 
Providence which feeds the little birds of the 
desert and clothes the wild flowers of the forest." 
In October, 1660, he reached a bay, which he 
called St. Theresa, on the south shore of Lake 
Superior. After a residence of eight months, he 
yielded to the invitation of the Hurons who had 
taken refuge on the Island of St. ]\Iichael, and 
bidding adieu to his neophytes and the French, he 
departed. While on the way to the Bay of Che- 
goi-me-gon, probably at a portage, he became 
separated from his companion and was never after- 
ward heard of Long after, his cassock and his 
breviary were kept as amulets among the Sioux. 
Difficulties now arose in the management of the 
colony, and for awhile it was on the verge of dis- 
solution. The King sent a regiment under com- 
mand of the agtid Tracy, as a safeguard against 
the Iroquois, now proving themselves enemies to 

* Mr. C. W. Butterfield, author of Cranford'.i Cantjiaign, and 
good atithoritv, says: "John Nicholet, a Frenchman, left Quebec 
and Three Rivers in the siinimer of KiSt, and visiteil the Hurons on 
Georgian Bay, tho Oliippewas at tlio Sault Ste. Marie, and tli<! Win- 
nebagoes in Wisconsin, returning to Quebec in the summer of 1(135. 
This was tho first white man to see any part of the Northwest 
Territory. In 1641, two Jesuit priests were at the Sault Ste. Marie 
for a lirief time. Then two French traders reached Lake Superior, 
and after them came that tide of emigration ou which the French 
based their claim to the country." 



,r 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



21 



the French. Accompanying him were Courcelles, 
as Governor, and M. Talon, who subsequently fig- 
ures in Northwestern history. By 1665, affairs 
were settled and new attempts to found a mission 
among the lake tribes were projected. 

"With better hopes — undismayed by the sad 
fate of their predecessors" in August, Claude 
Allouez embarked on a mission by way of Ottawa 
to the Far West. Early in September he reached 
the rapids through which rush the waters of the 
lakes to Huron. Sailing by lofty sculptured rocks 
and over waters of crystal purity, he reached the 
Chippewa village just as the young warriors were 
bent on organizing a war expedition against the 
Sioux. Commanding peace in the name of his 
King, he called a council and off'ered the commerce 
and protection of his nation. He was obeyed, and 
soon a chapel arose on the shore of the bay, to 
which admiring crowds from the south and west 
gathered to listen to the story of the Cross. 

The scattered Hurons and Ottawa.s north of 
Lake Superior ; the Pottawatomies from Lake Mich- 
igan ; the Sacs and Foxes from the Far West ; the 
Illinois from the prairies, all came to hear him, and 
all besought him to go with them. To the last 
nation Allouez desired to go. They told him of a 
" great river that flowed to the sea, "and of "their 
vast prairies, where herds of buff'alo, deer and 
other animals grazed on the tall grass." "Their 
country," said the missionary, "is the best field 
for the Gospel. Had I had leisure, I would have 
gone to their dwellings to see with my own eyes 
all the good that was told me of them." 

He remained two years, teaching the natives, 
studying their language and habits, and then 
returned to Quebec. Such was the account that 
he gave, that in two days he was joined by 
Louis Nicholas and was on his way back to his 
mission. 

Peace being now established, more missionaries 
came from France. Among them were Claude 
Dablon and Jacques iManjuette, both of whom 
went on to the mission among the Chippewas at the 
Sault. They reached there in 1668 and found 
Allouez busy. The mission was now a reality and 
given the name of St. Mary. It is often written 
" Sault Ste. Marie," after the French method, and 
is the oldest settlement by white men in the bounds 
of the Northwest Territory. It has been founded 
over two hundred years. Here on the inhospitable 
northern shores, hundreds of miles away from 
friends, did this triumvirate employ themselves in 
extending their relic;ion and the influence of their 



King. Traversing the shores of the great lakes 
near them, they pass down the western bank of 
Lake Michigan as far as Green Bay, along the 
southern shore of Lake Superior to its western ex- 
tremity, everywhere preaching the story of Jesus. 
" Though suffering be their lot and martyrdom 
their crown," they went on, only conscious that 
they were laboring for their Master and would, in 
the end, win the crown. 

The great river away to the West of which they 
heard so much was yet unknown to them. To ex- 
plore it, to visit the tribes on its banks and preach 
to them the Gospel and secure their trade, became 
the aim of Marquette, who originated the idea of 
its discovery. While engaged at the mission at the 
Sault, he resolved to attempt it in the autumn of 
166!). Delay, however, intervened — for Allouez 
had exchanged the mission at Che-goi-me-gon for 
one at Green Bay, whither Marquette wa.s sent. 
While here he employed a young Illinois Indian 
to teach him the language of that nation, and there- 
by prepare himself for the enterprise. 

Continued commerce with the Western Indians 
gave protection and confirmed their attachment. 
Talon, the intendant of the colony of New France, 
to further spread its power and to learn more of the 
country and its inhabitants, convened a congress 
of the Indians at the Falls of St. Mary, to which 
he sent St. Lusson on his behalf Nicholas Perrot 
sent invitations in every direction for more than a 
hundred leagues round about, and fourteen nations, 
among them Sacs, Foxes and Miamis, agreed to be 
present by their embassadors. 

The congress met on the fourth day of June, 
1671. St. Lusson, through Allouez, his interpre- 
ter, announced to the assembled natives that they, 
and through them their nations, were placed under 
the protection of the French King, and to him 
were their furs and peltries to be traded. A cro.ss 
of cedar was raised, and amidst the groves of ma- 
ple and of pine, of elm and hemlock that are so 
strangely intermingled on the banks of the St. 
Mary, the whole company of the French, bowing 
before the emblem of man's redemption, chanted to 
its glory a hymn of the seventh century : 

"The banners of heaven's King advance; 
The mysteries of the Cross shines forth."* 

A cedar column was planted by the cross and 
marked with the lilies of the Bourbons. The 
power of France, thus uplifted in the West of 
which Ohio is now a part, was, however, not destined 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



to endure, and the ambition of its monarchs was 
to liavc only a partial fulfillment. 

The same year that the congress was held, Mar- 
quette had founded a mission among the Ilurons 
at Point St. Ignace, on the continent north of the 
peninsula of Michigan. Although the climate 
was severe, and vegetation scarce, yet fish abounded, 
and at this establishment, long maintained as a 
key to further explorations, prayer and praise were 
heard daily for many years. Here, also, Marquette 
gained a footing among the founders of Michigan. 
While he was doing this, Allouez and Dablon were 
exploring countries south and west, going as far as 
the Mascoutins and Kickapoos on the Milwaukee, 
and the Miamis at the head of Lake Michigan. 
Allouez continued even as far as the Sacs and Foxes 
on the river which bears their name. 

The discovery of the Mississippi, heightened by 
these explorations, was now at hand. The enter- 
prise, projected by Marquette, was received with 
flivor by M. Talon, who desired thus to perpetuate 
liis rule in New France, now drawing to a close. 
He w;is joined by Joliet, of Quebec, an emissary 
of his King, commissioned by royal magnate to 
take possession of the country in the name of the 
French. Of him but little else is known. This 
one excursion, however, gives him immortality, 
and as long as time shall last his name and that of 
^Marquette will endure. When Marquette made 
known his intention to the Pottawatomics, they 
were filled with wonder, and endeavored to dis- 
suade him from his purpose. "Those distant na- 
tions," said they, " never spare the strangers; the 
Great River abounds in monsters, ready to swal- 
low both men and canoes; there are great cataracts 
and rapids, over which you will be dashed to 
pieces; the excessive heats will cause your death." 
"I shall gladly lay down my life for the salvation 
of souls," replied the good man; and the docile 
nation joined him. 

On the 9th day of June, 1673, they reached 
the village on Fox River, where were Kickapoos, 
Mascoutins and MiaTuis dwelling together on an 
exi)anse of lovely prairie, dotted here and thereby 
groves of magnificent trees, and where was a 
cross garlanded by wild flowers, and bows and ar- 
rows, and skins and belts, offerings to the Great 
Manitou. Allouez had been here in one of his 
wanderings, and, as was his wont, had lefl this 
emblem of his faith. 

Assembling the natives, Marquette said, " My 
companion is an envoy of France to discover new 
countries ; and I am an embassador from God to 



enlighten them with the Gospel." Offering pres- 
ents, he begged two guides for the morrow. The 
Indians answered courteously, and gave in 
return a mat to serve as a couch during the long 
voyage. 

Early in the morning of the next day, the 10th 
of June, with all nature in her brightest robes, 
these two men, with five Frenchmen and two Al- 
gonquin guides, set out on their journey. Lifting 
two canoes to their shoulders, t-hey quickly cross 
the narrow portage dividing the Fox from the 
Wisconsin River, and prepare to embark on its 
clear waters. " Uttering a special prayer to the 
Immaculate Virgin, they leave the stream, that, 
flowing onward, could have borne their greetings 
to the castle of Quebec. 'The guides returned,' 
says the gentle Marquette, 'leaving us alone in 
this unknown land, in the hand of Providence.' 
France and Christianity stood alone in the valley 
of the Mississippi. Embarking on the broad 
Wisconsin, the discoverers, as they sailed west, 
went solitarily down the stream between alternate 
prairies and hillsides, beholding neither man nor 
the wonted beasts of the forests; no sound broke 
the silence but the ripple of the canoe and the 
lowing of the buffalo. In seven days, 'they en- 
tered happily the Great River, with a joy that 
could not be expressed ; ' and the two birchbark 
canoes, raising their happy sails under new skies 
and to unknown breezes, floated down the calm 
magnificence of the ocean stream, over the broad, 
clear sand-bars, the resort of innumerable water- 
fowl — gliding past islets that swelled from the 
bosom of the stream, with their tufts of massive 
thickets, and between the wild plains of Illinois 
and Iowa, all garlanded with majestic forests, or 
checkered by island groves and the open vastness 
of the prairie."* 

Continuing on down the mighty stream, they 
saw no signs of human life until the 25th of 
June, when they discovered a small foot-path on the 
west bank of the river, leading away into the 
prairie. Leaving their companions in the canoes, 
Marquette and Joliet followed the path, resolved 
to brave a meeting alone with the savages. After 
a walk of six miles they came in sight of a village 
on the banks of a river, while not far away they 
discovered two others. The river was the " Mou- 
in-gou-e-na," or Moingona, now corrupted into 
Des Moines. These two men, the first of their 
race who ever trod the soil west of the Great 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



23 



River, commended themselves to God, and, uttering 
a loud cry, advanced to the nearest village. 
The Indians hear, and thinking their visitors 
celestial beings, four old men advance with rever- 
ential mien, and offer the pipe of peace. " We 
are Illinois," said they, and they offered the calu- 
met. They had heard of the Frenchmen, and 
welcomed them to their wigwams, followed by the 
devouring gaze of an astonished crowd. At a 
great council held soon after, Marquette published 
to them the true God, their Author. He also 
spoke of his nation and of his King, who had 
chastised the Five Nations and commanded peace. 
He questioned them concerning the Great River 
and its tributaries, and the tribes dwelling on its 
banks. A magnificent feast was spread before 
them, and the conference continued several days. 
At the close of the sixth day, the chieftains of the 
tribes, with numerous trains of warriors, attended 
the visitors to their canoes, and selecting a peace- 
pipe, gayly caparisoned, they hung the sacred 
calumet, emblem of peace to all and a safeguard 
among the nations, about the good Father's neck, 
and bid the strangers good speed. "I did not 
fear death," writes Marquette; "I should have 
esteemed it the greatest happiness to have died 
for the glory of God." On their journey, they 
passed the perpendicular rocks, whose sculptured 
sides showed them the monsters they should meet. 
Farther down, they pass the turgid flood of the 
Missouri, known to them by its Algonquin name, 
Pekitanoni. Resolving in his heart to one day 
explore its flood, Mar(juette rejoiced in the new 
world it evidently could open to him. A little 
farther down, they pass the bluffs where now is a 
mighty emporium, then silent as when created. In 
a little less than forty leagues, they pass the clear 
waters of the beautiful Ohio, then, and long after- 
ward, known as the Wabash. Its banks were in- 
habited by numerous villages of the peaceftil 
Shawanees, who then quailed under the incursions 
of the dreadful Iroqviois. As they go on down the 
mighty stream, the canes become thicker, the insects 
more fierce, the heat more intolerable. The prairies 
and their cool breezes vanish, and forests of white- 
wood, admirable for their vastness and height, crowd 
close upon the pebbly shore. It is observed that the 
Chicka,saws have guns, and have learned how to 
use them. Near the latitude of 33 degrees, they 
encounter a great village, whose inhabitants pre- 
sent an inhospitable and warlike front. The pipe 
of peace is held aloft, and instantly the savage foe 
drops his arms and extends a friendly greeting. 



Remaining here till the next day, they are escorted 
for eight or ten leagues to the village of Akansea. 
They are now at the limit of their voyage. The 
Indians speak a dialect unknown to them. The 
natives show furs and axes of steel, the latter prov- 
ing they have traded with Europeans. The two 
travelers now learn that the Father of Wa- 
ters went neither to the AVestern sea nor to the 
Florida coast, but straight south, and conclude not 
to encounter the burning heats of a tropical clime, 
but return and find the outlet again. They 
had done enough now, and must report their dis- 
covery. 

On the 17th day of July, 1673, one hundred 
and thirty-two years after the disastrous journey 
of De Soto, which led to no permanent results, 
]\Iarquette and Joliet left the village of Akansea 
on their way back. At the 38th degree, they en- 
counter the waters of the Illinois which they had 
before noticed, and which the natives told them 
afforded a much shorter route to the lakes. Pad- 
dling up its limpid waters, they see a country un- 
surpassed in beauty. Broad prairies, beautiful up- 
lands, luxuriant groves, all mingled in excellent 
harmony as they ascend the river. Near the head 
of the river, they pause at a great village of the 
Illinois, and across the river behold a rocky prom- 
ontory standing boldly out against the landscape. 
The Indians entreat the gentle missionary to re- 
main among them, and teach them the way of life. 
He cannot do this, but promises to return when he 
can and instruct them. The town was on a plain 
near the present village of Utica, in La Salle 
County, 111., and the rock was Starved Rock, 
afterward noted in the annals of the Northwest. 
One of the chiefs and some young men conduct 
the party to the Chicago River, where the present 
mighty city is, from where, continuing their jour- 
ney along the western shores of the lake, they 
reach Green Bay early in September. 

The great valley of the West was now open. 
The "Messippi" rolled its mighty flood to a south- 
ern sea, and must be sully explored. Marquette's 
health had keenly suffered by the voyage and he 
concluded to remain here and rest. Joliet hasten- 
ed on to Quebec to report his discoveries. During 
the journey, each had preserved a description of 
the route they had passed over, as well as the 
country and its inhabitants. While on the way 
to Quebec, at the foot of the rapids near Montreal, 
by some means one of Joliet's canoes became cap- 
sized, and by it he lost his box of papers and two 
of his men. A greater calamity could have 



"^ 



24 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



hardly luipjieiu'd liiiu. la a letter to Gov. 
Froutenac, Joliet says: 

" I had eseaped every peril from the Indians ; I 
had passed liirty-two rapids, and was on the point 
ofdisembarkinii-, full ofjt)y at the success of so 
long and difficult an enterprise, when my canoe 
capsized after all the dauuer seemed over. I lost 
my two men and box of papers within siirht of the 
French settlements, which I had left almost two 
years before. Nothing renuiins now to me but 
my life, and the ardent desire to employ it in any 
service you may please to direct." 

When Joliet made known his discoveries, a 
Te Denm was chanted in the Cathedral at Quebec, 
and all Canada was filled with joy. The news 
crossed the ocean, and the French saw in the vista 
of coming years a vast dependency arise in the val- 
ley, partially explored, which was to extend her 
domain and enrich her treasury. Fearing En- 
gland might |)rofit b}' the discovery and claim the 
country, she attempted as far as possible to prevent 
the news from becoming general. Joliet was re- 
wai'ded by the gift of the Island of Anticosti, in 
the St. Lawrence, while JMarquette, conscious of 
his service to his ^Master, was content with the 
salvation of souls. 

Manjuette, left at Green Bay, suffered long with 
his malady, and was not permitted, until the au- 
tumn of the following year (lG7-ij, to return and 
teach the Illinois Indians. With this purpose in 
view, he left Green Bay on the 25th of October 
with two Frenchmen and a number of Illinois and 
Pottawatomie Indians for the villages on the 
Chicago and Illinois Rivers. Entering Lake 
Michigan, they encountered adverse winds and 
waves and were more than a month on the way. 
Going some distance up the Chicago River, they 
found .Martjuette too weak to proceed farther, his 
malady having assumed a violent form, and land- 
ing, they erected two huts and prepared to pass 
the winter. The good missionary taught the na- 
tives here daily, in spite of his afflictions, while 
his companions supplied him and themselves with 
food by fishing and hunting. Thus the winter 
wore away, and Mar(|uette, renewing his vows, pre- 
pared to go on to the village at the foot of the 
rocky citadel, where he had been two years before. 
On the i:^>th of March, 1()75, they left their huts 
and, rowing on up the Chicago to the jxirtage be- 
tween that and the Desplaines, embarked on their 
way. Amid the incessant rains of spring, they 
were rapidly borne down that stream to the Illi- 
nois, on whose rushing flood they floated to the 



object of their destination. At the great town the 
missionary was received as a heavenly messenger, 
and as he preached to them of heaven and hell, 
of angels and demons, of good and bad deeds, 
they regarded him as divine and besought him to 
remain among them. The town then contained an 
immense coneourvSe of natives, drawn hither by the 
reports they heard, and assembling them before him 
on the plain near their village, where now are pros- 
perous farms, he held before their astonished gaze 
four large pictures of the Holy Virgin, and daily 
harangued them on the duties of Christianity and 
the necessity of conforming their conduct to the 
words they heard. His strength was fast declining 
and warned him he could not long remain. Find- 
ing he must go, the Indians furnished him an 
escort as far as the lake, on whose turbulent waters 
he embarked with his two faithful attendants. 
They turned their canoes for the Mackinaw Mis- 
sion, which the afflicted missionary hoped to reach 
before death came. As they coasted along the 
eastei'n shores of the lake, the vernal hue of May 
began to cover the hillsides with robes of green, 
now dimmed to the eye of the departing Father, who 
became too weak to view them. By the H)th of 
the month, he could go no farther, and requested 
his men to land and build him a hut in which he 
might pass away. That done, he gave, with great 
composure, directions concerning his burial, and 
thanked God that he was permitted to die in the 
wilderness in the midst of his work, an unshaken 
believer in the faith he had so earnestly preached. 
As twilight came on, he told his weary attendants 
to rest, promising that when death should come he 
would call them. At an early hour, on the morn- 
ing of the 2()th of May, 1675, they heard a feeble 
voice, and hastening to his side found that the gen- 
tle spirit of the good missionary had gone to heav- 
en. His hand grasped the crucifix, and his lips 
bore as their last sound the name of the A'irgin. 
They dug a grave near the banks of the stream 
and buritMl him as he had requested. There in a 
lonely wilderness the peaceful soul of Man|uette 
had at la.st found a rest, and his weary labors closed. 
His companions went on to the mission, where 
the news of his death caused great sorrow, for he 
was one beloved l)y all. 

Three years afler his burial, the Ottawas, hunting 
in the vicinity of his grave, determined to carry 
his bones to the mission at their home, in accor- 
dance with an ancient custom of their tribe. Hav- 
ing opened the grave, at whose head a cross had 
been ]ilanted, they carefully removed the bones and 



'^ 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



25 



cleaning them, ;\ fiiiiLTul procession of thirty canoes 
bore them to the Mackinaw Mission, singing the 
songs he had taught them. At the shores of the 
mission the bones were received by the priests, and, 
with great ceremony, buried under the floor of the 
rude chapeh 

While Marquette and Joliet were exploring the 
head-waters of the "Great River," another man, 
fearless in purpose, pious in heart, and loyal to 
his country, Avas living in Canada and watching 
the operations of his fellow countrymen with 
keen eyes. When the French first saw the in- 
h()sj)itable shores of the St. Lawrence, in 1535, 
under the lead of Jacques Cartier, and had opened 
a new country to their crown, men were not 
lacking to further extend the discovery. In 1608, 
Champlain came, and at the foot of a cliff on that 
river founded Quebec. Seven years after, he 
brought four Recollet monks ; and through them 
and the Jesuits the discoveries already narrated 
occurred. Champlain died in 1G35, one hundred 
years after Cartier's first visit, but not until he 
had explored the northern lakes as far as Lake 
Huron, on whose rocky shores he, as the progenitor 
of a mighty race to follow, set his feet. He, with 
others, held to the idea that somewhere across the 
country, a river highway extended to the Western 
ocean. The reports from the missions whose 
history has been given aided this belief; and not 
until Marquette and Joliet returned was the delu- 
sion in any way dispelled. Before this was done, 
however, the man to whom reference has been 
made, Robert Cavalier, better known as La Salle, 
had endeavored to solve the mystery, and, while 
living on his grant of land eight miles above 
Montreal, had indeed effected important discoveries. 

La Salle, the next actor in the field of explor- 
ation after Champlain, was born in 1G43. His 
father's family was among the old and wealthy 
burghers of Rouon, France, and its members 
were fre(juently entrusted with important govern- 
mental ])ositions. He early exhibited such traits 
of character as to mark him among his associates. 
Coming from a wealthy family, he enjoyed all the 
advantages of his day, and received, for the times, 
an excellent education. He was a Catholic, 
though his subsequent life docs not prove him 
to have been a religious entluisiast. From some 
cause, he joined the Order of Loyola, but the cir- 
cumscribed sphere of action set for him in the 
order illy concurred with his independent dis- 
position, and led to his separation from it. This 
was effected, liowever, in a good spirit, as they 



considered him fit for a different field of action 
than any presented by the order. Having a 
brother in Canada, a member of the order of St. 
Sulpice, he determined to join him. By his 
connection with the Jesuits he had lost his share 
of his father's estate, but, by some means, on his 
death, which occuiTed about this time, he was 
given a small share; and with this, in 1666, 
he arrived in Montreal. All Canada was alive 
with the news of the explorations; and La 
Salle's mind, actively griLsping the ideas he 
afterward carried out, began to mature plans for 
their perfection. At Montreal he found a semi- 
nary of priests of the St. Sulpice Order who were 
encouraging settlers by grants of land on easy 
tei'ms, hoping to establish a barrier of settlements 
between themselves and the Indians, made ene- 
mies to the French by Champlain's actions when 
founding Quebec. The Superior of the seminary, 
learning of La Salle's arrival, gratuitously offered 
him a grant of land on the St. Lawrence, eight 
miles above Montreal. The grant, though danger- 
ously near the hostile Indians, was accepted, and 
La Salle soon enjoyed an excellent trade in furs. 
While employed in developing his claim, he learned 
of the great unknown route, and burned with a 
desire to solve its existence. He applied himself 
closely to the study of Indian dialects, and in 
three years is said to have made great progress 
in their language. While on his farm his 
thoughts often turned to the unknown land away 
to the west, and, like all men of his day, he 
desired to explore the route to the Western sea, 
and thence obtain an ea.sy trade with China and 
Japan. The " Great River, which flowed to the 
sea," must, thought they, find an outlet in the 
Gulf of California. While nuising on these 
things, Marquette and Joliet were preparing to 
descend the Wisconsin; and La Salle himself 
learned from a wandering band of Senecas that a 
river, called the Ohio, arose in their country and 
flowed to the sea, but at such a distance tlaat it 
would require eight months to reach its mouth. 
This must be the Great River, or a part of it : 
for all geographers of the day considered the 
Mississippi and its tributary as one stream. Plac- 
ing great confidence on this hypothesis. La Salle 
repaired to Quebec to obtain the sanction 
of Gov. Courcelles. His i)lausible statements 
soon won him the Governor and iM. Talon, and 
letters patent were is.sued granting the exploration. 
No pecuniary aid was offered, and La Salle, hav- 
ing expended all his means in improving his 



7~ 



:v 



liL 



26 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



estate, was obliged to sell it to procure the 
necessary outfit. The Superior of the seminary 
being favorably disposed toward him, purchased 
the greater part of his improvement, and realiz- 
ing 2,800 livres, he purchased four canoes and the 
necessary supplies for the expedition. The semi- 
nary was, at the same time, preparing for a similar 
exploration. The priests of this order, emulating 
the Jesuits, had established missions on the north- 
ern shore of Lake Ontario. Hearing of populous 
tribes still further west, they resolved to attempt 
their conversion, and deputized two of their number 
for the purpose. On going to Quebec to procure 
the necessary supplies, they were advised of La 
Salle's expedition down the Ohio, and resolved to 
unite themselves with it. La Salle did not alto- 
gether favor their attempt, as he believed the 
Jesuits already had the field, and would not care 
to have any aid from a rival order. His dispo- 
sition also would not well brook the part they 
assumed, of asking him to be a co-laborer rather 
than a leader. However, the expeditions, merged 
into one body, left the mission on the St. Law- 
rence on the Gth of July, 1G69, in seven canoes. 
The party numbered twenty-four persons, who 
were accompanied by two canoes filled with 
Indians who had visited La Salle, and who now 
acted as guides. Their guides led them up the 
St. Lawrence, over the expanse of Lake Ontario, 
to their village on the banks of the Genesee, 
where they expected to find guides to lead them 
on to the Ohio. As La Salle only partially under- 
stood their language, he was compelled to confer 
with them by means of a Jesuit stationed at the 
village. The Indians refused to furnish him the 
expected aid, and even burned before his eyes a 
prisoner, the only one who could give him any 
knowledge he desired. He surmised the Jesuits 
were at the bottom of the matter, fearful lest the 
disciples of St. Suli)ice should gain a foothold in 
the west. He lingered here a month, with the 
hope of accomphshing his object, when, by chance, 
there came by an Iro(juois Indian, who assured 
them that at his colony, near the head of the lake, 
they could find guides ; and offered to conduct 
them thither. Coming along the southern shore 
of the lake, they pa.ssed, at its western extremity, 
the mouth of the Niagara River, where they heard 
for the first time the thunder of the miuhty cata- 
ract between the two lakes. At the village of the 
Iroquois they met a friendly reception, and were 
informed by a Shawanese prisoner that they could 
reach the Ohio in si.x weeks' time, and that he 



would guide them there. While preparing to 
commence the journey, they heard of the missions 
to the northwest, and tlie priests resolved to go 
there and convert the natives, and find the river 
by that route. It appears that Louis Joliet met 
them here, on his return from visiting the copper 
mines of Lake Superior, under command of M. 
Talon. He gave the priests a map of the country, 
and informed them that the Indians of those 
regions were in great need of spiritual advisers. 
This strengthened their intention, though warned 
by La Salle, that the Jesuits were undoubtedly 
there. The authority for Joliet's visit to them 
here is not clearly given, and may not be true, 
but the same letter which gives the account of 
the discovery of the Ohio at this time by La Salle, 
states it as a fact, and it is hence inserted. The 
missionaries and La Salle separated, the former to 
find, as he had predicted, the followers of Loyola 
already in the field, and not wanting their aid. 
Hence they return from a fruitless tour. 

La Salle, now left to himself and just recovering 
from a violent fever, went on his journey. From 
the paper from which these statements are taken, 
it appears he went on to Onondaga, where he pro- 
cured guides t'o a tributary of the Ohio, down 
which he proceeded to the principal stream, on 
whose bosom he continued his way till lie came to 
the falls at the present city of Louisville, Ky. It 
has been asserted that he went on down to its 
mouth, but that is not well authenticated and is 
hardly true. The statement that he went as far as 
the falls is, doubtless, correct. He states, in a letter 
to Count Frontenac in 1677, that he discovered 
the Ohio, and that he descended it to the falls. 
Moreover, Joliet, in a measure his rival, for he was 
now preparing to go to the northern lakes and 
from them search the river, made two maps repre- 
senting the lakes and the Mi.ssis.sippi, on both of 
which he states that La Salle had discovered the 
Ohio. Of its course beyond the falls, La Salle 
does not seem to have learned anything definite, 
hence his discovery did not in any way settle the 
great fjuestion, and elicited but little connnent. 
Still, it stimulated La Salle to more effort, and 
while musing on his plans, Joliet and Marquette 
push on from Green Bay, and discover the river 
and ascertain the general course of its outlet. On 
Joliet's return in 1G73, he seems to drop from 
further notice. Other and more venturesome souls 
wei'e ready to finish the work begun by himself 
and the zealous Marquette, who, left among the 
far-away nations, laid down his life. The .sj^irit of 



y 



•■^ 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



29 



La Salle was equal to the enterprise, and as he now- 
had returned from one voyage of discovery, he 
stood ready to solve the mystery, and gain the 
country for his King. Before this could be ac- 
complished, however, he saw other things must be 
done, and made preparations on a scale, for the 
time, truly marvelous. 

Count Frontenac, the new Governor, had no 
sooner established himself in power than he gave a 
searching glance over the new realm to see ii' any 
undeveloped resources lay yet unnoticed, and what 
country yet remained open. He learned from the 
exploits of La Salle on the Ohio, and from Joliet, 
now returned from the West, of that immense 
country, and resolving in his mind on some plan 
whereby it could be formally taken, entered 
heartily into the plans of La Salle, who, anxious to 
solve the mystery concerning the outlet of the 
Great Kiver, gave him the outline of a plan, saga- 
cious in its conception and grand in its compre- 
hension. La Salle had also informed him of the 
endeavors of the English on the Atlantic coast to 
diver*- the trade with the Indians, and partly to 
counteract this, were the plans of La Salle adopted. 
They were, briefly, to build a chain of forts from 
Canada, or New France, along the lakes to the 
Mississippi, and on down that river, thereby hold- 
ing the country by power as well as by discovery. 
A fort was to be built on the Ohio as soon as the 
means could be obtained, and thereby hold that 
country by the same policy. Thus to La Salle 
alone may be ascribed the bold plan of gaining the 
whole West, a plan only thwarted by the force of 
arms. Through the aid of Frontenac, he was 
given a proprietary and the rank of nobility, and 
on liis proprietary was erected a fort, which he, in 
honor of his Governor, called Fort Frontenac. It 
stood on the site of the present city of Kingston, 
Canada. Through it he obtained the trade of the 
Five Nations, and his fortune was so far assured. 
He next repaired to France, to perfect his arrange- 
ments, secure his title and obtain means. 

On his return he built the fort alluded to, and 
prepared to go on in the prosecution of his plan. 
A civil discord arose, liowever, which for three 
years prevailed, and seriously threatened his 
projects. As soon as he could extricate himself, 
he again repaired to France, receiving additional 
encouragement in money, grants, and the exclusive 
privilege of a trade in buffalo skins, then consid- 
ered a source of great wealth. On his return, he 
was accompanied by Henry Tonti, son of an illus- 
trious Italian nobleman, who had fled from his 



own country during one of its political revolutions. 
Coming to France, he made himself famous as the 
founder of Tontine Life In.surance. Henry Tonti 
possessed an indomitable will, and though he had 
suffered the loss of one of his hands by the ex- 
plosion of a grenade in one of the Sicilian wars, 
his courage was undaunted, and his ardor un- 
dimmed. La Salle also brought recruits, mechanics, 
sailors, cordage and sai.s 4br rigging a ship, and 
merchandise for tratiSc with the natives. At 
Montreal, he secured the services of M. LaMotte, a 
person of much energy and integrity of character. 
He also secured several missionaries before he 
reached Fort Frontenac. Among them were 
Louis Hennepin, Gabriel Ribourde and Zenabe 
Membre. All these were Flemings, all llecollets. 
Hennepin, of all of them, proved the best assist- 
ant. They arrived at the fort early in the autumn 
of 1678, and preparations were at once made to 
erect a vessel in which to navigate the lakes, and 
a fort at the mouth of the Niagara River. The 
Senecas were rather adverse to the latter proposals 
when La Motte and Hennepin came, but by 
the eloquence of the latter, they were pacified 
and rendered friendly. After a number of vexa- 
tious delays, the vessel, the Griffin, the first on the 
lakes, was built, and on the 7th of August, a year 
after La Salle came here, it was launched, passed 
over the waters of the northern lakes, and, after a 
tempestuous voyage, landed at Green Bay. It was 
soon after stored with furs and sent back, while 
La Salle and his men awaited its return. It was 
never afterward heard of. La Salle, becoming 
impatient, erected a fort, pushed on with a 
part of his men, leaving part at the fort, 
and passed over the St. Joseph and Kankakee 
Rivers, and thence to the Illinois, down whose 
flood they proceeded to Peoria Lake, where 
he was obliged to halt, and return to Canada 
for more men and supplies. He left Tonti 
and several men to complete a fort, called 
Fort " Crevecoeur " — broken-hearted. The Indians 
drove the French away, the men mutinied, and 
Tonti was obliged to flee. When La Salle returned, 
he found no one there, and going down as far as 
the mouth of the Illinois, he retraced his steps, to 
find some trace of his garrison. Tonti was found 
safe among the Pottawatomies at Green Bay, and 
Hennepin and his two folh)wers, sent to explore 
the head-waters of the Mississippi, were again 
home, after a captivity among the Sioux. 

La Salle renewed his force of men, and the third 
time set out for the outlet of the Great River. 



:v 



30 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



He left Canada early in December, 1681, and by 
February (J, 1082, reached the majestic flood of 
the mighty stream. On the 24th, they ascended 
the Chickasaw Bluffs, and, while waiting to find 
a sailor who had strayed away, erected Fort Prud- 
homme. They passed several Indian villages fur- 
ther down the river, in some of which they met 
with no little opposition. Proceeding onward, ere- 
long they encountered the tide of the sea, and 
April (), they emerged on the broad bosom of the 
Gulf, "tossing its restless billows, limitless, voice- 
less and lonely as when born of chaos, without a 
sign of life." 

Coasting about a short time on the shores of 
the Gulf, the party returned until a sufficiently 
dry place was reached to effect a landing. Here 
another cross was raised, also a column, on which 
was inscribed these words: 

" Louis i.e Grand, Roi de France et de Navarre, 
Regne; Le Neuviejie, Avril, 1G82.'" * 

"The whole party," says a "proces verbal," in 
the archives of France, " chanted the Te Deum, 
the Exaudlat and the Dumitie salvum fac Regem^ 
and then after a salute of fire-arms and cries of 
Vive le Roi, La Salle, standing near the column, 
said in a loud voice in French : 

" In the name of the most high, mighty, invin- 
cible and victorious Prince, Louis the Great, by 
the grace of God, King of France and of Navarre, 
Fourteenth of that name, this ninth day of April, 
one thousand six hundred and eighty two, I, in 
virtue of the commission of His Majesty, which I 
hold in my hand, and which may be seen by all 
whom it may concern, have taken, and do now 
take, in the name of His Majesty and of his suc- 
cessors to the crown, possession of this country of 
Louisiana, the seas, harl)or, ports, bays, adjacent 
straights, and all the nations, people, provinces, cities, 
towns, villages, mines, minerals, fisheries, streams 
and rivers, comprised in the extent of said Louisiana, 
from the north of the great river St. Louis, other- 
wise called the Ohio, Alighin, Sipore or Chukago- 
na, and this with the consent of the Chavunons, 
Chickachaws, and other people dwelling therein, 
with whom we have made alliance; as also along 
the river Colbert or Mississippi, and rivers which 
discharge themselves therein from its source beyond 
the Kious or Nadouessious, and this with their 
consent, and with the consent of the Illinois, Mes- 
igameas, Natchez, Koroas, which are the most con- 
siderable nations dwuUiug therein, with whom also 

* Louis the Great, King of France and of Navarre, reigning the 
ninth day of April, lf.b;2. 



we have made alliance, either by ourselves or others 
in our behalf, as far as its mouth at the sea or 
Gulf of Mexico, about the twenty-seventh degree 
of its elevation of the North Pole, and also to the 
mouth of the River of Palms; upon the assurance 
which we have received from all these nations that 
we are the first Europeans who have descended or 
ascended the river Colbert, hereby protesting 
against all those who may in future undertake to 
invade any or all of these countries, peoples or 
lands, to the prejudice of the right of His Majesty, 
acquired by the consent of the nations herein 
named." 

The whole assembly responded with shouts and 
the salutes of fire-arms. The Sieur de La Salle 
caused to be planted at the foot of the column a 
plate of lead, on one side of which was inscribed 
the arms of France and the following Latin inscrip- 
tion: 

Robertvs Cavellier, cvm Domino de Tonly, Legato, 
R. P. Zenobi Membro, RecoUecto, et, Viginti Gallis 
Primos Hoc Flvmeu inde ab ilineorvm Pago, enavigavit, 
ejvsqve ostivin fecit Pervivvna, none Aprilis cio ioc 
LXXXIL 

The whole proceedings were acknowledged be- 
fore La Metaire, a notary, and the conquest was 
considered complete. 

Thus was the foundation of France laid in the 
new republic, and thus did she lay claim to the 
Northwest, which now includes Ohio, and the 
county, whose history this book perpetuates. 

La Salle and his party returned to Canada soon 
after, and again that country, and France itself, 
rang with anthems of exultation. He went on to 
France, where he received the highest honors. 
He was given a fleet, and sailors as well as colon- 
ists to return to the New World by way of a south- 
ern voyage, expecting to find the mouth of the 
Mississippi by an ocean course. Sailing past the 
outlets, he was wrecked on the coast of Texas, and 
in his A"iin endeavors to find the river or return to 
Canada, he became lost on the plains of Arkansas, 
where he, in 1087, was basely murdered by one of 
hisfollowcrs. " Youaredowu now. Grand Bashaw," 
exclaimed his slayer, and despoiling his remains, they 
left them to be devoured by wild beasts. To such 
an ignominious end came this daring, bold adven- 
turer. Alone in the wilderness, he was left, with 
no monument but the vast realm he had discov- 
ered, on whose bosom he was left without cover- 
ing and without protection. 

"For force of will and vast conception; for va- 
rious knowledge, and quick adaptation of his genius 



HiSTOuy OF OHIO. 



31 



to untried circumstances ; for a sublime magnani- 
mity, that resigned itself to the will of Heaven, 
and yet triumphed over affliction by energy of 
purpose and unfaltering hope — he had no superior 
among his countrymen. He had won the affec- 
tions "of the governor of Canada, the esteem of 
Colbert, the confidence of Seignelay, the favor of 
Louis XIV. After the beginning of the coloniza- 
tion of Upper Canada, he perfected the discovery 
of the Mississippi from the Falls of St. Anthony 
to its mouth ; and he will be remembered through 
all time as the father of colonization in the great 
central valley of the West."* 

Avarice, passion and jealousy were not calmed by 
the blood of La Salle. All of his conspiratcirs per- 
ished by ignoble deaths, while only seven of the six- 
teen succeeded in continuing the journey until 
they reached Canada, and thence found their way 
to France. 

Tonti, who had been left at Fort St. Louis, on 
" Starved Rock" on the Illinois, went down in 
search of his beloved commander. Failing to find 
him, he returned and remained here until 1700, 
thousands of miles away from friends. Then he 
went down the Mississippi to join D' Iberville, who 
had made the discovery of the mouth of the Mis- 
sissippi by an ocean voyage. Two years later, he 
went on a mission to the Chickasaws, but of his 
subsequent history nothing is known. 

The West was now in possession of the French. 
La Salle's plans were yet feasible. The period of 
exploration was now over. The great river and 
its outlet was known, and it only remained for that 
nation to enter in and occupy what to many a 
Frenchman was the "Promised Land." Only 
eighteen years had elapsed since Marquette and 
Jolict had descended the river and shown the 
course of its outlet. A spirit, less bold than La 
Salle's would never in so short a time have pene- 
trated for more than a thousand miles an unknown 
wilderness, and solved the mystery of the world. 

When Joutel and his companions reached France 
in 1688, all Europe was on the eve of war. Other 
nations than the French wanted part of the New 
World, and when they saw that nation greedily 
and rapidly accumulating territory there, they en- 
deavored to stay its progress. The league of Augs- 
burg was formed in 1687 by the princes of the Em- 
pire to restrain the ambition of Louis XIV, and 
in 1 688, he began hostilities by the capture of 
Philipsburg. The next year, England, under the 



lead of William III, joined the alliance, and Loui.s 
found himself compelled, with only the aid of the 
Turks, to contend against the united forces of the 
■Empires of England, Spain, Holland, Denmark, 
Sweden and Norway. Yet the tide of battle w^a- 
vered. In 1680, the French were defeated at 
Walcourt, and the Turks at Widin ; but in 1690, 
the French were victorious at Charleroy, and the 
Turks at Belgrade. The next year, and also the 
next, victory inclined to the French, but in 1693, 
Louvois and Luxemberg were dead and Namur 
surrendered to the allies. The war extended to the 
New World, where it was maintained with more 
than equal success by the French, though the En- 
glish population exceeded it more than twenty to one. 
In 1688, the French were estimated at about 
twelve thousand souls in North America, while the 
English were more than two hundred thousand. 
x\t first the war was prosecuted vigorously. In 
1689, De. Ste. Helene and D'Iberville, two of the 
sons of Charles le Morne, crossed the wilderness 
and reduced the English forts on Hudson's Bay. 
But in August of the same year, the Iroquois, the 
hereditary foes of the French, captured and burned 
Montreal. Frontenac, who had gone on an ex- 
pedition against New York by sea, was recalled. 
Fort Frontenac was abandoned, and no French 
posts left in the West between Trois Rivieres and 
Mackinaw, and were it not for the Jesuits the en- 
tire West would now have been abandoned. To 
recover their influence, the French planned three 
expeditions. One resulted in the destruction of 
Schenectady, another, Salmon Falls, and the third, 
Casco Bay. On the other hand. Nova Scotia wa.s 
reduced by the colonies, and an expedition against 
Montreal went as far as to Lake Champlain. where 
it failed, owing to the dissensions of the leaders. 
Another expedition, consisting of twenty-four ves- 
sels, arrived before Quebec, which also failed 
through the incompetency of Sir William Phipps. 
During the succeeding years, various border con- 
flicts occurred, in all of which border scenes of 
savage cruelty and savage ferocity were enacted. 
The peace of Ryswick,"in 1697, closed the war. 
France retained Hudson's Bay, and all the places 
of w^hich she was in possession in 1688; but the 
boundaries of the English and French claims in 
the New V/orld were still unsettled. 

The conclusion of the conflict left the French 
at liberty to pursue their sclieme of colonizatit u 
in the Mississippi Valley. In 169S. D" Iberville 
was sent to the lower province, wliich, erelong, 
was made a separate independency, called Louisiana. 






33 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



Forts were erected on Mobile Bay, and the division 
of the territory between the French and the 
Spaniards was settled. Trouble existed between 
the French and the Chickasaws, ending in the 
cruel deaths of many of the leaders, in the 
fruitless endeavors of the Canadian and Louisi- 
anian forces combining against the Chickasaws. 
For many years the conflict raged, with unequal 
successes, until the Indian p(.)wcr gave way before 
superior military tactics. In the end, New Orleans 
wtis founded, in 1718, and the French power 
secured. 

Before this was consummated, however, France 
became entangled in another war against the 
allied powers, ending in her defeat and the loss 
of Nova Scotia, Hudson's Bay and Newfound- 
land. The peace of Utrecht closed the war 
in 1713. 

The French, weary with prolonged strife, 
adopted the plan, more peaceful in its nature, of 
giving out to distinguished men the monopoly of 
certain districts in the fur trade, the most pros- 
perous of any avocation then. Crozat and 
Cadillac — the latter the founder of Detroit, in 
1701 — were the chief ones concerned in this. 
The founding of the villages of Kaskaskia, Ca- 
hokia, Vincennes, and others in the Mississippi 
and Wabash Valleys, led to the rapid develop- 
ment, according to the French custom of all 
these parts of the West, while along all the chief 
water-courses, other trading posts and forts were 
established, rapidly fulfilling the hopes of La 
Salle, broached so many years before. 

The French had, at the beginning of the 
eighteenth century, four principal routes to their 
western towns, two of whicli passed over the soil 
of Ohio. The first of these was the one followed 
by Marcjuette and Joliot, by way of the Lakes to 
Green Bay, in Wisconsin; thence across a portage 
to the Wisconsin River, down which they floated 
to the Mississippi. On their return they came 
up the Illinois River, to the site of Chicago, 
whence Joliet returned to Quebec by the Lakes. 
La Salle's route was first by the Lakes to the St. 
Joseph's River, whicli he followed to the portage 
to the Kankakee, and thence downward to the 
Mississippi. On his second and third attempt, 
he crossed the lower peninsula of Michigan to 
the Kankakee, and again traversed its waters to 
the Illinois. The third route was established 
about 171(!. It followed the southern shores of 
Lake Erie to the mouth of the Maumee River; 
following this stream, the voyagers went on to the 



junction between it and the St. Mary's, which 
they followed to the"Oubache" — Wabash — and 
then to the French villages in Vigo and Knox 
Counties, in Indiana. Vincennes was the oldest 
and most important one here. It had been 
founded in 1702 by a French trader, and was, at 
the date of the establishment of the third route, 
in a prosperous condition. For many years, the 
traders crossed the plains of Southern Illinois to 
the French towns on the bottoms opposite St. 
Louis. They were afraid to go on down the 
"Waba" to the Ohio, as the Indians had fright- 
ened them with accounts of the great monsters 
below. Finally, some adventvirous spirit went 
down the river, found it emptied into the Ohio, 
and solved the problem of the true outlet of the 
Ohio, heretofore supposed to be a tributary of the 
Wabash. 

The fourth route was from the southern shore 
of Lake Erie, at Presqueville, over a portage of 
fifteen miles to the head of French Creek, at 
Waterford, Penn.; thence down that stream to the 
Ohio, and on to the Mississippi. Along all these 
routes, ports and posts were carefully maintained. 
Many were on the soil of Ohio, and were the first 
attempts of the white race to possess its domain. 
Many of the ruins of these posts are yet found on 
the southern shore of Lake Erie, and at the 
outlets of streams flowing into the lake and the Ohio 
River. The principal forts were at Mackinaw, at 
Presqueville, at the mouth of the St. Joseph's, on 
Starved Rock, and along the Father of Waters. 
Yet another power was encroaching on them : a 
sturdy race, clinging to the inhospitable Atlantic 
shores, were coming over the mountains. The 
murmurs of a conflict were already heard — a con- 
flict that would change the fate of a nation. 

The French were extending their explorations 
beyond the Mississippi; they were also forming a 
political organization, and increasing their influence 
over the natives. Of a passive nature, however, 
their power and their influence could not with- 
stand a more aggressive nature, and they were 
obliged, finally, to give way. They had the 
fruitful valleys of the West more than a century; 
yet they developed no resources, opened no mines 
of wealth, and left the country as passive as they 
found it. 

Of the growth of the West under French rule, 
but little else remains to be said. The sturdy 
Anglo-Saxon race on the Atlantic coast, and their 
progenitors in England, began, now, to turn their 
attention to this vast country. The voluptuousness 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



33 



of the French court, their neglect of the true 
basis of wealth, agriculture, and the repressive 
tendencies laid on the colonists, led the latter to 
adopt a hunter's life, and leave the country unde- 
veloped and ready for the people who claimed the 
country from "sea to sea." Their explorers were 
now at work. The change was at hand. 

Occasional mention has been made in the his- 
tory of the State, in preceding pages, of settle- 
ments and trading-posts of the French traders, 
explorers and missionaries, within the limits of 
Ohio. The French were the first white men to 
occupy the northwestern part of the New World, 
and though their stay was brief, yet it opened the 
way to a sinewy race, living on the shores of the 
Atlantic, who in time came, saw, and conquered 
that part of America, making it what the people 
of to-day enjoy. 

As early as 1GG9, four years before the discov- 
ery of the Mississippi by Joliet and Marquette, 
La Salle, the famous explorer, discovered the Ohio 
River, and paddled down its gentle current as far 
as the falls at the present city of Louisville, but he, 
like others of the day, made no settlement on its 
banks, only claiming the country for his King by 
virtue of this discovery. 

Early in the beginning of the eighteenth cent- 
ury, French traders and voyagers passed along the 
southern shores of Lake Erie, to the mouth of the 
Maumee, up whose waters they rowed their bark 
canoes, on their way to their outposts in the Wa- 
bash and Illinois Valleys, established between 
1G75 and 1700. As soon as they could, without 
danger from their inveterate enemies, the Iroquois, 
masters of all the lower lake country, erect a 
trading-post at the mouth of this river, they did 
so. It was made a depot of considerable note, 
and was, probably, the first permanent habitation 
of white men in Ohio. It remained until after 
the peace of IT Go, the termination of the French 
and Indian war, and the occupancy of this country 
by the English. On the site of the French trading- 
post, the British, in 1794, erected Fort IMiami, 
which they garrisoned until the country came 
under the control of Americans. Now, Maumee 
City covers the gi'ound. 

The French had a trading-post at the mouth of 
the Huron River, in what is now Erie County. 
When it was built is not now known. It was, how- 
ever, probably one of their early outposts, and 
may have been built before 1750. They had an- 
other on the shore of the bay, on or near the site 
of Sandusky City. Both this and the one at the 



mouth of the Huron River were abandoned before 
the war of the Revolution. On Lewis Evan's map 
of the British Middle Colonies, published in 1755, 
a French fort, called " Fort Junandat, built in 
1754," is marked on the east bank of the San- 
dusky River, several miles below its mouth. Fort 
Sandusky, on the western bank, is also noted. 
Several Wyandot towns are likewise marked. But 
very little is known concerning any of these 
trading-posts. They were, evidently, only temjjo- 
rary, and were abandoned when the English came 
into possession of the country. 

The mouth of the Cuyahoga River was another 
important place. On Evan's map there is marked 
on the west bank of the Cuyahoga, some distance 
from its mouth, the words '■^French Housed'' doubt- 
less, the station of a French trader. The ruins 
of a house, found about five miles fi-om the mouth 
of the river, on the west bank, are supposed to 
be those of the trader's station. 

In 17SG, the Moravian missionary, Zeisberger, 
with his Indian converts, left Detroit in a vessel 
called the Mackinaw, and sailed to the mouth of 
the Cuyahoga. From there they went up the 
river about ten miles, and settled in an abandoned 
Ottawa village, where Independence now is, which 
place they called " Sainfs Rest." Their stay was 
brief, for the following April, they left for the 
Huron River, and settled near the site of Milan, 
Ei'ie County, at a locality they called New Salem. 

There are but few records of settlements made 
by the French until after 1750. Even these can 
hardly be called settlements, as they were simply 
trading-posts. The French easily afiiliated with 
the Indians, and had little energy beyond trading. 
They never cultivated fields, laid low forest^i, and 
subjugated the country. They wore a half-Indian 
race, so to speak, and hence did little if anything 
in developing the West. 

About 1749, some English traders came to a 
place in what is now Shelby County, on the 
banks of a creek since known as Loramie's 
Creek, and established a trading-station with the 
Indians. This was the first English trading-place 
or attempt at settleiuent in the State. It was here 
but a short time, however, when the French, hear- 
ing of its existence, sent a party of soldiers to the 
Twigtwecs, among whom it was founded, and de- 
manded the traders as intruders upon French ter- 
ritory. The Twigtwees refusing to deliver up 
their friends, the French, assisted by a large party 
of Ottawas and Chippewas, attacked the trading- 
house, probably a block-house, and, after a severe 



V 



J> ^ 



34 



IIISTOllY OF OHIO. 



battle, captiircil it. Tlie traders wore taken to 
Canada. This 11 -rt was called by the En<;lisli 
'• Pickawillany," from which '•Pitjiia" is probably 
derived. About the time that Kentucky was set- 
tled, a Canadian Frenchman, named Lorami', 
established a store on the site of the old fort, lie 
was a bitter enemy of the Americans, and for a 
long time Loramie's store was the headquarters of 
mischief toward the settlers. 

The French had the faculty of endearing them- 
selves to the Indians by their easy assimilation of 
their habits; and, no doubt, Loramie was equal to 
any in this respect, and hence gained great influ- 
ence over them. Col. Johnston, many years an 
Indian iVgcnt from the United States among the 
"Western tribes, stated that he had often seen the 
" Indians burst into tears when speaking of the 
times when their French father had dominion 
over them ; and their attachment always remained 
unabated." 

80 much influence had Loramie with the In- 
dians, that, when Gen. Clarke, from Kentucky, 
invaded the Miami Valley in 1782, his attention 
was attracted to the spot. lie came on and burnt 
the Indian settlement here, and destroyed the store 
of the Frenchman, selling his goods among the 
m?n at auction. Loramie fled to the Shawanees, 
and, with a colony of that nation, emigrated west 
of the Mississippi, to the Spanish possessions, 
where he again began his life of a trader. 

In 170 1, during the Indian war, a fort was 
built on the site of the store by Wayne, and 
named Fort Loramie. The last ofiiccr who had 
command here was Capt. Butler, a nephew of 
Col. Kichard Butler, who fell at St. Clair's defeat. 
While here with his family, he lost an interesting 
boy, about eight years of age. About his grave, 
the sorrowing father and mother built a substantial 
picket-fence, planted honeysuckles over it, which, 
long after, remained to mark the grave of the 
soldier's boy. 

The site of Fort Loramie was always an im- 
portant point, and was one of the places defined 
on the boundary line at the Greenville treaty. 
Now a barn covers the spot. 

At the junction of the Auglaize and 3Iaumee 
Rivers, on the site of Fort Defiance, built by Gen. 
Wayne in 1794, was a settlement of traders, 
established some time before the Indian war 
began. "On the high ground extending from the 
Maumee a quarter of a mile up the Auglaize, 
about two Imndred yards in width, was an open 
space, on the west and south of which were oak 



woods, with hazel undergrowth. Within this 
opening, a few hundred yards above the point, on 
the steep bank of the Auglaize, were five or six 
cabins and log houses, inhabited principally by 
Indian traders. The most northerly, a large 
hewed-log house, divided below into three apart- 
ments, was occupied as a warehouse, store and 
dwelling, by George Ironside, the most wealthy 
and influendal of the traders on the point. Next 
to his were the houses of Pirault (Pero) a French 
baker, and McKenzie, a Scot, who, in addition to 
merchandising, followed the occupation of a silver- 
smith, exchanging with the Indians his brooches, 
ear-drops and other silver ornaments, at an 
enormous profit, for skins and furs. 

Still further up were several other fami- 
lies of French and English; and two Ameri- 
can prisoners, Henry Ball, a soldier taken in St. 
Clair's defeat, and his wife, Polly Meadows, 
captured at the same time, were allowed to live 
here and pay their masters the price of their 
ransom — he, by boating to the rapids of the Mau- 
mee, and she by washing and sewing. Fronting 
the house of Ironside, and about fifty yards from 
the bank, was a small stockade, inclosing two 
hewed-log houses, one of which was occupied by 
James Girty (a brother of Simon\ the other, 
occasionally, by Elliott and McKee, British 
Indian Agents living at Detroit."* 

The post, cabins and all they contained fell 
under the control of the Americans, when the 
British evacuated the shores of the lakes. 
While they existed, they were an undoubted 
source of Indian discontent, and had much to do 
in prolonging the Indian war. The country 
hereabouts did not settle until some time after 
the creation of the State government. 

As soon as the Frc^nch learned the true source 
of the Oliio and Wabash Bivers, both were made 
a highway to convey the products of their hunt- 
ers. In coursing down the Ohio, they made 
trading-places, or depots, where they could obtain 
furs of the Indians, at accessible points, genei'ally 
at the mouths of the rivers emptying into the 
Ohio. One of these old forts or trading-places 
stood about a mile and a half south of the outlet 
of the Scioto. It was here in 17-40; but when 
it was erected no one could tell. The locality 
must have been pretty well known to the whites, 
however; for, in 1785, three years before the 
settlement of IMarietta was made, four families 

♦Narrativo of 0. M.Spencer. 



:V 



HISTORY or OHIO. 



35 



made an ineffectual attempt to settle near the same 
place. They were from Kentucky, but were 
driven away by the Indians a short time after 
they arrived, not being allowed to build cabins, 
and had only made preparations to plant corn 
and other necessaries of life. While the men 
were encamped near the vicinity of Piketown, 
in Pike County, when on a hunting expedition, 
they were surprised by the Indians, and two of 
them slain. The others hastened back to the 
encampment at the mouth of the Scioto, and 
hurriedly gathering the families together, fortu- 
nately got them on a flat-boat, at that hour on its 
way down the river. By the aid of the boat, 
they were enabled to reach Maysville, and gave 
up the attempt to settle north of the Ohio. 

The famous "old Scioto Salt Works," in Jack- 
son County, on the banks of Salt Creek, a tributary 
of the Scioto, were long known to the whites before 
any attempt was made to settle in Ohio. They 
were indicated on the maps published in 1755. 
They were the resort, for generations, of the In- 
dians in all parts of the West, who annually came 
here to make salt. They often brought white 
prisoners with them, and thus the salt works be- 
came known. There were no attempts made to 
settle here, however, until after the Indian war, 
which closed in 1795. As soon as peace was as- 
sured, the whites came here for salt, and soon after 
made a settlement. Another early salt spring 
was in what is now Trumbull County. It is also 
noted on Evan's map of 1755. They were occu- 
pied by the Indians, French, and by the Americans 
as early as 1780, and perhaps earlier. 

As early as 1761 Moravian missionaries came 
among the Ohio Indians and began their labors. 
In a few years, under the lead of Revs. Fredrick 
Post and John Heckewelder, permanent stations 
were established in several parts of the State, chief- 
ly on the Tuscarawas River in Tuscarawas County. 
Here. were the three Indian villages — Shoenburn, 
Gnadenhutten and Salem. The site of the first is 
about two miles south of New Philadelphia ; Gna- 
denhutten was seven miles further south, and about 
five miles still on was Salem, a short distance from 
the present village of Port Washington. The first 
and last named of these villages were on the west 
side of the Tuscarawas River, near the margin of 
the Ohio Canal. Gnadenhutten was on the east 
side of the river. It wa's here that the brutal 
massacre of these Christian Indians, by the rangers 
under Col. Williamson, occurred March 8, 1782. 
The account of the massacre and of these tribes 



appears in these pages, and it only remains to 
notice what became of them. 

The hospitable and friendly character of these 
Indians had extended beyond their white breth- 
ren og the Ohio. The American people at large 
looked on the act of Williamson and his men as an 
outrage on humanity. Congress felt its influence, 
and gave them a tract of twelve thousand acres, 
embracing their former homes, and induced them 
to return from the northern towns whither they had 
fled. As the whites came into the country, their 
manners degenerated until it became necessary to 
remove them. Through Gen. Cass, of IMichigan, 
an agreement was made with them, whereby Con- 
gress paid them over $6,000, an annuity of $400, 
and 2-1,000 acres in some territory to be designated 
by the United States. This treaty, by some means, 
was never effectually carried out, and the princi- 
pal part of them took up their residence near a 
Moravian missionary station on the River Thames, 
in Canada. Their old churchyard still exists on 
the Tuscarawas River, and here rest the bones of 
several of their devoted teachers. It is proper 
to remark here, that Mary Heckewelder, daughter 
of the missionary, is generally believed to have 
been the first white child born in Ohio. How- 
ever, this is largely conjecture. Captive women 
among the Indians, before the birth of Mary 
Heckewelder, are known to have borne children, 
which afterward, with their mothers, were restored 
to their friends. The assertion that Mary 
Heckewelder was the first child born in Ohio, is 
therefore incorrect. She is the first of whom any 
definite record is made. 

These outposts are about all that are known 
to have existed prior to the settlement at Mari- 
etta. About one-half mile below Bolivar, on 
the western fine of Tuscarawas County, are the 
remains of Fort Laurens, erected in 1778, by 
a detachment of 1,000 men under Gen. Mc- 
intosh, from Fort Pitt. It was, however, occu- 
pied but a short time, vacated in Augaist, 1779, as 
it was deemed untenable at such a distance from 
the frontier. 

During the existence of the six years' Indian 
war, a settlement of French emigrants was made 
on the Ohio River, that deserves notice. It illus- 
trates very clearly the extreme ignorance and 
credulity prevalent at that day. In ]May or June 
of 1788, Joel Barlow left this country for Europe, 
" authorized to dispose of a very large body of 
land in the West. " In 1790, he distributed pro- 
posals in Paris for the disposal of lands at five 



T 



•66 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



shillings per acre, -which, says Volney, " promised 
a eUmate healthy and delightful ; scarcely such a 
thing as a frost in the winter ; a river, called by 
way of eminence ' The Beautiful, ' abounding in 
fish of an enormous size ; magnificent forests of a 
tree from which sugar flows, and a shrub which 
yields candles ; venison in abundance ; no military 
enrollments, and no quarters to find for soldiers." 
Purchasers became numerous, individuals and 
whole families sold their property, and in the 
course of 1791 many embarked at the various 
French sea-ports, each with his title in his pocket. 
Five hundred settlers, among whom were many 
wood carvers and guilders to His Majesty, King of 
France, coachmakers, friseurs and peruke makers, 
and other artisans and arfisfes, ecjually well fitted 
for a frontier life, arrived in the United States in 
1791-92, and acting without concert, traveling 
without knowledge of the language, customs and 
roads, at last managed to reach the spot designated 
for their residence. There they learned they had 
been cruelly deceived, and that the titles they held 
were woi'thless. Without food, shelterless, and 
danger closing around them, they were in a position 
that none but a Frenchman could be in without 
despair. Who brought them thither, and who was 
to blame, is yet a disputed point. Some afiirm 
that those to whom large gi'ants of land were made 
when the Ohio Company procured its charter, were 
the real instigators of the movement. They failed 
to pay for their lands, and hence the title reverted 
to the Government. This, coming to the ears of 
the poor Frenchmen, rendered their situation more 
distressing. They never paid for their lands, and 
only through the clemency of Congress, who after- 
ward gave them a grant of land, and confirmed 
them in its title, were they enabled to secure a foot- 
hold. Whatever doubt there may be as to the 



causes of these people being so grossly deceived, 
there can be none regarding their sufferings. They 
had followed a jack-o-lantern into the howling 
wilderness, and must work or starve. The land 
upon which they had been located was covered 
with immense forest trees, to level which the coach- 
makers were at a loss. At last, hoping to conquer 
by a coup de main, they tied ropes to the branches, 
and while a dozen pulled at them as many fell at 
the trunk with all sorts of edged tools, and thus 
soon brought the monster to the earth. Yet he 
was a burden. He was down, to be sure, but as 
much in the way as ever. Several lopped off the 
branches, others dug an immense trench at his side, 
into which, with might and main, all rolled the 
large log, and then buried him from sight. They 
erected their cabins in a cluster, as they had seen 
them in their own native land, thus affording some 
protection from marauding bands of Indians. 
Though isolated here in the lonely wilderness, and 
nearly out of funds with which to purchase pro- 
visions from descending boats, yet once a w'eek 
they met and drowned care in a merry dance, 
greatly to the wonderment of the scout or lone 
Indian who chanced to witness their revelry. 
Though their vivacity could work wonders, it would 
not pay for lands nor buy provisions. Some of those 
at Gallipolis (for such they called their settlement, 
from Gallia, in France) went to Detroit, some to 
Kaskaskia, and some bought land of the Ohio 
Company, who treated them liberally. Congress, 
too, in 1795, being informed of their sufferings, 
and how they had been deceived, granted them 
24,000 acres opposite Little Sandy River, to which 
grant, in 1798, 12,000 acres more were added. 
The tract has since been known as French Grant. 
The settlement is a curious episode in early West- 
ern history, and deserves a place in its annals. 




7" 



:t 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



37 



'.I. 



ENGLISH EXPLORATIONS —TRADERS 



CHAPTER III. 

-FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR IN THE WEST — ENGLISH 

POSSESSION. 



AS has been noted, the French title rested on 
the discoveries of their missionaries and 
traders, upon the occupation of the country, and 
upon the construction of the treaties of Ryswick, 
Utrecht and Aix la Chapelle. The English 
claims to the same region were based on the fact 
of a prior occupation of the corresponding coast, 
on an opposite construction of the same treaties, 
and an alleged cession of the rights of the 
Indians. The rights acquired by discovery were 
conventional, and in equity were good only 
between European powers, and could not aflFect the 
rights of the natives, but this distinction was dis- 
regarded by all European powers. The inquiry of 
an Indian chief embodies the whole controversy: 
" Where are the Indian lands, since the French 
claim all on the north side of the Ohio and the 
English all on the south side of it?" 

The English charters expressly granted to all 
the original colonies the country westward to the 
South Sea, and the claims thus set up in the West, 
though held in abeyance, were never relinquished. 
The primary distinction between the two nations 
governed their actions in the New World, and led 
finally to the supremacy of the English. They 
were fixed agricultural communities. The French 
were mere trading-posts. Though the French 
were the prime movers in the exploration of the 
West, the English made discoveries during their 
occupation, however, mainly by their traders, who 
penetrated the Western wilderness by way of the 
Ohio River, entering it from the two streams which 
uniting form that river. Daniel Coxie, in 1722, 
published, in London, "A description of the 
English province of Carolina, by the Spaniards 
called Florida, and by the French called La Louis- 
iane, as also the great and famous river Mescha- 
cebe, or Mississippi, the five vast navigable lakes 
of fresh water, and the parts adjacent, together 
with an account of the commodities of the growth 
and production of the said province." The title 
of this work exhibits very clearly the opinions of 
the English people respecting the West. As early 
as IGoO, Charles I granted to Sir Robert Heath 
"All that part of America lying between thirty- 



one and thirty-six degrees north latitude, from sea 
to sea," out of which the limits of Carolina were 
afterward taken. This immense grant was con- 
veyed in 1638, to the Earl of Arundel, and after- 
ward came into the possession of Dr. Daniel Coxie. 
In the prosecution of this claim, it appeared that 
Col. Wood, of Virginia, from 1G5-4 to 1664, ex- 
plored several branches of the Ohio and "Mescha- 
cebe," as they spell the Mississippi. A Mr. Need- 
ham, who was employed by Col. Wood, kept a 
journal of the exploration. There is also the ac- 
count of some one who had explored the Missis- 
sippi to the Yellow, or Missouri River, before 1676. 
These, and others, are said to have been there 
when La Salle explored the outlet of the Great 
River, as he found tools among the natives which 
were of European manufacture. They had been 
brought here by English adventurers. Also, when 
Iberville was colonizing the lower part of Louis- 
iana, these same persons visited the Chickasaws 
and stirred them up against the French. It is also 
stated that La Salle found that some one had been 
among the Natchez tribes when he returned from 
the discovery of the outlet of the iMississippi, and 
excited them against him. There is, however, no 
good authority for these statements, and they are 
doubtless incorrect. There is also an account that 
in 1678, several persons went from New England 
as far south as New Mexico, '' one hundred and 
fifty leagues beyond the Meschacebe," the narrative 
reads, and on their return wrote an account of the 
expedition. This, also, cannot be traced to good 
authority. The only accurate account of the 
English reaching the West was when Bienville 
met the British vessel at the "English Turn," 
about 1700. A few of their traders may have 
been in the valley west of the Alleghany IMount- 
ains before 1700, though no reliable accounts are 
now found to confirm these suppositions. Still, 
from the earliest occupation of the Atlantic Coast 
by the English, they claimed the country, and, 
though the policy of its occupation rested for a 
time, it was never fully abandoned. Its revival 
dates from 1710 properly, though no immediate 
endeavor was made for many years after. That 



"^ 



38 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



year, Alexander Spottswood was made Governor of 
Virginia. No sooner did he assume the functions 
of ruler, than, casting his eye over his dominion, he 
saw the great West beyond the Alleghany Mount- 
ains unoccupied by the English, and rapidly filling 
with the French, who he observed were gradually 
confining the English to the Atlantic Coast. His 
prophetic eye saw at a glance the animus of the 
whole scheme, and he determined to act promptly 
on the defensive. Through his representation, the 
Virginia Assembly was induced to make an appro- 
priation to defray the expense of an exploration of 
the mountains, and see if a suitable pass could not 
then be found where they could be crossed. The 
Governor led the expedition in person. The pass 
was discovered, a route marked out for future em- 
igrants, and the party returned to Williamsburg. 
There the Governor established the order of the 
"Knights of the Golden Horseshoe," presented 
his report to the Colonial Assembly and one to his 
King. In each report, he exposed with great bold- 
ness the scheme of the French, and advised the 
building of a chain of forts across to the Ohio, and 
the formation of settlements to counteract them. 
The British Government, engrossed with other 
matters, neglected his advice. Forty years after, 
they remembered it, only to regi'et that it was so 
thoughtlessly disregarded. 

Individuals, however, profited by his advice. By 
1730, traders began in earnest to cross the mount- 
ains and gather from the Indians the stores beyond. 
They now began to adopt a system, and abandoned 
the heretofore renegade habits of those who had 
superseded them, many of whom never returned to 
the Atlantic Coast. In 1742, John Howard de- 
scended the Ohio in a skin canoe, and, on the 
Mississippi was taken prisoner by the French. His 
captivity did not in the least deter others from 
coming. Indeed, the date of his voyage was the 
commencement of a vigorous trade with the In- 
dians by the English, who crossed the Alleghanies 
by the route discovered by Gov. Spottswood. In 
1748, Conrad Weiscr, a German of Herenberg, who 
had acquired in early life a knowledge of the Mo- 
hawk tongue by a residence among them, was sent 
on an embassy to the Shawanees on the Ohio. He 
went as flir as Logstown,a Shawanee village on the 
north bank of the Ohio, about seventeen miles be- 
low the site of Pittsburgh. Here he met the chiefs 
in counsel, and secured their promise of aid against 
the French. 

The principal ground of the claims of the 
English in the Northwest was the treaty with the 



Five Nations — the Iroquois. This powerful confed- 
eration claimed the jurisdiction over an immense 
extent of country. Their policy differed considera- 
bly from other Indian tribes. They were the only 
confederation which attempted any form of gov- 
ernment in America. They were often termed the 
'• Six Nations," as the entrance of another tribe 
into the confederacy made that number. They 
were the coni juerors of nearly all tribes from Lower 
Canada, to and beyond the Mississippi. They only 
exacted, however, a tribute from the conquered 
tribes, leaving them to manage their own internal 
affairs, and stipulating that to them alone did the 
right of cession belong. Their country, under 
these claims, embraced all of America north of the 
Cherokee Nation, in Virginia; all Kentucky, and 
all the Northwest, save a district in Ohio and Indi- 
ana, and a small section in Southwestern Illinois, 
claimed by the Miami Confederacy. The Iroquois, 
or Six Nations, were the terror of all other tribes. 
It was they who devastated the Illinois country 
about Rock Fort in 1680, and caused wide-spread 
alarm among all the Western Indians. In 1(184, 
Lord Howard, Governor of Virginia, held a treaty 
with the Iroquois at Albany, when, at the request 
of Col. Duncan, of New York, they placed them- 
selves under the protection of the English. They 
made a deed of sale then, by treaty, to the British 
Government, of a vast tract of country south and 
east of the Illinois Eiver, and extending into Can- 
ada. In 172G, another deed was drawn up and 
signed by the chiefs of the national confederacy by 
which their lands were conveyed in trust to 
England, " to be protected and defended by His 
Majesty, to and for the use of the grantors and 
their heirs."* 

If the Six Nations had a good claim to the West- 
ern country, there is but little doubt but England 
was justified in defending their country against the 
French, as, by the treaty of Utrecht, they had 
agreed not to invade the lands of Britain's Indian 
allies. This claim was vigorously contested by 
France, as that country claimed the Iroquois had 
no lawful jurisdiction over the West. In all the 
disputes, the interests of the contending nations 
was, however, the paramount consideration. The 
rishts of the Indians were little resjarded. 

The British also purchased land by the treaty 
of Lancaster, in 1744, wherein they agreed to pay 
the Six Nations for land settled unlawfully in 
Pennsylvania, Virginia and Maryland. The In- 

* Annals of the Weat. 



71 



'■^ 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



39 



dians were given goods and gold amounting to 
near a thousand pounds sterling. They were also 
promised the protection of the English. Had this 
latter provision heeu faithfully carried out, much 
blood would have been saved in after years. The 
treaties with the Six Nations were the real basis 
of the claims of Great Britain to the West; claims 
that were only settled by war. The Shawanee In- 
dians, on the Ohio, were also becoming hostile to 
the English, and began to assume a threatening 
exterior. Peter Chartier, a half-breed, residing in 
Philadelphia, escaped from the authorities, those 
by whom he was held for a violation of tlie laws, 
and joining the Shawanees, persuaded them to join 
the French. Soon after, in 1743 or 1744, he 
placed himself at the head of 400 of their war- 
riors, and lay in wait on the Alleghany River for 
the provincial traders. He captured two, exhib- 
ited to them a captain's commission from the 
French, and seized their goods, worth £1,600. 
The Indians, after this, emboldened by the aid 
given them by the French, became more and more 
hostile, and Weiser was again sent across the mount- 
ains in 1748, with presents to conciliate them and 
sound them on their feelings for the rival nations, 
and also to see what they thought of a settlement 
of the English to be made in the West. The visit 
of Conrad Weiser was successful, and Thomas Lee, 
with twelve other Virginians, among whom were 
Lawrence and Augustine Washington, brothers of 
George Washington, formed a company which 
they styled the Ohio Company, and, in 1748, peti- 
tioned the King for a grant beyond the mountains. 
The monarch approved the petition and the gov- 
ernment of Virginia was ordered to grant the Com- 
pany 500,000 acres within the bounds of that 
colony beyond the AUeghanies, 200,000 of which 
were to be located at once. This provision was to 
hold good for ten years, free of quit rent, provided 
the Company would settle 100 families within 
seven years, and build a fort sufficient for their 
protection. These terms the Company accepted, 
and sent at once to London for a cargo suitable for 
the Indian trade. Tins was the beginning of 
English Companies in the West; this one forming 
a prominent part in the history of Ohio, as will 
be seen hereafter. Others were also formed in 
Virginia, whose object was the colonization of the 
West. One of these, the Loyal Company, received, 
on the 12th of June, 1749, a grant of 800,000 
acres, from the line of Canada on the north and 
west, and on the 29th of October, 1751, the Green- 
briar Company received a grant of 100,000 acres. 



To these encroachments, the French were by no 
means blind. They saw plainly enough that if 
the English gained a foothold in the West, they 
would inevitably endeavor to obtain the country, 
and one day the issue could only be decided by 
war. Vaudreuil, the French Governor, had long 
anxiously watched the coming struggle. In 1774, 
he wrote home representing the consequences that 
would surely come, should the English succeed in 
their plans. The towns of the French in Illinois 
were producing large amounts of bread-stuffs and 
provisions which they sent to New Orleans. These 
provinces were becoming valuable, and must not be 
allowed to come under control of a rival power. 
In 1749, Louis Celeron was sent by the Governor 
with a party of soldiers to plant leaden plates, suit- 
ably inscribed, along the Ohio at the mouths of 
the principal streams. Two of these plates were 
afterward exhumed. One was sent to the jNIary- 
land Historical Society, and the inscription* deci- 
phered by De Witt Clinton. On these plates was 
clearly stated the claims of France, as will be seen 
from the translation below. 

{England's claim, briefly and clearly stated, read 
as follows: "That all lands, or countries west- 
ward from the Atlantic Ocean to the South Sea, 
between 48 and 34 degrees of North Latitude, 
were expressly included in the grant of King 
James the First, to divers of his subjects, so long 
time since as the year 1606, and afterwards con- 
firmed in the year 1620; and under this grant, 
the colony of Virginia claims extent so far west 
as the South Sea, and the ancient colonies of Mass- 
achusetts Bay and Connecticut, were by their 
respective charters, made to extend to the said 
South Sea, so that not only the right to the sea 
coast, but to all the Inland countries from sea to 
sea, lias at all times been asserted by the Crown of 
England. "f 

To make good their titles, both nations were now 
doing their utmost. Professedly at peace, it only 
needed a torch applied, as it were, to any point, to 
instantly precipitate hostilities. The French were 

* The following is tho translation of the inscription of the plate 
found at Venango: " In the year 1749, reign of Louis XV, King of 
France, we, Celeron, commandant of a detachment by Monsieur 
the Marquis of Gallisoniere, Commander-in-chief of New France, 
to establisli tranquillity in certain Indian villages in these Cantons, 
have buried this i)late at the confluence of the Toraclakoin, (hia 
twenty-ninth ot July, near the River Ohio, otherwise lieautiful 
River, as a monument of renewal of possession which we have taken 
of tho said river, and all its tributaries; and of all the land on both 
sides, as far as the sources of said rivers; inasm\ich as the preceding 
Kings of France have enjoyed it, and maintained it by th'dr arms 
and by treaties; especially by those of Ryswick, Utrecht, and Ail 
La Chapelle." 

i Colonial Records of Pennsylvania. 






40 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



busily engaged erecting forts from the southern 
shores of Lake Erie to the Ohio, and on down in 
the TlUnois Valley ; up at Detroit, and at all its 
posts, preparations were constantly going on for the 
crisis, now sure to come. The issue between the 
two governments was now fully made up. It ad- 
mitted of no compromise but the sword. To that, 
however, neither power desired an immediate ap- 
peal, and both sought rather to establish and fortify 
their interests, and to conciliate the Indian tribes. 
The English, through the Ohio Company, sent out 
Christopher Gist in the fall of 1750, to explore the 
regions west of the mountains. He was instructed 
to examine the passes, trace the courses of the 
rivers, mark the falls, seek for valuable lands, ob- 
serve the strength, and to conciliate the friendship 
of the Indian tribes. He was well fitted for such 
an enterprise. Hardy, sagacious, bold, an adept in 
Indian character, a hunter by occupation, no man 
was better qualified than he for such an undertak- 
ing. He visited Logstown, where he was jealously 
received, passed over to the Muskingum River and 
Valley in Ohio, where he found a village of Wyan- 
dots, divided in sentiment. At this village he met 
Crogan, another equally famous frontiersman, who 
had been sent out by Pennsylvania. Together 
they held a council with the chiefs, and received 
assurance of the friendship of the tribe. This 
done, they passed to the Shawnee towns on the 
Scioto, received their assurances of friendship, and 
went on to the jNIiami Valley, which they crossed, 
remarking in Crogan's journal of its great fertili- 
ty. They made a raft of logs on which they 
crossed the Grreat Miami, visited Piqua, the chief 
town of the Pickawillanies, and here made treaties 
with the Weas and Piankeshaws. While here, a 
deputation of the Ottawas visited the Miami Con- 
federacy to induce them to unite with the French. 
They were repulsed through the influence of the 
English agents, the Miamis sending Gist word that 
they would " stand like the mountains. " Crogan 
now returned and pubHshed an account of their 
wanderings. Gist followed the Miami to its 
mouth, passed down the Ohio till within fifteen 
miles of the falls, then returned by way of the 
Kentucky River, over the highlands of Kentucky 
to Virginia, arriving in May, 1751. He had 
visited the Mingoes, Delawares, Wyandots, Shawa- 
nees and Miamis, proposed a union among these 
tribes, and appointed a grand council to meet at 
Logstown to form an alliance among themselves 
and with Virginia. His journey was marvelous 
for the day. It was extremely hazardous, as he 



was part of the time among hostile tribes, who 
could have captured him and been well rewarded 
by the French Government. But Gist knew how 
to act, and was successful. 

While Gist was doing this, some English traders 
established themselves at a place in what is now 
known as Shelby County, Ohio, and opened a 
store for the purpose of trading with the Indians. 
This was clearly in the limits of the West, claimed 
by the French, and at once aroused them to action. 
The fort or stockade stood on the banks of Loramie's 
Creek, about sixteen miles northwest of the present 
city of Sydney. It received the name Loramie 
from the creek by the French, which received 
its name in turn from the French trader of 
that name, who had a trading-post on this 
creek. Loramie had fled to the Spanish country 
west of the Mississippi, and for many years 
was a trader there ; his store being at the junc- 
tion of the Kansas and Missouri, near the present 
city of Kansas City, Mo. When the English 
traders came to Loramie's Creek, and erected 
their trading-place, they gave it the name of Pick- 
awillany, from the tribe of Indians there. The 
Miami confederacy granted them this privilege 
as the result of the presents brought by Crogan and 
Gist. It is also asserted that Andrew Montour, 
a half-breed, son of a Seneca chief and the famous 
Catharine Montour, who was an important fac- 
tor afterward in the English treaties with the 
Indians, was with them, and by his influence did 
much to aid in securing the privilege. Thus was 
established the first English trading-post in the 
Northwest Territory and in Ohio. It, however, 
enjoyed only a short duration. The French could 
not endure so clear an invasion of their country, 
and gathering a force of Ottawas and Chippewas, 
now their allies, they attacked the stockade in 
June, 1752. At first they demanded of the Miamis 
the surrender of the fort, as they were the real 
cause of its location, having granted the English 
the privilege. The Miamis not only refused, but 
aided the British in the defense. In the battle that 
ensued, fourteen of the Miamis were slain, and all 
the traders captured. One account says they were 
burned, another, and j)robably the correct one, 
states that they were taken to Canada as prisoners 
of war. It is probable the traders were fi-om Penn- 
sylvania, as that commonwealth made the Miamis 
presents as condolence for their warriors that were 
slain. 

Blood had now been shed. The opening gun of 
the French and Indian war had been fired, and both 



liL 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



41 



nations became more deeply interested in affairs in 
the West. The English were determined to secure 
additional title to the West, and, in 1752, sent 
Messrs. Fry, Lomax and Patton as commissioners 
to Logstown to treat with the Indians, and confirm 
the Lancaster treaty. They met the Indians on 
the 9th of June, stated their desires, and on the 
11th received their answer. At first, the sav- 
ages were not inclined to recognize the Lancaster 
treaty, but agreed to aid the English, as the French 
had already made war on the Twigtees (at Picka- 
willany), and consented to the establishment of a 
fort and trading-post at the forks of the Ohio. 
This was not all the Virginians wanted, however, 
and taking aside Andrew Montour, now chief of the 
Six Nations, persuaded him to use his influence 
with the red men. By such means, they were in- 
duced to treat, and on the 13th they all united in 
signing a deed, confirming the Lancaster treaty in 
its full extent, consenting to a settlement southwest 
of the Ohio, and covenanting that it should not be 
disturbed by them. By such means was obtained 
the treaty with the Indians in the Ohio Valley. 
All this time, the home governments were en- 
deavoring to out-maneuver each other with regard 
to the lands in the West, though there the outlook 
only betokened war. The French understood bet- 
ter than the English how to manage the Indians, 
and succeeded in attaching them firmly to their 
cause. The English were not honest in their 
actions with them, and hence, in after years, the 
massacres that followed. 

At the close of 1752, Gist was at work, in con- 
formity with the Lancaster and Logstown treaties, 
laying out a fort and town on Chartier's Creek, 
about ten miles below the fork. Eleven families 
had crossed the mountains to settle at Gist's resi- 
dence west of Laurel Hill, not far from the Yough- 
iogheny. Goods had come from England for the 
Ohio Company, which were carried as fir West as 
Will's Creek, where Cumberland now stands ; and 
where they were taken by the Indians and traders. 
On the other hand, the French were gathering 
cannon and stores on Lake Erie, and, without 
treaties or deeds of land, were gaining the good 
will of the inimical tribes, and preparing, when all 
was ready, to strike the blow. Their fortifications 
consisted of a chain of forts from Lake Erie to 
the Ohio, on the border. One was at Presque Isle, 
on the site of Erie ; one on French Creek, on the 
site of Waterford, Penn.; one at the mouth of 
French Creek, in Venango County, Penn.; while 
opposite it was another, effectually commanding 



that section of country. These forts, it will be 
observed, were all in the limits of the Pennsyl- 
vania colony. The Governor informed the Assem- 
bly of their existence, who voted £600 to be used 
in purchasing presents for the Indians near the 
forts, and thereby hold their friendship. Virginia, 
also, took similar measures. Trent was sent, with 
guns and ammunition and presents, to the friendly 
tribes, and, while on his mission, learned of the 
plates of lead planted by the French. In October, 
1753, a treaty was consummated with representa- 
tives of the Iro(i(uois, Delawares, Shawanees, Twig- 
twees and Wyandots, by commissioners from 
Pennsylvania, one of whom was the philosopher 
Franklin. At the conferences held at this time, 
the Indians complained of the actions of the 
French in forcibly taking possession of the dis- 
puted country, and also bitterly denounced them 
for using rum to intoxicate the red men, when 
they desired to gain any advantage. Not long 
after, they had similar grounds of complaint against 
the English, whose lawless traders cared for nothing 
but to gain the furs of the savage at as little ex- 
pense as possible. 

The encroachments of the French on what was 
regarded as English territory, created intense feel- 
ing in the colonies, especially in Virginia. The 
purpose of the French to inclose the English on 
the Atlantic Coast, and thus prevent their extension 
over the mountains, became more and more ap- 
parent, and it was thought that this was the open- 
ing of a scheme already planned by the French 
Court to reduce all North America under the do- 
minion of France. Gov. Dinwiddle determined 
to send an ambassador to the French posts, to as- 
certain their real intentions and to observe the 
amount and disposition of their forces. He selected 
a young Vii'ginian, then in his twenty-first year, 
a surveyor by trade and one well qualified for the 
duty. That young man afterward led the Ameri- 
can Colonies in their struggle for liberty. George 
Washington and one companion, Mr Gist, suc- 
cessfully made the trip, in the solitude of a severe 
winter, received assurance from, the French com- 
mandant that they would by no means abandon 
their outposts, and would not yield unless com- 
pelled by force of arms. The commandant was 
exceedingly polite, but firm, and assured the young 
American that " we claim the country on the Ohio 
by virtue of the discovery of La Salle (in 1669) 
and will not give it up to the English. Our orders 
are to make prisoners of every Englishman found 
trading in the Ohio Valley." 



42 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



During "Washington's absence steps were taken 
to fortify the point formed by the junction of the 
^Monongahchi and Alleghany ; and when, on his 
return, he met seventeen horses loaded with mate- 
rials and stores for a fort at the forks of the Ohio, 
and, soon after, some families going out to settle, 
he knew the defense had begun. As soon as 
Washington made his report, Gov. Dinwiddle 
wrote to the Board of Trade, stating that the 
French were building a fort at Venango, and that, 
in March, twelve or fifteen hundred men would 
be ready to descend the river with their Indian 
allies, lor which purpose three hundred canoes had 
been collected ; and that Logstown was to be made 
headquarters, while forts were to be built in other 
places. He sent expresses to the Governors of 
Pennsylvania and New York, apprising them of the 
nature of affairs, and calling upon them for assist- 
ance. He also raised two companies, one of which 
was raised by Washington, the other by Trent. 
The one under Trent w^as to be raised on the 
frontiers, and was, as soon as possible, to repair to 
the Fork and erect there a fort, begun by the Ohio 
Company. Owing to various conflicting opinions 
between the Governor of Pennsylvania and his 
Assembly, and the conference with the Six Nations, 
held by New York, neither of those provinces put 
forth any vigorous meas-ures until stirred to action 
by the inva-sitjns on the frontiers, and until directed 
by the Earl of Holderness, Secretary of State. 

The fort at Venango was finished by the French 
in April, 1T54. All along the creek resounded 
the clang of arms and the preparations for war. 
New York and Pennsylvania, though inactive, 
and debating whether the French really had in- 
vaded English territory or not, sent aid to the 
Old Dominion, now all alive to theconquest. The 
two companies had been increased to six; Washing- 
ton was raised to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, 
and made second under command of Joshua 
Fry. Ten cannon, lately from p]ngland, were for- 
warded from Alexandria ; wagons were got read}'^ 
to carry westward provisions and stores through 
the heavy spring roads; and everywhere men were 
enlisting under the King's promise of two hundred 
thousand acres of land to those who would go. 
They were gathering along Will's Creek and far 
beyond, while Trent, who had come for more men 
and supplies, left a little band of forty-one men, 
working away in hunger and want at the Fork, to 
which both nations were looking with anxious eyes. 
Though no enemy was near, and only a few Indian 
scouts were seen, keen eyes had observed the low 



fortifications at the Fork. Swift feet had borne 
the news of it up the valley, and though Ensign 
Ward, left in command, felt himself secure, on the 
17th of April he saw a sight that made his heart 
sick. Sixty batteaux and three hundred canoes 
were coming down the Alleghany. The com- 
mandant sent him a summons, which evaded no 
words in its meaning. It was useless to contend, 
that evening he supped with his conqueror ; the 
next day he was bowed out by the polite French- 
man, and with his men and tools marched up the 
Monongahela. The first birds of spring were fill- 
ing the air with their song ; the rivers rolled by, 
swollen by April showers and melting snows; all 
nature was putting on her robes of green ; and the 
fortress, which the English had so earnestly strived 
to obtain and fortify, was now in the hands of the 
French. Fort Du Quesne arose on the incomplete 
fortifications. The seven years' war that followed 
not only affected America, but spread to all quar- 
ters of the world. The war made England a great 
imperial power ; drove the French from Asia and 
America; dispelled the brilliant and extended 
scheme of Louis and his voluptuous empire. 

The active field of operations was in the Canadas 
principally, and along the western borders of Penn- 
sylvania. There were so few people then in the 
present confines of Ohio, that only the possession 
of the country, in common with all the West, 
could be the animus of the conflict. It so much 
concerned this part of the New World, that a brief 
resume of the war will be necessary to fully under- 
stand its history. 

The fall of the post at the fork of the Ohio, Fort 
Du Quesno, gave the French control of the West. 
Washington went on with his few militia to re- 
take the post. Though he was successful at first, 
he was in the end defeated, and surrendered, 
being allowed to return with all his munitions of 
war. The two governments, though trying to 
come to a peaceful solution of the question, were 
getting ready for the conflict. France went stead- 
ily on, though at one time England gave, in a 
measure, her consent to allow the French to retain 
all the country west of the Alleghanies and south 
of the lakes. Had this been dime, what a different 
future would have been in America ! Other des- 
tinies were at wt»rk, however, and the plan fell 
stillborn. 

England sent Gen. Braddock and a fine force 
of men, who marched directly toward the post on 
the Ohio. His ill-fated expedition resulted only 
in the total defeat of his armv, and his own death. 



■7' 



V 



liL 



HISTORY or OHIO. 



43 



Washington saved a remnant of the army, and 
made his way back to the colonics. The Eu- 
gHsh needed a leader. They next planned four 
campaigns; one against Fort Du Quesne; one 
against Crown Point; one against Niagara, and 
one against the French settlements in Nova Scotia. 
Nearly every one proved a failure. The English 
were defeated on sea and on land, all owing to the 
incapacity of Parliament, and the want of a suit- 
able, vigoi'ous leader. The settlements on the front- 
iers, now exposed to a cruel foe, prepared to defend 
themselves, and already the signs of a government 
of their own, able to defend itself, began to 
appear. They received aid from the colonies. 
Though the French were not repulsed, they and 
their red allies found they could not murder with 
impunity. Self-preservation was a stronger incen- 
tive in conflict than aggrandizement, and the 
cruelty of the Indians found avengers. 

The great Pitt became Prime Minister June 20, 
1757. The leader of the English now appeared. 
The British began to regain their losses on sea and 
land, and for them a brighter day was at hand. 
The key to the West must be retaken, and to Gen. 
Forbes was assigned the duty. Preceding him, 
a trusty man was sent to the Western Indians 
at the head-waters of the Ohio, and along the IMo- 
nongahela and Alleghany, to see if some compro- 
mise with them could not be made, and their aid 
secured. The French had been busy through their 
traders inciting the Indians against the English. 
The lawless traders were another source of trouble. 
Caring nothing for either nation, they carried on a 
distressing traffic in direct violation of the laws, 
continually engendering ill-feeling among the na- 
tives. "Your traders," said one of them, "bring 
scarce anything but rum and flour. They bring 
little powder and lead, or other valuable goods. 
The rum ruins us. We beg you would prevent 
its coming in such quantities by regulating the 
traders. * * * These wicked whisky sell- 
ers, when they have got the Indians in liquor, make 
them sell the very clothes off" their backs. If this 
practice be continued, we must be inevitably ruined. 
We mostearnostly, therefore, beseech you to remedy 
it." They complained of the French traders the same 
way. They wore also beginning to sec the animus 
of the whole conflict. Neither power cared as 
much for them as for their land, and flattered and 
bullied by turns as served their purposes best. 

The man selected to go upon this undertaking 
was Christian Frederic Post, a JMoravian, who had 
lived among the Indians seventeen years, and mar- 



ried into one of their tribes. II ' v*;is a missionary, 
and though obliged to cross a coiiii ry whose every 
stream had been dyed by blood, and every hillside 
rung with the death-yell, and grown red with the 
light of burning huts, he went willingly on his way. 
Of his journey, sufferings and doings, his own 
journal tells the story. He left Philadelphia on the 
15th of July, 1758, and on the 7th of August 
safely passed the French post at Venango, went on 
to Big Beaver Creek, where he held a conference 
with the chiefs of the Indians gathered there. It 
was decided that a great conference should be 
held opposite Fort Du Quesne, where there were 
Indians of eight nations. "We will bear you in 
our bosom.-," said the natives, when Post expressed 
a fear that he might be delivered over to the 
French, and royally they fulfilled their promises. 
At the conference, it was made clear to Post that 
all the AVestern Indians were wavering in their 
allegiance to the French, owing largely to the fail- 
ure of that nation to fulfill their promises of aid to 
prevent them from being deprived of their land by 
the Six Nations, and through that confederacy, by the 
English. The Indians complained bitterly, more- 
over, of the disposition of the whites in over-run- 
ning and claiming their lands. "Why did you not 
fight your battles at home or on the sea, instead of 
coming into our country to fight them?" they 
asked again and again, and mournfully shook their 
heads when they thought of the future before them. 
" Your heai't is good," said they to Post. " You 
speak sincerely; but we know there is alwa3's a gi-eat 
number who wish to get rich ; they have enough ; 
look ! we do not want to be rich and take away 
what others have. The white people think we 
have no brains in our heads ; that they are big, 
and we are a handful ; but remember when you 
hunt for a rattlesnake, 3-ou cannot always find it, 
and perhaps it will turn and bite you before you see 
it."* When the war of Pontiac came, and all 
the West was desolated, this saying might have 
been justly remembered. After concluding a peace, 
Post set out for Philadelphia, and after incredi- 
ble hardships, reached the settlement uninjured 
early in September. His mission had more to do 
than at first is apparent, in the success of the 
English. Had it not been for him, a second Brad- 
dock's defeat might have befallen Forbes, now on 
his way to subjugate Fort Du Quesne. 

Thixnigh the heats of August, the army hewed its 
way toward the West. Early in September it 

•Post's Journal. 



7" 



:V 



44 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



reached Raystown, whitlier Washington had been 
ordered with his troops. Sickness had prevented 
him from being here ah'eady. Two officers were 
sent out to reconnoiter the fort, who returned and 
gave a very good account of its condition. Gen. 
Forbes desired to know more of it, and sent out 
Maj. Grant, with 800 men, to gain more complete 
knowledge. Maj. Grant, supposing not more than 
iJOO soldiers to be in the fort, marched near it and 
made a feint to draw them out, and engage them 
in battle. He was greatly misinformed as to the 
strength of the French, and in the engagement 
that followed he was badly beaten — 270 of his men 
killed, 42 wounded, and several, including himself, 
taken prisoners. The French, elated with their 
victory, attacked the main army, but were repulsed 
and obliged to retreat to the fort. The army con- 
tinued on its march. On the 24th of November 
they reached Turtle Creek, where a council of war 
was held, and where Gen. Forbes, who had been so 
ill as to be carried on a litter from the start, de- 
clared, with a mighty oath, he would sleep that 
night in the fort, or in a worse place. The Indi- 
ans had, however, carried the news to the French 
that the English were as plenty as the trees of the 
woods, and in their fright they set fire to the fort in 
the night and left up and down the Ohio River. 
The next morning the English, who had heard the 
explosion of the magazine, and seen the light of 
the burning walls, marched in and took peaceable 
possession. A small fortification was thrown up 
on the bank, and, in honor of the great English 
statesman, it was called Fort Pitt. Col. Hugh Mer- 
cer was left in command, and the main body of the 
army marched back to the settlements. It reached 
Philadelphia January 17, 1759. On the 11th of 
March, Gen. Forbes died, and was buried in the 
chancel of Christ's Church, in that city. 

Post was now sent on a mission to the Six Na- 
tions, with a report of the treaty of Easton. He 
was again instrumental in preventing a coalition of 
the Indians and the French. Indeed, to this ob- 
scure Moravian missionary belongs, in a large 
measure, the honor of the capture of Fort i)u 
Quesne, for by liis influence had the Indians been 
restrained from attacking the army on its march. 

The garrison, on leaving the fort, went up and 
down the Ohio, part to Presque Isle by land, part to 
Fort Vcnanuo, while some of them went on down 
the Ohio nearly to the Mississippi, and there, in 
what is now Massac County, 111., erected a fort, 
called by them Fort IMassac. It was afterward 
named by many Fort Massacre, from the erroneous 



supposition that a garrison had been massacred 
there. 

The French, though deprived of the key to 
the West, went on preparing stores and ammunition, 
expecting to retake the fort in the spring. Before 
they could do this, however, other places demanded 
their attention. 

The success of the campaign of 1758 opened 
the way for the consummation of the great scheme 
of Pitt — the complete reduction of Canada. Three 
expeditions were planned, by which Canada, 
ah'eady well nigh annihilated and suft'ering for 
food, was to be subjugated. On the west, Prideaux 
was to attack Niagara ; in the center, Amherst was 
to advance on Ticonderoga and Crown Point ; on 
the east, Wolfe was to besiege Quebec. All these 
points gained, the three armies were to be united 
in the center of the province. 

Amherst appeared before Ticonderoga July 22. 
The French blew up their works, and retired 
to Crown Point. Driven from there, they re- 
treated to Isle Aux Nois and entrenched them- 
selves. The lateness of the season prevented fur- 
ther action, and Amherst went into winter quar- 
ters at Crown Point. Early in June, Wolfe 
appeared before Quebec with an army of 8,000 
men. On the night of September 12, he silently 
ascended the river, climbed the heights of Abra- 
ham, a spot considered impregnable by the 
French, and on the summit formed his army of 
5,000 men. Montcalm, the French commander, 
was compelled to give battle. The British col- 
umns, flushed with success, charged his half-formed 
lines, and dispersed them. 

"They fly! they fly!" heard Wolfe, just as he 
expired from the effect of a mortal wound, though 
not till he had ordered their retreat cut oft", and 
exclaimed, "Now, God be praised, I die happy." 
Montcalm, on hearing from the surgeon that death 
would come in a few hours, said, " I am glad of it. 
I shall not live to see the surrender of Quebec." At 
five the next morning he died happy. 

Prideaux moved up Lake Ontario, and on the 
6th of July invested Niagara. Its capture would 
cut off the French from the west, and every en- 
deavor was made to hold it. Troops, destined to 
take the small garrison at Fort Pitt, were held to 
assist in raising the siege of Niagara. M. de 
Aubry, commandant in Illinois, came up with 400 
men and 200,000 pounds of flour. Cut off" by the 
abandonment of Fort Du Quesne from the Ohio 
route, he ascended that river as far as the Wabash, 
thence to portage of Fort 3Iiami, or Fort Wayne, 



"y: 



HISTORY or OHIO. 



47 



down the Maumee to Lake Erie, and on to Presqu- 
ville, or Presque Isle, over the portage to Le Boeuf, 
and thence down French Creek to Fort Venango. 
He was chosen to lead the expedition for the relief 
of Niagara. They were pursued by Sir William 
Johnson, successor to Prideaux, who had lost his 
life by the bursting of a cannon, and were obliged to 
flee. The next day Niagara, cut off from succor, 
surrendered. 

All America rang with exultation. Towns were 
bright with illuminations ; the hillsides shone with 
bonfires. From press, from pulpit, from platform, 
and from speakers' desks, went up one glad song of 
rejoicing. England was victorious everywhere. 
The colonies had done their full share, and now 
learned their strength. That strength was needed 
now, for ere long a different conflict raged on the 
soil of America — a conflict ending in the birth of 
a new nation. 

The English sent Gen. Stanwix to fortify Fort 
Pitt, still looked upon as one of the principal for- 
tresses in the West. He erected a good fortifica- 
tion there, which remained under British control 
fifteen years. Now nothing of the fort is left. No 
memorial of the British possession remains in the 
West but a single redoubt, built in 1764 by Col. 
Bouquet, outside of the fort. Even this can hardly 
now be said to exist. 

The fall of Quebec did not immediately produce 
the submission of Canada. M. de Levi, on whom 
the command devolved, retired with the French 
Army to Montreal. In the spring of 17 GO, he be- 
weged Quebec, but the arrival of an English fleet 
caused him to again retreat to Montreal. 

Amherst and Johnson, meanwhile, effected a 
union of their forces, the magnitude of whose 
armies convinced the French that resistance would 
be useless, and on the Sth of September, M. de 
Vaudreuil, the Governor of Canada, surrendered 
Montreal, Quebec, Detroit, Mackinaw and all other 
pouts in Canada, to the English commander-in- 
chief, Amherst, on condition that the French in- 
habitants should, during the war, be "protected 
in the full and free exercise of their religion, and 
the fidl enjoyment of their civil rights, leaving 
their future destinies to be decided by the treaty 
nf peace." 

Though peace was concluded in the New World, 
on the continent the Powers experienced some 
(lifiiculty in arriving at a satisfactory settlement. 
It was finally settled by what is known in history 
as the "family compact." France and Spain saw 
in the conquest the growing power of England, 



and saw, also, that its continuance only extended 
that power. Negotiations were re-opened, and on 
the 3d of November, 1762, preliminaries were 
agreed to and signed, and afterward ratified in 
Paris, in February, 1763. By the terms of the 
compact, Spain ceded to Great Britian East and 
West Florida. To compensate Spain, France 
ceded to her by a secret article, all Louisiana west 
of the Mississippi. 

The French and Indian war was now over. 
Canada and all its dependencies were now in pos- 
session of the English, who held undisputed sway 
over the entire West as far as Mississippi. It only 
remained for them to take possession of the out- 
posts. Major Robert Rogers was sent to take pos- 
session of Detroit and establish a garrison there. 
He was a partisan officer on the borders of New 
Hampshire, where he earned a name for bravery, 
but afterward tarnished it by treasonable acts. On 
his way to Detroit, on the 7th of November, 1760, 
he was met by the renowned chief, Pontiac, who 
authoritatively commanded him to pause and ex- 
plain his acts. Rogers replied by explaining the 
conquest of Canada, and that he was acting vinder 
orders from his King. Through the influence of 
Pontiac, the army was saved from the Indians 
sent out by the French, and was allowed to pro- 
ceed on its way. Pontiac had assured his protec- 
tion as Ion"; as the Enfrlish treated him with due 
deference. Beletre, the commandant at Detroit, 
refused to surrender to the English commander, 
until he had received positive assurance from his 
Governor, Vaudreuil, that the country was indeed 
conquered. On the 29th of September, the colors 
of France gave way to the ensign of Great Britain 
amid the shouts of the soldiery and the astonish- 
ment of the Indians, whose savage natures could 
not understand how such a simple act declared one 
nation victors of another, and who wondered at 
the forbearance displayed. The lateness of the 
season prevented further operations, but early the 
next spring, jMackinaw, Green Bay, Ste. Marie, St. 
Joseph and the Ouitenun surrounded, and nothing 
was left but the Illinois towns. These were se- 
cured as soon as the necessary arrangements could 
be made. 

Though the English were now master^ of the 
West, and had, while many of these events nar- 
rated were transpiring, extended their settlements 
beyond the Alleghanios, they were by no means 
secure in their possession. The woods and prairies 
were full of Indians, who, finding the English like 
the French, carin"; more for gain than the welfare 



y- 



^1 



48 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



of the natives, began to exhibit impatience and re- 
sentment as they saw their hinds gradually taken 
from them. The English policy differed very 
materially from the French. The French made 
the Indian, in a mea.sure, independent and taught 
him a desire for European goods. They also 
affiliated easily with them, and became thereby 
strongly endeared to the savage. The French 
were a merry, easy-going race, fond of gayety and 
delighting in adventure. The English were harsh, 
stern, and made no advances to gain the friend- 
ship of the savage. They wanted land to cultivate 
and drove away the Indian's game, and forced him 
farther west. "Where shall we go?" said the 
Indian, despondently; "you drive us farther and 
farther west; by and by you will want all the 
land." And the Anglo-Saxon went sturdily on, 
paying no heed to the complaints. The French 



traders incited the Indian to resent the encroach- 
ment. " The English will annihilate you and take 
all your laud," said they. " Their father, the King 
of France, had been asleep, now he had awakened 
and was coming with a great army to reclaim Can- 
ada, that had been stolen from him while he slept." 
Discontent under such circumstances was but 
natural. Soon all the tribes, from the mountains 
to the Mississippi, were united in a plot. It was 
discovered in 1761, and arrested. The next sum- 
mer, another was detected and arrested. The 
officers, and all the people, failed to realize the 
danger. The rattlesnake, though not found, was 
ready to strike. It is only an Indian discontent, 
thought the people, and they went on preparing to 
occupy the country. They were mistaken — the 
crisis only needed a leader to direct it. That 
leader appeared. 



CHAPTER IV. 



PONTIAC'S CONSPIRACY— ITS FAILURE— BOUQUET'S EXPEDITION— OCCUPATION BY THE 

ENGLISH. 



PONTIAC, the great chief of the Ottawas, was 
now about fifty years old. He had watched 
the conflict between the nations with a jealous eye, 
and as he saw the gradual growth of the English 
people, their encroachment on the lands of the In- 
dians, their greed, and their assumption of the soil, 
his soul was stirred within him to do something 
for his people. He had been a true friend of the 
French, and had led the Indians at the defeat of 
Braddock. Amid all the tumult, he alone saw the 
true state of affairs. The English would inevit- 
ably crush out the Indians. To save his race he 
saw another alliance with the French was neces- 
sary, and a restoration of their power and habits 
needed. It was the plan of a statesman. It only 
failed because of the perfidy of the French. Matur- 
ing his plans late in the autumn of 1762, he sent 
messengers to all the Western and Southern tribes, 
with the black wampum and red tomahawk, em- 
blems of war, from the great Pontiac. "On a cer- 
tain day in the next year," said the messenger, "all 
the tribes are to rise, seize all the P]nglish posts, 
and then attack the whole frontier." 

The great council of all the tribes was held at 
the river Ecorces, on the 27th of April, 176.3. 
There, before the assembled chiefs, Pontiac deliv- 



ered a speech, full of eloquence and art. He 
recounted the injuries and encroachments of the 
English, and disclosed their designs. The French 
king was now awake and would aid them. Should 
they resign their homes and the graves of their 
fathers without an effort? Were their young men 
no longer brave? Were they squaws? The 
Great Master of Life had chided them for their 
inactivity, and had sent his commands to drive 
the "Red Dogs" from the earth. The chiefs 
eagerly accepted the wampum and the tomahawk, 
and separated to prepare for the coming strife. 

The post at Detroit was informed of the plot 
the evening before it was to occur, by an Ojibway 
girl of great beauty, the mistress of the com- 
mander. Major Gladwin. Pontiac was foiled here, 
his treachery discovered, and he was sternly ordered 
from the conference. A regular seige followed, 
but he could not prevail. He exhibited a degree 
of sagacity unknown in the annals of savage war- 
fare, but all to no purpose ; the English were too 
strong for him. 

At all the other posts, save one, however, the 
plans of Pontiac were carried out, and atrocities, 
unheard of before in American history, resulted. 
The Indians attacked Detroit on the first of May, 



'.^ 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



49 



and, foiled in their plans, a siege immediately fol- 
lowed. On the 16th, a party of Indians appeared 
before the fort at Sandusky. Seven of them were 
admitted. Suddenly, while smoking, the massacre 
begins. All but Ensign Paulli, the commander, 
fail. He is carried as a trophy to Pontiac. 

At the mouth of the St. Joseph's, the mission- 
aries had maintained a mission station over sixty 
years. They gave way to an English garrison of 
fourteen soldiers and a few traders. On the 
morning of jMay 25, a deputation of Pottawato- 
mies are allowed to enter. In less than two min- 
utes, all the garrison but the commander are slain. 
He is sent to Pontiac. 

Near the present city of Fort Wayne, Ind., 
at the junction of the waters, stood Fort Miami, 
garrisoned by a few men. Holmes, the com- 
mander, is asked to visit a sick woman. He is 
slain on the way, the sergeant following is made 
prisoner, and the nine soldiers surrender. 

On the night of the last day of INIay, the wam- 
pum reaches the Indian village below La Fayette, 
Ind., and near Fort Ouitenon. The commander 
of the fort is lured into a cabin, bound, and his 
garrison surrender. Through the clemency of 
French settlers, they are received into their houses 
and protected. 

At Michilimackinac, a game of ball is projected. 
Suddenly the ball is thrown through the gate of the 
stockade. The Indians press in, and, at a signal, 
almost all are slain or made prisoners. 

The fort at Presque Isle, now Erie, was the 
point of communication between Pittsburgh and 
Niagara and Detroit. It was one of the most 
tenable, and had a garrison of four and twenty 
men. On the 22d of June, the commander, to 
save his forces from total annihilation, surrenders, 
and all are carried prisoners to Detroit. 

The capitulation at Erie left Le Boeuf with- 
out hope. He was attacked on the 18th, 
but kept off the Indians till midnight, when he 
made a successful retreat. As they passed Ve- 
nango, on their way to Fort Pitt, they saw only 
the ruins of that garrison. Not one of its immates 
had been spared. 

Fort Pitt was the most important station west 
of the Alleghanies. " Escape 1 " said Turtle's 
Heart, a Delaware warrior ; " you will all be 
slain. A great army is coming." "There are 
three large English armies coming to my aid," 
said Ecuyer, the commander. " I have enough 
provisions and ammunition to stand a siege of three 
years' time." A second and third attempt was 



made by the savages to capture the post, but all to 
no avail. Baffled on all sides here, they destroy 
Ligonier, a few miles below, and massacre men, 
women and children. Fort Pitt was besieged till 
the last day of July, but withstood all attacks. 
Of all the outposts, only it and Detroit Avcre left. 
All had been captured, and the majority of the 
garrison slain. Along the frontier, the war was 
waged with fury. The Indians were fighting for 
their homes and their hunting-grounds; and for 
these they fought with the fury and zeal of 
fanatics. 

Detachments sent to aid Detroit are cut off. 
The prisoners are burnt, and Pontiac, infusing his 
zealous and demoniacal spirit into all his savage 
allies, pressed the siege with vigor. The French 
remained neutral, yet Pontiac made requisitions 
on them and on their neighbors in Illinois, issuing 
bills of credit on birch-bark, all of which were 
faithfully redeemed. Though these two posts 
could not be captured, the frontier could be 
annihilated, and vigorously the Indians pursued 
their policy. Along the borders of Pennsylvania 
and Virginia a relentless warfare was waged, 
sparing no one in its way. Old age, feeble infancy, 
strong man and gentle woman, fair girl and hope- 
ful boy — all fell before the scalping-knife of the 
merciless savage. The frontiers were devastated. 
Thousands were obliged to flee, leaving their 
possessions to the torch of the Indian. 

The colonial government, under British direc- 
tion, was inimical to the borders, and the colonists 
saw they must depend only upon their own arms 
for protection. Already the struggle for freedom 
was upon them. They could defend only them- 
selves. They must do it, too ; for that defense is 
now needed in a different cause than settling dis- 
putes between rival powers. " We have millions 
for defense, but not a cent for tribute," said they, 
and time verified the remark. 

Glen. Amherst bestirred himself to aid the 
frontiers. He sent Col. Henry Bouf[uet, a native 
of Switzerland, and now an officer in the Engli.sh 
Army, to relieve the garrison at Fort Pitt. They 
followed the route made by Gen. Forbes, and on 
the way relieved Forts Bedford and Ligonier, both 
beleaguered by the Indians. About a day's jour- 
ney beyond Ligonier, he was attacked by a body 
of Indians at a place called Bushy Bun. For 
awhile, it seemed that he and all his army would 
be destroyed ; but Bouquet was bold and brave 
and, under a feint of retreat, routed the savages. 
He passed on, and relieved the garrison at Fort 



50 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



Pitt, and thus secured it against the assaults of 
the Indians. 

The campaign had been disastrous to the En- 
gUsh, but ftital to the plans of Pontiac. He could 
not capture Detroit, and he knew the great scheme 
must fail. The battle of Bushy Run and the 
relief of Fort Pitt closed the campaign, and all 
hope of co-operation was at an end. Circum- 
stances were combined against the confederacy, 
and it was fast falling to pieces. A proclamation 
was issued to the Indians, explaining to them the 
existing state of aiFairs, and showing to them the 
futility of their plans. Pontiac, however, would 
not give up. Again he renewed the siege of De- 
troit, and Gen. Gage, now in command of the 
army in the colonies, resolved to carry the war 
into their own country. Col. Bradstreet was or- 
dered to lead one army by way of the lakes, 
against the Northern Indians, while Col. Bouquet 
was sent against the Indians of the Ohio. Col. 
Bradstreet went on his way at the head of 1,200 
men, but trusting too much to the natives and 
their promises, his expedition proved largely a fail- 
ure. He relieved Detroit in August, 1764, which 
had been confined in the garrison over fifteen 
months, and dispersed the Indians that yet lay 
around the fort. But on his way back, he saw how 
the Indians had duped him, and that they were 
still plundering the settlements. His treaties were 
annulled by Gage, who ordered him to destroy 
their towns. The season was far advanced, his 
provisions were getting low, and he was obliged to 
return to Niagara chagrined and disappointed. 

Col. Bouquet knew well the character of the 
Indians, and shaped his plans accordingly. lie 
had an army of 1,500 men, 500 regulars and 1,000 
volunteers. They had had experience in fighting 
the savages, and could be depended on. At Fort 
Loudon, he heard of Bradstreet's ill luck, and saw 
through the deception practiced by the Indians. 
He arrived at Fort Pitt the 17th of September, 
where he arrested a deputation of chiefs, who met 
him with the same promises that had deceived 
Bradstreet. He sent one of their number back, 
threatening to put to death the chiefs unless they 
allowed his messengers to safely pass through their 
country to Detroit. The decisive tone of his 
words convinced them of the fate that aAvaited 
them unless they complied. On the 3d of Octo- 
ber the army left Fort Pitt, marched down the 
river to and across the Tuscarawas, arriving in the 
vicinity of Fredrick Post's late mission on the 17th. 
There a conference was held with the assembled 



tribes. Bouquet sternly rebuked them for their 
faithlessness, and when told by the chiefs they could 
not restrain their young men, he as sternly told 
them they were responsible for their acts. He 
told them he would trust them no longer. If they 
delivered up all their prisoners within twelve days 
they might hope for peace, otherwise there would 
be no mercy shown them. They were completely 
humbled, and, separating hastily, gathered their 
captives. On the 25th, the army proceeded down 
to the Tuscarawas, to the junction with White 
Woman River, near the town of Coshocton, in 
Coshocton County, Ohio, and there made prepa- 
rations for the reception of the captives. There 
they remained until the 18th of November; from 
day to day prisoners were brought in — men, women 
and children—and delivered to their friends. Many 
were the touching scenes enacted during this time. 
The separated husband and wife met, the latter 
often carrying a child born in captivity. Brothers 
and sisters, separated in youth, met ; lovers rushed 
into each other's arms ; children found their 
parents, mothers their sons, fiithers their daughters, 
and neighbors those from whom they had been 
separated many years. Yet, there were many dis- 
tressing scenes. Some looked in vain for long-lost 
relatives and friends, that never should return. 
Others, that had been captured in their infancy, 
would not leave their savage friends, and when 
force was used some fled away. One mother 
looked in vain for a child she had lost years be- 
fore. Day by day, she anxiously watched, but no 
daughter's voice reached her ears. One, clad in 
savage attire, was brought before her. It could 
nob be her daughter, she was grown. So was the 
maiden before her. " Can not you remember some 
mark?" asked Bouquet, whose sympathies were 
aroused in this case. "There is none," said the 
anxious and sorrowful mother. "Sing a song you 
sang over her cradle, she may remember," suggested 
the commander. One is sung by her mother. As 
the song of childhood floats out among the trees 
the maiden stops and listens, then approaches. 
Yes, she remembers. JMother and daughter arc 
held in a close embrace, and the stern Bouquet 
wipes away a tear at the scene. 

On the 18th, the army broke up its encamp- 
ment and started on its homeward march. Bouquet 
kept six principal Indians as hostages, and re- 
turned to the homes of the captives. The Indians 
kept their promises fliithfully, and the next year 
representatives of all the Western tribes met Sir 
William Johnson, at the German Flats, and made 



'^ 



a treaty of peace. A tract of land iu the Indian 
country was ceded to the whites for the benefit of 
those who had suffered in the late war. The In- 
dians desired to make a treaty with Johnson, 
whereby the Alleghany River should be the west- 
ern boundary of the English, but he excused him- 
self on the ground of proper power. 

Not long after this the Illinois settlements, too 
remote to know much of the struggle or of _ any of 
the great events that had convulsed an empire, and 
changed the destiny of a nation, were brought 
under the English rule. There were five villages 
at this date: Kaskaskia, Cahokia, St. Philip, Vin- 
cennes and Prairie du Rocher, near Fort Chartres, 
the military headquarters of these French posses- 
sions. They were under the control or command 
of M. de Abadie, at New Orleans. They had also 
extended explorations west of the Mississippi, and 
made a few settlements in what was Spanish terri- 
tory. The country had been, however, ceded to 
France, and in February, 1764, the country was 
formally taken possession of and the present city 
of St. Louis laid out. 

As soon as the French knew of the change of 
government, many of them went to the west side of 
the river, and took up their residence there. They 
were protected in their religion and civil rights by 
the terms of the treaty, but preferred the rule of 
their own King. 

The British took possession of this country early 
in 1765. Gen. Gage sent Capt. Stirling, of the 
English Army, who arrived before summer, and to 
whom St. Ange, the nominal commandant, surren- 
dered the authority. The British, through a suc- 
cession of commanders, retained control of tlie coun- 
try until defeated by George Rogers Clarke, and 
his "ragged Virginia militia." 

After a short time, the French again ceded the 
country west of the Mississippi to Spain, and re- 
linquished forever their control of all the West in 
the New World. 

The population of Western Louisiana, when the 
exchange of governments occurred, was estimated 
to be 13,538, of which 891 were in the Illinois 
country — as it was called — west of the Mississippi. 
East of the river, and before the French crossed 
into Spanish country, the population was estimated 
to be about 8,000. All these had grown into 
coiiniiuuities of a peculiar character. Indeed, that 
peculiarity, as has been observed, never changed 
until a gradual amalgamation with the American 
people effected it, and that took more than a cen- 
tury of time to accomplish. 



The English now owned the Northwest. True, 
they did not yet occupy but a small part of it, but 
traders were again crossing the mountains, ex- 
plorers for lands were on the Ohio, and families 
for settlement were beginning to look upon the 
West as their future home. Companies were again 
forming to purchase large tracts in the Ohio coun- 
try, and open them for emigration. One thing yet 
stood in the way — a definite boundary line. That 
line, however, was between the English and the 
Indians, and not, as had heretofore been the case, 
between rival European Powers. It was necessary 
to arrange some definite boundaiy before land com- 
panies, who were now actively pushing their claims, 
could safely survey and locate their lands. 

Sir William Johnson, who had at previous times 
been instrumental in securing treaties, wrote re- 
peatedly to the Board of Trade, who controlled the 
greater part of the commercial transactions in the 
colonies — and who were the first to exclaim against 
extending English settlements beyond a limit 
whereby they would need manufactures, and there- 
by become independent of the Mother Country — 
urging upon thinn, and through them the Crown, the 
necessity of a fixed boundary, else another Indian 
war was probable. The Indians found themselves 
gradually hemmed in by the growing power of the 
whites, and began to exhibit hostile feelings. The 
irritation became so great that in the summer of 
1767, Gage wrote to the Governor of Pennsylvania 
concerning it. The Governor communicated his 
letter to the General Assembly, who sent repre- 
sentatives to England, to urge the immediate set- 
tlement of the question. In compliance with these 
requests, and the letters of prominent citizens, 
Franklin among the number, instructions were sent 
to Johnson, ordering him to complete the purchase 
from the Six Nations, and settle all differences. 
He sent word to all the Western tribes to meet 
him at Fort Stanwix, in October, 1768. The con- 
ference was held on the 24th of that month, and 
was attended by colonial representatives, and by 
Indians from all parts of the Northwest. It w;is 
determined that the line should begin on the Ohio, 
at the mouth of the Cherokee (Tennessee), thence 
up the river to the Alleghany and on to Kittan- 
ning, and thence across to the Susquehanna. By 
this line, the whole country south of the Ohio and 
Alleghany, to which the Six Nations had any 
claini, was transfen-ed. Part of this land was 
made to compensate twenty -two traders, whose goods 
had been stolen in 1763. The deeds made, were 
upon the express agreement that no claims should 



— 1 IS 



ever be based on the treaties of Lancaster, Logs- 
town, etc., and were signed by the chiefs of the Six 
Nations for themselves, their aUies and dependents, 
and the Shawanees, Delawares, Mingoes of Oliio, 
and others; though the Sliawanees and Dehiware 
deputies did not sign them. On this treaty, in a 
great measure, rests the title by purchase to Ken- 
tucky, Western Virginia and Western Pennsylva- 
nia. Tlie rights of the Cherokees were purchased 
by Col. Donaldson, either for the King, V^irginia, 
or for himself, it is impossible to say which. 

The grant of the northern confederacy was now 
made. The white man could go in and possess 
these lands, and know that an army would protect 
him if necessary. Under such a guarantee. West- 
ern lands came rapidly into market. In addition 
to companies already in existence for the purchase 
of land, others, the most notable of these being the 
"Walpole" and the "Mississippi" Land Companies, 
were formed. This latter had among its organizers 
such men as Francis Lightfoot Lee, Kichard 
Henry Lee, George Washington and Arthur Lee. 
Before any of these companies, some of whom ab- 
sorbed the Ohio Company, could do anything, the 
Revolution came on, and all land transactions" were 
at an end. After its close. Congress would not 
sanction their claims, and they fell through. This 
did not deter settlers, however, from crossing the 
mountains, and settling in the Ohio country. In 



spite of troubles with the Indians — some of whom 
regarded the treaties with the Six Nations as un- 
lawful, and were disposed to complain at the rapid 
influx of whites — and the failure of the land com- 
panies, settlers came steadily during the decade 
from 17G8 to 1778, so that by the close of that 
time, there was a large population south of the 
Ohio River; while scattered along the northern 
banks, extending many miles into the wilderness, 
were hardy adventurers, who were carving out 
homes in the magnificent forests everywhere cov- 
ering the country. 

Among the foremost speculators in Western 
lands, was George Washington. As early as 1763, 
he employed Col. Crawford, afterward the leader in 
" Crawford's campaign," to purchase lands for him. 
In 1770, he crossed the mountains in company 
with several gentlemen, and examined the country 
along the Ohio, down which stream he passed to 
the mouth of the Great Kanawha, where he shot 
some buffalo, then plenty, camped out a few nights, 
and returned, fully convinced, it seems, that one 
day the West would be the best part of the New- 
World. He owned, altogether, nearly fifty thou- 
sand acres in the West, which he valued at $3.33 
per acre. Had not the war of the Revolution just 
then broken out, he might have been a resident of 
the West, and would have been, of course, one of 
its most prominent citizens. 



CHAPTER V, 



AMERICAN EXPLORATIONS— DUNMORE'S WAR— CAMPAIGN OF GEORGE ROGERS CLARKE- 
LAND TROUBLES— SPAIN IN THE REVOLUTION — MURDER OP 
THE MORAVIAN INDIANS. 



nV/TEANWHILE, Kentucky was filling with 
-i-V_L citizens, and though considerable trouble 
was experienced with the Indians, and the operations 
of Col. Richard Henderson and others, who made 
unlawful treaties with the Indians, yet Daniel 
Boone and his associates had established a 
commonwealth, and, in 1777, a county was 
formed, which, ereUmg, was divided into" three. 
Louisville was laid out on land belonging to 
Tories, and an important start made in this "part 
of the West. Emigrants came down the Ohio 
River, saw the northern shores were inviting, and 
sent back such accounts that the land north of the 
river rapidly grew in favor with Eastern people. 



One of the most important Western characters. 
Col. (afterward Gen.) George Rogers Clarke, had 
had much to do in forming its character. He 
was born November 19, 1752, in Albemarle 
County, Va., and early came West. He had an 
unusually sagacious spirit, was an excellent sur- 
veyor and general, and took an active interest in 
aU State and national affiurs. He understood the 
animus of the Revolution, and was prepared to 
do his part. Col. Clarke was now meditating a 
move unequaled in its boldness, and one that had 
more to do with the success of America in the 
struggle for independence than at first appears. 
He saw through the whole plan of the British, 



:^ 



HISTOKY or OHIO. 



53 



who held all the outposts, Kaskaskia, Detroit, 
Vincennes and Niagara, and determined to circum- 
vent them and wrest the West from their power. 
The British hoped to encircle the Americans by 
these outposts, and also unite the Indians in a 
common war against them. That had been 
attempted by the French when the English con- 
quered them. Then the French had a powerful 
ally in the person of Pontiac, yet the brave front- 
iersmen held their homes in many places, though 
the Indians " drank the blood of many a Briton, 
scooping it up in the hollow of joined hands." 
Now the Briton had no Pontiac to lead the scat- 
tered tribes — tribes who now feared the unerring 
aim of a settler, and would not attack hun openly— - 
Clarke knew that the Delawares were divided in 
feeling and that the Shawanees were but imperfectly 
united in favor of England since the murder of 
their noted chiefs. He was convinced that, if the 
British could be driven from the Western posts, 
the natives could easily be awed into submission, 
or bribed into neutrality or friendship. They 
admired, from their savage views of valor, the 
side that became victorious. They cared little for 
the cause for which either side was fighting. 
Clarke sent out spies among them to ascertain the 
feasibility of his plans. The spies were gone 
from April 20 to June 22, and fully corroborated 
his views concerning the EngUsh policy and the 
fejlings of the Indians and French. 

Before proceeding in the narrative of this expe- 
dition, however, it will be well to notice a few acts 
transpiring north of the Ohio River, especially re- 
lating to the land treaties, as they were not without 
effect on the British policy. Many of the Indians 
north and south of the Ohio would not recognize 
the validity of the Fort Stanwix treaty, claiming 
the Iroquois had no right to the lands, despite 
their conquest. These discontented natives har- 
assed the emigrants in such a manner that many 
Indians were slain in retaliation. This, and the 
working of the French traders, who at all times 
were bitterly opposed to the English rule, filled the 
breasts of the natives with a malignant hate, which 
years of bloodshed could not wash out. The 
murder of several Indians by lawless whites fanned 
the coal into a blaze, and, by 1774, several retalia- 
tory murders occurred, committed by the natives 
in revenge for their fallen friends. The Indian 
slew any white man he found, as a revenge on some 
friend of his slain ; the frontiersman, acting on the 
same principle, made the borders extremely dan- 
gerous to invaders and invaded. Another cause 



of fear occurred about this time, which threatened 
seriously to retard emigration. 

Pittsburgh had been claimed by both Pennsyl- 
vania and Virginia, and, in endeavoring to settle 
the dispute. Lord Dunmore's war followed. Dr. 
John Connelly, an ambitious, intriguing person, 
induced Lord Dunmore to assert the claims of Vir- 
ginia, in the name of the King. In attempting to 
carry out his intentions, he was arrested by Arthur 
St. Clair, representing the proprietors of Pennsyl- 
vania, who was at Pittsburgh at the time. Con- 
nelly was released on bail, but went at once to 
Staunton, where he was sworn in as a Justice of 
Peace. Returning, he gathered a force of one 
hundred and fifty men, suddenly took possession of 
Pittsburgh, refused to allow the magistrates to 
enter the Court House, or to exercise the functions 
of their offices, unless in conformity to his will. 
Connelly refused any terms off"ered by the Penn- 
sylvania deputies, kept possession of the place, 
acted very harshly toward the inhabitants, stirred 
up the neutral Indians, and, for a time, threatened 
to make the boundary line between the two colonies 
a very serious question. His actions led to hostile 
deeds by some Indians, when the whites, no doubt 
! urged by him, murdered seven Indians at the 
' mouth of the Captina River, and at the house of 
a settler named Baker, where the Indians were 
decoyed under promises of friendship and offers of 
rum. Among those murdered at the latter place, 
was the entire family of the famous INIingoe chief, 
Logan. This has been charged to Michael Cresap ; 
but is untrue. Daniel Greathouse had command 
of the party, and though Cresap may have been 
among them, it is unjust to lay the blame at his 
feet. Both murders, at Captina and Yellow Creek, 
were cruel and unwarranted, and were, without 
doubt, the cause of the war that followed, though 
the root of the matter lay in Connelly's arbitrary 
actions, and in his needlessly alarming the Indians. 
Whatever may have been the fiicts in relation to 
the murder of Logan's family, they were of such 
a nature as to make all feel sure of an Indian war, 
and preparations were made for the conflict. 

An army was gathered at Wheeling, which, 
some time in July, under command of Col. Mc- 
Donald, descended the Ohio to the mouth of Cap- 
tina Creek. They proposed to march against an 
Indian town on the IMuskingum. The Indians 
sued for peace, but their pretensions being found 
spurious, their towns and crops were destroyed. 
The army then retreated to Williamsburg, having 
accomplished but little. 



7 



:£ 



54 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



The Dolawarcs were anxious for peace ; even the 
Miugoes, whose rehitives had been shiin at Yellow 
Creek, and Captina, were restrained; but Logan, 
who had been turned to an inveterate foe to the 
Americans, came suddenly upon the Monongahela 
settlements, took thirteen scalps in revenge for the 
loss of his family, returned home and expressed 
himself ready to treat with the Long Knives, the 
Virginians. Had Connelly acted properly at this 
juncture, the war might have been ended; but 
his actions only incensed both borderers and In- 
dians. So obnoxious did he become that Lord 
Dunmore lost faith in him, and severely repri- 
manded him. 

To put a stop to the depredations of the Indians, 
two large bodies of troops were gathered in Vir- 
ginia, one under Gen. Andrew Lewis, and one 
under command of Dunmore himself Before 
the armies could meet at the mouth of the Great 
Kanawha, their objective point, Lewis' army, which 
arrived first, was attacked by a furious band of Dela- 
wares, Shawanees, Iroquois and Wyandots. The 
conflict was bitterly prolonged by the Indians, who, 
under the leadership of Cornstalk, were deter- 
mined to make a decisive eiFort, and fought till 
late at night (October 10, 1774), and then only by 
a strategic move of Lewis' command — which re- 
sulted in the defeat of the Indians, compelling them 
to cross the Ohio — was the conflict ended. Mean- 
while, Dunmore's army came into the enemy's 
country, and, being joined by the remainder of 
Lewis' command, pressed forward intending to an- 
nihilate the Indian towns. Cornstalk and his 
chiefs, however, sued for peace, and the conflict 
closed. Dunmore established a camp on Sippo 
Creek, where he held conferences with the natives 
and concluded the Avar. When he left the country, 
he stationed 100 men at the mouth of the Great 
Kanawha, a few more at Pittsburgh, and another 
corps at Wheeling, then called Fort Fincastle. 
Dunmore intended to return to Pittsburgh the 
next spring, meet the Indians and form a definite 
peace ; but the revolt of the colonies prevented. 
However, he opened several offices for the sale of 
lands in the West, some of which were in the limits 
of the Pennsylvania colony. This led to the old 
boundary dispute again; but before it could be 
settled, the Ilevolution began, and Lord Dunmore's, 
as well as almost all other land speculations in the 
West, were at an end. 

In 1775 and 1776, the chief events transpiring 
in the West relate to the treaties with the Indians, 
and the endeavor on the part of the Americans to 



have them remain neutral in the family quarrel now 
coming on, which they could not understand. The 
British, like the French, however, could not let 
them alone, and finally, as a retaliatory measure. 
Congress, under advice of Washington, won some of 
them over to the side of the colonies, getting their 
aid and holding them neutral. The colonies only 
offered them rewards i'or prisoners ; never, like the 
British, offering rewards for scalps. Under such 
rewards, the atrocities of the Indians in some quar- 
ters were simply horrible. The scalp was enough 
to get a reward, that was a mark of Indian valor, 
too, and hence, helpless innocence and decrepit old 
age were not spared. They stirred the minds of 
the pioneers, who saw the protection of their fire- 
sides a vital point, and led the way to the scheme 
of Col. Clarke, who was now, as has been noted, the 
leading spirit in Kentucky. He saw through the 
scheme of the British, and determined, by a quick, 
decisive blow, to put an end to it, and to cripple 
their power in the West. 

Among the acts stimulating Clarke, was the attack 
on Fort Henry, a garrison about one-half mile 
above Wheeling Creek, on the Ohio, by a renegade 
white man, Simon Girty, an agent in the employ of 
the British, it is thought, and one of the worst 
wretches ever known on the fiontier. When Girty 
attacked Fort Henry, he led his red allies in regu- 
lar military fashion, and attacked it without mercy. 
The defenders were brave, and knew with whom 
they were contending. Great bravery was displayed 
by the women in the fort, one of whom, a Miss 
Zane, carried a keg of gunpowder from a cabin 
to the fort. Though repeatedly fired at by the sav- 
ages, she reached the fort in safety. After awhile, 
however, the effect of the frontiersmen's shots began 
to be felt, and the Indians sullenly withdrew. 
Be-enforcements coming, the fort was held, and 
Girty and his band were obliged to flee. 

Clarke saw that if the British once got con- 
trol over the Western Indians the scene at Fort 
Henry would be repeated, and would not likely, 
in all cases, end in favor of the Americans. With- 
out communicating any of his designs, he left Har- 
rodsburg about the 1st of October, 1777, and 
reached the capital of Virginia by November 5. 
Still keeping his mind, he awaited a favorable op- 
portunity to broach his plans to those in power, 
and, in the meanwhile, carefully watched the exist- 
ing state of feeling. When the opportunity came, 
Clarke broached his plans to Patrick Henry, Gov- 
ernor of Virginia, who at once entered warmly 
into them, recognizing their great importance. 



-e) 



^ ^ 

^ 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



Through his aid, Clarke procured the nocessar}' au- 
tliority to prosecute his plans, and returned at ouce 
to Pittsburgh. He intended raising men about 
this post, but found them fearful of leaving their 
homes unprotected. However, he secured three 
companies, and, with these and a number of volun- 
teers, picked up on the way down the Ohio Pviver, 
he fortified Corn Island, near the falls, and made 
ready for his expedition. He had some trouble in 
keeping his men, some of those from Kentucky 
refusing to aid in subduing stations out of their 
own country. He did not announce his real inten- 
tions till he had reached this point. Here Col. 
Bowman joined him with his Kentucky militia, 
and, on the 24th of June, 1778, during a total 
eclipse of the sun, the party left the fort. Before 
his start, he learned of the capture of Burgoync, 
and, when nearly down to Fort Massac, he met 
some of his spies, who informed him of the exag- 
gerated accounts of the ferocity of the Long 
Knives that the French had received from the 
British. By proper action on his part, Clarke saw 
both these items of information could be made 
very beneficial to him. Leaving the river near 
Fort Massac, he set out on the march to Kaskas- 
kia, through a hot summer's sun, over a country 
full of savage foes. They reached the town un- 
noticed, on the evening of July 4, and, before 
the astonished British and French knew it, they 
were all prisoners. jM. Kocheblave, the English 
commander, was secured, but his wife adroitly con- 
cealed the papers belonging to the garrison. In 
the person of M. Gibault, the French priest, Clarke 
found a true friend. When the true character of 
the Virginians became apparent, the French were 
easily drawn to the American side, and the priest 
secured the surrender and allegiance of Cahokia 
through his personal influence. M. Gibault told 
him he would also secure the post at St. Vincent's, 
which he did, returning from the mission about 
the 1st of August. During the interval, Clarke re- 
enlisted his men, formed his plans, sent his pris- 
oners to Kentucky, and was ready for ftiture action 
when M. Gibault arrived. He sent Capt. Helm 
and a single soldier to Vincennes to hold that fort 
until he could put a garrison there. It i^ but 
proper to state that the English commander, Col. 
Hamilton, and his band of soldiers, were absent at 
Detroit when the priest secured the village on the 
"Ouabache." When Hamilton returned, in the 
autumn, he was greatly surprised to see the Amer- 
ican flag floating from the ramparts of the fort, 
and when approaching the gate he was abruptly 



halted by Capt. Helm, who stood with a lighted fuse 
in his hand by a cannon, answering Hamilton's 
demand to surrender with the imperative inquiry, 
"Upon what terms, sir?" "LTpon the honors of 
war," answered Hamilton, and he marched in 
greatly chagrined to see he had been halted by 
two men. The British commander sat quietly 
down, intending to go on down the river and sub- 
due Kentucky in the spring, in the mean time 
off"ering rewards for American scalj^s, and thereby 
gaining the epithet '' Hair-buyer General." Clarke 
heard of his actions late in January, 1779, and, as 
he says, " I knew if I did not take him he would 
take me," set out early in February with his troops 
and marched across the marshy plains of Lower 
Illinois, reaching the Wabash post by the 22d of 
that month. The unerring aim of the Westerner 
was eflectual. "They will shoot your eyes out," 
said Helm to the British troops. " There, I told 
you so," he further exclaimed, as a soldier vent- 
ured near a port-hole and received a shot directly 
in his eye. On the 24th the fort surrendered. 
The American flag waved again over its ramparts. 
The "Hair-buyer General" was sent a prisoner to 
Virginia, W'here he was kept in close confinement 
for his cruel acts. Clarke returned to Kaskaskia, 
perfected his plans to hold the Illinois settlements, 
went on to Kentucky, from whei'e he sent word to 
the colonial authorities of the success of his expe- 
dition. Had he received the aid promised him, 
Detroit, in easy reach, would have fallen too, but 
Gen. Green, failing to send it as promised, the capt- 
ure of that important post was delayed. 

Had Clarke filled, and Hamilton succeeded, the 
whole West would have been swept, from the Alle- 
ghauies to the Mississippi. But for this small 
army of fearless Virginians, the union of all the 
tribes from Georgia to Maine against the colonies 
might have been effected, and the whole current 
of American history changed. America owes 
Clarke and his band more than it can ever pay. 
Clarke reported the capture of Kaskaskia and the 
Illinois country early after its surrender, and in 
October the county of Illinois was established, 
extending over an unlimited expanse of country, 
by the Virginia Legislature. John Todd was 
appointed Lieutenant Colonel and Civil Governor. 
In November, Clarke and his men received the 
thanks of the same body, who, in after years, 
secured them a grant of land, which they selected 
on the right bank of the Ohio River, opposite 
Louisville. They expected here a city would rise 
one day, to be the peer of Louisville, then coming 



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HISTOKY OF OHIO. 



into prominence as an important place. By some 
means, their expectations failed, and only the 
dilapidated village of Clarkesburg perpetuates 
their hopes. 

The conquest of Clarke changed the face of 
affairs in relation to the whole country north of 
the Ohio River, which would, in all probability, 
have been made the boundary between Canada and 
the United States. When this was proposed, the 
strenuous arguments based on this conquest, by 
the American Commissioners, secured the present 
boundary line in negotiating the treaty of 1793. 

Though Clarke had failed to capture Detroit, 
Congress saw the importance of the post, and 
resolved on securing it. Grcn. McCosh, commander 
at Fort Pitt, was put in command, and $1,000,- 
000 and 3,000 men placed at his disposal. By 
some dilatory means, he got no further than the 
Tuscarawas River, in Ohio, where a half-way 
house, called Fort Laurens, for the President of 
Congress, was built. It was too far out to be of 
practicable value, and was soon after abandoned. 

Indian troubles and incursions by the British 
were the most absorbing themes in the West. 
The British went so far as Kentucky at a later 
date, while they intended reducing Fort Pitt, only 
abandoning it when learning of its strength. 
Expeditions against the Western Indians were led 
by Gen. Sullivan, Col. Daniel Broadhead, Col. 
Bowman and others, which, for awhile, silenced 
tlie natives and taught them the power of the 
Americans. They could not organize so readily 
as before, and began to attach themselves more 
closely to the British, or commit their depredations 
in bands, fleeing into the wilderness as soon as 
they struck a blow. In this way, several localities 
suffered, until the settlers became again exasper- 
ated; other expeditions were formed, and a second 
chastisement given. In 1781, Col. Broadhead 
led an expedition against the Central Ohio Indians. 
It did not prove so successful, as the Indians were 
led by the noted chief Brant, who, though not 
cruel, was a foe to the Americans, and assisted the 
British greatly in their endeavors to secure the West. 

Another class of events occurred now in the 
West, civil in their relations, yet destined to form 
an important part of its history — its land laws. 

It must be borne in mind, that Virginia claimed 
the greater portion of the country north of the 
Ohio River, as well as a large part south. The 
other coloni(!s claimed land also in the AVest under 
the old Crown grants, which extended to the 
South or Western Sea. To more complicate mat- 



ters, several land companies held proprietary rights 
to portions of these lauds gained by grants from 
the Crown, or from the Colonial Assemblies. 
Others were based on land warrants issued 
in 1703; others on selection and survey and 
still others on settlement. In this state of 
mixed affairs, it was difficult to say who held a 
secure claim. It was a question whether the old 
French grants were good or not, especially since 
the change in government, and the eminent pros- 
pect of still another change. To, in some way, 
aid in settling these claims, Virginia sent a com- 
mission to the West to sit a.s a court and determine 
the proprietorship of these claims. This court, 
though of as doubtful authority as the claims 
themselves, went to work in Kentucky and along 
the Ohio River in 1779, and, in the course of one 
year, granted over three thousand certificates. 
These were considered as good authority for a 
definite title, and were so regarded in after pur- 
chases. Under them, many pioneers, like Daniel 
Boone, lost their lands, as all were required to 
hold some kind of a patent, while others, who 
possessed no more principle than "land-sharks" 
of to-day, acquired large tracts of land by holding 
a patent the court was bound to accept. Of all 
the colonies, Virginia seemed to have the best 
title to the Northwest, save a few parcels, such as 
the Connecticut or Western Reserve and some 
similar tracts held by New York, Massachusetts 
and New Jersey. When the territory of the 
Northwest was ceded to the Greneral Government, 
this was recognized, and that country was counted 
as a Virginia county. 

The Spanish Government, holding the region 
west of the Mississippi, and a portion east toward 
its outlet, became an important but secret ally of 
the Americans. When the French revolt was 
suppressed by O'Reilly, and the Spanish assumed 
the government of Louisiana, both Upper and 
Lower, there was a large tract of country, known 
as Florida (East and West\ claimed by P^ngland, 
and duly regarded as a part of her dominion. 
The boundaries had been settled when the French 
first occupied Lower Louisiana. The Spaniards 
adopted the patriarchal form of rule, as much jis 
was consistent with their interests, and allowed the 
French full religions and civil liberty, save that all 
tribunals were after the Spanish fashion, and 
governed by Spanish rules. The Spaniards, long 
jealous of England's growing power, secretly sent 
the Governors of Louisiana word to aid the 
Americans in their struggle for freedom. Though 



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HISTOKY OF OHIO. 



57 



they controlled the Mississippi River, they allowed 
an American officer (Capt. Willing) to descend the 
river in January, 1778, with a party of fifty men, 
and ravage the British shore from Manchez Bayou 
to Natchez. 

On the 8th of May, 1779, Spain declared war 
against Great Britain; and, on the 8th of July, 
the people of Louisiana were allowed to take a 
part in the war. Accordingly, Galvez collected a 
force of 1,400 men, .and, on the 7th of September, 
took Fort Manchac. By the 21st of September, 
he had taken Baton Rouge and Natchez. Eight 
vessels were captured by the Spaniards on the 
Mississippi and on the lakes. In 1780 Mobile 
fell; in March, 1781, Pensacola, the chief British 
post in West Florida, succumbed after a long 
siege, and, on the 9th of May, all West Florida 
was surrendered to Spain. 

This war, or the war on the Atlantic Coast, did 
not immediately affect Upper Louisiana. Great 
Britain, however, attempted to capture St. Louis. 
Though the commander was strongly suspected of 
being bribed by the English, yet the place stood 
the siege from the combined force of Indians and 
Canadians, and the assailants were dispersed. This 
was done during the summer of 1680, and in the 
autumn, a company of Spanish and French resi- 
dents, under La Balme, went on an expedition 
against Detroit. They marched as far north as 
the British trading-post Ke-ki-ong-a, at the head 
of the Maumee River, but being surprised in the 
night, and the commander slain, the expedition 
was defeated, having done but little. 

Spain may have had personal interests in aiding 
the Americans. She was now in control of the Mis- 
sissippi River, the natural outlet of the Northwest, 
and, in 1780, began the troubles relative to the 
navigation of that stream. The claims of Spain 
were considered very unjust by the Continental 
Congress, and, while deliberating over the qiiestion, 
Virginia, who was jealously alive to her Western 
interests, and who yet held jurisdiction over Ken- 
tucky, sent through Jefferson, the Governor, Gen. 
George Rogers Clarke, to erect a fort below the 
moutli of the Ohio. This proceeding was rather 
unwarrantable, especially as the fort was built in 
the country of the Chickasaws, who had thus far 
been true friends to the Americans, and who looked 
upon the fort as an innovation on their territory. 
It was completed and occupied but a short time, 
Clarke being recalled. 

Virginia, in 1 780, did a very important thing ; 
namely, establishing an institution for higher edu- 



cation. The Old Dominion confiscated the lands 
of " Robert McKenzie, Henry Collins and Alex- 
ander McKee, Britons, eight thousand acres," and 
invested the proceeds of the sale in a public semi- 
nary. Transylvania University now lives, a monu- 
ment to that spirit. 

While Clarke was building Fort Jefferson, a force 
of British and Indians, under command of Capt. 
Bryd, came down from Canada and attacked the 
Kentucky settlements, getting into the country be- 
fore any one was aware. The winter before had 
been one of unusual severity, and game was ex- 
ceedingly scarce, hence the army was not prepared 
to conduct a campaign. iVfter the capture of Rud- 
dle's Station, at the south fork of the Licking, Bryd 
abandoned any further attempts to reduce the set- 
tlements, except capturing Martin's Station, and 
returned to Detroit. 

This expedition gave an additional motive for 
the chastisement of the Indians, and Clarke, on his 
return from Fort Jefferson, went on an expedition 
against the Miami Indians. He destroyed their 
towns at Loramie's store, near the present city of 
Sydney, Ohio, and at Piqua, humbling the natives. 
While on the way, a part of the army remained 
on the north bank of the Ohio, and erected two 
block-houses on the present site of Cincinnati. 

The exploits of Clarke and his men so effectually 
chastised the Indians, that, for a time, the West 
was safe. During this period of quiet, the meas- 
ures which led to the cession of Western lands to 
the General Government, began to assume a defi- 
nite form. All the colonies claiming Western 
lands were willing to cede them to the Government, 
save Virginia, which colony wanted a large scope 
of Southern country southeast of the Ohio, as far 
as South Carolina. All recognized the justice of 
all Western lands becoming public property, and 
thereby aiding in extinguishing the debts caused by 
the war of the Revolution, now about to close. 
As Virginia held a somewhat different view, the 
cession was not made until 1783. 

The subject, however, could not be allowed to 
rest. The war of the Revolution was now drawing 
to a close ; victory on the part of the colonies was 
apparent, and the Western lands must be a part of 
the public domain. Subsequent events brought 
about the desired cession, though several events 
transpired before the plan of cession was consum- 
mated. 

Before the close of 1780, the Legislature of 
Virginia passed an act, establishing the "town of 
Louisville," and confiscated the lands of John 



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58 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



Connelly, who was one of its original proprietors, 
and who distinguished himself in the coinmencc- 
mcnt of Lord Dunmore's war, and who was now a 
Tory, and doing all he could against the patriot 
cause. The proceeds of the sale of his lands were 
divided between Virginiaand the county of Jefferson. 
Kentucky, the next year, was divided into three 
counties, JeflFerson, Lincoln and Fayette. Courts 
were appointed in each, and the entry and location 
of lauds given into their hands. Settlers, in spite 
of Indian troubles and British intrigue, were 
pouring over the mountains, particularly so during 
the years 1780 and 1781. The expeditions of 
Clarke against the Miami Indians ; Boone's cap- 
tivity, and escape from them ; their defeat when 
attacking Boonesboro, and other places — all 
combined to weaken their power, and teach them 
to respect a nation whose progress they could not 
stay. 

The pioneers of the West, obliged to depend on 
themselves, owing to the struggle of the colonies 
for freedom, grew up a hardy, self-reliant race, 
with all the vices and virtues of a border life, and 
with habits, manners and customs necessary to 
their peculiar situation, and suited to their peculiar 
taste. A resume of their experiences and daily 
lives would bo quite interesting, did the limits of 
this history admit it here. In the part relating 
directly to this county, the reader will find such 
lives given ; here, only the important events can 
be noticed. 

The last event of consequence occurring in the 
West before the close of the Revolution, is one 
that might well have been omitted. Had such 
been the case, a great stain would have been spared 
the character of Western pioneers. Reference is 
made to the massacre of the Moravian Christian 
Indians. 

These Indians were of the Delaware nation 
chiefly, though other Western tribes were visited 
and many converts made. The first converts were 
made in New York and Connecticut, where, after 
a good start had been made, and a prospect of 
many souls being saved, they incurred the enmity 
of the whites, who, becoming alarmed at their suc- 
cess, persecuted them to such an extent that they 
were driven out of New York into Pennsylvania, 
where, in 1744, four years after their arrival in 
the New World, they began new missions. In 
1748, the New York and Connecticut Indians fol- 
lowed their teachers, and were among the founders 
of Friedenshutten, "Tents of Peace," a hamlet 
near Bethlehem, where their teachers were sta- 



tioned. Other hamlets grew around them, \intil 
in the interior of the colony, existed an Indian 
community, fi'ee from all savage vices, and grow- 
ing up in Christian virtues. As their strength 
grew, lawless whites again began to oppress them. 
They could not understand the war of 1754, and 
were, indeed, in a truly embarrassing position. 
The savages could form no conception of any cause 
for neutrality, save a secret sympathy with the 
English ; and if they could not take u}) the hatchet, 
they were in the way, and must be removed. Fail- 
ing to do this, their red brothers became hostile. 
The whites were but little better. The old suspi- 
cions which drove them from New York were 
aroused. They were secret Papists, in league with 
the French, and furnished them with arms and in- 
telligence; they were interfering with the liquor 
traffic; they were enemies to the Government, 
and the Indian and the white man combined against 
them. They were obliged to move from place to 
place; were at one time protected nearly a year, 
near Philadelphia, from lawless whites, and finally 
were compelled to go far enough West to be out 
of the way of French and English arms, or the 
Iroquois and Cherokee hatchets. They came 
finally to the IMuskingum, where they made a set- 
tlement called Schonbrun, "beautiful clear spring," 
in what is now Tuscarawas County. Other settle- 
ments gathered, from time to time, as the years 
went on, till in 1772 large numbers of them were 
within the borders of the State. 

Until the war of independence broke out, they 
were allowed to peacefully pursue their way. When 
that came, they were between Fort Pitt and De- 
troit, one of which contained British, the other 
Americans. Again they could not understand the 
struggle, and could not take up the hatchet. This 
brought on them the enmity of both lielligerent 
parties, and that of their own forest companions, 
who could not see wherein their natures could 
change. Among the most hostile })ersons, were 
the white renegades McKee, Girty and Elliott. 
On their instigation, several of them were slain, 
and by their advice they were obliged to leave their 
fields and homes, where thoy had many comforts, 
and where they had erected good chapels in which 
to worship. It was just before one of these forced 
removals that 3Iary, daughter of the missionar}' 
Heckewelder, was born. She is supposed to be 
the first white female child born north of the Ohio 
River. Her birth occurred April KJ, 1781. It 
is but proper to say here, tliat it is an open ques- 
tion, and one that will probably never be decided, 



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HISTORY OF OHIO. 



59 



i. e. Who was the first white child born in Ohio ? 
In all probability, the child was born during the 
captivity of its mother, as history plainly shows 
that when white women were released from the 
Indians, some of them carried children born while 
among the natives. 

When the Moravians were forced to leave their 
settlements on the Muskingum, and taken to San- 
dusky, they left growing fields of corn, to which 
they were obUged to return, to gather food. This 
aroused the whites, only wanting some pretext 
whereby they might attack them, and a party, 
headed by Col. David Williamson, determined to 
exterminate them. The Moravians, hearing of their 
approach, fled, but too late to warn other settle- 
ments, and Gnadenhutten, Salem and one or two 
smaller settlements, were surprised and taken. 
Under deceitful promises, the Indians gave up all 
their arms, showed the whites their treasures, and 
went unknowingly to a terrible death. When ap- 
prised of their fate, determined on by a majority 
of the rangers, they begged only time to prepare. 
They were led two by two, the men into one, the 
women and children into another "slaughter- 
house," as it was termed, and all but two lads were 
wantonly slain. An infamous and more bloody 
deed never darkened the pages of feudal times ; 
a deed that, in after years, called aloud for venge- 
ance, and in some measure received it. Some of 
Williamson's men wrung their hands at the cruel 
fate, and endeavored, by all the means in their 
power, to prevent it; but all to no purpose. The 
blood of the rangers was up, and they would not spare 
"man, woman or child, of all that peaceful band." 
Having completed their horrible work, (March 
8, 1782), Williamson and his men returned to 
Pittsburgh. Everywhere, the Indians lamented 
the untimely death of their kindred, their savage 
relatives determining on their revenge; the Chris- 
tian ones could only be resigned and weep. 

Williamson's success, for such it was A-iewed by 
many, excited the borderers to another invasion, 
and a second army was raised, this time to 
go to the Sandusky town, and annihilate the 
\Vyandots. Col. William Crawford was elected 
leader ; he accepted reluctantly ; on the way, | 
the army was met by hordes of savages on the 5th of ' 



June, and totally routed. They were away north, 
in what is now Wyandot County, and were obliged 
to flee for their lives. The blood of the murdered 
Moravians called for revenge. The Indians de- 
sired it ; were they not relatives of the fallen 
Christians? Crawford and many of his men fell 
into their hands ; all suffered unheard-of tortures, 
that of Crawford being as cruel as Indian cruelty 
could devise. He was pounded, pierced, cut with 
knives and burned, all of which occupied nearly 
three hours, and finally lay down insensible on a bed 
of coals, and died. The savage captors, in demoni- 
acal glee, danced around him, and upbraided him 
for the cruel murder of their relatives, giving him 
this only consolation, that had they captured Will- 
iamson, he might go free, but he must answer for 
Williamson's brutality. 

The war did not cease here. The Indians, now 
aroused, carried their attack as far south as into 
Kentucky, killing Capt. Estill, a brave man, and 
some of his companions. The British, too, were 
active in aiding them, and the Uth of August a 
large force of them, under Girty, gathered silently 
about Bryant's Station. They were obliged to re- 
treat. The Kentuckians pursued them, but were 
repulsed with considerable loss. 

The attack on Bryant's Station aroused the peo- 
ple of Kentucky to strike a blow that would be 
felt. Gen. Clarke was put at the head of an army 
of one thousand and fifty men, and the Miami 
country was a second time destroyed. Clarke even 
went as far north as the British trading-post at the 
head of the Miami, where he captured a great 
amount of property, and destroyed the post. Other 
outposts also fell, the invading army suffering but 
little, and, by its decisive action, practically closing 
the Indian wars in the West. Pennsylvania suf- 
fered some, losing Hannahstown and one or two 
small settlements. Williamson's and Crawford's 
campaigns aroused the fury of the Indians that 
took time and much blood and war to subdue. The 
Revolution was, however, drawing to a close. Amer- 
ican arms were victorious, and a new nation was 
now coming into existence, who would change the 
whole current of Western matters, and make of the 
Northwest a land of liberty, equality and union. 
That nation was now on the stage. 



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60 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



CHAPTER VI. 

AMERICAN OCCUPATION— INDIAN CLAIMS — SURVEYS — EAFxLY LAND COMPANIES — COMPACT 
OF 1787 — ORGANIZATION OF THE TERRITORY- EARLY AMERICAN SETTLE- 
MENTS IN THE OHIO VALLEY — FIRST TERRITORIAL 
OFFICERS— ORGANIZATION? OF COUNTIES. 



THE occupation of the West by the American, 
really dates from the campaign of Gen. Clarke in 
1778, when he captured the British posts in the 
IlUnois country, and Vincennes on the Wabash. 
Had he been properly supported, he would have 
reduced Detroit, then in easy reach, and poorly de- 
fended. As it Avas, however, that post remained in 
charge of the British till after the close of the war 
of the Revolution. They also held other lake 
posts; but these were included in the terms of 
peace, and came into the possession of the Ameri- 
cans. They were abandoned by the British as 
soon as the different commanders received notice 
from their chiefs, and British rule and English 
occupation ceased in that part of the New World. 

The war virtually closed by the surrender of 
Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown, Va., October 19, 
1781. The struggle was prolonged, however, by 
the British, in the vain hope that they could re- 
trieve the disiister, but it was only a useless waste 
of men and money. America would not be sub- 
dued. "If we are to be taxed, we will be repre- 
sented," said they, "else we will be a free govern- 
ment, and regulate our own taxes." In the end, 
they were free. 

Provisional articles of peace between the United 
States and Great Britain were signed in Paris on 
the 30th of November, 1782. This was followed 
by an armistice negotiated at Versailles on the 20th 
of January, 1783; and finally, a definite treaty of 
peace was concluded at Paris on the 3d of the next 
September, and ratified by Congi-ess on the 4th of 
January, 178-1. By the second article of the defi- 
nite treaty of 1783, the boundaries of the United 
States were fixed. A glance at the map of that 
day shows the boundary to have been as follows: 
Beginning at Passamaquoddy Bay, on the coast of 
Maine, the line ran north a little above the forty- 
fifth parallel of latitude, when it diverged southwest- 
erly, irregularly, until it reached that parallel, when 
it foll(jwed it until it reached the St. Lawrence River. 
It followed that river to Lake Ontario, down its 
center ; up the Niagara River ; through Lake Erie, 



up the Detroit River and through Lakes Huron and 
Superior, to the northwest extremity of the latter. 
Then it pursued another irregular western course 
to the Lake of the Woods, when it turned south- 
ward to the Mississippi River. The commissioners 
insisted that should be the western boundary, as 
the lakes were the northern. It followed the Mis- 
sissippi south until the mouth of Red River was 
reached, when, turning east, it followed almost a 
direct line to the Atlantic Coast, touching the 
coast a little north of the outlet of St. John's 
River. 

From this outline, it will be readily seen what 
boundary the United States possessed. Not one- 
half of its present domain. 

At this date, there existed the original thirteen 
colonies : Virginia occupying all Kentucky and 
all the Northwest, save about half of Michigan and 
Wisconsin, claimed by Massachusetts ; and the upper 
part of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, and the lower 
part (a narrow strip) of Michigan, claimed by Con- 
necticut. Georgia included all of Alabama and 
]Mississipj)i. The Spaniards claimed all Florida 
and a narrow part of lower Georgia. All the coun- 
try west of the Father of Waters belonged to Spain, 
to whom it had been secretly ceded when the fam- 
ily compact was made. That nation controlled the 
Mississippi, and gave no small uneasiness to the 
young government. It was, however, hapjjily set- 
tled finally, by the sale of Louisana to the United 
States. 

Pending the settlement of these questions and 
the formation of th ' Fedi ral Union, the cession of 
the Northwest by Virginia again came before 
Congress. That body found itself unable to fulfill 
its promises to its soldiers regarding land, and 
again urged the Old Dominion to cede the Terri- 
tory to the General Government, for the good of 
all. Congress forbade settlers from occupying the 
Western lands till a definite cession had been 
made, and the title to the lands in question made 
good. But speculation was stronger than law, 
and without waiting for the slow processes of courts. 



^^ (T 



:\ 




the adventurous settlers were pouring into the 
country at a rapid rate, only retarded by the rifle 
and scalping-kuite of the savage — a temporary 
check. The policy of allowing any parties to obtain 
land from the Indians was strongly discouraged 
by Washington. He advocated the idea that only 
the General Grovernment could do that, and, in a 
letter to James Duane, in Congress, he strongly 
urged such a course, and pointed out the danger 
of a border war, unless some such measure was 
stringently followed. 

Under the circumstances, Congress pressed the 
claims of cession upon Virginia, and finally in- 
duced the Dominion to modify the terms proposed 
two years before. On the 20th of December, 
1783, Virginia accepted the proposal of Congress, 
and authorized her delegates to make a deed to 
the United States of all her right in the territory 
northwest of the Ohio. 

The Old Dominion stipulated in her deed of 
cession, that the territory should be divided into 
States, to be admitted into the Union as any other 
State, and to bear a proportionate share in the 
maintenance of that Union; that Virginia should 
be re-imbursed for the expense incurred in subduing 
the British posts in the territory; that the French 
and Canadian inhabitants should be protected iu their 
rights ; that the grant to Gen. George Rogers Clarke 
and his men, as well as all other similar grants, 
should be confirmed, and that the lands should be 
considered as the common property of the United 
States, the proceeds to be applied to the use of the 
whole country. Congress accepted these condi- 
tions, and the deed was made March 1, 1784. 
Thus the country came from under the dominion 
of Virginia, and became common property. 

A serious difficulty arose about this time, that 
threatened for awhile to involve England and 
America anew in war. Virginia and several 
other States refused to abide by that part of the 
treaty relating to the payment of debts, especially 
so, when the British carried away quite a number 
of negroes claimed by the Americans. This re- 
fusal on the part of the Old Dominion and her 
abettors, caused the finglish to retain her North- 
western outposts, Detroit, Mackinaw, etc. She 
held these till 178(j, when the questions were 
finally settled, and then readily abandoned them. 

The return of peace greatly augmented emigra- 
tion to the West, especially to Kentucky. When 
the war closed, the population of that county ( the 
three counties having been made one judicial dis- 
trict, and Danville designated as the seat of gov- 



ernment) was estimated to be about twelve thousand. 
In one year, after the close of the war, it increased 
to 30,000, and steps for a State government were 
taken. Owing to the divided sentiment among its 
citizens, its perplexing questions of land titles 
and proprietary rights, nine conventions were held 
before a definite course of action could be reached. 
This prolonged the time till 1792, when, in De- 
cember of that year, the election for persons to 
form a State constitution was held, and the vexed 
and complicated questions settled. In 1783, the 
first wagons bearing merchandise came across the 
mountains. Their contents were received on flat- 
boats at Pittsburgh, and taken down the Ohio to 
Louisville, which that spring boasted of a store, 
opened by Daniel Broadhead. The next year, 
James Wilkinson opened one at Lexington. 

Pittsburgh was now the principal town in the 
West. It occupied the same position regarding 
the outposts that Omaha has done for several years 
to Nebraska. The town of Pittsburgh was laid 
out immediately after the war of 1764, by Col. 
Campbell. It then consisted of four squares about 
the fort, and received its name from that citadel. 
The treaty with the Six Nations in 1708, con- 
veyed to the proprietaries of Pennsylvania all the 
lands of the Alleghany below Kittanning, and all 
the country south of the Ohio, within the limits of 
Penn's charter. This deed of cession was recog- 
nized when the line between Pennsylvania and 
Virginia was fixed, and gave the post to the Key- 
stone State. In accordance with this deed, the 
manor of Pittsburgh was withdrawn from market 
in 1709, and was held as the property of the Penn 
family. When Washington visited it in 1770, it 
seems to have declined in consequence of the 
afore-mentioned act. He mentions it as a "town of 
about twenty log houses, on the Monongahela, 
about three hundi-ed yards fi-om the fort." The 
Penn's remained true to the King, and hence all 
their land that had not been surveyed and returned 
to the land office, was confiscated by the common- 
wealth. Pittsburgh, having been surveyed, was 
still left to them. In the spring of 1784, Tench 
Francis, the agent of the Penns, was induced to 
lay out the manor into lots and offer them for sale. 
Though, for many years, the place was rather un- 
promising, it eventuiilly became the chief town in 
that part of the West, a position it yet holds. In 
1780, John Scull and Joseph Hall started the 
Pittsburgh Gazette, the first paper published west 
of the mountains. In the initial number, appeared a 
lengthy article from the pen of H. H. Brackenridge, 



« 1^ 






63 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



afterward one of the most prominent members 
of the Pennsylvania bar. He had located in 
Pittsburgh in 1781. His letter gives a most hope- 
ful prospect in store for the future city, and is a 
highly descriptive article of the Western country. 
It is yet preserved in the "Western Annals," and 
is well worth a perusal. 

Under the act of peace in 1783, no provision was 
made by the British for their allies, especially the 
Six Nations. The question was ignored by the 
English, and was made a handle by the Americans 
in gaining them to their cause before the war had 
fully closed. The treaties made were regarded by 
the Indians as alliances only, and when the En- 
glish left the country the Indians began to assume 
rather a hostile bearing. This excited the whites, 
and for a while a war with that formidable con- 
federacy was imminent. Better councils prevailed, 
and Congress wisely adopted the policy of acquiring 
their lands by purchase. In accordance with this 
policy, a treaty was made at Fort Stanwix with 
the Six Nations, in October, 1784. By this treaty, 
all lands west of a line drawn from the mouth of 
Oswego Creek, about four miles east of Niagara, 
to the mouth of Buifalo Creek, and on to the 
northern boundary of Pennsylvania, thence west 
along that boundary to its western extremity, 
thence south to the Ohio River, should be ceded 
to the United States. (They claimed west of this line 
by conquest.) The Six Nations were to be secured 
in the lands they inhabited, reserving only six miles 
square around Oswego fort for the support of the 
same. By this treaty, the indefinite claim of the 
Six Nations to the West was extinguished, and the 
question of its ownership settled. 

It was now occupied by other Western tribes, 
who did not recognize the Iroquois claim, and who 
would not yield without a purchase. Especially 
was this the case with those Indians living in the 
northern part. To get possession of that country 
by the same process, the United States, through 
its commissioners, held a treaty at Fort Mcintosh 
on the 21st of January, 1785. The Wyandot, 
Delaware, Chippewa and Ottawa tribes were pres- 
ent, and, through their chiefs, sold their lands to 
the Government. The Wyandot and Delaware 
nations were given a reservation in the north part 
of Ohio, where they were to be protected. The 
others were allotted reservations in Michigan. To 
all was given complete control of their lands, allow- 
ing them to punish any white man attempting to 
settle thereon, and guaranteeing them in their 
ri2;hts. 



By such means Congress gained Indian titles to 
the vast realms north of the Ohio, and, a few 
months later, that legislation was commenced that 
should determine the mode of its disposal and the 
plan of its settlements. 

To facilitate the settlement of landsthus acquired, 
Congress, on May 20, 1785, passed an act for dispos- 
ing of lands in the Northwest Territory. Its main 
provisions were : A surveyor or surveyors should be 
appointed from the States ; and a geographer, and 
his assistants to act with them. The surveyors 
were to divide the territory into townships of six 
miles square, by lines running due north and 
south, and east and west. The starting-place 
was to be on the Ohio River, at a point where the 
western boundary of Pennsylvania crossed it. 
This would give the first range, and the first 
township. As soon as seven townships were 
surveyed, the maps and plats of the same were to 
be sent to the Board of the Treasury, who would 
record them and proceed to place the land in the 
market, and so on with all the townships as fast as 
they could be prepared ready for sale. Each town- 
ship was to be divided into thirty-six sections, or 
lots. Out of these sections, numbers 8, 11, 26 and 
29 were reserved for the use of the Government, 
and lot No. 16, for the establishment of a common- 
school fund. One-third of all mines and minerals was 
also reserved for the United States. Three townships 
on Lake Erie were reserved for the use of officers, 
men and others, reftigees from Canada and from 
Nova Scotia, who were entitled to grants of land. 
The Moravian Indians were also exempt from 
molestation, and guaranteed in their homes. Sol- 
diers' claims, and all others of a like nature, were 
also recognized, and land reserved for them. 

Without waiting for the act of Congress, settlers 
had been pouring into the country, and, when or- 
dered by Congress to leave undisturbed Indian 
lands, refused to do so. They went into the In- 
dian country at their peril, however, and when 
driven out by the Indians could get no redress 
from the Government, even when life was lost. 

The Indians on the Wabash made a treaty at 
Fort Finney, on the Miami, January 31, 1786, 
promising allegiance to the United States, and were 
allow'ed a reservation. Thistrcaty did not include 
the Piankeshaws, as was at tir.st intended. These, 
refusing to live peaceably, stirred up the Shawa- 
nees, who began a scries of predatory excursions 
against the settlements. This led to an expedition 
against them and other restless tribes. Gen. Clarke 
commanded part of the army on that expedition. 



:^ 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



65 



but got no farther than Vincennes, when, owing to 
the discontent of his Kentucky troops, he was 
obliged to return. Col. Benjamin Logan, how- 
ever, marched, at the head of four or five hundred 
mounted riflemen, into the Indian country, pene- 
trating as far as the head-waters of Mad River. 
He destroyed several towns, much corn, and took 
about eighty prisoners. Among these, was the 
chief of the nation, who was wantonly slain, 
greatly to Logan's regret, who could not restrain 
his men. His expedition taught the Indians sub- 
mission, and that they must adhere to their con- 
tracts. 

Meanwhile, the difficulties of the navigation of 
the Mississippi arose. Spain would not relinquish 
the right to control the entire southern part of the 
river, allowing no free navigation. She was secretly 
hoping to cause a revolt of the Western provinces, 
especially Kentucky, and openly favored such a 
move. She also claimed, by conquest, much of the 
land on the east side of the river. The slow move- 
ments of Congress; the failure of Virginia to 
properly protect Kentucky, and the inherent rest- 
lessness in some of the Western men, well-nigh 
precipitated matters, and, for a while, serious results 
were imminent. The Kentuckians, and, indeed, 
all the people of the West, were determined the 
river should be free, and even went so far as to 
raise a regiment, and forcibly seize Spanish prop- 
erty in the West. Great Britain stood ready, too, 
to aid the West should it succeed, providing it 
would make an alliance with her. But while the 
excitement was at its height, Washington coun- 
seled better ways and patience. The decisive tone 
of the new republic, though almost overwhelmed 
with a burden of debt, and with no credit, debarred 
the Spanish from too forcible measures to assert 
their claims, and held back the disloyal ones from 
attempting a revolt. 

New Tork, Massachusetts and Connecticut ceded 
their lands, and now the United States were ready 
to fulfill their promises of land grants, to the sol- 
diers who had preserved the nation. This did 
much to heal the breach in the West, and restore 
confidence there ; so that the Mississippi question 
was overlooked for a time, and Kentucky forgot her 
animosities. 

The cession of their claims was the signal for 
the formation of land companies in the East ; com- 
panies whose object was to settle the Western coun- 
try, and, at the same time, enrich the founders of 
the companies. Some of these companies had been 
formed in the old colonial days, but the recent war 



had put a stop to all their proceedings. Congress 
would not recognize their claims, and new com- 
panies, under old names, were the result. By such 
means, the Ohio Company emerged from the past, 
and, in 1786, took an active existence. 

Benjamin Tupper, a Revolutionary soldier, and 
since then a government .surveyor, who had been 
west as far as Pittsburgh, revived the question. 
He was prevented from prosecuting his surveys by 
hostile Indians, and returned to Massachvisetts. 
He broached a plan to Gen. Rufus Putnam, as to 
the renewal of their memorial of 1783, M'hich re- 
sulted in the publication of a plan, and inviting all 
those interested, to meet in February in their re- 
spective counties, and choose delegates to a con- 
vention to be held at the " Bunch-of-grapes Tav- 
ern." in Boston, on the first of March, 1780. On 
the day appointed, eleven persons appeared, and 
by the 3d of March an outline was drawn up, and 
subscriptions under it began at once. The leading 
features of the plan were : " A fund of $ 1 ,000,000, 
mainly in Continental certificates, was to be raised 
for the purpose of purchasing lands in the Western 
country; there were to be 1,000 shares of $1,000 
each, and upon each share $10 in specie were to 
be paid for contingent expenses. One year's inter- 
est was to be appropriated to the charges of making 
a settlement, and assisting those unable to move 
without aid. The owners of every twenty shares 
were to choose an agent to represent them and 
attend to their interests, and the agents were to 
choose the directors. The plan was approved, and 
in a year's time from that date, the Company was 
organized."* 

By the time this Company was organized, all 
claims of the colonies in the coveted territory were 
done away with by their deeds of cession, Connect- 
icut being the last. 

While troubles were still existing south of the 
Ohio River, regarding the navigation of the Mis- 
sissippi, and many urged the formation of a sepa- 
rate, independent State, and while Congress and 
Washington were doing what they could to alia}- 
the feeling north of the Ohio, the New England 
associates were busily engaged, now that a Com- 
pany was formed, to obtain the land they wished 
to purchase. On the 8th of March, 1787, a meet- 
ing of the agents chose Gen. Parsons, Gen. Put- 
nam and the Rev. Mannasseh Cutler, Dii-ectors for 
the Company. The last selection was quite a 
fitting one for such an enterprise. Dr. Cutler was 

■» HiBtorical CollectionB, 



[7: 



66 



HISTOKY OF OHIO. 



an accomplished scholar, an excellent gentleman, 
and a firm believer in freedom. In the choice of 
him as the agent of the Company, lies the fact, 
though unforeseen, of the beginning of anti-slavery 
in America. Through him the famous " compact 
of 1787," the true corner-stone of the Northwest, 
originated, and by him was safely passed. He 
was a good "wire-puller," too, and in this had an 
advantage. Mr. Hutchins was at this time the 
geographer for the United States, and was, prob- 
ably, the best-posted man in America regarding 
the West. Dr. Cutler learned from him that the 
most desirable portions were on the Muskingum 
River, north of the Ohio, and was advised by him 
to buy there if he could. 

Congress wanted money badly, and many of the 
members favored the plan. The Southern mem- 
bers, generally, were hostile to it, as the Doctor 
would listen to no grant which did not embody 
the New England ideas in the charter. These 
members were finally won over, some bribery be- 
ing used, and some of their favorites made officers 
of the Territory, whose formation was now going 
on. This took time, however, and Dr. Cutler, be- 
coming impatient, declared they would purchase 
from some of the States, who held small tracts in 
various parts of the West. This intimation brought 
the tardy ones to time, and, on the 23d of July, 
Congress authorized the Treasury Board to make 
the contract. On the 26th, Messrs. Cutler and 
Sargent, on behalf of the Company, stated in 
writing their conditions; and on the 27th, Con- 
gress referred their letter to the Board, and an 
order of the same date was obtained. Of this Dr. 
Cutler's journal says: 

" By this grant we obtained near five millions 
of acres of land, amounting to S3, 500,000; 1,500,- 
000 acres for the Ohio Company, and the remainder 
for a private speculation, in which many of the 
principal characters of America are concerned. 
Without connecting this peculation, similar terms 
and advantages for the Ohio Company could not 
have been obtained." 

Messrs. Cutler and Sargent at once closed a ver- 
bal contract with the Treasury Board, which was 
executed in form on the 27th of the next Octo- 
ber.* 

By this contract, the vast region bounded on the 
south by the Ohio, west by the Scioto, east by the 
seventh range of townships then surveying, and 
north by a due west line, drawn from the north 

* Land Laws. 



boundary of the tenth township from the Ohio, 
direct to the Scioto, was sold to the Ohio associ- 
ates and their secret copartners, for $1 per acre, 
subject to a deduction of one-third for bad lands 
and other contingencies. 

The whole tract was not, however, paid for nor 
taken by the Company — even their own portion of 
a million and a half acres, and extending west to the 
eighteenth range of townships, was not taken ; and 
in 1792, the boundaries of the purchase proper 
were fixed as follows : the Ohio on the south, the 
seventh range of townships on the east, the six- 
teenth range on the west, and a line on the north 
so drawn as to make the grant 750,000 acres, be- 
sides reservations ; this grant being the portion 
which it was originally agreed the Company might 
enter into at once. In addition to this, 214,285 
acres were granted as army bounties, under the 
resolutions of 1779 and 1780, and 100,000 acres 
as bounties to actual settlers; both of the latter 
tracts being within the original grant of 1787, and 
adjoining the purchase as before mentioned. 

While these things were progressing, Congress 
was bringing into form an ordinance for the gov- 
ernment and social organization of the North- 
west Territory. Virginia made her cession in 
March, 1784, and during the month following the 
plan for the temporary government of the newly 
acquired territory came under discussion. On the 
19th of April, Mr. Spaight, of North Carolina, 
moved to strike from the plan reported by Mr. 
Jefferson, the emancipationist of his day, a provis- 
ion for the prohibition of slavery north of the Ohio 
after the year 1800. The motion prevailed. From 
that day till the 23d, the plan was discussed and 
altered, and finally passed unanimously with the ex- 
ception of South Carolina. The South would have 
slavery, or defeat every measure. Thus this hide- 
ous monster early began to assert himself. By the 
proposed plan, the Territory was to have been 
diAaded into States by parallels of latitude and merid- 
ian lines. This division, it was thought, would make 
ten States, whose names were as follows, beginning 
at the northwest corner, and going southwardly : 
Sylvania, Michigania, Cheresonisus, Assenispia, 
Metropotamia, Illinoia, Saratoga, Washington, 
Polypotamia and Pelisipia.* 

A more serious difficulty existed, however, to 
this plan, than its catalogue of names — the number 
of States and their boundaries. The root of the evil 
was in the resolution passed by Congress in October, 

* Spark's Washington. 






HISTOKY OF OHIO. 



67 



1780, -wlucli fixed the size of the States to be formed 
from the ceded lands, at one hundred to one hundred 
and fifty miles S(|uare. The terms of that resolu- 
tion being called up both by Virginia and Massa- 
chusetts, further legislation was deemed necessary 
to change them. July 7, 1786, this subject came 
up in Congi'ess, and a resolution passed in favor of 
a division into not less than three nor more than 
five States. Virginia, at the close of 1788, assented 
to this proposition, which became the basis upon 
which the division should be made. On the 29th 
of September, Congress having thus changed the 
plan for dividing the Northwestern Territory into 
ten States, proceeded again to consider the terms of 
an ordinance for the government of that region. At 
this juncture, the genius of Dr. Cutler displayed 
itself. A graduate in medicine, law and divinity ; 
an ardent lover of liberty ; a celebrated scientist, 
and an accomplished, portly gentleman, of whom 
the Southern senators said they had never before 
seen so fine a specimen from the New England colo- 
nies, no man was better prepared to form a govern- 
ment for the new Territory, than he. The Ohio 
Company was his real object. He was backed by 
them, and enough Continental money to purchase 
more than a million acres of land. This was aug- 
mented by other parties vintil, as has been noticed, 
he represented over five million acres. This would 
largely reduce the public debt. Jefierson aud Vir- 
ginia were regarded as authority concerning the 
land Virginia had just ceded to the General Gov- 
ernment. Jefi'erson's policy was to provide for the 
national credit, and still check the growth of slavery. 
Here was a good opportunity. Massachusetts 
owned the Territory of Maine, which she was crowd- 
ing into market. She opposed the opening of 
the Northwest. This stirred Virginia. The South 
caught the inspiration aud rallied around the Old 
Dominion and Dr. Cutler. Thereby he gained the 
credit and good will of the South, an auxiliary he 
used to good purpose. Massachusetts could not 
vote against him, because many of the constituents 
of her members wore interested in the Ohio Com- 
pany. Thus the Doctor, using all the arts of the 
lobbyist, was enabled to hold the situation. True to 
deeper convictions, he dictated one of the most com- 
pact and finished documents of wise statesmanship 
that has ever adorned any statute-book. Jefferson 
gave it the term, "Articles of Compact," and 
rendered him valuable aid in its construction. This 
" Compact" preceded the Federal Constitution, in 
both of which are seen Jefferson's master-mind. 
Dr. Cutler followed closely the constitution of IMas- 



sachusetts, adopted three years before. The prom- 
inent features were : The exclusion of slavery from 
the Territory forever. Provision lor public schools, 
giving one township for a seminary, and every six- 
teenth section. ( That gave one tliirty-sixth of all 
the land for public education.^ A provision pro- 
hibiting the adoption of any constitution or the 
enactment of any law that would nullify pre-exist- 
ing contracts. 

The compact further declared that " Religion, 
morality and knowledge being necessary to good 
government and the happiness of mankind, schools 
and the means of education shall always be en- 
couraged." 

The Doctor planted himself firmly on this plat- 
form, and would not^'ield. It was that or nothing. 
Unless they could make the land desirable, it was 
not wanted, and, taking his horse aud buggj-, he 
started for the Constitutional Convention in Phil- 
adelphia. His influence succeeded. On the 13th 
of July, 1787, the bill was put upon its passage 
and was unanimously adopted. Every member 
from the South voted for it ; only one man, Mr. 
Yates, of New York, voted against the measure ; 
but as the vote was made by States, his vote was 
lost, and the " Compact of 1787 " was beyond re- 
peal. Thus the great States of the Northwest 
Territory were consecrated to freedom, intelligence 
and morality. This act was the opening step for 
freedom in America. Soon the South saw their 
blunder, aud endeavored, by all their power, to re- 
peal the compact. In 1803, Congress referred it 
to a committee, of which John Ilandt)lph was 
chairman. He reported the ordinance was a com- 
pact and could not be repealed. Thus it stood, 
like a rock, in the way of slavery, which still, in 
spite of these provisions, endeavored to plant that 
infernal institution in the "West. "Witness the 
early days of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. But the 
compact could not be violated ; New England ideas 
could not be put down, and her sons stood ready 
to defend the soil of the West from that curse. 

The passage of the ordinance and the grant of 
land to Dr. Cutler and his associates, were soon fol- 
lowed by a recjuest fi-om John Clove Synnues, of 
New Jersey, for the country between the IMiamis. 
Symmos had visited that part of the West in 1780, 
and, being pleased with the valleys of the 3Iiamis, 
had applied to the Board of the Treasury for 
their purchase, as soon as they were open to set- 
tlement. The Board was empowered to act by 
Congress, and, in 1788, a contract was signed, giv- 
ing liim the country he desired. The terms of his 



u* 



68 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



purchase were similar to those of the Ohio Com- 
pany. His appHcation was followed by others, 
whose successorfailure will appear in the narrative. 

The New England or Ohio Company was all 
this time busily engaged perfecting its arrange- 
ments to occupy its lands. The Directors agreed 
to reserve 5,760 acres near the confluence of the 
Ohio and Muskingum for a city and commons, for 
the old ideas of the English plan of settling a 
country yet prevailed. A meeting of the Direct- 
ors was held at Bracket's tavern, in Boston, No- 
vember 23, 1787, when four surveyors, and twen- 
ty-two attendants, boat-builders, carpenters, black- 
smiths and common workmen, numbering in all 
forty persons, were engaged. Their tools were 
purchased, and wagons were obtained to transport 
them across the mountains. Gren. Rufus Putnam 
was made superintendent of the company, and 
Ebenezer Sproat, of Rhode Island, Anselm Tup- 
per and John Matthews, from Massachusetts, and 
R. J. Meigs, from Connecticut, as surveyors. At 
the same meeting, a suitable person to instruct them 
in religion, and prepare the way to open a school 
when needed, was selected. This was Rev. Daniel 
Storey, who became the first New England minis- 
ter in the Northwest. 

The Indians were watching this outgrowth of 
aflfairs, and felt, from what thej^ could learn in Ken- 
tucky, that they would be gradually surrounded by 
the whites. This they did not relish, by any 
means, and gave the settlements south of the Ohio 
no little uneasiness. It was thought best to hold 
another treaty with them. In the mean time, to 
insure peace, the Governor of Virginia, and Con- 
gress, placed troops at Venango, Forts Pitt and 
Mcintosh, and at Miami, Vincennes, Louisville, 
and Muskingum, and the militia of Kentucky 
were held in readiness should a sudden outbreak 
occur. These measures produced no results, save 
insuring the safety of the whites, and not until 
January, 1789, was Clarke able to carry out his 
plans. During that month, he held a meeting at Fort 
Harmar,* at the mouth of the Muskingum, where 
the New England Colony expected to locate. 

The hostile character of the Indians did not 
deter the Ohio Company from carrying out its 
plans. In the winter of 1787, Gen. Rufus Put- 



*Fnrt Ilarmar wasbnilt in HSr), by a dotachment of United States 
soldiers, under CDnmiand of Maj. John Doughty. It was name<i in 
honor of Col. Josiah llarmar, to whoso regiment Maj. Doughty was 
attached. It was the first military post erected by the Americans 
wit'iin the limits of Ohio, except Fort Laurens, a temporary struct- 
ure built in ]778. When Marietta was founded it was the military 
prist of that part of the country, and was for many years an impor- 
tant station. 



nam and forty-seven pioneers advanced to the 
mouth of the Youghiogheny River, and began 
building a boat for transportation down the Ohio 
in the spring. The boat was the largest craft that 
had ever descended the river, and, in allusion to 
their Pilgrim Fathers, it was called the Mayflower. 
It was 45 feet long and 12 feet wide, and esti- 
mated at 50 tons burden. Truly a formidable affair 
for the time. The bows were raking and curved 
like a galley, and were strongly timbered. The 
sides were made bullet-proof, and it was covered 
with a deck roof. Capt. Devol, the first ship- 
builder in the West, was placed in command. On 
the 2d of April, the Mayflower was launched, 
and for five days the little baud of pioneers sailed 
down the Monongahela and the Ohio, and, on the 
7th, landed at the mouth of the Muskingum. 
There, opposite Fort Harmar, they chose a loca- 
tion, moored their boat for a temporary shelter, 
and began to erect houses for their occupation. 

Thus was begun the first English settlement in 
the Ohio Valley. About the 1st of July, they 
were re-enforced by the arrival of a colony from 
Massachusetts. It had been nine weeks on the 
way. It had hauled its wagons and driven its 
stock to Wheeling, where, constructing flat-boats, 
it had floated down the river to the settlement. 

In October preceding this occurrence, Arthur 
St. Clair had been appointed Governor of the Ter- 
ritory by Congress, which body also appointed 
Winthrop Sargent, Secretary, and Samuel H. 
Parsons, James M. Varnum and John iVniistrong 
Judges. Subsequently Mr. Armstrong declined 
the appointment, and Mr. Symmes was given the 
vacancy. None of these were on the ground 
when the first settlement was made, though the 
Judges came soon after. One of the first things the 
colony found necessary to do was to organize 
some form of government, whereby difficulties 
might be settled, though to the credit of the colony 
it may be said, that during the first three months 
of its existence but one difference arose, and that 
was settled by a compromise.* Indeed, hardly a 
better set of men for the purpose could have been 
selected. Washington wrote concerning this 
colony : 

" No colony in America was ever settled under 
such favorable auspices as that which has com- 
menced at the Muskingum. Information, prop- 
erty and strength will bo its characteristics. I 
know many of the settlers personally, and there 



*" Western Monthly Magazine.' 



:?* 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



69 



^- 



never were meu better calculated to promote the 
welfare of such a community." 

On the 2d of July, a meeting of the Directors 
and agents was held on the banks of the Mus- 
kingum for the purpose of naming the newborn 
city and its squares. As yet, the settlement had 
been merely "The Muskingum;" but the name 
Marietta was now formally given it, in honor of 
Marie Antoinette. The square upon which the 
blockhouses stood was called Campus Martins; 
Square No. 19, Capitolium; Square No. Gl, Ce- 
cilia, and the great road running through the 
covert-way. Sacra Fui.* Surely, classical scholars 
were not scarce in the colony. 

On the Fourth, an oration was delivered by 
James M. Varnum, one of the Judges, and a 
public demonstration held. Five days after, the 
Governor arrived, and the colony began to assume 
form. The ordinance of 1787 provided two dis- 
tinct grades of government, under the first of 
which the whole power was under the Governor 
and the three Judges. This form was at once 
recognized on the arrival of St. Clair. The first 
law established by this court was passed on the 
25th of July. It established and regulated the 
militia of the Territory. The nest day after its 
publication, appeared the Governor's proclamation 
erecting all the country that had been ceded by 
the Indians east of the Scioto River, into the 
county of Washington. IMarietta was, of course, 
the county seat, and, from that day, went on 
prosperously. On September 2, the first court 
was held with becoming ceremonies. It is thus 
related in the American Pioneer: 

"The procession was formed at the Point 
(where the most of the settlers resided), in the 
following order: The High SheriflP, with his 
drawn sword; the citizens; the officers of the 
garrison at Fort Harraar; the members of the 
bar; the Supreme Judges; the Governor and 
clergyman ; the newly appointed Judges of the 
Court of Common Pleas,' Gens. Rufus Putnam 
and Benjamin Tupper. 

"They marched up the path that had been 
cleared through the forest to Campus IMartius 
Hall (stockade), where the whole countermarched, 
and the Judges (Putnam and Tupper) took their 
seats. The clergyman, Rev. Dr. Cutler, then 
invoked the divine blessing. The Sheriff, Col. 
Ebenezer Sproat, proclaimed with his solemn ' Oh 
yes I ' that a court is open for the administration of 

*" Carey's Museum," Vol. 4 



even-handed justice, to the poor and to the rich, 
to the guilty and to the innocent, without respect 
of persons ; none to be punished without a trial of 
their peers, and then in pursuance of the laws and 
evidence in the case. 

" Although this scene was exhibited thus early 
in the settlement of the West, few ever equaled it 
in the dignity and exalted character of its princi- 
pal participators. jMany of them belonged to the 
history of our country in the darkest, as well as 
the most splendid, period of the Revolutionary 
war." 

Many Indians were gathered at the same time 
to witness the (to them) strange spectacle, and for 
the purpose of forming a treaty, though how 
far they carried this out, the Pioneer does not 
relate. 

The progress of the settlement was quite satis- 
factory during the year. Some one writing a 
letter from the town says : 

" The progress of the settlement is sufl&ciently 
rapid for the first year. We are continually erect- 
ing houses, but arrivals are constantly coming 
faster than we can possibly provide convenient 
covering. Our first ball was opened about the 
middle of December, at which were fifteen ladies, 
as well accomplished in the manner of polite 
circles as any I have ever seen in the older States. 
I mention this to show the progress of society in 
this new world, where, I believe, we shall vie with, 
if not excel, the old States in every accom- 
plishment necessary to render life agreeable and 
happy." 

The emigration westward at this time was, 
indeed, exceedingly large. The commander at 
Fort Harmar reported 4,500 persons as having 
passed that post between February and June, 
1788, many of whom would have stopped there, 
had the associates been prepared to receive them. 
The settlement was free from Indian depredations 
until January, 1791, during which interval it 
daily increased in numbers and strength. 

Symmes and his friends were not idle during this 
time. He had secured his contract in October, 
1787, and, soon after, issued a pamphlet stating 
the terms of his purchase and the mode he intended 
to follow in the disposal of the lands. His plan 
was, to issue warrants for not less than one-quarter 
section, which might be located anywhere, save on 
reservations, or on land previously entered. The 
locator could enter an entire section should he de- 
sire to do so. The price was to be 60f cents per 
acre till May, 1788 ; then, till November, §1 ; and 



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70 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



after th;it lime to l)e regulated by the demand for 
land. Each purchaser was bound to begin im- 
provements within two years, or forfeit one-sixth 
of the hind to whoever wouUl settle thereon and 
remain seven years. Military bounties might bo 
taken in this, as in the purchase of the associates. 
For himself, Symmes reserved one township near 
the mouth of the Miami. On this he intended to 
build a great city, rivaling any Eastern port. He 
offered any one a lot on which to build a house, 
providing he would remain three years. Conti- 
nental certificates were rising, owing to the demand 
for land created by these two purchases, and Con- 
gress found the burden of debt correspondingly 
lessened. Symmes soon began to experience diffi- 
culty in procuring enough to meet his payments. 
He had also some trouble in arranging his boundary 
with the Board of the Treasury. These, and other 
causes, laid the foundation for another city, which is 
now what Symmes hoped his city would one day be. 

In January, 1788, Mathias Denman, of New 
Jersey, took an interest in Symmes' purchase, 
and located, among other tracts, the sections npon 
which Cincinnati has since been built. Retaining 
one-third of this purchase, he sold the balance to 
Robert Patterson and John Filson, each getting 
the same share. These three, about August, agreed 
to lay out a town on their land. It was designated 
as opposite the mouth of the Licking River, to 
which place it was intended to open a road from 
Lexington, Ky. These men little thought of the 
great emj»oriiim that now covers the modest site of 
this town they laid out that summer. Mr. Filson, 
who had been a schoolmaster, and was of a some- 
what poetic nature, was appointed to name the 
town. In respect to its situation, and as if with 
a prophetic perception of the mixed races that 
were in after years to dwell there, he named it Lo.s- 
antiville,* " which, being interpreted," says the 
" Western Annals," "means rtY/e, the town ; ariti, 
opposite to ; os, the mouth ; L, of Licking. This 
may well put to the blush the Campus 3Iartius 
of the Marietta scholars, and the Fort Solon of 
the Spaniards." 

Meanwhile, Symmes was busy in the East, and, 
by July, got thirty peo])le and eight four-horse 
wagons under way for the West. These reached 
Limestone by September, where they met Mr. 
Stites, with several persons from Redstone. All 



* Judge Burnett, in hi8 notes, disputes the above account of the 
origin of the city of Cincinnati. Ho says the name " Losantiville " 
was determined on, but not adopted, when the town was laid out. 
This version is probably the correct one, and will be found fully 
given ill the detailed history of the settlements. 



came to Symmes* purchase, and began to look for 
homes. 

Symmes' mind was, however, ill at rest. He 
could not meet his first payment on so vast a realm, 
and there also arose a difference of opinion be- 
tween him and the Treasury Board regarding the 
Ohio boundary. Symmes wanted all the land be- 
tween the two Miamis. bordering on the Ohio, 
while the Board wished him confined to no more 
than twenty miles of the river. To this proposal 
he would not agree, as he had made sales all along 
the river. Leaving the bargain in an unsettled 
state. Congress considered itself released from all 
its obligations, and, but for the representations of 
many of Symmes' friends, he would have lost all 
his money and labor. His appointment as Judge 
was not favorably received by many, as they 
thought that by it he would ac(juire unlimited 
power. Some of his associates also complained of 
him, and, for awhile, it surely seemed that ruin 
only awaited him. But he was brave and hope- 
ful, and determined to succeed. On his return 
from a visit to his purchase in September, 1788, 
he wrote Jonathan Dayton, of New Jersey, one of 
his best friends and associates, that he thought 
some of the land near the Great Miami " positively 
worth a silver dollar the acre in its present state." 

A good many changes were made in his original 
contract, gi-owing out of his inability to meet his 
payments. At first, he was to have not less than 
a million acres, under an act of Congress passed in 
October, 1787, authorizing the Treasury Board to 
contract with any one who could pay for such 
tracts, on the Ohio and Wabash Rivers, whose 
fronts should not exceed one-third of their depth. 

Dayton and JMarsh, Symmes' agents, contracted 
with the Board for one tract on the Ohio, begin- 
ning twenty miles up the Ohio from the mouth of 
the Great Miami, and to run back for quantity be- 
tween the Miami and a line drawn from the Ohio, 
parallel to the general course of that river. In 
1791, three years after Dayton and ]\La\sh made 
the contract, Symmes fount! this would throw the 
purchase too far back from the Ohio, and applied 
to Congress to let him have all between the IMi- 
amies, running back so as to include 1,000,000 
acres, which that body, on April 12, 1792, agreed 
to do. When the lands were surveyed, however, it 
was found that a line drawn from the head of the 
Little jMianii due west to the Great Miami, would 
include south of it less than six hiindred thousand 
acres. Even this Symmes could not pay for, and 
when his patent was issued in September, 1794, it 



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HISTOEY OF OHIO. 



71 



^ 



gave him and his associates 248,540 acres, exclu- 
sive of reservations which amounted to 63,142 
acres. This tract was bounded by the Ohio, the 
two Miamis and a due east and west Une run so 
as to include the desired quantity. Symmes, how- 
ever, made no further payments, and the rest of 
his purchase reverted to the United States, who 
gave those who had bought under him ample pre- 
emption rights. 

The Government was able, also, to give him and 
his colonists but little aid, and as danger from hos- 
tile Indians was in a measure imminent (though all 
the natives were friendly to Symmes), settlers were 
slow to come. However, the band led by jVIr. 
Stites arrived before the 1st of January, 1789, 
and locating themselves near the mouth of the 
Little Miami, on a tract of 10,000 acres which 
Mr. Stites had purchased from Symmes, formed 
the second settlement in Ohio. They were soon 
afterward joined by a colony of twenty-six persons, 
who assisted them to erect a block-house, and 
o-ather their corn. The town was named Columbia. 
While here, the great flood of January, 1789, oc- 
curred, which did much to ensure the future 
growth of Losantiville, or more properly, Cincin- 
nati. Symmes City, which was laid out near the 
mouth of the Great Miami, and which he vainly 
strove to make the city of the future, IMarietta 
and Columbia, all suffered severely by this flood, 
the greatest, the Indians said, ever known. The 
site of Cincinnati was not overflowed, and hence 
attracted the attention of the settlers. Denman's 
warrants had designated his purchase as opposite 
the mouth of the^Licking ; and that point escap- 
ing the overflow, late in December the place was 
visited by Israel Ludlow, Symmes' surveyor, Mr. 
Patterson and Mr. Denman, and about fourteen oth- 
ers, who left ^laysville to "form a station and lay 
off' a town opposite the Licking." The river was 
filled with ice "from shore to shore;" but, says 
Symmes in May, 1789, "Perseverance triumphing 
over difficulty, and they landed safe on a most de- 
lightful bank of the Ohio, where they founded 
the town of Losantiville, which populates consid- 
erably." The settlers of Losantiville built a few 
log huts and block-houses, and proceeded to im- 
prove the town. Symmes, noticing the location, 
says: " Though they placed their dwellings in the 
most marked" position, yet they suffered nothing 
from the freshet." This would seem to give cre- 
dence to Judge Burnett's notes regarding the origin 
of Cincinnati, who states the settlement was made 
at this time, and not at the time mentioned when 



iNIr. Filson named the town. It is further to be 
noticed, that, before the town was located by Mr. 
Ludlow and Mr. Patterson, Mr. Filson had been 
killed by the Miami Indians, and, as he had not paid 
for his one-third of the site, the claim was sold to 
Mr. Ludlow, who thereby became one of the origi- 
nal owners of the place. Just what day the town 
was laid out is not recorded. All the evidence 
tends to show it must have been late in 1788, or 
early in 1789. 

While the settlements on the north side of the 
Ohio were thus progressing, south of it fears of the 
Indians prevailed, and the separation sore was 
kept open. The country was, however, so torn by 
internal factions that no plan was likely to suc- 
ceed, and to this fact, in a large measure, may be 
credited the reason it did not secede, or join the 
Spanish or French faction, both of which were 
intriguing to get the commonwealth. During 
this year the treasonable acts of James Wilkinson 
came into view. For a while he thought success 
was in his grasp, but the two governments were at 
peace with America, and discountenanced any such 
efforts. Wilkinson, like all traitors, relapsed into 
nonentity, and became mistrusted by the govern- 
ments he attempted to befriend. Treason is al- 
ways odious. 

It will be borne in mind, that in 1778 prepa- 
rations had been made for a treaty with the Indi- 
ans, to secure peaceful possession of the lands 
owned in the West. Though the whites held 
these by purchase and treaty, yet many Indians, 
especially the Wabash and some of the Miami In- 
dians, objected to their occupation, claiming the 
Ohio boundary as the original division line. Clarke 
endeavored to obtain, by treaty at Fort Harmar, 
in 1778, a confirmation of these grants, but was 
not able to do so till January, 9, 1789. Rep- 
resentatives of the Six Nations, and of the Wyan- 
dots, Delawares, Ottawas, Chippewas, Pottawato- 
mies and Sacs, met him at this date, and confirmed 
and extended the treaties of Fort Stanwix and 
Fort Mcintosh, the one in 1784, the other in 
1785. This secured peace with the most of them, 
save a few of the W^abash Indians, whom they 
were compelled to conquer by arms. W hen this 
was accomphshed, the borders were thought safe, 
and Virginia proposed to withdraw her aid in sup- 
port of Kentucky. This opened old troubles, and 
the separation dogma came out afresh. Virginia 
offered to allow the erection of a separate State, 
pro\ading Kentucky would assume part of the old 
debts. This the young commonwealth would not 



£.iL 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



do, and sent a remonstrance. Virginia withdrew 
the proposal, and ordered a ninth convention, 
which succeeded in evolving a plan whereby Ken- 
tucky took her place among the free States of the 
Union. 

North of the Ohio, the prosperity continued. 
In 1789, llev. Daniel Story, who had been ap- 
pointed missionary to the West, came out as a 
teacher of the youth and a preacher of the Gospel. 
Dr. Cutler had preceded him, not in the capacity 
of a minister, though he had preached ; hence Mr. 
Story is truly the first missionary from the Prot- 
estant Church who came to the Ohio Valley in 
that capacity. When he came, iii 1789, he found 
nine associations on the Ohio Company's purchase, 
comprising two hundred and fifty persons in all ; 
and, by the close of 1790, eight settlements had 
been made: two at Belpre (belle prairie), one at 
Newbury, one at Wolf Creek, one at Duck Creek, 
one at the mouth of Meigs' Creek, one at Ander- 
son's Bottom, and one at Big Bottom. An ex- 
tended sketch of all these settlements will be found 
farther on in this volume. 

Symmes had, all this time, strenuously endeav- 
ored to get his city — called Cleves City — favorably 
noticed, and filled with people. He saw a rival in 
Cincinnati. That place, if made military head- 
quarters to protect the Miami Valley, would out- 
rival his town, situated near the bend of the 
Miami, near its mouth. On the 15th of June, 
Judge Symmes received news that the Wabash 
Indians threatened the Miami settlements, and as 
he had received only nineteen men for defense, he 
applied for more. Before July, Maj. Doughty 
arrived at the "Slaughter House" — as the Miami 
was sometimes called, owing to previous murders 
that had, at former times, occurred therein. 
Through the influence of Symmes, the detach- 
ment landed at the North Bend, and, for awhile, 
it was thought the fort would be erected there. 
This was what Symmes wanted, as it would 
secure him the headquarters of the military, and 
aid in getting the headcjuarters of the civil gov- 
ernment. The truth was, however, that neither 
the propo.sed city on the Miami — North Bend, as 
it afterward became known, from its location — or 
South Bend, could compete, in point of natural 
advantages, with the plain on which Cincinnati is 
built. Had Fort Washington been built elsewhere, 
after the close of the Indian war, nature would 
have asserted her advantages, and insured the 
growth of a city, where even the ancient and mys- 
terious dwellers of the Ohio had reared the earthen 



walls of one of their vast temples. Another fact 
is given in relation to the erection of Fort Wash- 
ington at Losantiville, which partakes somewhat of 
romance. The Major, while waiting to decide at 
which place the fort should be built, happened to 
make the acquaintance of a black-eyed beauty, the 
wife of one of the residents. Her husband, notic- 
ing the afi'air, removed her to Losantiville. The 
Major followed; he told Symmes he wished to see 
how a fort would do there, but promised to give his 
city the preference. He found the beauty there, and 
on his return Symmes could not prevail on him to 
remain. If the story be true, then the importance 
of Cincinnati owes its existence to a trivial circum- 
stance, and the old story of the ten years' war 
which terminated in the downfall of Troy, which 
is said to have originated owing to the beauty of 
a Spartan dame, was re-enacted here. Troy and 
North Bend fell because of the beauty of a wo- 
man ; Cincinnati was the result of the downfall of 
the latter place. 

About the first of January, 1790, Governor St. 
Clair, with his ofiicers, descended the Ohio River 
from Marietta to Fort Washington. There he es- 
tablished the county of Hamilton, comprising the 
immense region of country contiguous to the 
Ohio, from the Hocking River to the Great 
Miami; appointed a corps of civil and military 
ofiicers, and established a Court of Quarter Ses- 
sions. Some state that at this time, he changed 
the name of the village of Losantiville to Cin- 
cinnati, in allusion to a society of that name 
which had recently been formed among the officers 
of the Revolutionary army, and established it as 
the seat of justice for Hamilton. This latter fact 
is certain ; but as regards changing the name of 
the village, there is no good authority for it. With 
this importance attached to it, Cincinnati began at 
once an active growth, and from that day Cleves' 
city declined. The next summer, frame houses 
began to appear in Cincinnati, while at the same 
time forty new log cabins appeared about the 
fort. 

On the 8th of January, the Governor arrived at 
the falls of the Ohio, on his way to establish a 
government at Vincennes and Kaskaskia. From 
Clarkesville, he dispatched a messenger to Major 
Hamtramck, commander at Vincennes, with 
speeches to the various Indian tribes in this part 
of the Northwest, who had not fully agreed to the 
treaties. St. Clair and Sargent followed in a few 
days, along an Indian trail to Vincennes, where he 
organized the county of Knox, comprising all the 



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HISTORY OF OHIO. 



73 



country along the Ohio, from the Miami to the 
Wabash, and made Vincennes the county seat. 
Then they proceeded across the lower part of Illi- 
nois to Kaskaskia, where he established the county 
of St. Clair (so named by Sargent), comprising all 
the country from the Wabash to the Mississippi. 
Thus the Northwest was divided into three coun- 
ties, and courts established therein. St. Clair 
called upon the French inhabitants at Vincennes 
and in the Illinois country, to show the titles to 
their lands, and also to defray the expense of a 
survey. To this latter demand they replied through 
their priest, Pierre Gibault, showing their poverty, 
and inability to comply. They were confirmed in 
their grants, and, as they had been good friends to 
the patriot cause, were relieved from the expense 
of the survey. 

While the Governor was managing these affairs. 
Major Hamtramck was engaged in an effort to con- 
ciliate the Wabash Indians. For this purpose, he 
sent Antoine Gamelin, an intelligent French mer- 
chant, and a ti'ue friend of America, among them to 
carry messages sent by St. Clair and the Govern- 
ment, and to learn their sentiments and dispositions. 
Gamelin performed this important mission in the 
spring of 1790 with much sagacity, and, as the 



French were good friends of the natives, he did 
much to conciliate these half-hostile tribes. He 
visited the towns of these tribes along the Wabash 
and as far north and east as the Miami village, 
Ke-ki-ong-ga — St. Mary's — at the junction of the 
St. Mary's and St. Joseph's Ptivers (Fort Wayne). 

Gamelin's report, and the intelligence brought by 
some traders from the Upper Wabash, were con- 
veyed to the Governor at Kaskaskia. The reports 
convinced him that the Indians of that part of the 
Northwest were preparing for a war on the settle- 
ments north of the Ohio, intending, if possible, to 
drive them south of it; that river being still consid- 
ered by them as the true boundary. St. Clair left 
the administration of affairs in the Western counties 
to Sargent, and returned at once to Fort Washing- 
ton to provide for the defense of the frontier. 

The Indians had begun their predatory incur- 
sions into the country settled by the whites, and 
had committed some depredations. The Kentuck- 
ians were enlisted in an attack against the Scioto 
Indians. April 18, Gen. Harmar, with 100 
regulars, and Gen. Scott, with 230 volunteers, 
marched from Limestone, by a circuitous route, to 
the Scioto, accomplishing but little. The savages 
had fled. 



CHAPTER YII. 

THE INDIAN WAR OF 1795 — HARMAR' S CAMPAIGN — ST. CLAIR'S CAMPAIGN— WAYNE'S 

CAMPAIGN— CLOSE OF THE WAR. 



A GREAT deal of the hostility at this period 
was directly traceable to the British. They 
yet held Detroit and several posts on the lakes, in 
violation of the treaty of 1783. They alleged as 
a reason for not abandoning them, that the Ameri- 
cans had not fulfilled the conditions of the treaty 
regarding the collection of debts. Moreover, they 
did idl they could to remain at the frontier and en- 
joy the emoluments derived from the fur trade. 
That they aided the Indians in the conflict at this 
time, is undeniable. Just Iww, it is difficult to 
say. But it is well known the savages had all the 
ammunition and fire-arms they wanted, more than 
they could have obtained from American and 
French renegade traders. They were also well 
supplied with clothing, and were able to prolong 
the war some time. A great confederation was on 
the eve of formation. The leading spirits were 



Cornplanter, Brant, Little Turtle and other noted 
chiefs, and had not the British, as Brant said, 
"encouraged us to the war, and promised us aid, 
and then, when we were driven away by the Amer- 
icans, shut the doors of their fortresses against us 
and refused us food, when they saw us nearly con- 
quered, we would have effected our object." 

McKee, Elliott and Girty were also actively en- 
gaged in aiding the natives. All of them were in 
the interest of the British, a fact clearly proven 
by the Indians themselves, and by other traders. 

St. Clair and Gen. Harmar determined to send 
an expedition against the Maumee towns, and se- 
cure that part of the country. Letters were sent 
to the militia officers of AVestern Pennsylvania, 
Virginia and Kentucky, calling on them for militia 
to co-operate with the regular troops in the cam- 
paign. According to the plan of the campaign. 



^< 



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74 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



300 militia were to rendezvous at Fort Steuben 
( Jefferson ville), march thence to Fort Knox, at 
Vincennes, and join Maj. Hamtramck in an expe- 
dition up the Wabasli ; 700 were to rendezvous at 
Fort Washington to join the regular army against 
the Maumee towns. 

While St. Clair was forming his army and ar- 
ranging for the campaign, three expeditions were 
sent out against the jMiami towns. One against 
the Miami villages, not flir from the Wabash, was 
led by Gen. Ilarmar. He had in his army about 
fourteen hundred men, regulars and militia. These 
two parts of the army could not be made to affili- 
ate, and, as a consequence, the expedition did little 
beyond burning the villages and destroying corn. 
The militia would not submit to discipline, and would 
not serve under regular officers. It will be seen 
what this spirit led to when St. Clair went on his 
march soon after. 

The Indians, emboldened by the meager success 
of Harmar's command, continued their depreda- 
dations against the Ohio settlements, destroying 
the community at Big Bottom. To hold them in 
check, and also punish them, an army under Charles 
Scott went against the Wabash Indians. Little 
was done here but destroy towns and the standing 
corn. In July, another army, under Col. Wilkin- 
son, was sent against the Eel River Indians. Be- 
coming entangled in extensive morasses on the 
river, the army became endangered, but was finally 
extricated, and accomplished no more than either 
the other armies before it. As it was, however, the 
three expeditions directed against the Miamis and 
Shawanees, served only to exasperate them. The 
burning of their towns, the destruction of their 
corn, and the captivity of their women and chil- 
dren, only aroused them to more desperate efforts 
to defend tlieir country and to harass their in- 
vaders. To accomplish this, the chiefs of the 
Miamis, Shawanees and the Delawares, Little 
Turtle, Blue Jacket and Buckongahelas, were en- 
gaged in forming a confederacy of all the tribes of 
the Northwest, strong enough to drive the whites 
beyond the (_)hio. Pontiac had tried that before, 
even when he had open allies among the French. 
The Indians now had secret allies among the Brit- 
ish, yet, in the end, they did not succeed. While 
they were preparing for the contest, St. Clair was 
gathering his forces, intending to erect a chain of 
forts from the Ohio, by way of the Miami and 
Maumee valleys, to the lakes, and thereby effect- 
ually hold the savages in check. Washington 
warmly seconded this plan, and designated the 



junction of the St. Mary's and St. Joseph's Rivers as 
an important post. This had been a fortification 
almost from the time the English held the valley, 
and only needed little work to make it a formid- 
able fortress. Gen. Knox, the Secretary of War, 
also favored the plan, and gave instructions con- 
cerning it. Under these instructions, St. Clair 
organized his forces as rapidly as he could, although 
the numerous drawbacks almost, at times, threat- 
ened the defeat of the campaign. Througli the 
summer the arms and accouterments of the army 
were put in readiness at Fort Washington. Many 
were found to be of the poorest quality, and to be 
badly out of repair. The militia came poorly 
armed, under the impression they were to be pro- 
vided with arms. While waiting in camp, habits 
of idleness engendered themselves, and drunken- 
ness followed. They continued their accustomed 
freedom, disdaining to drill, and refused to submit 
to the regular officers. A bitter spirit broke out 
between the regular troops and the militia, which 
none could heal. The insubordination of the mi- 
litia and their officers, caused them a defeat after- 
ward, which they in vain attempted to fasten on 
the busy General, and the regular troops. 

The army was not ready to move till September 
17. It was then 2,300 strong. It then moved 
to a point upon the Great Miami, where they 
erected Fort Hamilton, the first in the proposed 
chain of fortresses. After its cimipletion, they 
moved on forty -four miles farther, and, on the 12th 
of October, began the erection of Fort Jefferson, 
about six miles south of the present town of Green- 
ville, Darke County. On the 24th, the ai'my again 
took up its line of march, through a wilderness, 
marshy and boggy, and full of savage foes. The 
army rapidly declined under the hot sun ; even the 
commander was suffering from an indisposition. 
The militia deserted, in companies at a time, leav- 
ing the bulk of the work to the regular troops. 
By the 3d of November, the army readied a 
stream twelve yards wide, which St. Clair sup- 
posed to be a branch of the St. Mary of the Mau- 
mee, but which in reality was a tributary of the 
Wabash. Upon the banks of that stream, the 
army, now about fourteen hundred strong, en- 
camped in two lines. A slight protection was 
thrown up as a safeguard against the Indians, who 
were known to be in the neighborhood. The Gen- 
eral intended to attack them next day, but, about 
half an hour before sunrise, just after the militia 
had been dismissed from parade, a sudden attack 
was made upon them. The militia were thrown 



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HISTOKY OF OHIO. 



75 



into confusion, and disregarded the command of 
the officers. They had not been sufficiently drilled, 
and now was seen, too late and too plainly, the evil 
effects of their insubordination. Through the 
morning the battle waged furiously, the men falling 
by scores. About nine o'clock the retreat began, 
covered by Maj. Cook and his troops. The re- 
treat was a disgraceful, precipitate flight, though, 
after four miles had been passed, the enemy re- 
turned to the work of scalping the dead and 
wounded, and of pillaging the camp. Through 
the day and the night their dreadful work con- 
tinued, one squaw afterward declaring " her arm 
was weary scalping the white men." The army 
reached Fort Jeflerscm a little after sunset, having 
thrown away much of its arms and baggage, though 
the act was entirely unnecessary. After remain- 
ing here a short time, it was decided by the officers 
to move on toward Fort Hamilton, and thence to 
Fort Washington. 

The defeat of St. Clair was the most terrible re- 
verse the Americans ever suffered from the Indi- 
ans. It was greater than even Braddock's defeat. 
His army consisted of 1,200 men and 86 officers, 
of whom 7 14 men and 63 officers were killed or 
wounded. St. Clair's army consisted of 1,400 
men and 86 officers, of whom 890 men and 16 
officers were killed or wounded. The comparative 
effects of the two engagements very inadequately 
represent the crushing effect of St. Clair's defeat. 
An unprotected frontier of more than a thousand 
miles in extent was now thrown open to a foe made 
merciless, and anxious to drive the whites from the 
north side of the Ohio. Now, settlers were scat- 
tered along all the streams, and in all the forests, ex- 
posed to the cruel enemy, who stealthily approached 
the homes of the pioneer, to nuirder him and his 
family. Loud calls arose fi'om the people to defend 
and protect them. St. Clair was covered with abuse 
for his defeat, when he really was not alone to blame 
for it. The militia would not be controlled. Had 
Clarke been at their head, or Wayne, who succeeded 
St, Clair, the result might have been different. As 
it was, St. Clair resigned ; though ever after he en- 
joyed the confidence of Washington and Congress. 

Four days after the defeat of St. Clair, the army, 
in its straggling condition, reached Fort Washing- 
ton, and paused to rest. On the 9th, St. Clair 
wrote fully to the Secretary of War. On the 12th, 
Gren. Knox communicated the information to Con- 
gress, and on the 26th, he laid before the Presi- 
dent two reports, the second containing sugges- 
tions regarding future operations. His sugges- 



tions urged the establishment of a strong United 
States Army, as it was plain the States could not 
control the matter. He also urged a thorough 
drill of the soldiers. No more insubordination 
could be tolerated. Greneral Wayne was selected 
by Washington as the commander, and at once pro- 
ceeded to the task assigned to him. In June, 1792, 
he went to Pittsburgh to organize the army now 
gathering, which was to be the ultimate argu- 
ment with the Indian confederation. Through the 
summer he was steadily at work. "Train and dis- 
cipline them for the work they are meant for," 
wrote Washington, "and do not spare powder and 
lead, so the men be made good marksmen." In 
December, the forces, now recruited and trained, 
gathered at a point twenty-two miles below Pitts- 
burgh, on the Ohio, called Legionville, the army 
itself being denominated the Legion of the United 
States, divided into four sub-legions, and provided 
with the proper officers. Meantime, Col. Wilkinson 
succeeded St. Clair as commander at Fort Wash- 
ington, and sent out a force to examine the field of 
defeat, and bury the dead. A shocking sight met 
their view, revealing the deeds of cruelty enacted 
upon their comrades by the savage enemy. 

While Wayne's army was ch-illing, peace meas- 
ures were pressed forward by the United States 
with equal perseverance. The Iroquois were in- 
duced to visit Philadelphia, and partially secured 
from the general confederacy. They were wary, 
however, and, expecting aid from the British, held 
aloof. Brant did not come, as was hoped, and it 
was plain there was intrigue somewhere. Five 
independent embassies were sent among the West- 
ern tribes, to endeavor to prevent a war, and win 
over the inimical tribes. But the victories they 
had won, and the favorable whispers of the British 
agents, closed the ears of the red men, and all 
propositions were rejected in some form or other. 
All the embassadors, save Putnam, suffered death. 
He alone was able to reach his goal — the Wabash 
Indians — and effect any treaty. On the 27th of 
December, in company with Heckewelder, the Mo- 
ravian missionary, he reached Yincennes, and met 
thirty-one chiefs, representing the Weas, Pianke- 
shaws, Kaskaskias, Peorias, Illinois, Pottawatomies, 
Mascoutins, Kickapoos and Eel River Indians, and 
concluded a treaty of peace with them. 

The fourth article of this treaty, however, con- 
tained a provision guaranteeing to the Indians 
their lands, and when the treaty was laid before 
Congress, February 13, 1793, that body, after 
much discussion, reftised on that account to ratify it. 



76 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



A great council of the Indians was to be lield 
at Auglaize during the autumn of 1792, when 
the assembled nations were to discuss fully their 
means of defense, and determine their future line 
of action. The council met in October, and was 
the largest Indian gathering of the time. The 
chiefs of all the tribes of the Northwest were there. 
The representatives of the seven nations of Canada, 
wei'e in attendance. Cornplanter and forty-eight 
chiefs of the New York (Six Nations) Indians re- 
paired thither. " Besides these," said Cornplanter, 
"there were so many nations we cannot tell the 
names of them. There were three men from the 
Grora nation ; it took them a whole season to come ; 
and," continued he, "twenty-seven nations from 
beyond Canada were there." The question of 
peace or war was long and earnestly debated. Their 
future was solemnly discussed, and around the 
council fire native eloquence and native zeal 
shone in all their simple strength. One nation 
after another, through their chiefs, presented their 
views. The deputies of the Six Nations, who had 
been at Philadelphia to consult the "Thirteen 
Fires," made their report. The Western bound- 
ary was the principal question. The natives, with 
one accord, declared it must be the Ohio River. 
An address was prepared, and sent to the President, 
wherein their views were stated, and agreeing to , 
abstain from all hostilities, until they could meet 
again in the spring at the rapids of the Maumce, 
and there consult with their white brothers. They 
desired the President to send agents, "who are 
men of honesty, not proud land-jobbers, but men 
who love and desire peace." The good work of 
Penn was evidenced here, as they desired that the 
embassadors "be accompanied by some Friend or 
Quaker." 

The armistice they had promised was not, how- 
ever, faithfully kept. On the Gth of November, 
a detachment of Kentucky cavalry at Fort St. 
Clair, about twenty-five miles above Fort Hamil- 
ton, was attacked. The commander, Maj. Adair, 
was an excellent officer, well versed in Indian tac- 
tics, and defeated the savages. 

This infraction of their promises did not deter 
the United States from taking measures to meet 
the Indians at the rapids of the Maumee " when 
the leaves were fully out." For that purpose, the 
President selected as commissioners, Charles Car- 
roll and Charles Thompson, but, as they declined 
the nomination, he appointed Benjamin Lincoln, 
Beverly Randolph and Timothy Pickering, the 1st 
of March, 1793, to attend the convention, which. 



it was thought best, should be held at the San- 
dusky outpost. About the last of April, these 
commissioners left Philadelphia, and, late in May, 
reached Niagara, where they remained guests of 
Lieut. Gov. Simcoe, of the British Government. 
This officer gave them all the aid he could, yet it 
was soon made plain to them that he would not 
object to the confederation, nay, even rather fav- 
ored it. They speak of his kindness to them, in 
grateful terms. Gov. Simcoe advised the Indians 
to make peace, but not to give up any of their 
lands. That was the pith of the whole matter. 
The British rather claimed land in New York, 
under the treaty of 1783, alleging the Americans 
had not fully complied with the terms of that 
treaty, hence they were not as anxious for peace 
and a peaceful settlement of the difficult boundary 
question as they sometimes represented. 

By July, "the leaves were fully out," the con- 
ferences among the tribes were over, and, on the 
IStli of that month, the commissioners met Bi-ant 
and some fifty natives. In a strong speech, Brant 
set forth their wishes, and invited them to accom- 
pany him to the place of holding the council. The 
Indians were rather jealous of Wayne's continued 
preparations for war, hence, just before setting out 
for the IMaumee, the commissioners sent a letter to 
the Secretary of War, asking that all warlike 
demonstrations cease until the result of their mis- 
sion be known. 

On 21st of July, the embassy reached the head 
of the Detroit River, where their advance was 
checked by the British authorities at Detroit, com- 
pelling them to take up their abode at the house 
of Andrew Elliott, the famous renegade, then a 
British agent under Alexander McKee. McKee 
was attending the council, and the commissioners 
addressed him a note, borne by Elliott, to inform 
him of their arrival, and asking when they could 
be received. Elliott returned on the 29th, bring- 
ing with him a deputation of twenty chiefs from 
the council. The next day, a conference was held, 
and the chief of the Wyandots, Sa-wagh-da-wunk, 
presented to the commissioners, in writing, their 
explicit demand in regard to the boundary, and 
their purposes and powers. " The Ohio must be 
the boundary," said he, " or blood will flow." 

The commissioners returned an answer to the 
proposition brought by the chiefs, recapitulating 
the treaties already made, and denying the Ohio 
as the boundary line. On the 16th of August, 
the council sent them, by two Wyandot runners, 
a final answer, in which they recapitulated their 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



77 



former assertions, and exhibited great powers of 
reasoning and clear logic in defense of their po- 
sition. The commissioners reply that it is impos- 
ble to accept the Ohio as the boundary, and declare 
the negotiation at an end. 

This closed the efforts of the Government to ne- 
gotiate with the Indians, and there remained of 
necessity no other mode of settling the dispute 
but war. Liberal terms had been offered them, 
but nothing but the boundary of the Ohio River 
would suffice. It was the only condition upon 
which the confederation would lay down its arms. 
" Among the rude statesmen of the wilderness, 
there was exhibited as pure patriotism and as lofty 
devotion to the good of their race, as ever won ap- 
plause among civilized men. The white man had, 
ever since he came into the country, been encroach- 
ing on their lands. He had long occupied the 
regions beyond the mountains. He had crushed 
the conspiracy formed by Pontiac, thirty years be- 
fore. He had taken possession of the common 
hunting-ground of all the tribes, on the faith of 
treaties they did not acknowledge. He was 
now laying out settlements and building forts in 
the heart of the country to which all the tribes 
had been driven, and which now was all they could 
call their own. And now they asked that it should 
be guaranteed to them, that the boundary which 
they had so long asked for should be drawn, and 
a final end be made to the continual aggressions of 
the whites ; or, if not, they solemnly determined to 
stake their all, against fearful odds, in defense of 
their homes, their country and the inheritance of 
their children. Nothing could be more patriotic 
than the position they occupied, and nothing could 
be more noble than the declarations of their 
council."* 

They did not know the strength of the whites, 
and based their success on the victories already 
gained. They hoped, nay, were promised, aid from 
the British, and even the Spanish had held out to 
them assurances of help when the hour of conflict 
came. 

The Americans were not disposed to yield even 
to the confederacy of the tribes backed by the two 
rival nations, forming, as Wayne characterized it, a 
" hydra of British, Spanish and Indian hostility.' 
On the IGth of August, the commissioners re- 
ceived the final answer of the council. The 17th, 
they left the mouth of the Detroit River, and the 
23(1, arrived at Fort Erie, whei'e they immediately 

* Anuals of the West. 



disjjatched messengers to Gen. Wayne to inform 
him of the issue of the negotiation. Wayne had 
spent the winter of 1792-93, at Legion ville, in col- 
lecting and organizing his army. April 30, 1793, 
the army moved down the river and encamped at 
a point, called by the soldiers "Hobson's choice," 
because from the extreme height of the river they 
were prevented fi-om landing elsewhere. Here 
Wayne was engaged, during the negotiations for 
peace, in drilling his soldiers, in cutting roads, and 
collecting supplies for the army. He was ready 
for an immediate campaign in case the council 
failed in its object. 

While here, he sent a letter to the Secretary of 
War, detailing the circumstances, and suggesting 
the probable course he should follow. He re- 
mained here during the summer, and, when apprised 
of the issue, saw it was too late to attempt the 
campaign then. He sent the Kentucky militia 
home, and, with his regular soldiers, went into 
winter quarters at a fort he built on a tributary 
of the Great Miami. He called the fort Green- 
ville. The present town of Greenville is near the 
site of the fort. During the winter, he sent a de- 
tachment to visit the scene of St. Clair's defeat. 
They found more than six hundred skulls, and 
were obliged to "scrape the bones together and 
carry them out to get a place to make their beds." 
They buried all they could find. Wayne was 
steadily preparing his forces, so as to have every- 
thing ready for a sure blow when the time came. 
All his information showed the faith in the British 
which still animated the doomed red men, and 
gave them a hope that could end only in defeat. 

The conduct of the Indians fully corroborated 
the statements received by Gen. Wayne. On the 
30th of June, an escort of ninety riflemen and 
fifty dragoons, under command of Maj. McMahon, 
was attacked under the walls of Fort Recovery by 
a force of more than one thousand Indians under 
charge of Little Turtle. They were repulsed and 
badly defeated, and, the next day, driven away. 
Their mode of action, their arms and ammunition, 
all told plainly of British aid. They also ex- 
pected to find the cannon lost by St. Clair Novem- 
ber 4, 1791, but which the Americans had secured. 
The 26th of July, Gen. Scott, with 1,600 
mounted men from Kentucky, joined Gen. Wayne 
at Fort Greenville, and, two da3'^s after, the legion 
moved forward. The 8th of August, the army 
reached the junction of the Auglaize and IMau- 
mee, and at once proceeded to erect Fort Defiance, 
where the waters meet. The Indians had abandoned 



>?- 



78 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



their towns on the approach of the army, and 
were congregating further northward. 

While engaged on Fort Defiance, Wayne 
received continual and full reports of the Indians — 
of their aid from Detroit and elsewhere; of the 
nature of the ground, and the circumstances, 
favorable or unfavorable. From all he cotild 
learn, and considering the spirits of his arm}, 
now thoroughly disciplined, he determined to 
march forward and settle matters at once. Yet, 
true to his own instincts, and to the measures of 
peace so forcibly taught by Washington, he sent 
Christ()])her Miller, who had been naturalized 
among the Shawanees, and taken prisoner by 
Wayne's spies, as a messenger of peace, offering 
terms of friendship. 

Unwilling to waste time, the troops began to 
move forward the 1 5th of August, and the next 
day met Miller with the message that if the Amer- 
icans would wait ten days at Auglaize the Indians 
woidd decide for peace or war. Wayne knew too 
well the Indian character, and answered the mes- 
sage by simply marching on. The 18th, the legion 
had advanced furty-one miles from Auglaize, and, 
being near the long-looked-for foe, began to take 
some measures for protection, should they be at- 
tacked. A slight breastwork, called Fort Deposit, 
wiis erected, wherein most of their heavy baggage 
was placed. They remained here, building their 
works, until the 2Uth, when, storing their baggage, 
the army began again its march. After advancing 
about five miles, they met a large force of the ene- 
my, two thousand strong, who fiercely attacked 
them. Wayne was, however, prepared, and in the 
short battle that ensued they were routed, and 
large numbers slain. The American loss was very 
slight. The horde of savages were put to flight, 
leaving the Americans victorious almost under 
the walls of the British garrison, under Maj. 
Campbell. This ofiicer sent a letter to Gen. 
Wayne, asking an explanation of his conduct in 
fighting so near, and in such evident hostility to 
the British. Wayne replied, telling him he was 
in a country that did not belong to him, and one 
he was not authorized to hold, and also charging 
him with aiding the Indians. A spirited corre- 
spondence followed, which ended in the American 
commander marching on, and devastating the In- 
dian country, even burning McKee's house and 
stores under the muzzles of the English guns. 

The 14lh of September, the army marched from 
Fort Defiance for the Miami village at the junc- 
tion of the St. ^Mary's and St. Joseph Rivers. It 



reached there on the 17th, and the next day Gen. 
Wayne selected a site for a fort. The 22d of Oc- 
tober, the fort was completed, and gan-isoned by a 
detachment under Maj. Hamtramck,who gave to it 
the name of Fort Wayne. The l-ith of October, 
the mounted Kentucky volunteers, who had be- 
come dissatisfied and mutinous, were started to 
Fort Washington, where they were immediately 
mustered out of service and discharged. The 28tli 
of October, the legion marched from Fort Wayne 
to Fort Greenville, where Gen. Wayne at once 
established his head(juarters. 

The campaign had been decisive and short, and 
had taught the Indians a severe lesson. The Brit- 
ish, too, had failed them in their hour of need, and 
now they began to see they had a foe to contend 
whose resources were exhaustless. Under these 
circumstances, losing faith in the English, and at 
last impressed with a respect for American power, 
after the defeat experienced at the hands of the 
''Black Snake," the various tribes made up their 
minds, by degrees, to ask for peace. During the 
winter and spring, they exchanged prisoners, and 
made ready to meet Gen. Wayne at Greenville, in 
June, for the purpose of forming a definite treaty, 
as it had been agreed should be done by the pre- 
liminaries of January 2-1. 

During the month of June, 1795, representa- 
tives of the Northwestern tribes began to gather at 
Greenville, and, the 16th of the month, Gen. Wayne 
met in council the Delawares, Ottawas, Pottawato- 
mies and Eel River Indians, and the conferences, 
which lasted till August 10, began. The 21st 
of June, Buckongahelas arrived ; the 23d, Little 
Turtle and other Miamis ; the loth of July, 
Tarhe and other Wyandot chiefs ; and the 18th, 
Blue Jacket, and thii'teen Shawanees and Massas 
with twenty Chiiipewas. 

Most of these, as it appeared by their statements, 
had been tampered with by the English, especially 
by McKee, Girty and Brant, even after the pre- 
liminaries of January 24, and while Mr. Jay was 
perfecting his treaty. They had, however, all de- 
termined to make peace with the "Thirteen Fires," 
and although some difficulty as to the ownership of 
the lands to be ceded, at one time seemed likely to 
arise, the good sense of Wayne and tlie leading 
chiefs prevented it, and, the odth of July, the treaty 
was agreed to which should bury the hatchet for- 
ever. Between that day and the 3d of August, 
it was engrossed, and, having been signed by the 
various nations upon the day last named, it was 
finally acted upon the 7th, and the presents from 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



79 



the United States distributed. The basis of this 
treaty was the previous one made at Fort Harmar. 
The boundaries made at that time were re-affirmed ; 
the whites were secured on the hinds now occu- 
pied by them or secured by former treaties ; and 
among all the assembled nations, presents, in value 
not less than one thousand pounds, were distributed 
to each through its representatives, many thousands 
in all. The Indians were allowed to remove and 



punish intruders on their lands, and were permitted 
to hunt on the ceded lands. 

" This great and abiding peace document wa.s 
signed by the various tribes, and dated August 3, 
1795. It was laid before the Senate December 9, 
and ratified the 22d. So closed the old Indian 
wars in the West." * 



* Annals of the West." 



CHAPTER VIIL 



JAY'S TREATY— THE QUESTION OF STATE RIGHTS AND NATIONAL SUPREMACY — EXTENSION 
OF OHIO SETTLEMENTS— LAND CLAIMS— SPANISH BOUNDARY QUESTION. 



WHILE these six years of Indian wars were 
in progress, Kentucky was admitted as a 
State, and Piuckney's treaty with Spain was com- 
pleted. This last occurrence was of vital impor- 
tance to the West, as it secured the free navigation 
of the Mississippi, charging only a fair price for 
the storage of goods at Spanish ports. This, 
though not all that the Americans wished, was a 
great gain in their favor, and did much to stop 
those agitations regarding a separation on the part 
of Kentucky. It also quieted affairs further 
south than Kentucky, in the Georgia and South 
Carolina Territory, and put an end to French 
and Spanish intrigue for the Western Territory. 
The treaty was signed November 24, 1794. 
Another treaty was concluded by Mr. John Jay 
between the two governments, Lord Greenville 
representing the English, and Mr. Jay, the Ameri- 
cans. The negotiations lasted from April to 
November 19, 1795, when, on that day, the treaty 
was signed and duly recognized. It decided 
effectually all the questions at issue, and was the 
signal for the removal of the Rritish troops from 
the Northwestern outposts. This was effected as 
soon as the proper transfers could be made. The 
second article of the treaty provided that, " His 
]Majesty will withdraw all his troops and garrisons 
from all posts and places within the boundary 
lines assigned by the treaty of peace to the United 
States. This evacuation shall take place on or 
before the 1st day of June, 179(5, and all the 
proper measures shall be taken, in the interval, by 
concert, between the Government of the United 
States and His INIajesty's Governor General in 
America, for settling the previous arrangements 



which may be ne.cessary respecting the delivery 
of the said posts; the United States, in the mean 
time, at their discretion, extending their settle- 
ments to any part within the said boundary line, 
exce{>t within the precincts or jurisdiction of any 
of the said posts. 

''AH settlers and all traders within the precincts 
or jurisdiction of the said posts shall continue to 
enjoy, unmolested, all their property of every 
kind, and shall be protected therein. They shall 
be at full liberty to remain there or to remove 
with all, or any part, of their effects, or retain the 
property thereof at their discretion ; such of them 
as shall continue to reside within the said boundary 
lines, shall not be compelled to become citizens of 
the United States, or take any oath of allegiance 
to the Government thereof; but they shall be at 
full liberty so to do, if they think proper ; they 
shall make or declare their election one year after 
the evacuation aforesaid. And all persons who 
shall continue therein after the expiration of the 
said year, without having declared their intention 
of remaining subjects to His Britannic Majesty, 
shall be considered as having elected to become 
citizens of the United States." 

The Indian war had settled all fears from that 
source ; the treaty with Great Britain had estab- 
lished the boundaries between the two countries 
and secured peace, and the treaty with Spain had 
secured the privilege of na\ngating the ^Mississippi, 
by paying only a nominal sum. It had also bound 
the people of the West together, and ended the 
old separation question. There was no danger 
from that now. Another difficulty arose, however, 
relatinsr to the home rule, and the organization of 



-<' 



80 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



the home government. There were two parties in 
the country, known as Federalist and Anti-Federal- 
ist. One favored a central government, whose au- 
thority should be supreme ; the other, only a 
compact, leaving the States supreme. The worth- 
lessuess of the old colonial system became, daily, 
more apparent. While it existed no one felt safe. 
There was no prospect of paying the debt, and, 
hence, no credit. When Mr. Ilauiilton, Secretary 
of the Treasury, offered his financial plan to the 
country, favoring centralization, it met, in many 
places, violent opposition. Washington was strong- 
enough to carry it out, and gave evidence that he 
would do so. When, therefore, the excise law 
passed, and taxes on whisky were collected, an 
open revolt occurred in Pennsylvania, known as 
the " Whisky Insurrection." It was put down, 
finally, by military power, and the malcontents 
made to know that the United States was a gov- 
ernment, not a compact liable to rupture at any 
time, and by any of its members. It taught the 
entire nation a lesson. Centralization meant pres- 
ervation. Should a " compact " form of government 
prevail, then anarchy and ruin, and ultimate sub- 
jection to some foreign power, met their view. 
That they had just fought to dispel, and must it 
all go for naught ? The people saw the rulers 
were right, and gradually, over the West, spread a 
spirit antagonistic to State supremacy. It did not 
revive till Jackson's time, when he, with an iron 
hand and iron will, crushed out the evil doctrine 
of State supremacy. It revived again in the late 
war, again to be crushed. It is to be hoped that 
ever thus will be its fate. " The Union is insepa- 
rable," said the Government, and the people echoed 
the words. 

During the war, and while all these events had 
been transpiring, settlements had been taking place 
upon the Ohio, which, in their influence upon the 
Northwest, and especially upon the State, as soon 
a.s it was created, were deeply felt. The A'^irginia 
and the Connecticut Reserves were at this time 
peopled, and, also, that part of the Miami Valley 
about Dayton, which city dates its origin from that 
period. 

As early as 1787, the reserved lands of the Old 
Dominion north of the Ohio were examined, and, 
in August of that year, entries were made. As 
no good title could be obtained from Congress at 
this time, the .settlement practically ceased until 
1790, when the prohibition to enter them was 
withdrawn. As soon as that was done, surveying 
betjan airain. Nathaniel Massie was amon"; the 



foremost men in the survey of this tract, and lo- 
cating the lands, laid oft" a town about twelve miles 
above Maysville. The place was called Manchester, 
and yet exists. From this point, Massie continued 
through all the Indian war, despite the danger, to 
survey the surrounding country, and prepare it for 
settlers. 

Connecticut had, as has been stated, ceded her 
lands, save a tract extending one hundred and 
twenty miles beyond the western boundary of 
Pennsylvania. Of this Connecticut Ileserve, so 
far as the Indian title was extinguished, a survey 
was ordered in October, 1786, and an oflice opened 
for its disposal. Part was soon sold, and, in 1792, 
half a million of acres were given to those citizens 
of Connecticut who had lost property by the acts 
of the British troops during the lievolutionary 
war at New London, New Haven and elsewhere. 
These lands thereby became known as " Fire lands " 
and the "Sufferer's lands," and were located in the 
western part of the Reserve. In May, 1795, the 
Connecticut Legislature authorized a committee to 
dispose of the remainder of the Reserve. Before 
autumn the committee sold it to a company known 
as the Connecticut Land Company for $1,200,000, 
and about the 5th of September quit-claimed the 
land to the Company. The same day the Company 
received it, it sold 3,000,000 acres to John Mor- 
gan, John Caldwell and Jonathan Brace, in trust. 
Upon these quit-claim titles of the land all deeds 
in the Reserve are based. Surveys were com- 
menced in 1796, and, by the close of the next 
year, all the land east of the Cuyahoga was divided 
into townships five miles square. The agent of the 
Connecticut Land Company was Gren. Moses Cleve- 
land, and in his honor the leading city of the Re- 
serve was named. That township and five others 
were reserved for private sale; the balance were 
disposed of by lottery, the first drawing occurring 
in February, 1798. 

Dayton resulted from the treaty made by Wayne. 
It came out of the boundary ascribed to Symnies, 
and for a while all such lands were not recognized 
as sold by Congress, owing to the failure of 
Symmes and his associates in paying for them. 
Thereby there existed, for a time, considerable un- 
easiness regarding the title to these lands. In 
1799, Congress was induced to Issue patents to the 
actual settlers, and thus secure them in their pre- 
emption. 

Seventeen days after Wayne's treaty, St. Clairs 
Wilkinson, Jonathan Dayton and Israel Ludlow 
contracted with Symmes for the seventh and eighth 



3?: 



:V 



a 4^ 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



83 



ranges, between Mad River and the Little Miami. 
Three settlements were to be made: one at the 
mouth of Mad River, one on the Little Miami, in 
the seventh range, and another on Mad River. On 
the 21st of September, 1795, Daniel C. Cooper 
started to survey and mark out a road in the pur- 
chase, and John Duulap to run its boundaries, 
which was completed before October 4. On No- 
vember 4, Mr. Ludlow laid off the town of Day- 
ton, which, like land in the Connecticut Reserve, 
was sold by lottery. 

A gigantic scheme to purchase eighteen or 
twenty million acres in jMichigan, and then pro- 
cure a good title from the Government — who alone 
had such a right to procure land — by giving mem- 
bers of Congress an interest in the investment, 
appeared shortly after Wayne's treaty. When 
some of the members were approached, however, 
the real spirit of the scheme appeared, and, instead 
of gaining ground, led to the exposure, resulting 
in the reprimanding severely of Robert Randall, 
the principal mover in the whole plan, and in its 
speedy disappearance. 

Another enterprise, equally gigantic, also ap- 
peared. It was, however, legitimate, and hence 
successful. On the 20th of February, 1795, the 
North American Land Company was formed in 
Philadelphia, under the management of such pat- 
riots as Robert Morris, John Nicholson and James 
Greenleaf This Company purchased large tracts 
in the West, which it disposed of to actual settlers, 
and thereby aided greatly in populating that part 
of the country. 

Before the close of 1795, the Governor of the 
Territory, and his Judges, published sixty-four 
statutes. Thirty-four of these were adopted at 
Cincinnati during June, July and August of that 
year. They were known as the Maxwell code, 
from the name of the publisher, but were passed 
by Governor St. Clair and Judges Symmes and 
Turner. Among them was that which provided 
that the common law of England, and all its stat- 
utes, made previous to the fourth year of James 
the First, should be in full force within the Terri- 
tory. "Of the system a.s a whole," says Mr. Case, 
" with its many imperfections, it may be doubted 
that any colony, at so early a period after its first 
establishment, ever had one so good and applicable 
to all." 

The Union had now safely passed through its 
most critical period after the close of the war of 
independence. The danger from an irruption of 
its own members; of a war or alliance of its West- 



ern portion with France and Spain, and many 
other perplexing questions, were now eflectually 
settled, and the population of the Territory began 
rapidly to increase. Before the close of the year 
179G, the Northwest contained over five thousand 
inhabitants, the requisite number to entitle it to 
one representative in the national Congress. 

Western Pennsylvania also, despite the various 
conflicting claims regarding the land titles in that 
part of the State, began rapidly to fill with emigrants. 
The "Triangle" and the " Struck District " were 
surveyed and put upon the market under the act 
of 1792. Treaties and purchases from the various 
Indian tribes, obtained control of the remainder of 
the lands in that part of the State, and, by 1796, 
the State owned all the land within its boundaries. 
Towns were laid off, land put upon the market, so 
that by the year 1800, the western part of the 
Keystone State was divided into eight counties, viz., 
Beaver, Butler, Mercer, Crawford, Erie, Warren, 
Venango and Armstrong. 

Theordinance relative to the survey and dis- 
posal of lands in the Northwest Territory has 
already been given. It was adhered to, save in 
minor cases, where necessity required a slight 
change. The reservations were recognized by 
Congress, and the titles to them all confirmed to 
the "gi-antees. Thus, Clarke and his men, the 
Connecticut Reserve, the Refugee lands, the 
French inhabitants, and all others holding patents 
to land from colonial or foreign governments, were 
all confirmed in their rights and protected in their 
titles. 

Before the close of 1796, the upper North- 
western posts were all vacated by the British, 
under the terms of Mr. Jay's treaty. Wayne at 
once transferred his headquarters to Detroit, where 
a county was named for him, including the north- 
western part of Ohio, the northeast of Indiana, 
and the whole of Michigan. 

The occupation of the Territory by the Ameri- 
cans gave additional impulse to emigration, and a 
better feeling of security to emigrants, who fol- 
lowed closely upon the path of the army. Na- 
thaniel Mas.-ie, who has already been noticed as 
the founder of iManchestcr, laid out the town of 
Chillicothe, on the Scioto, in 1796. Before the 
close of the year, it contained several stores, 
shops, a tavern, and was well populated. With 
the increase of settlement and the security guar- 
anteed by the treaty of Greenville, the arts of 
civilized life began to appear, and their influence 
upon pioneers, especially those born on the frontier, 



^ 




began to manifest itself. Better dwellings, schools, 
churehes, dress and manners prevailed. Life 
began to assume a reality, and lost mucb of 
that recklessness engendered by the habits of a 
frontier life. 

Cleveland, Cincinnati, the Miami, the IMus- 
kiugum and the Scioto Valleys were filling with 
people. Cincinnati had more than one hundred 
log cabins, twelve or fifteen frame houses and a 
population of more than sis hundred persons. In 
1796, the first house of worship for the Presby- 
terians in that city was built. 

Before the close of the same year, INIanchester 
contained over thirty families ; emigrants from 
A'irginia were going up all the valleys from the 
Ohio; and Ebenczer Zane had opened a bridle- 
path from the Ohio River, at WheeUng, across the 
country, by Chillicothe, to Limestone, Ky. The 
next year, the United States mail, for the first 
time, traversed this route to the West. Zane was 
given a section of land for his path. The popu- 
lation of the Territory, estimated at from five to 
eight thousand, was chiefly distributed in lower 
valleys, bordering on the Ohio River. The French 
still occupied the Illinois country, and were the 
principal inhabitants about Detroit. 

South of the Ohio River, Kentucky was pro- 
gressing favorably, while the " Southwestern Ter- 
ritory," ceded to the United States by North 
Carolina in 1790, had so rapidly populated that, 
in 1793, a Territorial form of government was 
allowed. The ordinance of 1787, save the clause 
prohibiting slavery, was adopted, and the Territory- 
named Tennessee. On June 6, 1796, the Terri- 
tory contained more than seventy-five thousand 
inhabitants, and was admitted into the LTnion as a 
State. Four years after, the census showed a 
population of 105,602 souls, including 13,584 
slaves and persons of color. The same year 
Tennessee became a State, Samuel Jackson and 
Jonathan Sharpless erected the Redstone Paper 
Mill, four miles cast of Brownsville, it being the 
first manufactory of the kind west of the Alle- 
ghanies. 

In the month of December, 1796, Gen. Wayne, 
who had done so much for the development of the 
West, while on his way from Detroit to Philadel- 
phia, was attacked with sickness and died in a 
cabin near Eric, in the north part of Pennsylvania. 
He was nearly fifty-one years old, and was one of 



the bravest officers in the Revolutionary Avar, and 
one of America's truest patriots. In 1809, his 
remains were removed from Erie, by his sou, Col. 
Isaac Wayne, to the Radnor churchyard, near the 
place of his birth, and an elegant monument erected 
on his tomb by the Pennsylvania Cincinnati So- 
ciety. 

After the death of Wayne, Gen. Wilkinson was 
appointed to the command of the Western army. 
AVliile he was in command, Carondelct, the Spanish 
governor of West Florida and Louisiana, made one 
more effort to separate the Union, and set up either 
an independent government in the West, or, what 
was more in accord with his wishes, effect a 
union with the Spanish nation. In June, 1797, 
he sent Power again into the Northwest and into 
Kentucky to sound the existing feeling. Now, 
however, they were not easily won over. The 
home government was a certainty, the breaches had 
been healed, and Power was compelled to abandon 
the mission , not, however, until he had received a 
severe reprimand from many who saw through his 
plan, and openly exposed it. His mission closed 
the efforts of the Spanish authorities to attempt 
the dismemberment of the Union, and showed 
them the coming downfall of their power in Amer- 
ica. They were obliged to surrender the posts 
claimed by the United States under the treaty of 
1795, and not many years after, sold their Amer- 
ican possessions to the United States, rather than 
see a rival European power attain control over them. 

On the 7th of April, 1798, Congress passed an 
act, appointing Winthrop Sargent, Secretary of the 
Northwest Territory, Governor of the Territory of 
the Mississippi, formed the same day. In 1801, 
the boundary between America and the Spanish pos- 
sessions was definitely fixed. The Spanish retired 
from the disputed territory, and henceforward their 
attempts to dissolve the American U^nion ceased. 
The seat of the jMississippi Territory was fixed at 
Loftus Heights, six miles north of the thirty-first 
degi'ee of latitude. 

The appointment of Sargent to the charge of the 
Southwest Territory, led to the choice of William 
Henry Harrison, wdio had been aid-de-camp to 
Gen. Wayne in 1794, and whose character stood 
very high among the people of the West, to the 
Secretaryship of the Northwest, which place he held 
until appointed to represent that Territory in Con- 
Kress. 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



85 



CHAPTER IX. 

FIRST TERRITORIAL REPRESENTATIVES IN CONGRESS— DIVISION OF THE TERRITORY— FORMA- 
TION OF STATES— MARIETTxV SETTLEMENT— OTHER SETTLEMENTS— SETTLEMENTS IN 
THE WESTERN RESERVE — SETTLEMENT OF THE CENTRAL VALLEYS- 
FURTHER ^^ETTLEMENTS IN THE RESERVE AND ELSEWHERE. 



THE ordinance of 1787 provided that as soon 
as there were 5,000 persons in the Territory, 
it was entitled to a representative assembly. On 
October 29, 1798, Governor St. Clair gave notice 
by proclamation, that the required population ex- 
isted, and directed that an election be held on the 
third Monday in December, to choose representa- 
tives. These representatives were required, when 
assembled, to nominate ten persons, whose names 
were sent to the President of the United States, 
who selected five, and with the advice and consent 
of the Senate, appointed them for the legislative 
council. In this mode the Northwest passed into 
the second grade of a Territorial government. 

The representatives, elected under the proclama- 
tion of St. Clair, met in Cincinnati, January 22, 
1799, and under the provisions of the ordinance 
of 1787, nominated ten persons, whose names were 
sent to the President. On the 2d of March, he 
selected from the list of candidates, the names of 
Jacob Burnet, James Findlay, Henry Vander- 
burgh, Robert Oliver and David Vance. The 
next day the Senate confirmed their nomination, 
and the first legislative council of the Northwest 
Territoiy was a reality. 

The Territorial Legislature met again at Cincin- 
nati, September 10, but, for want of a quorum, 
was not organized until the 24th of that month. 
The House of Representatives consisted of nine- 
teen members, of whom seven were from Hamilton 
County, four from Ross — erected by St. Clair in 
1798; three from Wayne — erected in 179G; two 
from Adams — erected in 1797; one from Jeffer- 
son — erected in 1797; one from Washington — 
erected in 1788 ; and one from Knox — Indiana 
Territory. None seem to have been present fi-om 
St. Clair County (Illinois Territory). 

After the organization of the liCgislature, Gov- 
ernor St. Clair addressed the two houses in the Rep- 
resentatives' Chamber, recommending such meas- 
ures as, in his judgment, were suited to the con- 
dition of the country and would advance the safety 
and prosperity of the people. 



The Legislature continued in session till the 19th 
of December, when, having finished their business, 
they were prorogued by the Governor, by their 
own request, till the first Monday in November, 
1800. This being the first session, there was, of 
necessity, a great deal of business to do. The 
transition from a colonial to a semi-independent 
form of government, called for a general revision 
as well as a considerable enlargement of the stat- 
ute-book. Some of the adopted laws were re- 
pealed, many others altered and amended, and a 
long list of new ones added to the code. New 
offices were to be created and filled, the duties at- 
tached to them prescribed, and a plan of waj's and 
means devised to meet the increased expenditures, 
occasioned by the change which had now occurred. 

As Mr. Burnet was the principal lawyer in the 
Council, much of the revision, and putting the laws 
into proper legal form, devolved upon him. He 
seems to have been well fitted for the place, and 
to have performed the laborious task in an excel- 
lent manner. 

The whole number of acts passed and approved 
by the Governor, was thirty-seven. The most im- 
portant related to the militia, the administration of 
justice, and to taxation. During the session, a bill 
authorizing a lottery was passed by the council, 
but rejected by the Legislature, thus interdicting 
this demoralizing feature of the disposal of lands 
or for other purposes. The example has always been 
followed by subse((uent legislatures, thus honorably 
characterizing the Assembly of Ohio, in this re- 
spect, an example Kentucky and several other 
States might well emulate. 

Before the Assembly adjourned, they issued a 
congratulatory address to the people, enjoining 
them to " Inculcate the principles of humanity, 
benevolence, honesty and punctuality in dealing, 
sincerity and charity, and all the social aflfections." 
At the same time, they issued an address to the 
President, expressing entire confidence in the wis- 
dom and purity of his government, and their 
warm attachment to the American Constitution. 



3- ' 



>> 



86 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



The vote on this address proved, however, that the 
differences of opinion agitating the Eastern States 
had penetrated the West. Eleven Representatives 
voted for it, and five against it. 

One of the important duties that devolved on 
this Legislature, was the election of a delegate to 
Congress. As soon as the Governor's proclama- 
tion made its appearance, the election of a person 
to fill that position excited general attention. Be- 
fore the meeting of the Legislature public opinion 
had settled down on William Henry Harrison, and 
Arthur St. Clair, Jr., who eventually were the only 
candidates. On the 3d of October, the two houses 
met and proceeded to a choice. Eleven votes were 
cast for Harrison, and ten for St. Clair. The Leg- 
islature prescribed the form of a certificate of the 
election, which was given to Harrison, who at once 
resigned his office as Secretary of the Territory, 
proceeded to Philadelphia, and took his seat. Con- 
gress being then in session. 

" Though he represented the Territory but one 
year, " says Judge Burnett, in his notes, " he ob- 
tained some important advantages for his constitu- 
ents. He introduced a resolution to sub-divide 
the surveys of the public lands, and to offer them 
for sale in smaller tracts ; he succeeded in getting 
that measure through both houses, in opposition to 
the interest of speculators, who were, and who 
wished to be, the retailers of the land to the poorer 
classes of the community. His proposition be- 
came a law, and was hailed as the most beneficent 
act that Congress had ever done for the Territory. 
It put in the power of every industrious man, how- 
ever poor, to become a freeholder, and to lay a 
foundation for the future support and comfort of 
his family. At the same session, he obtained a 
liberal extension of time for the pre-emptioners in 
the northern part of the Miami purchase, which 
enabled them to secure their farms, and eventually 
to become independent, and even wealthy." 

The first session, as has been noticed, closed 
December 19. Gov. St. Clair took occasion to 
enumerate in his speech at the close of the session, 
eleven acts, to which he saw fit to apply his veto. 
These he had not, however, returned to the Assem- 
bly, and thereby saved a long struggle between the 
executive and legislative branches of the Territory. 
Of the eleven acts enumerated, six related to the 
formation of new counties. These were mainly 
disproved by St Clair, as he always sturdily main- 
tained that the power to erect new counties was 
vested alone in the Executive. This free exercise 
of the veto power, especially in relation to new 



counties, and his controversy with the Legislature, 
tended only to strengthen the popular discontent 
regarding the Governor, who was never fully able 
to regain the standing he held before his in- 
glorious defeat in his campaign against the Indians. 
While this was being agitated, another question 
came into prominence. Ultimately, it settled the 
powers of the two branches of the government, 
and caused the removal of St. Clair, then very 
distasteful to the people. The opening of the 
present century brought it fully before the 
people, who began to agitate it in all their 
assemblies. 

The great extent of the Territory made the 
operations of government extremely uncertain, 
and the power of the courts practically worthless. 
Its division was, therefore, deemed best, and a 
committee was appointed by CongTess to inquire 
into the matter. This committee, the 3d of 
March, 18U0, reported upon the subject that, "In 
the three western counties, there has been but 
one court having cognizance of crimes in five 
years. The imnuuiity which offenders experience, 
attracts, as to an asylum, the most vile and aban- 
doned criminals, and, at the same time, deters 
useful and virtuous citizens from making settle- 
ments in such society. The extreme necessity of 
judiciary attention and assistance is experienced 
in civil as well as criminal cases. The supplying 
to vacant places such necessary oflScers as may be 
wanted, such as clerks, recorders and others of 
like kind, is, from the impossibility of correct 
notice and information, utterly neglected. This 
Territory is exposed as a frontier to foreign nations, 
whose agents can find sufficient interest in exciting 
or fomenting insurrection and discontent, as 
thereby they can more easily divert a valuable 
trade in furs from the United States, and also have 
a part thereof on which they border, which feels 
so little the cherisliing hand of their proper gov- 
ernment, or so little dreads its energy, as to render 
their attachment pei-fectly uncertain and am- 
biguous. 

" The committee would further suggest, that 
the law of the 3d of March, 1791, granting land 
to certain persons in the western part of said Ter- 
ritory, and directing the laying-out of the same, 
remains unexecuted; that great discontent, in 
consequence of such neglect, is excited in those 
who are interested in the provisions of said laws, 
which require the innnediate attention of this 
Legislature. To minister a remedy to these evils, 
it occurs to this committee, that it is expedient 



V 



[^i.: 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



that a division of said Territory into two distinct 
and separate governments should be made ; and 
that such division be made by a line beginning at 
the mouth of the great jNIiami River, running 
directly north until it intersects the boundary 
between the United States and Canada." * 

The recommendations of the committee were 
favorably received by Congress, and, the 7th 
of May, an act was passed dividing the Ter- 
ritory. The main provisions of the act are as 
follows : 

"That, from and after the 4th of July next, 
all that part of the territory of the United States 
northwest of the Ohio River, which lies to the 
westward of a line beginning at the Ohio, opposite 
to the mouth of the Kentucky River, and running 
thence to Fort Recovery, and thence north until 
it intersects the territorial line between the United 
States and Canada, shall, for the purpose of tem- 
porary government, constitute a separate Territory, 
and be called the Indiana Territory. 

" There shall be established within the said Ter- 
ritory a government, in all respects similar to that 
provided by the ordinance of Congress passed July 
13, 1797." t 

The act further provided for representatives, and 
for the establishment of an assembly, on the same 
plan as that in force in the Northwest, stipulating 
that until the number of inhabitants reached five 
thousand, the whole number of representatives to 
the General Assembly should not be less than seven, 
nor more than nine ; apportioned by the Governor 
among the several counties in the new Terri- 
tory. 

The act further provided that " nothing in the 
act should be so construed, so as in any manner 
to affect the government now in force in the terri- 
tory of the United States northwest of the Ohio 
River, further than to prohibit the exercise thereof 
within the Indiana Territory, from and after the 
aforesaid 4th of July next. 

" Whenever that part of the territory of the 
United States, which lies to the eastward of a line 
beginning at the mouth of the Great Miami River, 
and running thence due north to the territorial 
line between the United States and Canada, shall 
be erected into an independent State, and admitted 
into the Union on an equal footing with the orig- 
inal States; thenceforth said line shall become and 
remain permanently, the boundary line between 
such State and the Indiana Territory." 

♦Ameri-'an State Papers. 
tLand Laws. 



It was further enacted, " that, until it shall be 
otherwise enacted by the legislatures of the said 
territories, respectively, Chillicothe, on the Scioto 
River, shall be the seat of government of the ter- 
ritory of the United States northwest of the Ohio 
River ; and that St. Vincent's, on the Wabash 
River, shall be the seat of government for the 
Indiana Territory." * 

St. Clair was continued as Governor of the old 
Territory, and William Henry Harrison appointed 
Governor of the new. 

Connecticut, in ceding her territory in the West 
to the General Government, reserved a portion, 
known as the Connecticut Reserve. When she 
afterward disposed of her claim in the manner 
narrated, the citizens found themselves without any 
government on which to lean for support. At that 
time, settlements had begun in thirty-five of the 
townships into which the Reserve had been divided ; 
one thousand persons had established homes there ; 
mills had been built, and over seven hundred miles 
of roads opened. In 1800, the settlers petitioned 
for acceptance into the Union, as a part of the 
Northwest; and, the mother State releasing her judi- 
ciary claims. Congress accepted the trust, and 
granted the request. In December, of that year, 
the population had so increased that the county of 
Trumbull was erected, including the Reserve. 
Soon after, a large number of settlers came from 
Pennsylvania, from which State they had been 
driven by the dispute concerning land titles in its 
western part. Unwilling to cultivate land to 
which they could only get a doubtful deed, they 
abandoned it, and came where the titles were 
sure. 

Congress having made Chillicothe the capital of 
the Northwest Territory, as it now existed, on the 
3d of November the General Assembly met at that 
place. Gov. St. Clair had been made to feel the 
odium cast upon his previous acts, and, at the open- 
ing of this session, expressed, in strong terms, his 
disapprobation of the censure cast upon him. He 
had endeavored to do his duty in all cases, he said, 
and yet held the confidence of the President and 
Congress. He still held the ofiice, notwithstanding 
the strong dislike against him. 

At the second session of the Assembly, at Chil- 
licothe, held in the autumn of 1801, so much out- 
spoken enmity was expi*essed, and so much abuse 
heaped upon the Governor and the Assembly, that 
a law was passed, removing the capital to Cincinnati 

* Land Laws. 



J^ 



'-^ 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



a^rain. It was not destined, however, that the 
'l\'rritorial Assembly should meet ai;ain anywhere. 
The unpopularity of the Governor eaused many to 
long for a State government, where they could 
choose their own rulers. The unpopularity of St. 
Clair arose partly from the feeling connected with 
his defeat; in part from his being connected with 
the Federal party, fast falling into disrepute; and, 
in part, from his assuming powers which most 
thought he had no right to exercise, especially the 
power of subdividing the counties of the Terri- 
tory. 

The opposition, though powerful out of the 
Assembly, was in the minority there. During the 
month of December, lS01,it was forced to protest 
against a measure brought forward in the Council, 
for changing the ordinance of 1787 in such a man- 
ner as to make the Scioto, and a line drawn from 
the intersection of that river and the Indian 
boundary to the western extremity of the Reserve, 
the limits of the most eastern State, to be formed 
from the Territory. Had this change been made, 
the formation of a State government beyond the 
Ohio would have been long delayed. Against it, 
llepresentativesWorthington,Langham, Darlington, 
Mas.sie, Duulavy and Morrow, recorded their pro- 
test. Not content with this, they sent Thomas 
Worthington, who obtained a leave of absence, to 
the scat of government, on behalf of the objectors, 
there to protest, before Congress, against the pro- 
posed boundary. While Worthington was on his 
way, Massie presented, the -Ith of January, 1802, 
a resolution for choosing a committee to address 
Congress in respect to the proposed State govern- 
ment. This, the next day, the House refused to 
do, by a vote of twelve to five. An attempt 
was next made to procure a census of the Ter- 
ritory, and an act for that purpose passed the 
House, but the Council po.stponed the considera- 
tion of it until the next session, which would com- 
mence at Cincinnati, the fourth Monday of No- 
vember. 

3Icanwhile, Worthington pursued the ends of 
his mission, using his influence to effect that organ- 
ization, "which, terminating the influence of t3T- 
anny," was to "meliorate the circumstances of thou- 
sands, by freeing them from the domination of a 
despotic chief." His efforts were successful, and, 
the 4th of March, a report was made to the 
House in favor of authorizing a State convention. 
This report was based on the assumption that there 
were now over sixty thousand inhabitants in the 
proposed boundaries, estimating that emigration had 



increased the census of 1800, which gave the Ter- 
ritory forty-five thousand inhabitants, to that num- 
ber. The convention was to ascertain whether it 
were expedient to form such a government, and to 
prepare a constitution if such organization were 
deemed best. In the formation of the State, a 
change in the boundaries was proposed, by which 
all the territor}^ north of a line drawn due east 
from the head of Lake IMichigan to Lake Erie was 
to be excluded from the new government about to 
be called into existence. 

The committee appointed by Congress to report 
upon the feasibility of forming the State, suggested 
that Congress reserve out of every township sections 
numbered 8, 11, 26 and 29, for their own use, and 
that Section 16 be reserved for the maintenance 
of schools. The committee also suggested, that, 
"religion, education and morality being necessary 
to the good government and happiness of mankind, 
schools and the means of education shall be forever 
encouraged." 

Various other recommendations were given by 
the committee, in accordance with which. Congress, 
April 30, passed the resolution authorizing the 
calling of a convention. As this accorded with 
the feelings of the majority of the inhabitants of the 
Northwest, no opposition was experienced ; even 
the Legislature giving way to this embryo gov- 
ernment, and fiiiling to assemble according to ad- 
journment. 

The convention met the 1st of November. Its 
members were generally Jeff"ei'sonian in their na- 
tional politics, and had been opposed to the change 
of boundaries proposed the year before. Before 
proceeding to business. Gov. St. Clair proposed to 
address them in his official character. This propo- 
sition was resisted by several of the members; but, 
after a motion, it was agreed to allow him to speak 
to them as a citizen. St. Clair did so, advising 
the postjioncment of a State government until the 
people of the original eastern division were plainly 
entitled to demand it, and were not subject to be 
bound by conditions. This advice, given as it was, 
caused Jefferson instantly to remove St. Clair, at 
which time his office ceased.* " When the vote 
was taken," says Judge Burnet, "upon doing what 

* After thia, St. Clair returtied to his old home in the Ligonier 
Valley, Pennsjivania, where he HvimI with hia children in almost 
abject poverty. He had lost money in his public life, as he gave 
close attention to public affairs, to the detriment of his own business. 
He presented a claim to Congress, afterward, for supplies furniflied 
to the army, but the claim was outlawed. After trying in vain to 
get the claim allowed, he returned to his home. Pennsylvania, 
learning of his distress, gr.anted hini an annuity of S^ifil), alterward 
raised to Sli'^O. He lived to eTijoy this but a short time, bis death 
occurring August 31, 1818. He was eighty-four years of age. 



-:f: 






HISTOKY OF OHIO. 



89 



he advised them not to do, but one of thirty-three 
(Ephraim Cutler, of Washington County) voted 
with the Governor." 

On one point only were the proposed boundaries 
of the new State altered. 

" To every person who has attended to this sub- 
ject, and who has consulted the maps of the West- 
ern country extant at the time the ordinance of 
1787 was passed, Lake Michigan was believed to 
be, and was represented by all the maps of that 
day as being, very far north of the position which 
it has since been ascertained to occupy. I have 
seen the map in the Department of State which 
was before the committee of Congress who framed 
and reported the ordinance for the government of 
the Territory. On that map, the southern bound- 
ary of Michigan was represented as being above 
the forty-second degree of north latitude. And 
there was a pencil line, said to have been made by 
the committee, passing through the southern bend 
of the lake to the Canada line, which struck the 
strait not far below the town of Detroit. The 
line was manifestly intended by the committee 
and by Congress to be the northern boundary of 
our State; and, on the principles by which courts 
of chancery construe contracts, accompanied by 
plats, it would seem that the map, and the line 
referred to, should be conclusive evidence of our 
boundary, without reference to the real position of 
the lakes. 

"When the convention sat, in 1802, the under- 
derstanding was, that the old maps were nearly 
correct, and that the line, as defined in the ordi- 
nance, would terminate at some point on the strait 
above the Maumee Bay. While the convention 
was in session, a man who had hunted many years 
on Lake ^lichigan, and was well acquainted with 
its position, happened to be in Chillicothe, and, in 
conversation with one of the members, told him 
that the lake extended much farther south than 
was genei'ally supposed, and that a map of the 
country which he had seen, placed its southern 
bend many miles north of its tnie position. This 
information excited some uneasiness, and induced 
the convention to modify the clause describing the 
north boundary of the new Stste, so as to guard 
against its being depressed below the most north- 
ern cape of the Maumee Bay."* 

With this change and some extension of the 
school and road donations, the convention agreed 
to the proposal of Congress, and, November 29, 



Historical Transactions of Ohio. — Judge Bi'rnett. 



their agreement was ratified and signed, as was 
also the constitution of the State of Ohio — so 
named from its river, called by the Shawanees Ohio, 
meaning beautiful — forming its southern bound- 
ary. Of this nothing need be said, save that it 
bore the marks of true democratic feeling — of full 
faith in the people. By them, however, it was 
never voted for. It stood firm until 1852, when 
it was superseded by the present one, made neces- 
sary by the advance of time. 

The Greneral Assembly was required to meet at 
Chillicothe, the first Tuesday of March, 1803. 
This change left the territory northwest of the 
Ohio River, not included in the new State, in the 
Territories of Indiana and Michigan. Subse- 
quently, in 181G, Indiana was made a State, and 
confined to her pi'esent limits. Illinois was made 
a Territory then, including Wisconsin. In 1818, 
it became a State, and Wisconsin a Territory at- 
tached to Michigan. This latter was made a State 
in 1837, and Wisconsin a separate Territory, which, 
in 1847, was made a State. IMinnesota was made 
a Territory the same year, and a State in 1857, 
and the five contemplated States of the territory 
were complete. 

Preceding pages have shown how the territory 
north of the Ohio Iliver was peopled by the 
French and English, and how it came under the 
rule of the American people. The war of the 
Revolution closed in 1783, and left all x\merica in 
the hands of a new nation. That nation brought 
a change. Before the war, various attempts had 
been made by residents in New England to people 
the country west of the Alleghanies. Land com- 
panies were formed, principal among which were 
the Ohio Company, and the company of which 
John Cleves Symmes was the agent and chief 
owner. Large tracts of land on the Scioto and 
on the Ohio were entered. The Ohio Company 
were the first to make a settlement. It was or- 
ganized in the autumn of 1787, November 27. 
They made arrangements for a party of foi'ty-seven 
men to set out for the West under the supervision of 
Gen. Rufus Putnam, Superintendent of the Com- 
pany. Early in the winter they advanced to the 
Youghiogheny River, and there built a strong boat, 
which they named "3Iayflower." It was built by 
Capt. Jonathan Devol, the first ship-builder in the 
We.st, and, when completed, was placed under his 
command. The boat was launched April 2, 1788, 
and the band of pioneers, like the Pilgrim Fathers, 
began their voyage. The 7th of the month, 
they arrived at the mouth of the Muskingum, 



1£ 



90 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



their destination, opposite Fort Harmar,* erected 
in the autumn of 1785, by a detachment of 
United States troops, under command of Maj. 
John Doughty, and, at the date of the Mayflower's 
arrival in possession of a company of soldiers. 
Under the protection of these troops, the little band 
of men began their labor of laying out a town, 
and commenced to erect houses for their own and 
subsequent emigrants' occupation. The names of 
these pioneers of Ohio, as far as can now be 
learned, are as follows: 

Gen. Putnam, Return Jonathan Meigs, Win- 
throp Sargeant ( Secretary of the Territory ), Judges 
Parsons and Varnum, Capt. Dana, Capt. Jonathan 
Devol, Joseph Barker, Col. Battelle, Maj. Tyler, 
Dr. True, Capt. Wm. Gray, Capt. Lunt, the 
Bridges, Ebenezer and Thomas Cory, Andrew Mc- 
Clure, Wm. Mason, Thomas Lord, Wm. Gridley, 
Gilbert Devol, Moody Russels, Deavens, Cakes, 
Wright, Clough, Green, Shipman, Dorance, the 
Masons, and others, whose names are now be- 
yond recall. 

On the 19th of July, the first boat of families 
arrived, after a nine-weeks journey on the way. 
They had traveled in their wagons as far as Wheel- 
ing, where they built large flat-boats, into which 
they loaded their efibcts, including their cattle, and 
thence passed down the Ohio to their destination. 
The families were those of Gen. Tupper, Col. 
Ichabod Nye, Col. Cushing, Maj. Coburn, and 
Maj. Goodale. In these titles the reader will ob- 
serve the preponderance of military distinction. 
Many of the founders of the colony had served 
with much valor in the war for freedom, and were 
well prepared for a life in the wilderness. 

They began at once the construction of houses 
from the forests about the confluence of the rivers, 
guarding their stock by day and penning it by 
night. Wolves, bears and Indians were all about 
them, and, here in the remote wilderness, they 
were obliged to always be on their guard. From 
the ground where they obtained the timber to erect 
their houses, they soon produced a few vegetables, 
and when the families arrived in August, they 
were able to set before them food raised for the 

*The outlines of Fort Harmar formed a regular pentagon, 
embracing within the area about three-fourths of an acre. Its 
walls were formed of large horizontal timbers, and the bastions 
of largo uprighttimbersaboutfourteenfeet in height, fastened to each 
other by strips of tinil)er, tree-nailed into each jiicket. In the rear 
of the fortMiij. Doughty laid out fine gardens. It continued to be 
occupied by United States troops until September 179H, when 
they were ordered to Cincinnati. A company, under Capt. Haskell, 
continued to make the fort their headquarters during the Indian 
war, occasionally assisting the colonists at Marietta, Belpre and 
Waterford against the Indians. When not needed by the troops, 
the fort was used by the people of Marietta. 



first time by the hand of American citizens in the 
Ohio Valley. One of those who came in August, 
was Mr. Thomas Guthrie, a settler in one of the 
western counties of Pennsylvania, who brought a 
bushel of wheat, which he sowed on a plat of 
ground cleared by himself, and from which that 
fall he procured a small crop of wheat, the first 
grown in the State of Ohio. 

The Marietta settlement was the only one made 
that summer in the Territory. From their arrival 
until October, when Governor St. Clair came, they 
were busily employed making houses, and prepar- 
ing for the winter. The little colony, of which 
Washington wrote so favorably, met on the 2d day 
of July, to name their newborn city and its pub- 
lic sqares. Until now it had been known as " The 
Muskingum" simply, but on that day the name 
Marietta was formally given to it, in honor of Ma- 
rie Antoinette. The 4th of July, an ovation was 
held, and an oration delivered by James M. Var- 
num, who, with S. H. Parsons and John Arm- 
strong, had been appointed Judges of the Terri- 
tory. Thus, in the heart of the wilderness, 
miles away from any kindred post, in the forests 
of the Great West, was the Tree of Liberty watered 
and given a hearty growth. 

On the morning of the 9th of July, Governor 
St. Clair arrived, and the colony began to assume 
form. The ordinance of 1787 had provided for 
a form of government under the Governor and 
the three Judges, and this form was at once put 
into force. The 25th, the first law relating to the 
militia was published, and the next day the Gov- 
ernor's proclamation appeared, creating all the 
country that had been ceded by the Indians, east 
of the Scioto River, into the county of Washing- 
ton, and the civil machinery was in motion. From 
that time forward, this, the pioneer settlement in 
Ohio, went on prosperously. The 2d of Septem- 
ber, the first court in the Territory was held, but 
as it related to the Territory, a narrative of its pro- 
ceedings will be found in the history of that part 
of the country, and need not be repeated here. 

The 15th of July, Gov. St. Clair had published 
the ordinance of 1787, and the commissions of 
himself and the three Judges. He also assembled 
the people of the settlement, and explained to 
them the ordinance in a speech of considerable 
length. Three days after, he sent a notice to the 
Judges, calling their attention to the subject of 
organizing the militia. Instead of attending to 
this important matter, and thus providing for their 
safety should trouble with the Indians arise, the 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



91 



Judges did not even reply to the Governor's letter, 
but sent him what they called a "project" of a 
law for (Uvi;ling real estate. The bill was so 
loosely drawn that St. Clair immediately rejected 
it, and set about organizing the militia himself. 
He divided the militia into two classes, "Senior" 
and "Junior," and organized them by appointing 
their officers. 

In the Senior Class, Nathan Gushing was ap- 
pointed Captain; George Ingersol, Lieutenant, 
and James Backus, Ensign. 

In the Junior Class, Nathan Goodale and Charles 
Knowls were made Captains ; Watson Casey and 
Samuel Stebbins, Lieutenants, and Joseph Lincoln 
and Arnold Colt, Ensigns. 

The Governor next erected the Courts of Pro- 
bate and Quarter Sessions, and proceeded to ap- 
point civil officers. Rufus Putnam, Benjamin 
Tupper and Winthrop Sargeant were made Jus- 
tices of the Peace. The 30th of August, the day 
the Court of Quarter Sessions was appointed, 
Archibald Cary, Isaac Pierce and Thomas Lord 
were also appointed Justices, and given power to 
hold this court. They were, in fact, Judges of a 
Court of Common Pleas. Return Jonathan Meigs 
was appointed Clerk of this Court of Quarter 
Sessions. Ebenezer Sproat was appointed SheriflP of 
Washington County, and also Colonel of the militia; 
William Callis, Clerk of the Supreme Court; 
Rufus Putnam, Judge of the Probate Court, and 
R. J. Meigs, Jr., Clerk. Following these appoint- 
ments, setting the machinery of government in 
motion, St. Clair ordered that the 25th of Decem- 
ber be kept as a day of thanksgiving by the infant 
colony for its safe and propitious beginning. 

During the fall and winter, the settlement was 
daily increased by emigrants, so much so, that the 
greatest difficulty was experienced in finding them 
lodging. During the coldest part of the winter, 
when ice covered the river, and prevented navi- 
gation, a delay in arrivals was experienced, only to 
be broken as soon as the river opened to the beams 
of a spring sun. While locked in the winter's 
embrace, the colonists amused themselves in vari- 
ous ways, dancing being one of the most promi- 
nent. At Christmas, a grand ball was held, at 
which there were fifteen ladies, "whose grace," 
says a narrator, "equaled any in the East." 
Though isolated in the wilderness, they knew a 
brilliant prospect lay before them, and lived on in 
a joyous hope for the future. 

Soon after their arrival, the settlers began the 
erection of a stockade fort ( Campus Martins ), 



which occupied their time until the winter of 
1791. During the interval, fortunately, no hos- 
tilities from the Indians were txi^erienced, though 
they were abundant, and were frequent visitors to 
the settlement. 

From a communication in the American Pioneer, 
by Dr. S. P. Hildreth, the following description of 
Campus Martins is derived. As it will apply, in 
a measure, to many early structures for defense in 
the West, it is given entire : 

" The fort was made in the form of a regular 
parallelogram, the sides of each being 180 feet. 
At each corner was erected a strong block-house, 
surmounted by a tower, and a sentry box. These 
houses were twenty feet square below and twenty- 
four feet square above, and projected six feet be- 
yond the walls of the fort. The intermediate walls 
were made up with dwelling-houses, made of wood, 
whose ends were whip-sawed into timbers four 
inches thick, and of the requisite width and length. 
These were laid up similar to the structure of log 
houses, with the ends nicely dove-tailed together. 
The whole were two stories high, and covered with 
shingle roofs. Convenient chimneys were erected 
of bi'icks, for cooking, and warming the rooms. A 
number of the dwellings were built and owned by 
individuals who had families. In the west and 
south fronts were strong gateways ; and over the 
one in the center of the front looking to the Mus- 
kingum River, was a belfry. The chamber beneath 
was occupied by Winthrop Sargeant, as an office, 
he being Secretary to the Governor, and perform- 
ing the duties of the office during St. Clairs ab- 
sence. This room projected over the gateway, like 
a block-house, and was intended for the protection 
of the gate beneath, in time of an assault. At 
the outer corner of each block-house was erected a 
bastion, standing on four stout timbers. The floor 
of the bastion was a little above the lower story of 
the block-house. They were square, and built up 
to the height of a man's head, so that, when he 
looked over, he stepped on a narrow platform or 
"banquet" running ai'ound the sides of the bulwark. 
Port-holes were made, for musketry as well as for 
artillery, a single piece of which was mounted in 
the southwest and northeast bastions. In these, 
the sentries were regularly posted every night, as 
more convenient than the towers ; a door leading 
into them from the upper story of the block-houses. 
The lower room of the southwest block-house was 
occupied as a guard-house. 

" Running from corner to corner of the block- 
houses was a row of palisades, sloping outward, 



92 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



and resting on stout rails. Twenty feet in advance 
of these, was a row of very strong and large pick- 
ets, set upright in the earth. Gateways through 
these, admitted the inmates of the garrison. A 
few feet beyond the row of outer palisades was 
placed a row of abattis, made from the tops and 
branches of trees, sharpened and pointing outward, 
so that it would have been very diflficult for an 
enemy to have penetrated within their outworks. 
The dwelling-houses occupied a space from fifteen 
to thirty feet each, and were sufficient for the ac- 
comiuodation of forty or fifty families, and did 
actually contain from two hundred to three hun- 
dred persons during the Indian war. 

"Before the Indians commenced hostilities, the 
block-houses were occupied as follows : The south- 
west one, by the flimily of (tov. St. Clair; the 
northeast one as an office for the Directors of the 
Company. The area within the walls was one 
hundred and forty-four feet square, and afforded a 
fine parade ground. In the center, was a well 
eighty feet in depth, for the supply of water to the 
inhabitants, in case of a siege. A large sun-dial 
stood for many years in the square, placed on a 
handsome post, and gave note of the march of 
time. 

" After the war commenced, a regular military 
corps was organized, and a guard constantly kept 
night and day. The whole establishment formed 
a very strong work, and reflected great credit on 
the head that planned it. It was in a manner im- 
pregnable to the attacks of Indians, and none 
but a regular army with cannon could have reduced 
it. The Indians possessed no such an armament. 

" The garrison stood on the verge of that beauti- 
ful plain overlooking the Muskingum, on wliich 
are seated those celebrated remains of antiquity, 
erected probably for a similar purpose — the defense 
of the inhabitants. The ground descends into shal- 
low ravines on the north and south sides ; on the 
west is an abrupt descent to the river bottoms or 
alluvium, and the cast passed out to a level plain. 
On this, the ground was cleared of trees beyond 
the reach of rifle shots, so as to afford no shelter 
to a hidden foe. Extensive fields of corn were 
grown in the midst of the standing girdled trees be- 
yond, in after years. The front wall of palisades 
was about one hundred and fifty yards from the 
IMuskingum River. The appearance of the fort 
from without was imposing, at a little distance re- 
sembling the military castles of the feudal ages. 
JJetweon the outer palisades and the river wore 
laid out neat gardens for the use of Gov. St. Clair 



and his Secretary, with the officers of the Com- 
pany. 

" Opposite the fort, on the shore of the river, 
was built a substantial timber wharf, at which was 
moored a fine cedar barge for twelve rowers, built 
by Capt. Jonathan Devol, for Gen. Putnam ; a 
number of pirogues, and the light canoes of the 
country ; and last, not least, the Mayflower, or 
' Adventure Galley,' in which the first detach- 
ments of colonists were transported from the shores 
of the ' Yohiogany ' to the banks of the IMuskingum. 
In these, especially the canoes, during the war, 
most of the communications were carried on between 
the settlements of the Company and the more re- 
mote towns above on the Ohio River. Traveling 
by land was very hazardous to any but the rangers 
or spies. There were no roads, nor bridges across 
the creeks, and, for many years after the war had 
ceased, the traveling was nearly all done by canoes 
on the river." 

Thus the first settlement of Ohio provided for 
its safety and comfort, and provided also for that 
of emigrants who came to share the toils of the 
wilderness. 

The next spring, the influx of emigration was 
so great that other settlements were determined, 
and hence arose the colonies of Belpre, Waterford 
and Duck Creek, where they began to clear land, sow 
and plant crops, and build houses and stockades. 
At Belpre (French for "beautiful meadow"), were 
built three stockades, the upper, lower and middle, 
the last of which was called " Farmers' Castle," 
and stood on the banks of the Ohio, nearly oppo- 
site an island, afterward fiimous in Western history 
as Blennerhasset's Island, the scene of Burrs con- 
spiracy. Among the persons settling at the upper 
stockade, were Capts. Dana and Stone, Col. Bent, 
William Browning, Judge Foster, John Rowse, 
Israel Stone and a Mr. Keppol. At the Farmers' 
Castle, were Cols. Cushing and Fisher, Maj. Has- 
kell, Aaron Waldo Putnam, jNIr. Si)arhawk, and, 
it is believed, George and Israel Putnam., Jr. At 
the lower, were Maj. Goodale, Col. Rice, Esquire 
Pierce, Judge Israel Loring, Deacon Miles, Maj. 
Bradford and Mr. Goodenow. In the summer of 
1789, Col. Ichabod Nye and some otliers, built a 
block-house at Newberry, below Belpre. Col. Nye 
sold his lot there to Aaron W. Clough, who, with 
Stephen Guthrie, Joseph Leavins, Joel Oakes, 
Eleazer Curtis, Mr. Denham J. Littleton and Mr. 
Brown, was located at that place. 

"Every exertion possible," says Dr. Hildi'eth, 
who has preserved the above names and incidents, 



ll. 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



93 



"for men in these circumstances, was made to se- 
cure food for future difficulties. Col. Oliver, ]Maj. 
Hatfield White and John Dod,<z;e, of the Water- 
ford settlement, began mills on Wolf Creek, about 
three miles from the f >rt, and pit them runnuig; 
and these, the first mills in Ohio, were never de- 
stroyed during the subsetjucnt Indian war, though 
the proprietors removed their familes to the fort 
at IMarietta. Col. E. Sproat and Enoch Shep- 
herd began mills on Duck Creek, three miles from 
jMarietta, from the completion of which they were 
driven by the Indian war. Thomas Stanley be- 
gan mills farther up, near the Duck Creek settle- 
ment. These were likewise unfinished. The Ohio 
Company built a large horse mill near Campus 
Martins, and soon after a floating mill." 

The autumn before the settlements at Belpre, 
Duck Creek and Waterford, were made, a colony 
was planted near the mouth of the Little jMiami 
River, on a tract of ten thousand acres, purchased 
fromSymmes by Maj. Benjamin Stites. In the pre- 
ceding pages may be found a history of Symmes' 
purchase. This colony may be counted the second 
settlement in the State. Soon after the colony at 
3Iarietta was founded, steps were taken to occupy 
separate portions of Judge Symmes' purchase, be- 
tween the Miami Rivers. Three parties were 
formed for this purpose, but, owing to various 
delays, chiefly in getting the present colony stead- 
fast and safe from future encroachments by the 
savages, they did not get started till late in the fall. 
The first of these parties, consisting of fifteen or 
twenty men, led by Maj. Stites, landed at the 
mouth of the Little Miami in November, 1788, 
and, constructing a log fort, began to lay out a 
village, called by them Columbia. It soon grew 
into prominence, and, befoi'o winter had thoroughly 
set in, they were well prepai'ed for a frontier life. 
In the party were Cols. Spencer and Brown, Majs. 
Gauo and Kibbey, Judges Goforth and Foster, 
Rev. John Smith, Francis Dunlavy, Capt. Fliuu, 
Jacob White, John Riley, and Mr. Hubbell. 

All these were men of energy and enterprise, 
and, with their comrades, were more numerous 
than either of the other parties, who commenced 
their settlements l^elow them on the Ohio. This 
village was also, at first, more flourishing; and, for 
two or three years, contained more inhabitants 
than any other in the Miami purchase. 

The second IMiami party was formed at Lime- 
stone, under Matthias Denham and Robert Pat- 
terson, and consisted of twelve or fifteen persons. 
They landed on the north bank of the Ohio, oppo- 



site the mouth of the Licking River, the 24th of 
December, 1788. They intended to establish a 
station and lay out a town on a plan prepared at 
Limestone. Some statements affirm that the town 
was to be called " L-us-aiiti-villc,'' by a romantic 
school-teacher named Filson. However, be this as 
it may, Mr, Filson was, unfortunately for himself, 
not long after, slain by the Indians, and, with him 
probably, the name disappeared. He was to have 
one-third interest in the proposed city, which, 
when his death occurred, was transferred to Israel 
Ludlow, and a new plan of a city adopted. Israel 
Ludlow surveyed the proposed town, wlio.se lots were 
principally donated to settlers upon certain condi- 
tions as to settlement and improvement, and the 
embryo city named Cincinnati. Gov. St. Clair 
very likely had something to do with the naming 
of the village, and, by some, it is asserted that he 
changed the name from Losantiville to Cincinnati, 
when he created the county of Hamilton the en- 
suing winter. The original purchase of the city';? 
site was made by Mr. Denham. It included abotit 
eight hundred acres, for which he paid 5 shillings 
per acre in Continental certificates, then worth, in 
specie, about 5 shillings per pound, gross weight. 
Evidently, the original site was a good investment, 
could Mr. Denham have lived long enough to see 
its present condition. 

The third pai'ty of settlers for the Miami pur- 
chase, were under the care of Judge Symmes, 
himself They left Limestone, January 29, 1789, 
and were much delayed on their downward jour- 
ney by the ice in the river. The}' reached the 
'■ Bend," as it was then known, early in February. 
The Judge had intended to found a city here, 
which, in time, would be the rival of the Atlantic 
cities. As each of the three settlements aspired 
to the same position, no little rivalry soon mani- 
fested itself The Judge named his proposed city 
North Bend, from the fact that it was the most 
northern bend in the Ohio below the mouth of the 
Great Kanawha. These three settlements ante- 
dated, a few months, those made near Marietta, 
already described. They arose so soon after, partly 
from the extreme desire of Judge Synunes to settle 
his piuxhase, and induce emigration here instead 
of on the Ohio Company s purchase. The Judge 
labored earnestly for this purpose and to further 
secure him in his title to the land he had accpiired. 
all of which he had so lar been unable to retain, 
owino: to his inability to meet his payments. 

All these emigrants came down the river in the 
flat-boats of the day, rude aff"airs, sometimes called 



y 



<s~ 



^1 



94 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



" Arks,'' and then the only safe mode of travel in 
the West. 

Judge Symmes found he must provide for tlie 
safety of the settlers on his purchase, and, after 
earnestly soliciting Gen. Harmar, commander of 
the Western posts, succeeded in obtaining a de- 
tachment of forty-eight men, under Oapt. Kearsey, 
to protect the improvements just commencing on 
the Miami. This detachment reached Limestone 
in December, 1788. Part was at once sent for- 
ward to guard jMaj. Stites and his pioneers. Judge 
Symmes and his party started in January, and, 
about February 2, reached Columbia, where the 
Captain expected to find a fort erected for his use 
and shelter. The flood on the river, however, de- 
feated his pui'pose, and, as he was unprepared to 
erect another, he determined to go on down to the 
garrison at the falls at Louisville. Judge Symmes 
was strenuously opposed to his conduct, as it left 
the colonies unguarded, but, all to no purpose; the 
Captain and his command, went to Louisville early 
in March, and left the Judge and his settlement 
to protect themselves. Judge Symmes immedi- 
ately sent a strong letter to Maj. Willis, command- 
ing at the Falls, complaining of the conduct 
of Capt. Kearsey, representing the exposed situ- 
ation of the Miami settlements, stating the indi- 
catiuus of hostility manifested by the Indians, 
and requesting a guard to be sent to the Bend. 
This request was at once granted, and Ensign 
Luce, with seventeen or eighteen soldiers, sent. 
They were at the settlement but a short time, 
when they were attacked by Indians, and one of 
their number killed, and four or five wounded. 
They repulsed the savages and saved the set- 
tlers. 

The site uf Symmes City, for such he designed it 
should ultimately be called, was above the reach of 
water, and sufficiently level to admit of a conven- 
ient settlement. The city laid out by Symmes 
was truly magnificent on paper, and promised in 
the future to fulfill his most ardent hopes. The 
plat included the village, and extended across the 
peninsula between the Ohio and Miami Kivers. 
Each settler on this plat was promised a lot if he 
would improve it, and in conformity to the stipu- 
lation. Judge Symmes soon found a large number 
of persons applying for residence. As the number 
of these adventurers increased, in consequence of 
this provision and the protection of the military, 
the Judge was induced to lay out another village 
six or seven miles up the river, which he called 
South Bend, where he disposed of some donation 



lots, but the project failing, the village site was de- 
serted, and converted into alarm. 

During all the time these various events were 
transpiring, but little trouble was experienced with 
the Indians. They w^ere not yet disposed to evince 
hostile feelings. This would have been their time, 
but, not realizing the true intent of the whites until 
it was too late to conquer them, they allowed them 
to become prepared to withstand a warfare, and in 
the end wereobliged to suffer their hunting-grounds 
to be taken from them, and made the homes of a 
race destined to entirely supersede them in the 
New World. 

By the means sketched in the foregoing pages, 
were the three settlements on the Miami made. By 
the time those adjacent to Marietta were well estab- 
lished, these were firmly fixed, each one striving to 
become the rival city all felt sure was to arise. For 
a time it was a matter of doubt which of the rivals, 
Columbia, North Bend or Cincinnati, would event- 
ually become the chief seat of business. 

In the beginning, Columbia, the eldest of the 
three, took the lead, both in number of its in- 
habitants and the convenience and appearance of 
its dwellings. For a time it was a flourishing place, 
and many believed it would become tlie great busi- 
ness town of the Miami country. Tliat apparent 
fact, however, lasted but a short time. The garri- 
son was moved to Cincinnati, Fort W^ashington 
built there, and in spite of all that Maj. Stites, or 
Judge Symmes could do, that place became the 
metropolis. Fort Washington, the most extensive 
garrison in the West, was built by Maj. Doughty, 
in the summer of 1789, and from that time the 
growth and future greatness of Cincinnati were 
assured. 

The first house in the city was built on Front 
street, east of and near Main street. It was 
sinqtly a strong log cabin, and was erected of the 
forest trees cleared away from the ground on which 
it stood. Tlie lower })art of the town was covered 
with sycamore and niaj)lc trees, and the upper with 
beech and oak. Through this dense forest the 
streets were laid out, and their corners marked on 
the trees. 

The settlements on the Miami had become 
sufficiently numerous to warrant a separate county, 
and, in January, 17!>(>, Gov. St. Clair and his 
Secretary arrived in Cincinnati, and organized the 
county of Hamilton, so named in honor of the 
illustrious statesman by that name. It included 
all the country north of the Ohio, between the 
Miamis, as far as a line running " due east from the 



:^ 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



95 



Standing Stone forks " of Big Miami to its inter- 
section with the Little Miami. The erection of 
the new county, and the appointment of Cincin- 
nati to be the seat of justice, gave the town a fresh 
impulse, and aided greatly in its growth. 

Through the summer, but little interruption in 
the growth of the settlements occurred. The 
Indians had permitted the erection of defensive 
works in their midst, and could not now destroy 
them. They were also engaged in traffic with the 
whites, and, though they evinced signs of discon- 
tent at their settlement and occupation of the 
country, yet did not openly attack them. The 
truth was, they saw plainly the whites were always 
prepared, and no opportunity was given them to 
plunder and destroy. The Indian would not 
attack unless success was almost sure. An oppor- 
tunity, unfortunately, came, and with it the hor- 
rors of an Indian war. 

In the autumn of 1790, a company of thirty- 
six men went from Marietta to a place on the 
Muskingum known as the Big Bottom. Here 
they built a block-house, on the east bank of the 
river, four miles above the mouth of Meigs Creek. 
They were chiefly young, single men, but little 
acquainted with Indian warfare or military rules. 
The savages had given signs that an attack on the 
settlement was meditated, and several of the know- 
ing ones at the strongholds strenuously opposed 
any new settlements that fall, advising their post- 
ponement until the next spring, when the question 
of peace or war would probably be settled. Even 
Gen. Putnam and the Directors of the Ohio Com- 
pany ad\ased the postponement of the settlement 
until the next spring. 

The young men were impatient and restless, and 
declared themselves able to protect their fort 
against any number of assailants. They might 
have easily done so, had they taken the necessary 
precautions ; but, after they had erected a rude 
block-house of unchinked logs, they began to pass 
the time in various pui'suits ; setting no guard, and 
taking no precautionary measures, they left them- 
selves an easy prey to any hostile savages that 
might choose to come and attack them. 

About twenty rods from the block-house, and a 
little back from the bank of the river, two men, 
Francis and Isaac Choate, members of the com- 
pany, had erected a cabin, and commenced clearing 
lots. Thomas Shaw, a hired laborer, and James 
Patten, another of the associates, lived with them. 
About the same distance below the block-house 
was an old ''Tomahawk Improvement" and a 



small cabin, which two men, Asa and Eleazur 
Bullard, had fitted up and occupied. The Indian 
war-path, from Sandusky to the mouth of the 
Muskingum, passed along the opposite shore of 
the river. 

" The Indians, who, during the summer," says 
Dr. Hildreth, " had been hunting and loitering 
about the Wolf Creek and Plainfield settlements, 
holding frequent and friendly intercourse with the 
settlers, selling them venison and bear's meat in ex- 
change for green corn and vegetables, had with- 
drawn and gone up the river, early in the au- 
tumn, to their towns, preparatory to going into 
winter quarters. They very seldom entered on 
any warlike expeditions during the cold weather. 
But they had watched the gradual encroach- 
ment of the whites and planned an expedition 
against them. They saw them in fincied security 
in their cabins, and thought their capture an easy 
task. It is said they were not aware of the Big 
Bottom settlement until they came in sight of it, 
on the opposite shore of the river, in the afternoon. 
From a high hill opposite the garrison, they had a 
view of all that part of the bottom, and could see 
how the men were occupied and what was doing 
about the block-house. It was not protected with 
palisades or pickets,-and none of the men were 
aware or prepared for an attack. Having laid 
their plans, about twilight they crossed the river 
above the garrison, on the ice, and divided their 
men into two parties — the larger one to attack the 
block-house, the smaller one to capture the cabins. 
As the Indians cautiously approached the cabin 
they found the inmates at supper. Part entered, 
addressed the whites in a friendly manner, but 
soon manifesting their designs, made them all pris- 
oners, tieing them with leather thongs they found 
in the cabin." 

At the block-house the attack was far different. 
A stout Mohawk suddenly burst open the door, 
the first intimation the inmates had of the pres- 
ence of the foe, and while he held it open his 
comrades shot down those that were within. Rush- 
ing in, the deadly tomahawk completed the on- 
slaught. In the assault, one of the savages was 
struck by the wife of Isaac Woods, with an ax, 
but only slightly injured. The heroic woman was 
immediately slain. All the men but two were 
slain before they had time to secure their arms, 
thereby paying for their failure to properly secure 
themselves, with their lives. The two excepted 
were John Stacy and his brother Philip, a lad six- 
teen years of age. John escaped to the roof. 



-r 



n. 



96 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



where he was shot by the Indians, while begging 
for his Ufe. The firing at the block -house alarmed 
the Billiards in their cabin, and hastily barring the 
door, and securing their arms and ammunition, they 
fled to the woods, and escaped. After the slaughter 
was over, the Indians began to collect the plunder, 
and in doing so discovered the lad Philip Stacy. 
Tlu'y were about to dispatch him, but his entrea- 
ties softened the heart of one of the chiefs, who 
took him as a captive with the intention of adopt- 
ing him into his fomily. The savages then piled 
the dead bodies on the floor, covered them with 
other portions of it not needed for that purpose, 
and set fire to the whole. The building, being 
made of green logs, did not burn, the flames con- 
suming only the floors and roof, leaving the walls 
standing. 

There were twelve persons killed in this attack, 
all of whom were in the prime of life, and valuable 
aid to the settlements. They were well provided 
with arms, and had they taken the necessary pre- 
cautions, always pressed upon them when visited 
by the older ones from Marietta, they need not 
have suff"ered so terrible a fate. 

The Indians, exultant over their horrible victory, 
went on to Wolf's mills, but here they found the 
people prepared, and, after reconnoitering the place, 
made their retreat, at early dawn, to the great re- 
lief of the inhabitants. Their number was never 
definitely known. 

The news reached Marietta and its adjacent 
settlements soon after the massacre occurred, and 
struck terror and dismay into the hearts of all. 
Many had brothers and sons in the ill-fated party, 
and mourned their loss. Neither did they know 
what place would fall next. The Indian hostilities 
had begun, and they could only hope for peace 
when the savages were efiectually conquered. 

The next day, Capt. Rogers led a party of men 
over to the Big Bottom. It was, indeed, a melan- 
choly sight to the poor borderers, as they knew not 
now how soon the same fate might befall them- 
selves. The fire had so disfigured their comrades 
that but two, Ezra Putnam and William Jones, 
wcTC recognized. As the ground was frozen out- 
side, a hole was dug in the earth underneath the 
block-house floor, and the bodies consigned to one 
grave. No further attempt was made to settle 
here till after the peace of 1795. 

The outbreak of Indian hostilities put a check 
on further settlements. Those that were estab- 
lished were put in a more active state of defense, 
and every preparation made that could be made 



for the impending crisis all felt sure must come. 
Either the Indians must go, or the whites must 
retreat. A few hardy and adventurous persons 
ventured out into the woods and made settle- 
ments, but even these were at the imminent risk 
of their lives, many of them perishing in the 
attempt. 

The Indian war that followed is given fully in 
preceding pages. It may be briefly sketched by 
stating that the first campaign, under Gen Har- 
mar, ended in the defeat of his army at the Indian 
villages on the Miami of the lake, and the rapid 
retreat to Fort Washington. St. Clair was next 
commissioned to lead an army of nearly three thou- 
sand men, but these were furiously attacked at 
break of day, on the morning of November 4, 
1791, and utterly defeated. Indian outrages 
sprung out anew after each defeat, and the borders 
were in a continual state of alarm. The most ter- 
rible sufi"erings were endured by prisoners in the 
hands of the savage foe, who thought to annihilate 
the whites. 

The army was at once re-organized. Gen. An- 
thony Wayne put in command by Washington, 
and a vigorous campaign inaugurated. Though 
the savages had been given great aid by the Brit- 
ish, in direct violation of the treaty of 1783, Gen. 
Wayne pursued them so vigorously that they could 
not withstand his army, and, the 20th of August, 
1794, defeated them, and utterly annihilated their 
forces, breaking up their camps, and laying waste 
their country, in some places under the guns of 
the British forts. The victory showed them the 
hopelessness of contending against the whites, and 
led their chiefs to sue for peace. The British, as 
at former times, deserted them, and they were again 
alone, contending against an invincible foe. A 
grand council was held at Greenville the 3d day 
of August, 1795, where eleven of the most power- 
ful chiefs made peace with Gen. Wayne on terms 
of his own dictation. The boundary established 
by the old treaty of Fort Mcintosh was confirmed, 
and extended westward from Loramie's to Fort 
Recovery, and thence southwest to the mouth of 
the Kentucky River. He also purchased all the 
territory not before ceded, within certain limits, 
comprehending, in all, about four-fifths of the State 
of Ohio. The line was long known as " The Green- 
ville Treaty line." T^pon these, and a few other 
minor conditions, the United States received the 
Indians under their protection, gave them a large 
number of presents, and practically closed the war 
with the savajres. 



r';^ 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



97 



The only settlement of any consequence made dur- 
ing the Indian war, was that on the plat of" Hamilton, 
laid out by Israel Ludlow in December, 1794. Soon 
after, Darius C. Orcutt, John Green, William Mc- 
Clennan, John Sutherland, John Torrence, Benjamin 
F. Randolph, Benjamin Davis, Isaac Wiles, Andrew 
Christy and William Hubert, located here. The 
town was laid out under the name of Fairfield, but 
was known only a short time by that name. Until 
1801, all the lands on the west side of the Great 
Miami were owned by the General Government ; 
hence, until after that date, no improvements were 
made there. A single log cabin stood there until 
the sale of lands in April, 1801, when a company 
purchased the site of Hossville, and, in March, 
180-4, laid out that town, and, before a year had 
passed, the town and country about it was well 
settled. 

The close of the war, in 1795, insured peace, 
and, from that date, Hamilton and that part of the 
Miami Valley grew remarkably fast. In 1803, 
Butler County was formed, and Hamilton made 
the county seat. 

On the site of Hamilton, St. Clair built Fort 
Hamilton in 1791. For some time it was under 
the command of Maj. Rudolph, a cruel, arbitrary 
man, who was displaced by Gen. Wayne, and who, 
it is said, perished ignobly on the high seas, at the 
hands of some Algerine pirates, a fitting end to a 
man who caused, more than once, the death of 
men under his control for minor offenses. 

On the return of peace, no part of Ohio grew 
more rapidly than the Miami Valley, especially 
that part comprised in Butler County. 

While the war with the Indians continued, but 
little extension of settlements was made in the 
State. It was too perilous, and the settlers pre- 
ferred the security of the block-house or to engage 
with the army. Still, however, a few bold spirits 
ventured away from the settled parts of the Terri- 
tory, and began life in the wilderness. In tracing 
the hist(.iries of these settlements, attention will be 
paid to the order in which they were made. They 
will be given somewhat in detail until the war of 
1S12, after which time they become too numerous 
to follow. 

The settlements made in Washington — Marietta 
and adjacent colonies — and Hamilton Counties 
have already been given. The settlement at Gal- 
lia is also noted, hence, the narration can be re- 
sumed where it ends prior to the Indian war of 
179.5. Before this war occurred, there were three 
small settlements made, however, in addition to 



those in Washington and Hamilton Counties. 
They were in what are now Adams, Belmont and 
Morgan Counties. They were block-house settle- 
ments, and were in a continual state of defense. 
The first of these, Adams, was settled in the winter 
of 1790-91 by Gen. Nathaniel Massie. near where 
Manchester now is. Gen. Massie determined to 
settle here in the Virginia Military Tract — in the 
winter of 1790, and sent notice throitghout Ken- 
tucky and other Western settlements that he would 
give to each of the first twenty-five families who 
would settle in the town he proposed laying out, 
one in-lot, one out-lot and one hundred acres of 
land. Such liberal terms were soon accepted, and 
in a short time thn'ty families were ready to go 
with him. After various consultations with his 
friends, the bottom on the Ohio River, opposite 
the lower of the Three Islands, was selected as 
the most eligible spot. Here Massie fixed his sta- 
tion, and laid off into lots a town, now called 
IManchcster. The little confederacy, with !Massie 
at the helm, went to work with spirit. Cabins 
were raised, and by the middle of March, 
1791, the whole town was inclosed with strong 
pickets, with block-houses at each angle for de- 
fense. 

This was the first settlement in the bounds of 
the Virginia District, and the fourth one in the 
State. Although in the midst of a savage foe, 
now inflamed with war, and in the midst of a 
cruel conflict, the settlement at Manchester suf- 
fered less than any of its cotemporaries. This 
was, no doubt, due to the watchful care of its in- 
habitants, who were inured to the rigors of a front- 
ier life, and who well knew the danger about them. 
" These were the Beasleys, Stouts, Washburns, 
Ledoms, Edgingtons, Denings, Ellisons, Utts, 
McKenzies, Wades, and others, who were fully 
cfpial to the Indians in all the savage arts and 
stratagems of border war." 

As soon as they had completed preparations for 
defense, the whole population went to work and 
cleared the lowest of the Three Islands, and planted 
it in corn. The soil of the island was very rich, 
and produced abundantly. The woods supplied an 
abundance of game, while the river furnished a 
variety of excellent fish. The inhabitants thus 
found their simple wants fully suppHed. Their 
nearest neighbors in the new Territory were at 
Columbia, and at the French settlement at Gallip- 
olis ; but with these, owing to the state of the 
country and the Indian war, they could hold little, 
if any, intercourse. 



98 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



The station being established, Massie continued 
to make locations and surveys. Great precautions 
were necessary to avoid the Indians, and even the 
closest vigilance did not always avail, as the ever- 
watchful foe was always ready to spring upon the 
settlement, could an unguarded moment bo ob- 
served. During one of the spring months. Gen. 
Massie, Israel DonaLson, William Lytic and James 
Little, while out on a survey, were surprised, and 
Mr. Donalson captured, the others escaping at 
great peril. Mr. Donalson escaped during the 
march to the Indian town, and made his way to 
the town of Cincinnati, after suffering great hard- 
ships, and almost perishing from hunger. In the 
spring of 1793, the settlers at Manchester com- 
menced clearing the out-lots of the town. While 
doing so, an incident occurred, which shows the 
danger to which they were daily exposed. It is 
thus related in Howe's Collections : 

" Mr. Andrew Ellison, one of the settlers, 
cleared an out-lot immediately adjoining the fort. 
He had completed the cutting of the timber, rolled 
the logs together, and set them on fire. The next 
morning, before daybreak, Mr. Ellison opened one 
of the gates of the fort, and went out to throw his 
logs together. By the time he had finished the 
job, a nunil)er of the heaps blazed up brightly, and, 
as he was passing from one to the other, he ob- 
served, by the light of the fires, three men walking 
briskly toward him. This did not alarm him in 
the least, although, he said, they were dark-skinned 
fellows ; yet he concluded they were the Wades, 
whose complexions were very dark, going early to 
hunt. He continued to right his log-heaps, until 
one of the fellows seized him by the arms, calling 
out, in broken English, ' How do ? how do ? ' He 
instantly looked in their faces, and, to his surprise 
and horror, found himself in the clutches of three 
Indians. To resist was useless. 

" The Indians (piiikly moved oiF with him in 
the direction of Paint Creek. When breakfixst 
was ready, Mrs. Ellison sent one of her children 
to ask its father home ; but he could not be found 
at the log-heaps. His absence created no immedi- 
ate alarm, as it was thought he might have started 
to hunt, after completing his work. Dinner-time 
arrived, and, Ellison not returning, the family 
became uneasy, and began to suspect some acci- 
dent had happened to him. His gun-rack was 
examined, and there hung his rifles and his pouch. 
Gen. Massie raised a party, made a circuit around 
the place, finding, after some search, the trails of 
four men, one of whom had on shoes; and the 



fact that Mr. Ellison was a prisoner now became 
apparent. As it was almost night at the time the 
trail was discovered, the party returned to the 
station. Early the next morning, preparations 
were made by Gen. Massie and his friends to con- 
tinue the search. In doing this, they found great 
difiiculty, as it was so early in the spring that the 
vegetation was not gro\?n sufiiciently to show 
plainly the trail made by the savages, who took 
the precaution to keep on high and dry ground, 
where their feet would make little or no impres- 
sion. The party were, however, as unerring as a 
pack of hounds, and followed the trail to Paint 
Creek, when they found the Indians gained so 
fast on them that pursuit was useless. 

"The Indians took their prisoner to Upper 
Sandusky, where he was compelled to run the 
gantlet. As he was a large, and not very active, 
man, he received a severe flogging. He was then 
taken to Lower Sandusky, and again compelled to 
run the gantlet. He was then taken to Detroit, 
where he was ransomed by a British ofiicer for 
^100. The officer proved a good friend to him. 
He sent him to Montreal, whence he returned 
home before the close of the summer, much to the 
joy of his family and friends, whose feelings can 
only be imagined." 

"Another incident occurred about this time," 
says the same volume, "which so aptly illustrates 
the danger of frontier life, that it well deserves a 
place in the history of the settlements in Ohio. 
John and Asahel Edgington, with a comrade, 
started out on a hunting expedition toward Brush 
Creek. They camped out six miles in a northeast 
direction from where West Union now stands, and 
near the site of Treber's tavern, on the road from 
Chillicothe to Maysville. They had good success 
in hunting, killing a number of deer and bears. 
Of the deer killed, they saved the skins and hams 
alone. They fleeced the boars; that is, they cut 
off" all the moat which adhered to the hide, with- 
out skinning, and left the bt>nes as a skeleton. 
They hungup the proceeds of thoir hunt, on a scaf- 
fold out of the reach of wolves and other wild ani- 
mals, and returned to Manchester for pack-horses. 
No one returned to the camp with the Edgingtous. 
As it was late in December, few apprehended dan- 
ger, as the winter season was usually a time of re- 
pose from Indian incursions. When the Edgingtons 
arrived at their camp, they alighted from their 
horses and were preparing to start a fire, when a 
platoon of Indians fired upon them at a distance 
of not more than twenty paces. They had 



"V 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



101 



evidently found the results of the white men's labor, 
and expected they would return for it, and pre- 
pared to waylay them. Asahel Edgington fell 
dead. John was more fortunate. The sharp 
crack of the rifles, and the horrible yells of the 
savages as they leaped from their place of ambush, 
frightened the horses, who took the track for 
home at full speed. John was very active on foot, 
and now an opportunity offered which required his 
utmost speed. The moment the Indians leaped 
from their hiding-place, they threw down their 
guns and took after him, yelling with all their 
power. Edgington did not run a booty race. For 
about a mile, the savages stepped in his tracks al- 
most before the bending grass could rise. The 
uplifted tomahawk was frequently so near his head 
that he thought he felt its edge. He exerted 
himself to his utmost, while the Indians strove 
with all their might to catch him. Finally, he be- 
gan to gain on his pursuers, and, after a long race, 
distanced them and made his escape, safely reach- 
ing home. This, truly, was a most fearfiil and 
well-contested race. The big Shawanee chief, Capt. 
John, who headed the Indians on this occasion, 
after peace was made, in narrating the particulars, 
said, " The white man who ran away was a smart 
fellow. The white man run; and I run. He run 
and run; at last, the white man run clear off from 
me." 

The settlement, despite its dangers, prospered, 
and after the close of the war continued to grow 
rapidly. In two years after peace was declared, 
Adams County was erected by proclamation of 
Gov. St. Clair, the next year court was held, and 
in 1804, West Union was made the county seat. 

During the war, a settlement was commenced 
near the present town of Bridgeport, in Belmont 
County, by Capt. Joseph Belmont, a noted Dela- 
ware Revolutionary ofiicer, who, because his State 
could furnish only one company, could rise no 
higher than Captain of that company, and hence 
alwaj'S maintained that grade. He settled on a 
beautiful knoll near the present county seat, but 
erelong suffered from a night attack by the In- 
dians, who, though unable to drive him and his 
companions from the cabin or conquer them, 
wounded some of them badly, one or two mortally, 
and caused the Captain to leave the frontier and 
return to Newark, Del. The attack was made 
in the spring of 1791, and a short time after, 
the Captain, having provided for the safety of his 
family, accepted a commission in St. Clair's army, 
and lost his life at the defeat of the General in 



November. Shortly after the Captain settled, a 
fort, called Dillie's Fort, was built on the Ohio, 
opposite the mouth of Grave Creek. About two 
hundred and fifty yards below this fort, an old 
man, named Tato, was shot down at his cabin door 
by the Indians, just as he was in the act of entering 
the house. His body was pulled in by his daugh- 
ter-in-law and grandson, who made an heroic de- 
fense. They were overpowered, the woman slain, 
and the boy badly wounded. He, however, man- 
aged to secrete himself and afterward escaped to 
the fort. The Indians, twelve or thirteen in num- 
ber, went off unmolested, though the men in the 
fort saw the whole transaction and could have 
punished them. Why they did not was never 
known. 

On Captina Creek in this same county, occurred, 
in May, 1794, the " battle of Captina," a fa- 
mous local skirmish between some Virginians fi'om 
Fort Baker, and a party of Indians. Though the 
Indians largely outnumbered the whites, they were 
severely punished, and compelled to abandon the 
contest, losing several of their bravest warriors. 

These were the only settlements made until 
1795, the close of the war. Even these, as it will 
be observed from the foregoing pages, were tem- 
porary in all cases save one, and were maintained 
at a great risk, and the loss of many valuable lives. 
They were made in the beginning of the war.and such 
were their experiences that ftirther attempts were 
abandoned until the treaty of Greenville was made, 
or until the prospects for peace and safety were 
assured. 

No sooner, however, had the prospect of quiet 
been established, than a revival of emigration be- 
gan. Before the war it had been larsie, now it 
was largely increased. 

Wayne's treaty of peace with the Indians was 
made at Greenville, in what is now Darke County, 
the 3d of August, 1795. The number of Indians 
present was estimated at 1 .oOO, divided among the 
principal nations as follows: ISO Wyandots, o81 
Delawares, 143 Shawanees, 45 Ottawas, 4G Chip- 
pewas, 240 Pottawatomies, 73 3Iianiis and Eel 
River, 12 Weas and Piankeshaws, and 10 Kicka- 
poos and Kaskaskias. The principal chiefs were 
Tarhe, Buckongahelas, Black Hoof. Blue Jacket 
and Little Turtle. IMost of them had been tam- 
pered with by the British agents and traders, but 
all had been so thoroughly chastised by Wayne, and 
f)und that the British only used them as tools, 
that they were quite anxious to make peace with 
the " Thirteen Fires." By the treaty, former ones 



102 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



were establislied, the boundary lines confirmed and 
enlarged, an exchange and delivery of prisoners 
effected, and permanent peace assured. 

In the latter part of September, after the treaty 
of Greenville, Mr. Bedell, from New Jersey, 
selected a site for a home in what is now Warren 
County, at a place since known as " Bedell's Sta- 
tion," about a mile south of Union Village. Here 
he erected a block-house, as a defense against the 
Indians, among whom were many renegades as 
among the whites, who would not respect the 
terms of the treaty. Whether Mr. Bedell was 
alone that fall, or whether he was joined by others, 
is not now accurately known. However that may 
be, he was not long left to himself; for, ere a year 
had elapsed, quite a number of settlements were 
made in this part of the Territory. Soon after 
his settlement was made, Gen. David Sutton, Capt. 
Nathan Kelley and others began pioneer life at 
Deerfield, in the same locality, and, before three 
years had gone by, a large number of New Jersey 
people were estabUshed in their homes; and, in 
1803, the county was formed from Hamilton. 
Among the early settlers at Deerfield, was Capt. 
Robert Benham, who, with a companion, in 1779, 
sustained themselves many days when the Captain 
had lost the use of his legs, and his companion 
his arms, from musket-balls fired by the hands of 
the Indians. They were with a large party com- 
manded by Maj. Rodgers, and were furiously 
attacked by an immense number of savages, and 
all but a few slain. The event happened during 
the war of the Revolution, before any attempt 
was made to settle the Northwest Territory. The 
party were going down the Ohio, probably to the 
falls, and were attacked when near the site of 
Cincinnati. As mentioned, these two men sus- 
tained each other many days, the one having per- 
fect legs doing the necessary walking, carrying bis 
comrade to water, driving up game for him to 
shoot, and any other duties necessary; while the 
one who had the use of his arms could dress his 
companion's and his own wounds, kill and cook 
the game, and perform his share. They were 
rescued, finally, by a flat-boat, whose occupants, 
for awhile, passed them, fearing a decoy, but, 
becoming convinced that such was not the case, 
took them on down to Louisville, where they were 
nursed into perfect health. 

A settlement was made near the present town of 
Lebanon, the county seat of Warren County, in 
the spring of 1796, by Henry Taylor, who built a 
mill one mile west of the town site, on Turtle 



Creek. Soon after, he was joined by Ichabod 
Corwin, John Osbourn, Jacob Vorhees, Samuel 
Shaw, Daniel Bonte and a Mr. Manning. When 
Lebanon was laid out, in 1803, the two-story log 
house built in 1797 by Ichabod Corwin was the 
only building on the plat. It was occupied by 
Ephraim Hathaway as a tavern. He bad a black 
horse painted on an immense board for a sign, and 
continued in business here till 1810. The same 
year the town was laid out, a store was opened by 
John Huston, and, from that date, the growth of 
the county was very prosperous. Three years 
after, the Westeni Star was established by 
Judge John McLain, and the current news of 
the day given in weekly editions. It was one of 
the first newspapers established in the Territory, 
outside of Cincinnati. 

As has been mentioned, the opening of naviga- 
tion in the spring of 1796 brought a great flood 
of emigration to the Territory. The little settle- 
ment made by Mr. Bedell, in the autumn of 1795, 
was about the only one made that fall ; others made 
preparations, and many selected sites, but did not 
settle till the following spring. That spring, colo- 
nies were planted in what are now Montgomery, 
Ross, Madison, Mahoning, Trumbull, Ashtabula 
and Cuyahoga Counties, while preparations were 
in turn made to occupy additional territory that 
will hereafter be noticed. 

The settlement made in Montgomery County 
was begun early in the spring of 1796. As early 
as 1788, the land on which Dayton now stands was 
selected by some gentlemen, who designed laying 
out a town to be named Venice. They agreed 
with Judge Symmes, whose contract covered the 
place, for the purchase of the lands. The Indian 
war which broke out at this time prevented an 
extension of settlements from the immediate 
neighborhood of the parent colonics, and the proj- 
ect was abandoned by the purchasers. Soon after 
the treaty of 1795, a new company, composed of 
Gens. Jonathan Dayton, Arthur St. Clair, James 
Wilkinson, and Col. Israel Ludlow, purchased the 
land between the Miamis, around the mouth of 
Mad River, of Judge Symmes, and, the 4th of 
November, laid out the town. Arrangements were 
made for its settlement the ensuing spring, and 
donations of lots, with other privileges, were offered 
to actual settlers. Forty-six persons entered into 
engagements to remove from Cincinnati to Day- 
ton, but during the winter most of them scat- 
tered in diffei'cnt directions, and only nineteen ful- 
filled their contracts. The first families who 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



103 



made a permanent residence here, arrived on the 
first day of April, 1796, and at once set about 
establishing homes. Judge Symmes, however, 
becoming unable soon after to pay for his purchase, 
the land reverted to the United States, and the set- 
tlers in and about Dayton found themselves with- 
out titles to their lands. Congress, however, came 
to the aid of all such persons, wherever they had 
purchased land of Symmes, and passed a pre-emp- 
tion law, under which they could enter their lands 
at the regular government price. Some of the set- 
tlers entered their lands, and obtained titles directly 
from the United States ; others made arrangements 
with Daniel C. Cooper to receive their deeds from 
him, and he entered the residue of the town lands. 
He had been the surveyor and agent of the first 
company of proprietors, and they assigned to him 
certain of their rights of pre-emption, by which he 
became the titular owner of the land. 

When the State government was organized in 
1803, Dayton was made the seat of justice for 
Montgomery County, erected the same year. At 
that time, owing to the title question, only five 
families resided in the place, the other settlers hav- 
ing gone to farms in the vicinity, or to other 
parts of the country. The increase of the town 
was gradual until the war of 1812, when its 
growth was more rapid until 1820, when it was 
again checked by the general depression of busi- 
ness. It revived in 1827, at the commencement 
of the Miami Canal, and since then its growth has 
always been prosperous. It is now one of the 
best cities in Ohio. The first canal boats from 
Cincinnati arrived at Dayton January 25, 1829, 
and the first one from Lake Erie the 2-lth of 
June, 1845. In 1825, a weekly line of stages 
was established between Columbus and Cincinnati, 
via Dayton. One day was occupied in coming 
from Cincinnati to Dayton. 

On the 18th of September, 1808, the Dayton 
Repertory was established by William McClureand 
George Smith. It was printed on a foolscap sheet. 
Soon after, it was enlarged and changed from a 
weekly to a daily, and, ere long, found a number 
of competitors in the field. 

In the lower part of ]Miamisburg,in this county, 
are the remains of ancient works, scattered about 
over the bottom. About a mile and a quarter 
southeast of the village, on an elevation more than 
one hundred feet above the level of the Miami, 
is tlie largest mound in the Northern States, ex- 
cepting the mammoth mound at Grave Creek, on 
the Ohio, below Wheeling, which it nearly equals 



in dimensions. It is about eight hundred feet 
around the base, and rises to a height of nearly 
seventy feet. When first known it was covered 
with forest trees, whose size evidenced great age. 
The Indians could give no account of the mound. 
Excavations revealed bones and charred earth, 
but what was its use, will always remain a con- 
jecture. 

One of the most important early settlements 
was made cotemporary with that of Dayton, in 
what is now Ross County. The same spring, 
179G, quite a colony came to the banks of the 
Scioto Kiver, and, near the mouth of Paint Creek, 
began to plant a crop of corn on the bottom. The 
site had been selected as early as 1792, by Col. 
Nathaniel Massie* and others, who were so de- 
lighted with the country, and gave such glowing 
descriptions of it on their return — which accounts 
soon circulated through Kentucky — that portions 
of the Presbyterian congi'egations of Caneridge and 
Concord, in Bourbon County, under Eev. Robert 
W. Finley, determined to emigrate thither in a 
body. They were, in a measure, induced to take 
this step by their dislike to slavery, and a desire 
for fi'eedom from its baleful influences and the un- 
certainty that existed regarding the validity of the 
land titles in that State. The Rev. Finley, as a 
preliminary step, liberated his slaves, and addressed 
to Col. Massie a letter of inquiry, in December, 
1794, regarding the land on the Scioto, of which 
he and his people had heard such glowing ac- 
counts. 

"The letter induced Col. Massie to visit Mr. 
Finley in the ensuing March. A large concourse 
of people, who wished to engage in the enterprise, 
assembled on the occasion, and fixed on a day to 
meet at the Three Islands, in Manchester, and 
proceed on an exploring expedition. Mr. Finley 
also wrote to his friends in Western Pennsylvania 

* Nathaniel Massie was born in Goochland County, Va., Decem- 
ber 28, 17G3. In 1780, he engaged, for a Bbort time, in the Revolu- 
tionary war. In 1783, he left for Kentucky, where he acted as a 
surveyor. Ho was afterward made a Government surveyor, and 
labored much in that capacity for early Ohio proprietors, being paid 
in lands, the amounts graded by the danger attached to tlie survey. 
In 1701, he established the settlement at Manchester, and a year or 
two after, continued his survey.-^ iiii the S<ioto. Here be wns con- 
tinually in great danger from the Indians, but knew well how tc 
guard against them, and thus preserved himself. In 179G, he estab- 
lished tlie Cliillicothe settlement, and maiie his home in the Scioto 
Valley, being now an extensive land owner by reason of his long 
surveying service. In 1S07, ho and Return J. Meigs were compet- 
itors for the office of Governor of Ohio. Meigs was elected, but 
Massie contested his eligibility to the I'ffice, on the grounds of his 
absence from the State and insufficiency of time as a resident, as 
required by the Constitution. Meigs was declared inelieibic by the 
General Assembly, and Massie declared Governor. He, however, 
resigned the office at once, not desiring it. Ho waa often Repre- 
sentative afterward. He died November 13, 1813. 



I. 



104 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



informing them of the time and place of rendez- 
vous. 

'• About sixty men met, according to appoint- 
ment, who were divided into three companies, 
under Massic, Finley and Falenash. They pro- 
ceeded on their route, without interruption, until 
they struck the falls of Paint Creek. Proceeding 
a short distance down that stream, they suddenly 
found themselves in the vicinity of some Indians 
who had encamped at a place, since called Reeve's 
Crossing, near the present town of Bainbridge. 
The Indians were of those who had refused to 
attend Wayne's treaty, and it was determined to 
give them battle, it being too late to retreat with 
safety. The Indians, on being attacked, soon fled 
with the loss of two killed and several wounded. 
One of the whites only, Joshua Robinson, was 
mortally wounded, and, during the action, a Mr. 
Armstrong, a prisoner among the savages, escaped 
to his own people. The whites gathered all their 
plunder and retreated a.s far as Scioto Brush 
Creek, where they were, according to expectation, 
attacked early the next morning. Again the In- 
dians were defeated. Ouly one man among the 
whites, Allen GilfiUan, was wounded. The party 
of whites continued their retreat, the next day 
reached Manchester, and separated for their homes. 

" After Wayne's treaty, Col. Massie and several 
of the old explorers again met at the house of 
Rev. Finley, formed a company, and agreed to 
make a settlement in the ensuing spring (1796), 
and raise a crop of corn at the mouth of Paint 
Creek. According to agreement, they met at Man- 
chester about the first of April, to the number of 
forty and upward, from Mason and Bourbon 
Counties. Among them were Joseph McCoy, 
Benjamin and William Rodgers, David Shelby, 
James Harrod, Henry, Bazil and Reuben Abrams, 
William Jamison, James Crawford, Samuel, An- 
thony and Robert Smith, Thomas Dick, William 
and James Kerr, George and James Kilgrove, 
John Brown, Sanmel and Robert Templeton, Fer- 
guson Moore, William Nicholson and James B. 
Finley, later a prominent local Methodist minister. 
On starting, they divided into two companies, one 
of which struck across the country, while the 
other came on in pirogues. The first arrived 
earliest on the spot of their intended settlement, 
and had comnien -ed erecting log huts above tlie 
mouth of Paint Creek, at the ' Prairie Station,' 
before the others had come on by water. About 
three hundred acres of the prairie were cultivated 
in corn that season. 



" In August, of this year — 1796 — Chillicothe* 
was laid out by Col. Massie in a dense forest. He 
gave a lot to each of the first settlers, and, by the 
beginning of winter, about twenty cabins were 
erected. Not long after, a ferry was established 
across the Scioto, at the north end of Walnut 
street. The opening of Zane's trace produced a 
great change in travel westward, it having pre- 
viously been along the Ohio in keel-boats or canoes, 
or by land, over the Cumberland Mountains, 
through Crab Orchard, in Kentucky. 

" The emigrants brought corn-meal in their pi- 
rogues, and after that was gone, their principal 
meal, until the next summer, was that pounded in 
hominy mortars, which meal, when made into 
bread, and anointed with bear's-oil, was quite pal- 
atable. 

" When the settlers first came, whisky was $-1.50 
per gallon; but, in the spring of 1797, when the 
keel-boats began to run, the Monongahela whisky- 
makers, having found a good market for their fire- 
water, ru.shed it in, in such quantities, that the 
cabins were crowded with it, and it soon fell to 50 
cents. Men, women and children, with some excep- 
tions, drank it freely, and many who had been 
respectable and temperate became inebriates. 
Many of Wayne's soldiers and camp-women settled 
in the town, so that, for a time, it became a town 
of drunkards and a sink of corruption. There 
was, however, a little leaven, which, in a few 
months, began to develop itself. 

'• In the spring of 1797, one Brannon stole a 
great coat, handkerchief and shirt. He and his 
wife absconded, were pursued, caught and brought 
back. Sanmel Smith was appointed Judge, a 
jury impauneled, one attorney appointed by the 
Judge to manage the prosecution, and another the 
defense; witnesses were examined, the case argued, 
and the evidence summed up by the Judge. The 
jury, having retired a few moments, returned with 
a verdict of guilty, and that the culprit be sen- 
tenced according to the discretion of the Judge. 
The Judge soon announced that the criminal 
should have ten lashes on his naked back, or that 
he should sit on a bare pack-saddle on his pony,, 
and that his wife, who was supposed to have had 
some agency in the theft, should lead the pony to 
every house in the village, and proclaim, 'This is 

*i'hillic()the .ippears to have been a favorite name among the 
Indians, iis many localities were known by that name. Col. John 
Johnston says : "Chillicothe is the name of one ot the princip.il 
tribes of the Sbawanoes. They would sa,y, Chi1-i-rothc ninny, i.e., 
Cbillicothe town. The Wyandots would say, for Chillicothe town, 
Tal-a-ra-ra, Do-tta, or town at the leaniug of the bank." 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



105 



Braunon, who stole the great coat, handkerchief 
and shirt ; ' and that James B. Finley, afterward 
Chaplain in the State Penitentiary, should see the 
sentence faithfully carried out. Brannon chose 
the latter sentence, and the ceremony was faith- 
fully performed by his wife in the presence of 
every cabin, under Mr. Finley 's care, after which 
the couple made off. This was rather rude, but 
effective jurisprudence. 

" Dr. Edward Tiffin and Mr. Thomas Worth- 
ington, of Berkley County, Va., were brothers-in-law, 
and being moved by abolition principles, liberated 
their slaves, intending to remove into the Ter- 
ritory. For this purpose, Mr. Worthington visited 
Chillicothe in the autumn of 1797, and purchased 
several in and out lots of the town. On one of the • 
former, he erected a two-story frame house, the 
first of the kind in the village. On his return, 
having purchased a part of a farm, on which his 
family long afterward resided, and another at the 
north fork of Paint Creek, he contracted with Mr. 
Joseph Yates, a millwright, and Mr. George Haines, 
a blacksmith, to come out with him the following 
winter or spring, and erect for him a giist and saw 
mill on his north-fork tract. The summer, fall 
and following winter of that year were marked by 
a rush of emigration, which spead over the high 
bank prairie, Pea-pea, Westfall and a few miles 
up Paint and Deer Creeks. 

" Nearly all the first settlers were either regular 
members, or had been raised in the Presbyterian 
Church. Toward the fall of 1797, the leaven of 
piety retained by a portion of the first settlers be- 
gan to diffuse itself through the mass, and a large 
log meeting-house was erected near the old grave- 
yard, and Rev. William Speer, from Pennsylvania, 
took charge. The sleepers at first served as seats for 
hearers, and a split-log table was used as a pulpit. 
Mr. Speer was a gentlemanly, moral man, tall and 
cadaverous in person, and wore the cocked hat of 
the Revolutionary era. 

"Thomas Jones arrived in February, 1798, 
bringing with him the first load of bar-iron in the 
Scioto Valley, and about the same time Maj . Elias 
Langham, an officer of the Revolution, arrived. Dr. 
Tiffin, and his brother, Joseph, arrived the same 
month from Virginia and opened a stoi-e not far 
from the log meeting-house. A store had been 
opened previously by John McDougal. The 17th 
of April, the tamilies of Col. Worthington and 
Dr. Tiffin arrived, at which time the fii'st marriage 
in the Scioto Valley was celebrated. The parties 
were Geors-e Kiliirore and Elizabeth Cochran. The 



ponies of the attendants were hitched to the trees 
along the streets, which were not then cleared out, 
nearly the whole town being a wilderness. Joseph 
Yates, George Haines, and two or three others, 
arrived with the families of Tiffin and Worthing- 
ton. On their arrival there were but four shingled 
roofs in town, on one of which the shingles 
were fastened with pegs. Col. Worthington's 
house was the only one having glass windows. The 
sash of the hotel windows was filled with greased 
paper. 

"Col. Worthington was appointed by Gen. Ru- 
fus Putnam, Surveyor General of the Northwest 
Territory, surveyor of a large district of Congress 
lands, on the east side of the Scioto, and Maj. 
Langham and a Mr. Matthews, were appointed to 
survey the residue of the lands which afterward 
composed the Chillicothe land district. 

"The same season, settlements were made about 
the Walnut Plains by Samuel McCulloh and 
others; Springer, Osbourn, Dyer, and Thomas and 
Elijah Chenowith, on Darly Creek; Lamberts and 
others on Sippo; on Foster's Bottom, the Fosters. 
Samuel Davis and others, while the following fam- 
ilies settled in and about Chillicothe: John Crouse, 
William Keys, William Lamb, John Carlisle, John 
McLanberg, William Chandless, the Stoctons, 
Greggs, Bates and some others. 

"Dr. Tiffin and his wife were the first Metho- 
dists in the Scioto Valley. He was a local preacher. 
In the fall, Worthington's grist and saw mills on 
the north fork of Paint Creek were finished, the 
first mills worthy the name in the valley. 

" Chillicothe was the point from which the set- 
tlements diverged. In May, 1799, a post office 
was established here, and Joseph Tiffin made Post- 
master. Mr. Tiffin and Thomas Gregg opened 
taverns; the first, under the sign of Gen. Anthony 
Wayne, was at the corner of Water and Walnut 
streets; and the last, under the sign of the 'Green 
Tree,' was on the corner of Paint and Water 
streets. In 1801, Nathaniel Willis moved in and 
established the Scioto Gazette, probably, the sec- 
ond paper in the Territory."* 

In 1800, the seat of government of the North- 
west Territory was removed, by law of Congress, 
from Cincinnati to Chillicothe. The sessions of 
the Territorial Assembly for that and the next 
year were held in a small two-story, hewed-log 
house, erected in 1798, by Bazil Abrams. A wing 
was added to the main part, of two stories in 

* Recollections of Hon. Thomas Scott, of Cbillicothe— Howe's 
Annals of Ohio. 



iL 



lOG 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



lieight. In the lower roolu of this wing, Col. 
Tlutnias Ciibson, Auditor of the Territory, kejjt 
his olliee, ;uul in the upper room a small family 
lived. In the upper room of the main building 
a billiard table was kept. It was also made a re- 
sort of gamblers and disreputable characters. The 
lower room was used by the Legislature, and as a 
court room, a church or a school. In the 
war of 1812, the building was a rendezvous and 
barracks for soldiers, and, in 1840, was pulled 
down. 

The old State House was commenced in 1800, 
and finished the next year for the accommodation 
of the Legislature and the courts. It is said to 
bo the first public stone edifice erected in the Ter- 
ritory. Maj. William Ilutledge, a Revolutionary 
soldier, did the mason work, and William Guthrie, 
the carpenter. In 1 80 1 , the Territorial Legislature 
held their first session in it. In it was also held 
the Constitutional Convention of Ohio, which be- 
gan its sessions the first Monday in November, 
1802. In March, 1803, the first State Legislature 
met in the house, and continued their sessions here 
until 1810. The sessions of 1810-11, and 1811- 
12, were held in Zanesville, and from there re- 
moved back to Chillicothe and held in the old 
State House till 1810, when Columbus became the 
permanent capital of the State. 

Making Chillicothe the State capital did much 
to enhance its growth. It was incorporated in 
1802, and a town council elected. In 1807, the 
town had fourteen stores, six hotels, two newspa- 
pers, two churches — both brick buildings — and 
over two hundred dwellings. The removal of the 
capital to Columbus checked its growth a little, still, 
being in an excellent country, rapidly filling with 
setth'rs, the town has always remained a prominent 
trading center. 

During the war of 1812, Chillicothe was made 
a rendezvous for United States soldiers, and a 
prison established, in which many British prison- 
ers were confined. At one time, a conspiracy for 
escape was discovered just in time to prevent it. 
The plan was for the prisoners to disarm the 
guard, proceed to jail, release the officers, burn the 
town, and escape to Canada. The plot was Ibrtu- 
nately disclosed by two senior British officers, upon 
which, as a measure of security, the officers and 
chief conspirators were sent to the penitentiary 
at Frankfort, Kentucky. 

Two or three miles northwest of Chillicothe, on 
a beautiful elevation, commanding an extensive 
view of the valley of the Scioto, Thomas Worth- 



ington,* one of the most prominent and influential 
men of his day, afterward Governor of the State, 
in 180G, erected a large stone mansion, the wonder 
of the valley in its time. It was the most elegant 
mansion in the West, crowds coming to see it 
when it was completed. Gov. Worthington named 
the place Adeua, " Paradise " — a name not then 
considered hyperbolical. The large panes of glass, 
and the novelty of papered walls especially attracted 
attention. Its architect was the elder Latrobe, of 
Washington City, from which place most of the 
workmen came. The glass was made in Pitts- 
burgh, and the fireplace fronts in Philadelphia, the 
latter costing seven dollars per hundred pounds for 
transportation. The mansion, built as it was, cost 
nearly double the expense of such structures now. 
xVdena was the home of the Governor till his death, 
in 1827. 

Near Adena, in a beautiful situation, is Fruit 
Hill, the seat of Gen. Duncan McArthur,"|" and 
later of ex-Gov. William Allen. Like Adena, Fruit 
Hill is one of the noted places in the Scioto Val- 
ley. JMany of Ohio's best men dwelt in the valley ; 
men who have been an honor and ornament to the 
State and nation. 

Another settlement, begun soon after the treaty 
of peace in 1795, was that made on the Licking 
River, about four miles below the present city of 
Newark, in Licking County. In the fall of 1798, 
John Ratlifi" and Elias Hughes, while prospecting 
on this stream, found some old Indian cornfields, 
and determined to locate. They were from West- 
ern Virginia, and were true pioneers, living mainly 
by hunting, leaving the cultivation of their small 
cornfields to their wives, much after the style of 

* Gov. Worthington was born in Jefferson County, Va., about the 
year 1769. He settled in Ohio in 17'.i8. He was a firm believer in 
liberty and came to the Territory after liberating his slaves. He was 
oiie of the most efficient men of his day; was a member of the 
Constitutional Convention, and was sent on an important mission 
to Congress relative to the admibsiun of Ohio to the Union. He 
was afterward a Senator to Congress, and then Governor. On 
the expiration of his gubernatorial term, ho was appointed a mem- 
ber of the Board of Public Works, in which capacity he did much 
to advance the canals and ra'lroads, and other public improve- 
ments. He remained in this office till his death. 

+ Gen. BIcArlliur was born in Dutchess County, N. Y., in 1772. 
When fciglit years of age, his father removed to Western Pennsyl- 
vania. When eighteen years of age, he served in Harmar's 
campaign. In nsfi, he was a very efficient soldier among the front- 
iersmen, and gained their approbation by liis bravery. In 179.3, ho 
was connected with Gen. Massie, and aflerward was engaged in 
land speculations and became very wealthy. He was made a mem- 
ber of the Legislature, in 1806; in 1S06, a Colonel, and in 1S08, a 
Major Ganeral of tho militia. In this capacity he was in HuU's 
surri'nderat Detroit. On his return he was elected to Congress, 
and in 1813 commissioned Brigadier General. Ho was one of the 
most efficient officers in tlio war of 1812, and helil many important 
posts. After the war, ho was again sent to the Legislature ; in 1822 
to Congress, aiid in 183i) elected Governor of the S'ate. By an un- 
fortunate acciilent in 183(i, he was maimed for life, and gradually 
declined till death camo a few years after. 



r'^ 



i^ 



HISTOKY OF OHIO. 



107 



their dusky neighbors. They were both inveterate 
Indian-haters, and never allowed an opportunity to 
pass without carrying out their hatred. For this, 
they were apprehended after the treaty; but, 
though it was clearly proven they had murdered 
some inoffensive Indians, the state of feeling was 
such that they were allowed to go unpunished. 

A short time after their settlement, others joined 
them, and, in a few years, quite a colony had 
gathered on the banks of the Licking. In 1802, 
Newark was laid out, and, in three or four years, 
there were twenty or thirty families, several stores 
and one or two hotels. 

The settlement of Granville Township, in this 
county, is rather an important epoch in the history 
of this part of the State. From a sketch pub- 
lished by Rev. Jacob Little in 1848, in Howe's 
Collections, the subjoined statements are taken: 

"In 1804, a company was formed at Grranville, 
Mass., with the intention of making a settlement 
in Ohio. This, called the Scioto Company, was 
the third of that name which efi'ected settlements 
in Ohio. The project met with great favor, and 
much enthusiasm was elicited, in illustration of 
which a song was composed and sung to the 
tune of ' Pleasant Ohio ' by the young people in 
the house and at labor in the field. We annex 
two stanzas, which are more curious than poetical: 

"'When rambling o'er these mountains 

And rocks where ivies grow 
Thick as the hairs upon your head, 

"Mongst which you cannot go — 
Great storms of snow, cold winds that blow, 

We scarce can undergo — 
Says I, my boys, we'll leave this place 

For the pleasant Ohio. 

" 'Our precious friends that stay behind, 

We're sorry now to leave; 
But if they'll stay and break their shins, 

For them we'll never grieve. 
Adieu, my friends ! — Come on, my dears, 

This journey we'll forego, 
And settle Licking Creek, 

In yonder Ohio.' " 

" The Scioto Company consisted of one hundred 
and fourteen proprietors, who made a purchase of 
twenty-eight thousand acres. In the autumn of 
1805, two hundred and thirty -four persons, mostly 
from East Granville, Mass., came on to the pur- 
chase. Although they had been forty-two days on 
the road, their first business, on their arrival, hav- 
ing organized a church before they left the E:ist, 
was to hear a sermon. The first tree cut was that 



by which pubUc worship was held, which stood 
just in front of the Presbyterian church. 

On the first Sabbath, November 16, although 
only about a dozen trees had been felled, they held 
divine service, both forenoon and afternoon, on 
that spot. The novelty of worshiping in the 
woods, the forest extending hundreds of miles each 
way ; the hardships of the journey, the winter set- 
ting in, the thoughts of home, with all the friends 
and privileges left behind, and the impression that 
such must be the accommodations of anew country, 
all rushed on their minds, and made this a day of 
varied interest. When they began to sing, the 
echo of their voices among the trees was so differ- 
ent from what it was in the beautiful meeting- 
house they had left, that they could no longer 
restrain their tears. They icept when they remem- 
bered Zion. The voices of part of the choir were, 
for a season, suppressed with emotion. 

"An incident occurred, which many said Mrs. 
Sigourney should have put into verse. Deacon 
Theophilus Reese, a Welsh Baptist, had, two or 
three years before, built a cabin, a mile and a half 
north, and lived all this time without public wor- 
ship. He had lost his cattle, and, hearing a low- 
ing of the oxen belonging to the Company, set out 
toward them. As he ascended the hills overlook- 
ing the town plot, he heard the singing of the 
choir. The reverberation of the sound from hill- 
tops and trees, threw the good man into a serious 
dilemma. The music at first seemed to be behind, 
then in the tree-tops, or in the clouds. He stopped, 
till, by accurate listening, he caught the direction 
of the sound ; went on and passing the brow of 
the hill, he saw the audience sitting on the 
level below. He went home and told his wife that 
' the promise of God is a bond ' ; a Welsh proverb, 
signifying that we have security, equal to a bond, 
that religion will prevail everywhere. He said : 
' These must be good people. I am not afraid to 
go among them.' Though he could not under- 
stand English, he constantly attended the reading 
meeting. Hearing the music on that occa.sion 
made such an impression on his mind that, when 
he became old and met the first settlers, he would 
always tell over this story. The first cabin built 
was that in which they worshiped succeeding 
Sabbaths, and, before the close of the winter, they 
had a schoolhouse and a school. That church, in 
forty years, received more than one thousand per- 
sons into its membership. 

"Elder Jones, in 1806, preached the first ser- 
mon in the log church. The Welsh Baptist 



^: 



108 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



Church was oriianized iu the cabin of David 
Thomas, September 4, 1808. April 21, 1827, 
the Granville members were organized into the 
Granville Church, and the corner-stone of their 
house of worship laid September 21, 1829. In 
the fall of 1810, the first Methodist sermon was 
preached here, and, soon after, a class organized. 
In 1824, a church was built. An Episcopal 
church was organized in May, 1827, and a 
church consecrated in 1838. In 1849, there 
were in this township 405 families, of whom 214 
sustain family worship ; 1431 persons over four- 
teen years of age, of whom over 800 belong to 
church. The town had 150 families, of whom 80 
have family worship. In 1846, the township 
furnished 70 school teachers, of whom 62 prayed 
in school. In 1846, the township took 621 peri- 
odical papers, besides three small monthlies. The 
first temperance society west of the mountains was 
organized July 15, 1828, in this township; and, 
in 1831, the Congregational Chui'ch passed a by- 
law to accept no member who trafficked in or used 
ardent spirits." 

It is said, not a settlement in the entire West 
could present so moral and upright a view as that 
of Granville Township; and nowhere could so 
perfect and orderly a set of people be found. 
Surely, the fact is argument enough in favor of 
the religion of Jesus. 

The narrative of Mr. Little also states that, 
when Granville was first settled, it was supposed 
that Worthington would be the capital of Ohio, 
between which and Zanesville, Granville would 
make a great half-way town. At this time, wild 
animals, snakes and Indians abounded, and many 
are the marvelous stories preserved regarding the 
destruction of the animals and reptiles — the 
Indians being bound by their treaty to remain 
peaceful. Space forbids their repetition here. 
Suffice it to say that, as the whites increased, the 
Indians, animals and snakes disappeared, until 
now one is as much a curiosity as the other. 

The remaining settlement in the southwest- 
ern parts of Ohio, made immediately after the 
treaty — fall of 1795 or year of 1796 — was in 
what is now Madison County, about a mile north 
of where the village of Amity now stands, on the 
banks of the Big Darby. This stream received its 
name from the Indians, fi"om a Wyandot chief, 
named Darby, who for a long time resided upon it, 
near the Union County line. In the fall of 1795, 
Benjamin Springer came from Kentucky and selected 
some land on the banks of the Big Darby, cleared 



the ground, built a cabin, and returned for his 
family. The next spring, he brought them out, 
and began his life here. The same summer be was 
joined by William Lapin, Joshua and James Ew- 
ing and one or two others. 

When Springer came, he found a white man 
named Jonathan Alder, who for fifteen years had 
been a captive among the Indians, and who could 
not speak a word of English, living with an Indian 
woman on the banks of Big Darby. He had been 
exchanged at Wayne's treaty, and, neglecting to 
profit by the treaty, was still living in the Indian 
style. When the whites became numerous about 
him his desire to find his relatives, and adopt the 
ways of the whites, led him to discard his squaw — 
giving her an unusual allowance — learn the English 
language, engage in agricultural pursuits, and be- 
come again civihzed. Fortunately, he could remem- 
ber enough of the names of some of his parents' 
neighbors, so that the identity of his relatives and 
friends was easily established, and Alder became a 
most useful citizen. He was very influential with 
the Indians, and induced many of them to remain 
neutral during the war of 1812. It is stated that 
in 1800, Mr. Ewing brought four sheep into the com- 
munity. They were strange animals to the Indians. 
One day when an Indian hunter and his dog were 
passing, the latter caught a sheep, and was shot by 
Mr. Ewing. The Indian would have shot Ewing in 
retaliation, had not Alder, who was fortunately 
present, with much difficulty prevailed upon him 
to refrain. 

While the southern and southwestern parts of 
the State were filling with settlers, assured of safety 
by Wayne's victories, the northern and eastern 
parts became likewise the theater of activities. 
Ever since the French had explored the southern 
shores of the lake, and English traders had car- 
ried goods thither, it was expected one day to be 
a valuable part of the AVest. It will be remem- 
bered that Connecticut had ceded a large tract of 
land to the General Government, and as soon as 
the cession was confirmed, and land titles became 
assured, settlers flocked thither. Even before that 
time, hardy adventurers had explored some of the 
country, and pronounced it a "goodly land," 
ready for the hand of enterprise. 

The fii-st settlement in the Western Reserve, 
and, indeed, in the northern part of the State, was 
made at the mouth of Conneaut* Creek, in Ash- 
tabula County, on the 4th of July, 1796. That 



* Conneaut, in the Seneca language, signifies "majiy fish." 



•<^ iS '9^ 



^ 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



109 



day, the first surveying party landed at the mouth 
of this creek, and, on its eastern bank, near the 
lake shore, in tin cups, pledged — as they drank the 
limpid waters of the lake — their country's welfare, 
with the ordnance accompaniment of two or three 
fowling-pieces, discharging the required national 
salute. 

The whole party, on this occasion, numbered 
fifty-two pt rsons, of whom two were females ( Mrs. 
Stiles and Mrs. Gunn) and a child, and all deserve 
a lasting place in the history of the State. 

The next day, they began the erection of a large 
log building on the sandy beach on the east side 
of the stream. When done, it was named " Stow 
Castle," after one of the party. It was the dwell- 
ing, storehouse and general habitation of all the 
pioneers. The party made this their headquar- 
ters part of the summer, and continued busily 
engaged in the survey of the Reserve. James 
Kingsbury, afterward Judge, arrived soon after 
the party began work, and, with his fimily, was 
the first to remain here during the winter follow- 
ing, the rest returning to the East, or going south- 
ward. Through the winter, Mr. Kingsbury's 
family suffered greatly for provisions, so much so, 
that, during the absence of the head of the family 
in New York for provisions, one child, born in his 
absence, died, and the mother, reduced by her suf- 
ferings and solitude, was only saved by the timely 
arrival of the husband and father with a sack of 
flour he had carried, many weary miles, on his 
back. He remained here but a short time, re- 
moving to Cleveland, which was laid out that same 
fall. In the spring of 179S, Alexander Harper, 
William McFarland and Ezra Gregory, with their 
families, started from Harpersfield, Delaware Co., 
N. Y., and arrived the last of June, at their new 
homes in the Far West. The whole population on 
the Reserve then amounted to less than one hun- 
dred and fifty persons. These were at Cleveland, 
Youngstown and at Mentor. During the summer, 
three families eame to Burton, and Judge Hudson 
settled at Hudson. All these pioneers suflfered 
severely for food, and from the fever induced by 
chills. It took several years to become accli- 
mated. Sometimes the entire neighborhood 
would be down, and only one or two, who could 
wait on the rest "between chills," wei-e able to do 
anything. Time and courage overcame, finally. 

It was not until 1798, that a permanent settle- 
ment was made at the mouth of Conneaut Creek. 
Those who came there in 1796 went on with their 
surveys, part remaining in Cleveland, laid out that 



summer. Judge Kingsbury could not remain at 
Conneaut, and went nearer the settlements made 
about the Cuyahoga. In the spring of 1798, Thomas 
Montgomery and Aaron Wright settled here and 
remained. Up the stream they found some thirty 
Indian cabins, or huts, in a good state of preserva- 
tion, which they occupied until they could erect 
their own. Soon after, they were joined by others, 
and, in a year or two, the settlement was permanent 
and prosperous. 

The site of the present town of Austinburg in 
Ashtabula County was settled in the year 1799, 
by two families from Connecticut, who were in- 
duced to come thither, by Judge Austin. The 
Judge preceded them a short time, driving, in 
company with a hired man, some cattle about one 
hundred and fifty miles through the woods, follow- 
ing an old Indian trail, while the rest of the party 
came in a boat across the lake. When they ar- 
rived, there were a few fomilies at Harpersburg ; 
one or two families at Windsor, twenty miles 
southwest; also a few families at Elk Creek, forty 
miles northea.st, and at Vernon, the same distance 
southeast. All these were in a destitute condition 
for provisions. In 1800, another family moved 
from Norfolk, Conn. In the spring of 1801, sev- 
eral families came from the same place. Part came 
by land, and part by water. During that season, 
wheat was carried to an old mill on Elk Creek, 
forty miles away, and in some instances, half was 
given for carrying it to mill and returning it in 
flour. 

Wednesday, October 21, 1801, a church of six- 
teen members was constituted in Austinburg. 
This was the first church on the Reserve, and was 
founded by Rev. Joseph Badger, the first mission- 
ary there. It is a fact worthy of note, that in 
1802, Mr. Badger moved his family fi'om Buffalo 
to this town, in the first wagon that ever came 
from that place to the Reserve. In 1803, noted 
revivals occurred in this part of the West, attended 
by the peculiar bodily phenomenon known as the 
" shakes "or " jerks." 

The surveying party which landed at the mouth 
of Conneaut Creek, July 4, 1796, soon completed 
their labors in this part of the Reserve, and ex- 
tended them westward. By the first of September, 
they had explored the lake coast as far west as the 
outlet of the Cuyahoga* River, then considered 



* Cuyahoga, in the Indian language, signifies "crooked."— 
Hou'e'f Collections. 

"The Indians called the river 'Cuyahoghan-uk,' 'Lake River' 
It is, emphatically, a Lake river. It rises in lakes and empties into 
a lake." — Atteater's Hi'lory of Ohio. 






110 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



by all an important Western place, and one des- 
tined to be a great commercial mart. Time has 
verified the prophecies, as now the city of Cleve- 
land covers the site. 

As early as 1755, the mouth of the Cuyahoga 
River was laid down on the maps, and the French 
had a station hero. It was also considered an im- 
portant post during the war of the Revolution, 
and later, of 1812. The British, who, after the 
Revolution, refused to abandon the lake country 
west of the Cuyahoga, occupied its shores until 
1790. Their traders had a house in Ohio City, 
north of the Detroit road, on the point of the hill 
near the river, when the surveyors arrived in 
1796. Washington, Jefferson, and all statesmen 
of that day, regarded the outlet of the Cuyahoga 
as an important place, and hence the early at- 
tempt of the surveyors to reach and lay out a town 
here. 

The corps of surveyors arrived early in Septem- 
ber, 179G, and at once proceeded to lay out a town. 
It was named Cleveland, in honor of Gen. Moses 
Cleveland, the Land Company's agent, and for 
years a very prominent man in Connecticut, where 
he lived and died. By the 18th of October, the 
surveyors had completed the survey and left the 
place, leaving only Job V. Stiles and family, and 
Edward Paine, who were the only persons that 
passed the succeeding winter in this place. Their 
residence was a log cabin that stood on a spot of 
ground long afterward occupied by the Commercial 
Bank. Their nearest neighbors were at Conne- 
aut, where Judge Kingsbury lived; at Fort 
IMcIntosh, on the south or east, at the mouth of 
Big Beaver, and at the mouth of the river Raisin, 
on the west. 

The next season, the surveying party came again 
to Cleveland, which they made their headquarters. 
Early in the spring, Judge Kingsbury came over 
from Conneaut, bringing with him Elijah Gunn, 
who had a short time before joined him. Soon 
after, Maj. Lorenzo Carter and Ezekiel Hawley 
came with their families. These were" about all 
who are known to have settled in this place that 
summer. The next year, 1798, Rodolphus Ed- 
wards and Nathaniel Doane and their families set- 
tled in Cleveland. Mr. Doane had been ninety- 
two days on his journey from Chatham, Conn. In 
the latter part of the summer and fall, nearly every 
person in the settlement was down with the bil- 
ious fever or with the ague. Mr. Doane's flimily 
consisted of nine persons, of whom Seth, a lad six- 
teen years of age, was the only one able to care for I 



them. Such was the severity of the fever, that 
any one having only the ague was deemed quite 
fortunate. Much suffering for proper food and 
medicines followed. The only way the Doane 
family was supplied for two months or more, was 
through the exertions of this boy, who went daily, 
after having had one attack of the chills, to Judge 
Kingsbury's in Newburg — five miles away, where 
the Judge now lived — got a peck of corn, mashed it 
in a hand-mill, waited until a second attack of the 
chills passed over, and then returned. At one time, 
for several days, he was too ill to make the trip, 
during which turnips comprised the Qhief article 
of diet. Fortunately, Maj. Carter, having only 
the ague, was enabled with liis trusty rifle and dogs 
to procure an abundance of venison and other wild 
game. His family, being somewhat acclimated, 
suffered less than many others. Their situation can 
hardly now l)e realized. " Destitute of a physician, 
and with few medicines, necessity taught them to 
use such means as nature had placed within their 
reach. They substituted pills from the extract of 
the bitternut bark for calomel, and dogwood and 
cherry bark for quinine." 

In November, four men, who had so far recov- 
ered as to have ague attacks no oftener than once 
in two or three days, started in the only boat for 
Walnut Creek, Penn., to obtain a winter's supply 
of flour. When below Euclid Creek, a storm 
drove them ashore, broke their boat, and compelled 
their return. During the winter and summer fol- 
lowing, the settlers had no flour, except that 
ground in hand and coffee mills, which was, how- 
ever, considered very good. Not all had even that. 
During the summer, the Connecticut Land Com- 
pany opened the first road on the Reserve, which 
commenced about ten miles south of the lake 
shore, on the Pennsylvania State line, and extended 
to Cleveland. In January, 1799, Mr. Doane 
moved to Doane's Corners, leaving only Maj. Car- 
ter's family in Cleveland, all the rest leaving as 
soon as they were well enough. For fifteen months, 
the Major and his family were the only white per- 
sons left on the town site. During the spring, 
Wheeler W. Williams and IMaj. Wyatt built the 
first grist-mill on the Reserve, on the site of New- 
burg. It was looked upon as a very valuable acces- 
sion to the neighborhood. Prior to this, each fam- 
ily had its own hand-mill in one of the corners of 
the cabin. The old mill is thus described by a 
pioneer : 

" The stones were of the common grindstone 
grit, about four inches thick, and twenty in diame- 



:^ 



liL 



HISTORY OF OHIO, 



111 



ter. The runner, or upper, was turned by hand, 
by a pole set in the top of it, near the outer edge. 
The upper end of the pole was inserted into a hole 
in a board fastened above to the joists, immedi- 
ately over the hole in the verge of the runner. 
One person fed the corn into the e3'e — a hole in 
the center of the runner — while another turned. 
It was very hard work to grind, and the operators 
alternately exchanged places." 

In 1800, several settlers came to the town and 
a more active life was the result. From this time, 
Cleveland began to progress. The 4th of July, 
1801, the first ball in town was held at Major 
Carter's log cabin, on the hill-side. John and 
Benjamin Wood, and II. H. Blinn were managers; 
and Maj. Samuel Jones, musician and master of 
ceremonies. The company numbered about thirty, 
very evenly divided, for the times, between the 
sexes. " Notwithstanding the dancers had a rough 
puncheon floor, and no better beverage to enliven 
their spirits than sweetened whisky, yet it is doubt- 
ful if the anniversary of American independence 
was ever celebrated in Cleveland by a more joyfVd 
and harmonious company than those who danced 
the scamper-down, double-shuffle, western-swing 
and half-moon, that day, in Maj. Carter's cabin." 
The growth of the town, from this period on, re- 
mained prosperous. The usual visits of the Indi- 
ans were made, ending in their drunken carousals 
and fights. Deer and other wild animals furnished 
abundant meat. The settlement was constantly 
augmented by new arrivals, so that, by 1814, Cleve- 
land was incorporated as a town, and, in 1836, as 
a city. Its harbor is one of the best on the lakes, 
and hence the merchandise of the lakes has always 
been attracted thither. Like Cincinnati and Chil- 
licothe, it became the nucleus of settlements in this 
part of the State, and now is the largest city in 
Northern Ohio. 

One of the earliest settlements made in the 
Western Reserve, and by some claimed as the first 
therein, was made on the site of Youngstown, Ma- 
honing County, by a Mr. Young, afterward a Judge, 
in the summer of 17 90. During this summer, 
before the settlements at Cuyahoga and Conneaut 
were made, Mr. Young and Mr. Wilcott, proprie- 
tors of a township of land in Northeastern Ohio, 
came to their possessions and began the survey of 
their land. Just when they came is not known. 
They were found here by Col. James Hillman, 
then a trader in the employ of Duncan & Wilson, 
of Pittsburgh, " who had been forwarding goods 
across the country by pack-saddle horses since 



1786, to the mouth of the Cuyahoga, thence to be 
shipped on the schooner Mackinaw to Detroit. 
Col. Hillman generally had charge of all these 
caravans, consisting sometimes of ninety horses 
and ten men. They commonly crossed the Big 
Beaver four miles below the mouth of the She- 
nango, thence up the left bank of the Mahoning — 
called by the Indians " MuhonV or " Mahonicky 
signifying the "lick" or " at the lick" — crossing 
it about three miles below the site of Youngstown, 
thence by way of the Salt Springs, over the sites 
of Milton and Ravenna, crossing the Cuyahoga at 
the mouth of Breakneck and again at the mouth 
of Tinker's Creek, thence down the river to its 
mouth, where they had a log hut in which to 
store their goods. This hut was there when the 
surveyors came, but at the time unoccupied. At 
the mouth of Tinker's Creek were a few log huts 
built by IMoravian Missionaries. These were used 
only one year, as the Indians had gone to the Tus- 
carawas River. These and three or four cabins at 
the Salt Springs were the only buildings erected 
by the whites prior to 1796, in Northeastern Ohio. 
Those at the Salt Springs were built at an early 
day for the accommodation of whites who came 
from Western Pennsylvania to make salt. The 
tenants were dispossessed in 1785 by Gen. Harmar. 
A short time after, one or two white men were 
killed by the Indians here. In 1788, Col. Hill- 
man settled at Beavertown, where Duncan & 
Wilson had a store for the purpose of trading 
with the Indians. He went back to Pittsburgh 
soon after, however, owing to the Indian war, and 
remained there till its close, continuing in his busi- 
ness whenever opportunity off"ered. In 1796, 
when returning from one of his trading expeditions 
alone in his canoe down the Mahoning River, he 
discovered a smoke on the bank near the present 
town of Youngstown, and on going to the spot 
found Mr. Young and Mr. Wolcott, as before men- 
tioned. A part of Col. Hillman's cargo consisted 
of whisky, a gallon or so of which he still had. 
The price of " fire-water " then was 81 per quart 
in the currency of the country, a deerskin being 
legal tender for $1, and a doeskin for 50 cents. 
Mr. Young proposed purchasing a quart, and 
having a frolic on its contents during the even- 
ing, and insisted on paying Hillman his cus- 
tomary price. Hillman urged that ina.smuch as 
they were strangers in the country, civility re- 
quired him to furnish the means for the entertain- 
ment. Young, however, insisted, and taking the 
deerskin used for his bed — the only one he had — 






^1 



112 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



paid for his quart of whisky, and an evening's 
frolic was tlie result. 

" Hillmun remained a few days, when they ac- 
companied him to Beaver Town to celebrate the 
4th, and then all returned, and Hillman erected a 
cabin on the site of Youngstown. It is not cer- 
tain that they remained here at this time, and 
hence the priority of actual settlement is generally 
conceded to Conneaut and Cleveland. The next 
year, in the fall, a Mr. Brown and one other per- 
son came to the banks of the Mahoning and made 
a permanent settlement. The same season Uriah 
Holmes and Titus Hayes came to the same locality, 
and before winter quite a settlement was to be seen 
here. It proceeded quite prosperously until the 
wanton murder of two Indians occurred, which, 
for a time, greatly excited the whites, lest the In- 
dians should retaliate. Through the efforts of 
Col. Hillman, who had great influence with the 
natives, they agreed to let the murderers stand a 
trial. They were acquitted upon some technicality. 
The trial, however, pacified the Indians, and no 
trouble came from the unwarranted and unfortu- 
nate circumstance, and no check in the emigration 
or prosperity of the colony occurred."* 

As soon as an effective settlement had been es- 
tablished at Youngstown, others were made in the 
surrounding country. One of these was begun by 
William Fenton in 1798, on the site of the pres- 
ent town of Warren, in Trumbull County. He 
remained here alone one year, when he was joined 
by Capt. Ephraim Quimby. By the last of Sep- 
tember, the next year, the colony had increased to 
sixteen, and from that date on continued prosper- 
ously. Once or twice they stood in fear of the 
Indians, as the result of quarrels induced by 
whisky. Sagacious persons generally saved any 
serious outbreak and pacified the natives. Mr. 
Badger, the first missionary on the Reserve, came 
to the settlement here and on the Mahoning, as 
soon as each was made, and, by his earnest labors, 
succeeded in forming churches and schools at an 
early day. He was one of the most efficient men 
on the Reserve, and throughout his long and busy 
life, was well known and greatly respected. He 
died in 184G, aged eighty-nine years. 

The settlements given are about all that were 
made before the close of 1797. In following the 
narrative of these settlements, attention is paid to 
the chronological order, as far as this can be done. 
Like those settlements already made, many which 

* Recollections of Col. nillman. — Howe's Annalt. 



are given as occurring in the next year, 1798, 
were actually begun earlier, but were only tem- 
porary preparations, and were not considered as 
made until the next year. 

Turning again to the southern portion of Ohio, 
the Scioto, Muskingum and Miami Valleys come 
prominently into notice. Throughout the entire 
Eastern States they were still attracting attention, 
and an increased emigration, busily occupying their 
verdant fields, was the result. All about Chilli- 
cothe was now well settled, and, up the banks of 
that stream, prospectors were selecting sites for 
their future homes. 

In 1797, Robert Armstrong, George Skidmore, 
Lucas Sullivant, William Domigan, James Mar- 
shall, John Dill, Jacob Grubb, Jacob Overdier, 
Arthur O'Hara, John Brickell, Col. Culbertson, 
the Deardorfs, McElvains, Selles and others, came 
to what is now Franklin County, and, in August, 
Mr. Sullivant and some others laid out the town of 
Franklinton, on the west bank of the Scioto, oppo- 
site the site of Columbus. The country about this 
locality had long been the residence of the Wyan- 
dots, who had a large town on the city's site, and 
cultivated extensive fields of corn on the river bot- 
toms. The locality had been visited by the whites 
as early as 1780, in some of their expeditions, and 
the fertility of the land noticed. As soon as peace 
was assured, the whites came and began a settle- 
ment, as has been noted. Soon after Franklinton 
was established, a Mr. Springer and his son-in-law, 
Osborn, settled on the Big Darby, and, in the sum- 
mer of 1798, a scattering settlement was made on 
Alum Creek. About the same time settlers came 
to the mouth of the Gahannah, and along other 
water-courses. Franklinton was the point to which 
emigrants came, and from which they always made 
their permanent location. For several years there 
was no mill, nor any such commodity, nearer than 
Chillicothe. A hand-mill was constructed in 
Franklinton, which was commonly used, unless the 
settlers made a trip to Chillicothe in a canoe. 
Next, a horse-mill was tried ; but not till 1805, 
when Col. Kilbourne built a mill at Worthington, 
settled in 1803, could any efficient grinding be 
done. In 1789, a small store was opened in Frank- 
linton, by James Scott, but, for seven or eight 
years, Chillicothe was the nearest post office. 
Often, when the neighbors wanted mail, one of 
their number was furnished money to pay the 
postage on any letters that might be waiting, and 
sent for the mail. At first, as in all new localities, 
a great deal of sickness, fever and ague, prevailed. 



:V 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



113 



As the people became acclimated, this, however, 
disappeared. 

The township of Sharon in this county has a 
history similar to that of Granville Township in 
Licking County. It was settled by a " Scioto 
Company," formed in Granby, Conn., in the winter 
of 1801-02, consisting at first of eight associates. 
They drew up articles of association, among which 
was one limiting their number to forty, each of 
whom must be unanimously chosen by ballot, a 
single negative beingsufficientto prevent an election. 
Col. James Kilbourne was sent out the succeeding 
spring to explore the country and select and pur- 
chase a township for settlement. He returned in 
the full without making any purchase, through 
fear that the State Constitution, then about to be 
formed, would tolerate slavery, in which case the 
project would have been abandoned. While on 
this visit, Col. Kilbourne compiled from a variety 
of sources the first map made of Ohio. Although 
much of it was conjectured, and hence inaccurate, 
it was very valuable, being correct as far as the 
State was then known. 

"As soon as information was received that the 
constitution of Ohio prohibited slavery, Col. Kil- 
bourne purchased the township he had previously 
selected, within the United States military land 
district, and, in the spring of 1803, returned to 
Ohio, and began improvements. By the succeed- 
ing December, one hundred settlers, mainly from 
Hartford County, Conn., and Hampshire County, 
Mass., arrived at their new home. Obeying to the 
letter the agreement made in the East, the first 
cabin erected wiis used for a schoolhouse and a 
church of the Protestant Episcopal denomination ; 
the first Sabbath after the arrival of the colony, 
divine service was held therein, and on the arrival 
of the eleventh family a school was opened. This 
early attention to education and religion has left 
its favorable impress upon the people until this day. 
The first 4th of July was uniquely and appropri- 
ately celebrated. Seventeen gigantic trees, em- 
blematical of the seventeen States forming the 
Union, were cut, so that a few blows of the ax, at 
sunrise on the 4th, prostrated each successively 
with a tremendous cr;xsli, forming a national salute 
novel in the world's history."* 

The growth of this part of Ohio continued 
without interruption until the establishment of the 
State capital at Columbus, in 1816. The town was 
laid out in 1812, but, as that date is considered re- 

*Ho\ve's Collections. 



mote in the early American settlements, its history 
will be left to succeeding pages, and there traced 
when the history of the State capital and State 
government is given. 

The site of Zanesville, in Muskingum County, 
was early looked upon as an excellent place to form 
a settlement, and, had not hostilities opened in 
1791, with the Indians, the place would have been 
one of the earliest settled in Ohio. As it was, the 
war so disarranged matters, that it was not till 
1797 that a permanent settlement was effected. 

The Muskingum country was principally occu- 
pied, in aboriginal times, by the Wyandots, Dela- 
wares, and a few Senecas and Shawanees. An In- 
dian town once stood, years before the settlement 
of the country, in the vicinity of Duncan's Falls, 
in Muskingum County, from which circumstance 
the place is often called " Old Town." Near Dres- 
den, was a large Shawanee town, called Wakato- 
maca. The graveyard was quite large, and, when 
the whites first settled here, remains of the town 
were abundant. It was in this vicinity that the 
venerable Maj. Cass, father of Lewis Cass, lived 
and died. He owned 4,000 acres, given him for 
his military services. 

The first settlers on the site of Zanesville were 
William McCulloh and Henry Crooks. The lo- 
cality was given to Ebenezer Zane, who had been 
allowed three sections of land on the Scioto, Mus- 
kingum and Hockhocking, wherever the road 
crossed these rivers, provided other prior claims 
did not interfere, for opening "Zane's trace." 
When he located the road across the IMuskingum, 
he selected the place where Zanesville now stands, 
being attracted there by the excellent water privi- 
leges. He gave the section of land here to his 
brother Jonathan Zane, and J. IMcIntire, who 
leased the ferry, established on the road over the 
Muskingum, to William McCulloh and Henry 
Crooks, who became thereby the first settlers. The 
ferry was kept about where the old u]iper bridge 
was afterward placed. The ferry-boat was made 
by fastening two canoes together with a stick. 
Soon after a flat-boat was used. It was brought 
from Wheeling, by Mr. Mclntire, in 1797, the 
year after the ferry was established. The road cut 
out through Ohio, ran from Wheeling, Va., to 
Maysville, Ky. Over this road the mail was car- 
ried, and, in 1798, the first mail ever carried 
wholly in Ohio was brought up from Marietta to 
McCulloh's cabin by Daniel Convers, where, by 
arrangement of the Postmaster General, it met 
a mail fn)m Wheeling and one from Maysville. 



■^^ 



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114 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



McCulloh, who could hardly read, was authorized 
to assort the mails and send each package in its 
proper direction. For this service he received 
SoU per annum ; but owing to his inability to read 
well, Mr. Convers generally performed the duty. 
At that time, the mails met here once a week. 
Four years after, the settlement had so increased 
that a regular post office was opened, and Thomas 
Dowden appointed Postmaster. He kept his office 
in a wooden building near the river bank. 

Messrs. Zane and Mclntire laid out a town in 
1799, which they called Westbourn. When the 
post office was established, it was named Zanesville, 
and in a short time the village took the same name. 
A few families settled on the west side of the river, 
soon after McCulloh arrived, and as this locality 
grew well, not long after a store and tavern was 
opened here. Mr. Mclntire built a double log 
cabin, which was used as a hotel, and in which 
Louis Philippe, King of France, was once enter- 
tained. Although the fare and accommodations 
were of the pioneer period, the lionorable guest seems 
to have enjoyed his visit, if the statements of Lewis 
Cass in his " Camp and Court of Louis Philippe" 
may be believed. 

In 1804, Muskingum County was formed by the 
Legislature, and, for a while, strenuous efforts made 
to secure the State capital by the citizens of Zanes- 
ville. They even erected buildings for the use of 
the Legislature and Governor, and during the ses- 
sion of 1810-11, the temporary seat of govern- 
ment was fixed here. When the permanent State 
cajiital was chosen in 1816, Zanesville was passed 
by, and gave up the hope. It is now one of the 
most enterprising towns in the Muskingum Valley. 

During the summer of 1797, John Knoop, then 
living four miles above Cincinnati, made several 
expeditions up the Miami Valley and selected the 
land on which he afterward located. The next 
spring "Sir. Knoop, his brother Benjamin, Henry 
(xarard, Benjamin Hamlet and John Tildus estab- 
lished a station in what is now Miami County, near 
the present town of Staunton Village. That sum- 
mer, Mrs. Knoop planted the first apple-tree in 
the Miami * country. They all lived together for 
greater safety for two years, during vvliich time 
they were occupied clearing their farms and erect- 
ing dwellings. During the summer, the site of 
Picjuawiussettled, and three young men located at a 
place known as " Freeman's Prairie." Those who 



♦The word Miami in the lodian tongue signified mother. The 
Miamis were the original owners of the valley by that name, and 
affirmed they wt-ie created there. 



settled at Piqua were Samuel HilliarJ, Job Grarard, 
Shadrac Hudson, Jonah Rollins, Daniel Cox, 
Thomas Rich, and a Mr. Hunter. The last named 
came to the site of Piqua first in 1797, and 
selected his home. LTntil 1799, these named were 
the only ones in this locality ; but that year emi- 
gration set in, and very shortly occupied almost all 
the bottom land in Miami County. With the 
increase of emigration, came the comforts of life, 
and mills, stoi'es and other necessary aids to civil- 
ization, were ere long to be seen. 

The site of Piqua is quite historic, being the 
theater of many important Indian occurrences, 
and the old home of the Shawanees, of which 
tribe Tecumseh was a chief. During the Indian 
war, a fort called Fort Piqua was built, near the 
residence of Col. John Johnston, so long the faith- 
ful Indian Agent. The fort was abandoned at the 
close of hostilities. 

When the Miami Canal was opened through this 
part of the State, the country began rapidly to 
improve, and is now probably one of the best por- 
tions of Ohio. 

About the same time the IMiami was settled, a 
company of people from Pennsylvania and Vir- 
ginia, who were principally of German and Irish 
descent, located in Lawrence County, near the iron 
"region. As soon as that ore was made available, 
that part of the State rapidly filled with settlers, 
most of whom engaged in the mining and working 
of iron ore. Now it is very prosperous. 

Another settlement was made the same season, 
1797, on the Ohio side of the river, in Columbiana 
County. The settlement progressed slowly for a 
while, owing to a few difficulties with the Indians. 
The celebrated Adam Poe had been here as early 
as 1782, and several localities are made locally 
famous by his and his brother's adventures. 

In this county, on Little Beaver Creek, near its 
mouth, the second paper-mill west of the Alle- 
ghanies was erected in 1805-6. It was the pioneer 
enterprise of the kind in Ohio, and was named the 
Ohio I'aper-Mill. Its proprietors were John 
Bever and John Coulter. 

One of the most noted localities in the State is 
comprised in Greene County. The Shawanee 
town, " Old Chillicothe," was on the Little Miami, 
in this county, about three miles north of the site 
of Xenia. This old Indian town was, in the an- 
nals of the West, a noted place, and is frequently 
noticed. It is first mentioned in 1773, by Capt. 
Thomas Bullitt, of Virginia, who boldly advanced 
alone into the town and obtained the consent of 




the Indians to go on to Kentucky and make liis 
settlement at tlie falls of the Ohio. His audacious 
bravery gained his request. Daniel Boone was 
taken prisoner early in 1778, with twenty-seven 
others, and kept for a time at Old Chillicothe. 
Through the influence of the British Governor, 
Hamilton, who had taken a great fancy to Boone, 
he and ten others were sent to Detroit. The In- 
dians, however, had an equal fancy for the brave 
frontiersman, and took him back to Chillicothe, 
and adopted him into their tribe. About the 1st 
of June he escaped from them, and made his way 
back to Kentucky, in time to prevent a universal 
massacre of the whites. In July, 1779, the town 
was destroyed by Col. John Bowman and one 
hundred and sixty Kentuckians, and the Indians 
dispersed. 

The Americans made a permanent settlement in 
this county in 1797 or 1798. This latter year, a 
mill was erected in the confines of the county, 
which implies the settlement was made a short 
time previously. A short distance east of the 
mill two block-houses were erected, and it was in- 
tended, should it become necessary, to surround 
them and the mill with pickets. The mill was 
used by the settlers at " Dutch Station," in Miami 
County, fully thirty miles distant. The richness 
of the country in this part of the State attracted a 
great number of settlers, so that by 1803 the 
county was established, and Xenia laid out, and des- 
ignated as the county seat. Its first court house, 
a primitive log structure, was long preserved as a 
curiosity. It would indeed be a curiosity now. 

Zane's trace, passing from Wheeling to Mays- 
ville, crossed the Hockhocking* River, in Fairfield 
County, where Lancaster is now built. Mr. Zane 
located one of his three sections on this river, 
covering the site of Lancaster. Following this 
trace in 1797, many individuals noted the desira- 
bleness of the locality, some of whom determined 
to return and settle. " The site of the cit}^ had 
in former times been the home of the Wyandots, 
who had a town here, that, in 1790, contained 
over 500 wigwams and more than 1,000 souls. 
Their town was called Tarhee, or, in English, the 
Crane-totcn, and derived its name from the princi- 

* The word Hock-hock-itig in the Delaware language signifies 
a bottle: the Shawanees have it Wea-lka-kagh-qna sepe, ie ; bottle 
river. Jolin White in the American Pioneer says: "About seven 
miles nort'i west of LancaKter, tliero is a fall In the Hockhocking of 
about twtnty feet. Above the full for a short distance, the creek 
is very narrow and straight forming a neck, while at the falls it 
suddenly widens on each side and swells into the appearance of the 
body of a bottle. The whole, when seen from above, appears exactly 
in the shape of a bottle, and from this fact the Indians called the 
river Hock-hock-ing."' — Howe^s Colleclioits. 



pal chief of that tribe. Another portion of the 
tribe then lived at Tobj'-town, nine miles west of 
Tarhe-town (now Royaltown), and was governed 
by an inferior chief called Toby. The chief's wig- 
wam in Tarhe stood on the bank of the prairie, 
near a beautiful and abundant spring of water, 
whose outlet was the river. The wigwams of the 
Indians were built of the bark of trees, set on 
poles, in the form of a sugar camp, with one square 
open, fronting a fire, and about the height of a 
man. The Wyandot tribe that day numbered 
about 500 warriors. By the treaty of Greenville, 
they ceded all their territory, and the majoritj-. un- 
der their chief, removed to Upper Sandusky. The 
remainder lingered awhile, loath to leave the home 
of their ancestors, but as game became scarce, they, 
too, left for better hunting-grounds."* 

In April, 1798, Capt. Joseph Hunter, a bold, 
enterprising man, settled on Zane's trace, on the 
bank of the prairie, west of the crossings, at a 
place since known as "Hunter's settlement." For 
a time, he had no neighbors nearer than the set- 
tlers on the Muskingum and Scioto Rivers. He 
lived to see the country he had found a wilderness, 
full of the homes of industry. His wife was the 
first white woman that settled in the valley, and 
shared with him all the privations of a pioneer 
life. 

Mr. Hunter had not been long in the valley till 
he was joined by Nathaniel Wilson, John and Al- 
len Green, John and Joseph McMullen, Robert 
Cooper, Isaac Shaefer, and a few others, who 
erected cabins and planted corn. The next year, 
the tide of emigration cimie in with great force. 
In the spring, two settlements were made in Green- 
field Township, each settlement containing twenty 
or more families. One was called the Forks of 
the Hockhocking, the other, Yankeetowu. Set- 
tlements were also made along the river below 
Hunter's, on Rush Creek, Raccoon and Indian 
Creeks, Pleasant Run, Felter'sRun, at Tobeytown, 
Muddy Prairie, and on Clear Creek. In the fall, 
— 1799 — Joseph Loveland and Hezekiah Smith 
built a log grist-mill at the Upper Falls of the 
Hockhocking, afterward known as Rock jNIill. 
This was the first mill on this river. In the latter 
part of the year, a mail route was establuihed over 
the trace. The mail was carried through on horse- 
back, and, in the settlements in this locality, was 
left at the cabin of Samuel Coates, who lived on 
the prairie at the crossings of the river. 

* Lecture uf Gtorge Sanderson.— 1/oift's toUectiouf. 



116 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



In the fall of the next year, Ebenezer Zane laid 
out Lancaster, which, until 1805, was known as 
New Lancjister. The lots sold very rapidly, at 
$50 each, and, in less than one year, quite a vil- 
lage appeared. December 9, the Governor and 
Judges of the Northwest TeiTitory organized 
Fairfield County, and made Lancaster the county 
seat. The year following, the Rev. John "Wright, 
a minister of the Presbyterian Church, came, and 
from that time on schools and churches were estab- 
lished and thereafter regularly maintained at this 
place. 

Not far from Lancaster are immense mural es- 
carpments of sandstone formation. They were 
noted among the aborigines, and were, probably, 
used by them as places of outlook and defense. 

The same summer Fairfield County was settled, 
the towns of Bethel and Williamsburg, in Cler- 
mont County, were settled and laid out, and in 
1800, the county was erected. 

A settlement was also made immediately south 
of Fairfield County, in Hocking County, by Chris- 
tian Westenhaver, a German, from near Hagers- 
town, Md. He came in the spring of 1798, and 
was soon joined by several families, who formed 
quite a settlement. The territory included in the 
county remained a part of Ross, Athens and 
Fairfield, until 1818, when Hocking County was 
erected, and Logan, which had been laid out in 
1816, was made the county seat. 

The country comprised in the county is rather 
broken, especially along the Hockhocking River. 
This broken country was a favorite resort of the 
Wyandot Indians, who could easily hide in the 
numerous grottoes and ravines made by the river 
and its affluents as the water cut its way through 
the sandstone rocks. 

In 1798, soon after Zane's trace was cut through 
the country, a Mr. Graham located on the site of 
Cambridge, in Guernsey County. His was then 
the only dwelling between Wheeling and Zanes- 
ville, on the trace. He remained here alone about 
two years, when he was succeeded by George Bey- 
mer, from Somerset, Pcnn. Both these persons 
kept a tavern and ferry over Will's Creek. In 
April, 1803, IVIr. Beymer was succeeded by John 
Beatty, who came from Loudon, Va. His family 
consisted of eleven persons. The Indians hunted 
in this vicinity, and were frequent visitors at the 
tavern. In June, 1806, Cambridge was laid out, 
and on the day the lots were offered for sale, sev- 
eral families from the British Isle of Guernsey, 
near the coast of France, stopped here on their 



way to the West. They were satisfied with the 
location and purchased many of the lots, and some 
land in the vicinity. They were soon followed by 
other families from the same place, all of whom 
settling in this locality gave the name to the county 
when it was erected in 1810. 

A settlement was made in the central part of the 
State, on Darby Creek, in Union County, in the 
summer of 1798, by James and Joshua Ewing. 
The next year, they were joined by Samuel and 
David Mitchell, Samuel Mitchell, Jr., Samuel 
Kirkpatrick and Samuel McCullough,and, in 1800, 
by George and Samuel Reed, Robert Snodgrass 
and Paul Hodgson. 

"James Ewing's farm was the site of an an- 
cient and noted Mingo town, which was deserted 
at the time the Mingo towns, in what is now Logan 
County, were destroyed by Gen. Logan, of Ken- 
tucky, in 1786. When Mr. Ewing took posses- 
sion of his farm, the cabins were still standing, 
and, among others, the remains of a blacksmith's 
shop, with coal, cinders, iron-dross, etc. Jonathan 
Alder, formerly a prisoner among the Indians, 
says the shop was carried on by a renegade white 
man, named Butler, who lived among the IVIingoes. 
Extensive fields had formerly been cultivated in 
the vicinity of the town."* 

Soon after the settlement was- established, Col. 
James Curry located here. He was quite an influ- 
ential man, and, in 1820, succeeded in getting the 
county formed from portions of Delaware, Frank- 
lin, Madison and Logan, and a part of the old In- 
dian Territory. Marysville was made the county 
seat. 

During the year 1789, a fort, called Fort Steu- 
ben, was built on the site of Steubenville, but was 
dismantled at the conclusion of hostilities in 1795. 
Three years after, Bezalecl Williams and Hon. 
James Ross, for whom Ross County was named, 
located the town of Steubenville about the old 
fort, and, by liberal ofi'ers of lots, soon attracted 
quite a number of settlers. In 1805, the to-ft-n 
was incorporated, and then had a population of 
several hundred persons. Jefferson County was 
created by Gov. St. Clair, July 29, 1797, the year 
before Steubenville was laid out. It then included 
the large scope of country west of Pennsylvania ; 
east and north of a line from the mouth of the 
Cuyahoga ; southwardly to the Muskingum, and 
Ciist to the Ohio ; including, in its territories, the 
cities of Cleveland, Canton, Steubenville and War- 

* Howe's CoUectionB. 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



119 



ren. Only a short time, however, was it allowed 
to retain this size, as the increase in emigration 
rendered it necessary to erect new counties, which 
was rapidly done, especially on the adoption c " the 
State government. 

The county is rich in early history, prior to its 
settlement by the Americans. It was the home of 
the celebrated Mingo chief, Logan, who resid xl 
awhile at an old Mingo town, a few miles below t le 
site of Steubenville, the place where the troo )S 
under Col. WiUiamson rendezvoused on their i i- 
famous raid against the Moravian Indians ; ar d 
also where Col. Crawford and his men met, whf n 
starting on their unfortunate expedition. 

In the Reserve, settlements were often made 
remote from populous localities, in accordance with 
the wish of a proprietor, who might own a tract of 
country twenty or thirty miles in the interior. In 
the present county of Geauga, three families located 
at Burton in 1798. They lived at a considerable 
distance from any other settlement for some time, 
and were greatly inconvenienced for the want of 
mills or shops. As time progressed, however, 
these were brought nearer, or built in their midst, 
and, ere long, almost all parts of the Reserve could 
show some settlement, even if isolated. 

The nest year, 1799, settlements were made at 
Ravenna, Deerfield and Palmyra, in Portage 
County. Hon. Benjamin Tappan came to the site 
of Ravenna in June, at which time he found one 
white man, a Mr. Honey, living there. At this date, 
a solitary log cabin occupied the sites of Buffalo and 
Cleveland. On his journey from New England, 
Mr. Tappan fell in with David Hudson, the founder 
of the Hudson settlement in Summit County. 
Afler many days of travel, they landed at a prairie in 
Summit County. Mr. Tappan left his goods in a 
cabin, built for the purpose, under the care of a hired 
man, and went on his way, cutting a road to the 
site of Ravenna, where his land lay. On his return 
for a second load of goods, they found the cabin 
' deserted, and evidences of its plunder by the In- 
dians. Not long after, it was learned that the man 
left in charge had gone to Mr. Hudson's settle- 
ment, he having set out immediately on his arrival, 
for his own land. Mr. Tappan gathered the re- 
mainder of his goods, and started back for Ravenna. 
On his way one of his oxen died, and he found 
himself in a vast forest, away from any habitation, 
and with one dollar in money. He did not falter 
a moment, but sent his hired man, a faithful fellow, 
to Erie, Pcnn., a distance of one hundred miles 
through the wilderness, with the compass for his 



guide, requesting from Capt. Lyman, the com- 
mander at the fort there, a loan of money. At 
the same time, he followed the township lines to 
Youngstown, where he became acquainted with 
Col. James Hillman, who did not hesitate to sell 
him an ox on credit, at a fair price. He returned 
to his load in a few days, found his ox all right, 
hitched the two together and went on. He was 
soon joined by his hired man, with the money, and 
together they spent the winter in a log cabin. He 
gave his man one hundred acres of land as a reward, 
and paid Col. Hillman for the ox. In a year or 
two he had a prosperous settlement, and when the 
county was erected in 1807, Ravenna was made 
the seat of justice. 

About the same time Mr. Tappan began his 
settlement, others were commenced in other locali- 
ties in this county. Early in May, 1799, Lewis 
Day and his son Horatio, of Granby, Conn., and 
Moses Tibbals and Green Frost, of Granville, 
Mass., left their homes in a one-horse wagon, and, 
the 29th of May, arrived in what is now Deerfield 
Township. Theirs was the first wagon that had 
ever penetrated farther westward in this region 
than Canfield. The country west of that place 
had been an unbroken wilderness until within a 
few days. Capt. Caleb Atwater, of Wallingford, 
Conn., had hired some men to open a road to 
Township No. 1, in the Seventh Range, of which 
he was the owner. This road passed through 
Deerfield, and was completed to that place when 
the party arrived at the point of their destination. 
These emigrants selected sites, and commenced 
clearing the land. In July, Lewis Ely arrived 
from Granville, and wintered here, while those 
who came first, and had made their improvements, 
returned East. The 4th of March, 1800, Alva 
Day (son of Lewis Day), John Campbell and 
Joel Thrall arrived. In April, George and Rob- 
ert Taylor and James Laughlin, from Pennsylvania, 
with their families, came. Mr. Laiighlin built a 
grist-mill, which was of great convenience to the 
settlers. July 29, Lewis Day returned with 
his family and his brother-in-law, Maj. Rogers, 
who, the next year, also brought his family. 

" Much suffering was experienced at first on 
account of the scarcity of provisions. They were 
chiefly supplied from the settlements cast of the 
Ohio River, the nearest of which was Georgetown, 
forty miles away. The provisions were brought 
on pack-horses through the wilderness. August 
22, Mrs. Alva Day gave birth to a child — a fe- 
male — the first child born in the township. 



j^: 



120 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



November 7, the first wedding took place. John 
Campbell and Sarah Ely were joined in wedlock 
by Calvin Austin, P]sq., of Warren. He was 
accompanied from AVarren, a distance of twenty- 
seven miles, by Mr. Pease, then a lawyer, after- 
ward a well-known Judge. They came on foot, 
there being no road; and, as they threaded their 
way through the woods, young Pease taught the 
Justice the marriage ceremony by oft repetition. 

" In 1802, Franklin Township was organized, em- 
bracing all of Portage and parts of Trumbull and 
Summit Counties. About this time the settlement 
received accessions from all parts of the East. In 
February, 1801, Rev. Badger came and began his 
labors, and two years later Dr. Shadrac Bostwick 
organized a Methodist Episcopal church.* The 
remaining settlement in this county, Palmyra, was 
begun about the same time as the others, by David 
Daniels, from Salisbury, Conn. The next year he 
brought out bis family. Soon after he was joined 
by E. N. and W. Bacon, E. Cutler, A. Thurber, 
A. Preston, N. Bois, J. T. Baldwin, T. and C. 
Gilbert, D. A. and S. Waller, N. Smith, Joseph 
Fisher, J. Tuttle and others. 

" When this region was first settled, there was 
an Indian trail commencing at Fort Mcintosh 
(Beaver, Penn.), and extending westward to San- 
dusky and Detroit. The trail followed the highest 
ground. Along the trail, parties of Indians were 
frequently seen passing, for several years after the 
whites came. It seemed to be the great aboriginal 
thoroughfare from Sandusky to the Ohio River. 
There were several large piles of stones on the 
trail in this locality, under which human skeletons 
liave been discovered. These are supposed to be 
the remains of Indians slain in war, or murdered 
by their enemies, as tradition says it is an Indian 
custom for each one to cast a stone on the grave 
of an enemy, whenever he passes by. These stones 
appear to have been picked up along the trail, and 
cast upon the heaps at difl'erent times. 

"At the point where this trail crosses Silver 
Creek, Fredrick Daniels and others, in 1814, dis- 
covered, painted on several trees, various devices, 
evidently the work of Indians. The bark was 
carefully shaved off two-thirds of the way around, 
and figures cut upon the wood. On one of these 
was delineated seven Indians, equipped in a par- 
ticular manner, one of whom was without a head. 
This was supposed to have been made by a party 
on their return westward, to give intelligence to 

* Howe's Collections. 



their friends behind, of the loss of one of their 
party at this place ; and, on making search, a hu- 
man skeleton was discovered near by." * 

The celebrated Indian hunter, Brady, made his 
remarkable leap across the Cuyahoga, in this 
county. The county also contains Brady's Pond, 
a large sheet of water, in which he once made his 
escape from the Indians, from which circumstance 
it received its name. 

The locality comprised in Clark County was 
settled the same summer as those in Summit County. 
John Humphries came to this part of the State 
with Glen. Simon Kenton, in 1799. With them 
came six families fi-om Kentucky, who settled 
north of the site of Springfield. A fort was 
erected on Mad River, for security against the In- 
dians. Fourteen cabins were soon built near it, 
all being surrounded by a strong picket fence. 
David Lowery, one of the pioneers here, built the 
first flat-boat, to operate on the Great Miami, and, 
in 1800, made the first trip on that river, coming 
down from Dayton. He took his boat and cargo 
on down to New Orleans, where he disposed of his 
load of " five hundred venison hams and bacon." 

Springfield was laid out in March, 1801. Griffith 
Foos, who came that spring, built a tavern, which 
he completed and opened in June, remaining in 
this place till 1814. He often stated that when 
emigrating West, his party were four days and a 
half getting fi-om Franklinton, on the Scioto, to 
Springfield, a distance of forty-two miles. When 
crossing the Big Darby, they were obliged to carry 
all their goods over on horseback, and then drag 
their wagons across with ropes, while some of the 
party swam by the side of the wagon, to prevent 
its upsetting. The site of the town was of such 
practical beauty and utility, that it soon attracted 
a large number of settlers, and, in a few years, 
Springfield was incorporated. In 1811, a church 
was built by the residents for the use of all denom- 
inations. 

Clark County is made famous in aboriginal 
history, as the birthplace and childhood home of 
the noted Indian, Tecumseh.f He was born in 



* Howe's Collections. 

f Tecumseh, or Tecumshe, was a son of Puckoshinwa, a member 
of the Kiscopoko tribe, and Methoataske, of the Turtle tribe of the 
Shawanee nation. They removed from Florida to Ohio soon after 
their marriage. The father, Puckeshinwa, rose to the rank of a chief, 
and fell at the l>attle of Point Pleasant, in 1774. After his death, 
the mother, Methoataske, returned to the south, where she died at 
an advanced age. Tecum=eli was born about the year 1768. He 
early showed a passion for war, and, when only 27 years of age, was 
made a chief. The next year he removed to Deer Creek, in the 
vicinity of Urbana, and from there to the site of Piqua, on the 
Great Miami. In 1798 he accepted the invitation of the Delawares 
in the vicinity of White River, Indiana, and from that time made 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



121 



the old Indian town of Piqua, the ancient Piqua 
of the Shawanees, on the north side of Mad River, 
about five miles west of Springfield. The town 
was destroyed by the Kentucky Rangers under 
Gen. George Rogers Clarke in 1780, at the same 
time he destroyed " Old Chillicothe." Immense 
fields of standing corn about both towns were cut 
down, compelling the Indians to resort to the hunt 
with more than ordinary vigor, to sustain them- 
selves and their wives and children. This search 
insured safety for some time on the borders. The 
site of Cadiz, in Harrison County, was settled iu 
April, 1799, by Alexander Henderson and his 
family, from Washington County, Penn. When 
they arrived, they found neighbors in the persons 
of Daniel Peterson and his family, who lived near 
the forks of Short Creek, and who had preceded 
them but a very short time. The next year, emi- 
grants began to cross the Ohio in gTeat numbers, 
and iu five or six years large settlements could be 
seen in this part of the State. The county was 
erected in 1814, and Cadiz, laid out in 1803, made 
the county seat. 

While the settlers were locating in and about 
Cadiz, a few families came to what is now Monroe 
County, and settled near the present town of 
Beallsville. Shortly after, a few persons settled on 
the Clear Fork of the Little Muskingum, and a 
few others on the east fork of Duck Creek. The 



next season all these settlements received addi- 
tions and a few other localities were also occupied. 
Before long the town of Beallsville was laid 
out, and in time became cjuite populous. The 
county was not erected until 1813, and in 1815 
Woodsfield was laid out and made the seat of 
justice. 

The opening of the season of 1800 — the dawn 
of a new century — saw a vast emigration west 
ward. Old settlements in Ohio received immense 
increase of emigrants, while, branching out in all 
directions like the radii of a circle, other settle- 
ments w^ere constantly formed until, in a few years, 
all parts of the State knew the presence of the 
white man. 

Towns sprang into existence here and there ; 
mills and factories were erected ; post offices and 
post-routes were established, and the comforts and 
conveniences of life began to appear. 

With this came the desire, so potent to the mind 
of all American citizens, to rule themselves through 
representatives chosen by their own votes. Hith- 
erto, they had been ruled by a Governor and Judges 
appointed by the President, who, in turn, appointed 
county and judicial officers. The arbitrary rulings 
of the Governor, St. Clair, had arrayed the mass 
of the people against him, and made the desire for 
the second grade of government stronger, and 
finally led to its creation. 



CHAPTER X. 

FORMATION OF THE STATE GOVERNMENT— OHIO A STATE— THE STATE CAPITALS— LEGIS- 
LATION— THE "SWEEPING RESOLUTIONS "—TERRITORIAL AND STATE GOVERNORS. 

SETTLEMENTS increased so rapidly in that 
part of the Northwest Territory included iu 
Ohio, during the decade from 1788 to 1798, 
despite the Indian war, that the demand for an 
election of a Territorial Assembly could not be 
ignored by Gov. St. Clair, who, having ascertained 
that 5,000 free males resided within the limits of 
the Territory, issued his proclamation October 29, 
1798, directing the electors to elect representatives 
to a General Assembly. He ordered the election 

his home with them. He was most active in the war of 1812 
atjai list the Americans, and from tlie time ho t)PKan his work to 
unite the tribes, his history is so closely identificU therewith that 
the reader is referred to the history of that war in succeeding pages. 
It may not be amiss to say that all stories regardinj? the manner 
of his death are Considered erroneous. Ho was undoubtedly killed 
in the outset of the battle of the Thames in Canada in lSl-1, and his 
body secretly buried by the Indians. 



to be held on the third Monday in December, and 
directed the representatives to meet in Cincinnati 
January 22, 1799. 

On the day designated, the representatives * 
assembled at Cincinnati, nominated ten persons, 
whose names were sent to the President, who 
selected five to constitute the Legislative Council, 



♦Those elected were: from Washington County, Return Jona- 
than Meigs and Paul Fearing; from Hamilton County, William 
Goforth, William McMillan, John Smith, John Ludlow, Robert 
Benhain, AaronCaldw-ll and Isaac Martin; from St, Clair Ctiunty 
(lllinois\ Shadrach Bond; from Knox County (Indiana), John 
Small; from Randolph County (Illinois i, John Edgar; from W'ayne 
County, Solomon Sibley, Jacob Visgar and Charles F. i habert de 
Joncaire; from Adams County, Joseph I'arlingt"n and Nathaniel 
Blassie; from Jefferson Cn nty, James I'ritcliar ; from lioss County, 
Thomas Worthinjjton, Ellas Langhau), Samuel Findley and Eduard 
Tiffin. The five gentlemen, except Vanderbiirfrh, chosen as the 
Upper House were all from counties afterward included iu Ohio. 



122 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



or Upper House. These five were Jacob Burnet, 
James Findley, Henry Vanderburgh, Robert 
Oliver and David Vance. On the 3d of March, 
the Senate confirmed their nomination, and the 
Territorial Government of Ohio* — or, more prop- 
erly, the Northwest — was complete. As this 
comprised the essential business of this body, it 
was prorogued by the Governor, and the Assembly 
directed to meet at the same place September 1 6, 
1799, and proceed to the enactment of laws for 
the Territory. 

That day, the Territorial Legislature met again 
at Cincinnati, but, for want of a quorum, did not 
organize until the 24th. The House consisted of 
nineteen members, seven of whom were from Ham- 
ilton County, four from Ross, three from Wayne, 
two from Adams, one from Jefferson, one from 
Washington and one from Knox. Assembling 
both branches of the Legislature, Gov. St. Clair 
addressed them, recommending such measures to 
their consideration as, in his judgment, were suited 
to the condition of the country. The Council 
then organized, electing Henry Vanderburgh, Presi- 
dent; William C. Schenck, Secretary; George 
Howard, Doorkeeper, and Abraham Carey, Ser- 
geant-at-arms. 

The House also organized, electing Edward Tif- 
fin, Speaker ; John Reilly, Clerk ; Joshua Row- 
land, Doorkeeper, and Abraham Carey, Sergeant- 
at-arms. 

This was the first legislature elected in the old 
Northwestern Territory. During its first session, 
it passed thirty bills, of which the Governor vetoed 
eleven. They also elected William Henry Harri- 
son, then Secretary of the Territory, delegate to 
Congress. The Legislature continued in session 
till December 19, having much to do in forming 
new laws, when they were prorogued by the Gov- 
ernor, until the first Monday in November, 1800. 
The second session was held in Chillicothe, which 
had been designated as the seat of government by 
Congress, until a permanent capital should be 
selected. 

May 7, 1800, Congress passed an act establish- 
ing Indiana Territory, including all the country 
west of the Great Miami River to the Mississippi, 
and appointed William Henry Harrison its Gov- 
ernor. At the autumn session of the Legislature 



* Ohio never existed as a Territory proper. It was known, both 
before and after the division of tlie Northwest Territory, as the 
"Territory northwest of the Ohio River." Still, as tlio country 
comprised in its limits was the principiil theater of action, the sliort 
resume given liere is made necessary in the logical course of events. 
Ohio, as Ohio, never existed until the creation of the State in 
March, 1803. 



of the eastern, or old part of the Territory, Will- 
iam McMillan was elected to the vacancy caused 
by this act. By the organization of this Territory, 
the counties of Knox, St. Clair and Randolph, 
were taken out of the jurisdiction of the old Ter- 
ritory, and with them the representatives, Henry 
Vandenburgh, Shadrach Bond, John Small and 
John Edgar. 

Before the time for the next Assembly came, a 
new election had occurred, and a few changes were 
the result. Robert Oliver, of Marietta, was cho- 
sen Speaker in the place of Henry Vanderburgh. 
There was considerable business at this session ; 
several new counties were to be erected ; the coun- 
try was rapidly filling with people, and where the 
scruples of the Governor could be overcome, some 
organization was made. He was very tenacious of 
his power, and arbitrary in his rulings, afiirming 
that he, alone, had the power to create new coun- 
ties. This dogmatic exercise of his veto power, 
his rights as ruler, and his defeat by the Indians, 
all tended against him, resulting in his displace- 
ment by the President. This was done, however, 
just at the time the Territory came from the second 
grade of government, and the State was created. 

The third session of the Territorial Legislature 
continued from November 24, 1801, to January 
23, 1802,- when it adjourned to meet in Cincin- 
nati, the fourth Monday in November, but 
owing to rea.sons made obvious by subsequent 
events, was never held, and the third session 
marks the decline of the Territorial government. 

April 30, 1802, Congress passed an act "to 
enable the people of the eastern division of the 
territory northwest of the Ohio River, to form a 
constitution and State government, and for the 
admission of such States into the Union on 
an equal footing with the original States, and for 
other purposes." In pursuance of this act, an 
election had been held in this part of the Territory, 
and members of a constitutional convention cho- 
sen, who were to meet at Chillicothe, November 
1, to perform the duty assigned them. 

The people throughout the country contemplat- 
ed in the new State were anxious for the adoption 
of a State government. The arbitrary acts of the 
Territorial Governor had heightened this feeling ; 
the census of the Territory gave it the lawful 
number of inhabitants, and nothing stood in its 
way. 

The convention met tlie day designated and 
proceeded at once to its duties. When the time 
arrived for the opening of the Fourth Territorial 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



123 



Legislature, the convention was in session and had 
evidently about completed its labors. The mem- 
bers of the Legislature (eight of whom were mem- 
bers of the convention) seeing that a speedy 
termination of the Territorial government was inev- 
itable, wisely concluded it was inexpedient and 
unnecessary to hold the proposed session. 

The convention concluded its labors the 29th of 
November. The Constitution adopted at that time, 
though rather crude in some of its details, was an 
excellent organic instrument, and remained almost 
entire until 1851, when the present one was 
adopted. Either is too long for insertion here, 
but either will well pay a perusal. The one adopted 
by the convention in 1802 was never submitted 
to the people, owing to the circumstances of the 
times ; but it was submitted to Congress February 
19, 1803, and by that body accepted, and an act 
passed admitting Ohio to the Union. 

The Territorial government ended March 3, 
1803, by the organization, that day, of the State 
government, which organization defined the pres- 
ent limits of the State. 

" We, the people of the Eastern Division of the Ter- 
ritory of the United States, Northwest of the River 
Ohio, having the right of admission into the General 
Government as a member of the Union, consistent with 
the Constitution of the United States, the Ordinance 
of Congress of one thousand seven hundred and eighty- 
seven, and of the law of Congi-ess, entitled ' An act to 
enable the people of the Eastern Division of the Terri- 
tory of the United States Northwest of the River Ohio, 
to form a Constitution and a State Government, and for 
the admission of such State into the Union on an equal 
footing with the original States, and for other purpo- 
ses ;' in order to establish justice, promote the well- 
fare and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves 
and our posterity, do ordain and establish the follow- 
ing Constitution or form of government; and do mu- 
tually agree with each other to form ourselves into a 
free and independent State, by the name of the State 
of Ohio."* — Preamble, Constitution of 1S02. 

When the convention forming the Constitution, 
completed its labors and presented the results to 
Congress, and that body passed the act forming 



* The name of the State is derived from the river forming its 
Biuthern lioundary. Its origin is somewhat obscure, liut is com- 
monly ascribed to the Indians. On tliis point, Col. Johnston says: 
"The Shawanoese called the Ohio River '/ii'i-fo-/n-ia, S'pe, i. c, 'Eagle 
River.' The Wyanilots were in the country generations before tlie 
ShawanoesB, and, consequently, their name of the river is the prim- 
itive one and should stand in preference to all others. Ohio may 
be called an im]irovemcnt on tlie expression, '0-he-ztih,' and was, no 
doubt, adopted by the early French voyagers in their boat-songs, 
and is substantially the same wort as used by the Wyandots: the 
meaning applied by the French, fair and beautiful ' la belle river,' 
being the same precisely as that meant by the Indians — 'great, 
grand and fair to look upon.' " — Howe's Calleclioiis. 

Webster's Dictionary gives the word as of Indian origin, and its 
meaning to be, " Beautiful." 



the State, the territory included therein was di- 
vided into nine counties, whose names and dates of 
erection were as follows: 

Washington, July 27, 1788; Hamilton, Janu- 
ary 2, 1790; (owing to the Indian war no other 
counties were erected till peace was restored); Ad- 
ams, July 10, 1797; JeflPerson, July 29, 1797; 
Ross, August 20, 1798; Clermont, Fairfield and 
Trumbull, December 9, 1800; Belmont, Septem- 
ber 7, 1801. These counties were the thickest- 
settled part of the State, yet many other localities 
needed organization and were clamoring for it, but 
owing to St. Clair's views, he refused to grant 
their requests. One of the first acts on the as- 
sembling of the State Legislature, March 1, 1803, 
was the creation of seven new counties, viz., Gal- 
lia, Scioto, Geauga, Butler, Warren, Greene and 
Montgomery. 

Section Sixth of the "Schedule" of the Consti- 
tution required an election for the various oflBcers 
and Representatives necessary under the new gov- 
ernment, to be held the second Tuesday of Janu- 
ary, 1803, these officers to take their seats and as- 
sume their duties March 3. The Second Article 
provided for the regular elections, to be held on 
the second Tuesday of October, in each year. The 
Governor elected at first was to hold his ofiSce 
until the first regular election could be held, and 
thereafter to continue in ofiice two years. 

The January elections placed Edward Tiffin in 
the Governor's office, sent Jeremiah Morrow to 
Congress, and chose an Assembly, who met on the 
day "designated, at Chillicothe. IMichael Baldwin 
was chosen Speaker of the House, and Nathaniel 
Massie, of the Senate. The Assembly appointed 
William Creighton, Jr., Secretary of State ; Col. 
Thomas Gibson, Auditor ; AVilliam McFarland, 
Treasurer; Return J. Meigs, Jr., Samuel Hun- 
tington and William Sprigg, Judges of the Su- 
preme Court ; Francis Dunlevy, Wyllys Silliman 
and Calvin Pease, President Judges of the First, 
Second and Third Districts, and Thomas Worth- 
ington and John Smith, United States Senators. 
Ciaarles Willing Byrd was made the United States 
District Judge. 

The act of Congress forming the State, con- 
tained certain requisitions regarding public schools, 
the " salt springs," public lands, taxation of Gov- 
ernment lands, Symmes' purchase, etc., which the 
constitutional convention agreed to with a few 
minor considerations. These Congress accepted, 
and passed the act in accordance thereto. The 
First General Assembly found abundance of work 



:^: 



'A 



124 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



to do regarding these various items, and, at once, 
set themselves to the task. Laws were passed re- 
garding all these ; new counties created ; officers 
appointed for the same, until they could be elected, 
and courts and machinery of government put in 
motion. President Judges antl lawyers traveled 
their circuits holding courts, often in the open air 
or in a log shanty ; a constable doing duty as 
guard over a jury, probably seated on a log under 
a tree, or in the bushes. The President Judge in- 
structed the officers of new counties in their duties, 
and though the whole keeping of matters accorded 
with the times, an honest teeling generally pre- 
vailed, inducing each one to perform his part as 
efiectually as his knowledge permitted. 

The State continually filled with people. New 
towns arose all over the country. Excepting the 
occasional sicknesses caused by the new climate and 
fresh soil, the general health of the people im- 
proved as time went on. They were fully in ac- 
cord with the President, Jefferson, and carefully 
nurtured those principles of personal liberty en- 
grafted in the fundamental law of 1787, and later, 
in the Constitution of the State. 

Little if any change occurred in the natural 
course of events, following the change of govern- 
ment until Burr's expedition and plan of secession 
in 1805 and 1806 appeared. What his plans 
were, have never been definitely ascertained. His 
action related more to the General Government, 
yet Ohio was called upon to aid in putting down 
his insurrection — for such it was thought to be — 
and defeated his purposes, whatever they were. 
His plans ended only in ignominious defeat; the 
breaking-up of one of the finest homes in the 
Western country, and the expulsion of himself and 
all those who were actively engaged in his scheme, 
whatever its imports were. 

Again, for a period of four or five years, no 
exciting events occurred. Settlements continued ; 
mills and factories increased ; towns and cities 
grew ; counties were created ; trade enlarged, and 
naught save the common course of events trans- 
pired to mark the course of time. Other States 
wore made from the old Northwest Territory, all 
pai-ts of which were rapidly being occupied by 
settlers. The danger from Indian hostilities was 
little, and the adventurous whites were rapidly 
occupying their country. One thing, however, 
was yet a continual source of annoyance to the 
Americans, viz., the British interference with the 
Indians. Their traders did not scruple, nor fail 
on every opportunity, to aid these sous of the 



forest with arms and ammunition as occasion 
offered, endeavoring to stir them up against the 
Americans, until events here and on the high seas 
culminated in a declaration of hostilities, and the 
war of 1812 was the result. The deluded red 
men found then, as they found in 1795, that they 
were made tools by a stronger power, and dropped 
when the time came that they were no longer 
needed. 

Before the opening of hostilities occurred, how- 
ever, a series of acts passed the General Assembly, 
causing considerable excitement. These were the 
fiimous "Sweeping Resolutions," passed in 1810. 
For a few years prior to their passage, considera- 
ble discontent prevailed among many of the legis- 
lators regarding the rulings of the courts, and by 
many of these embryo law-makers, the legislative 
power was considered omnipotent. They could 
change existing laws and contracts did they desire 
to, thought many of them, even if such acts con- 
flicted with the State and National Constitutions. 
The " Sweeping Resolutions " were brought about 
mainly by the action of the judges in declaring 
that justices of the peace could, in the collection 
of debts, hold jurisdiction in amounts not exceed- 
ing fifty dollars without the aid of a jury. The 
Constitution of the United States gave the jury 
control in all such cases where the amount did not 
exceed twenty dollars. There was a direct con- 
tradiction against the organic law of the land — to 
which every other law and act is subversive, and 
when the judges declared the legislative act uncon- 
stitutional and hence null and void, the Legisla- 
ture became suddenly inflamed at their independ- 
ence, and proceeded at once to punish the admin- 
istrators of justice. The legislature was one of 
the worst that ever controlled the State, and was 
composed of many men who were not only igno- 
rant of common law, the necessities of a State, and 
the dignity and true import of their office, but 
were demagogues in every respect. Having the 
power to impeach officers, that body at once did 
so, having enough to carry a two-thirds majority, 
and removed several judges. Further maturing 
their plans, the " Sweepers," as they were known, 
construed the law appointing certain judges and 
civil officers for seven years, to mean seven years 
from the organization of the State, whether they 
had been officers that length of time or not. All 
officers, whether of new or old counties, were con- 
strued as included in the act, and, utterly ignoring 
the Constitution, an act was passed in January, 
1810, removing every civil officer in the State. 



:v 



(2 i^ 



■ rf ^ y* 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



125 



February 10, they proceeded to fill all these va- 
cant oflBces, from State officers down to the lowest 
county office, either by appointment or by ordering 
an election in the manner prescribed by law. 

The Constitution provided that the office of 
judges should continue for seven years, evidently 
seven years from the time they were elected, and 
not from the date of the admission of the State, 
which latter construction this headlong Legisla- 
ture had construed as the meaning. Many of the 
counties had been organized but a year or two, 
others three or four years ; hence an indescribable 
confusion arose as soon as the new set of officers 
were appointed or elected. The new order of 
things could not be made to work, and finally, so 
utterly impossible did the injustice of the proceed- 
ings become, that it was dropped. The decisions 
of the courts were upheld, and the invidious doc- 
trine of supremacy in State legislation received 
such a check that it is not likely ever to be repeated. 

Another act of the Assembly, during this pe- 
riod, shows its construction. Congress had granted 
a township of land for the use of a university, and 
located the township in Symmes' purchase. This 
Assembly located the university on land outside 
of this purchase, ignoring the act of Congress, as 
they had done before, showing not only ignorance 
of the true scope of law, but a lack of respect un- 
becoming such bodies. 

The seat of government was also moved from 
Chillicothe to Zanesville, which vainly hoped to be 
made the permanent State capital, but the next 
session it was again taken to Chillicothe, and com- 
missioners appointed to locate a permanent capital 
site. 

These commissioners were James Findley, Jo- 
seph Darlington, Wyllys Silliman, Reason Beall, 
and William McFarland. It is stated that they 
reported at first in favor of Dublin, a small town 
on the Scioto about fourteen miles above Colum- 
bus. At the session of 1812-13, the Assembly 
accepted the proposals of Col. James Johnston, 
Alexander McLaughlin, John Kerr, and Lyne 
Starling, who owned the site of Columbus. The 
Assembly also decreed that the temporary seat of 
government should remain at Chillicothe until the 
buildings necessary for the State officers should be 



erected, when it would be taken there, forever to 
remain. This was done in 1816, in December of 
that year the first meeting of the Assembly being 
held there. 

The site selected for the capital was on the east 
bank of the Scioto, about a mile below its junction 
with the Olentangy. Wide streets were laid out, 
and preparations for a city made. The expecta- 
tions of the founders have been, in this respect, re- 
alized. The town was laid out in the spring of 1812, 
under the direction of Moses Wright. A short 
time after, the contract for making it the capital was 
signed. June 18, the same day war was declared 
against Great Britain, the sale of lots took place. 
Among the early settlers were George McCor- 
mick, George B. Harvey, John Shields, Michael 
Patton, Alexander Patton, William Altman, John 
Collett, William McElvain, Daniel Kooser, Peter 
Putnam, Jacob Hare, Christian Heyl, Jarvis, George 
and Benjamin Pike, William Long, and Dr. John 
M. Edminson. In 1814, a house of worship was 
built, a school opened, a newspaper — The Wtstern 
Intelligencer and Columbus Gazette, now the 
Ohio State Journal — was started, and the old 
State House erected. In 1816, the "Borough of 
Columbus " was incorporated, and a mail route once 
a week between Chillicothe and Columbus started. 
In 1819, the old United States Court House was 
erected, and the seat of justice removed from 
Franklinton to Columbus. Until 1826, times were 
exceedingly " slow " in the new capital, and but lit- 
tle growth experienced. The improvement period 
revived the capital, and enlivened its trade and 
growth so that in 1834, a city charter was granted. 
The city is now about third in size in the State, 
and contains many of the most prominent public 
institutions. The present capitol building, one of 
the best in the West, is patterned somewhat afler 
the national Capitol at Washington City. 

From the close of the agitation of the '• Sweeping 
Resolutions," until the opening of the war of 1812, 
but a short time elapsed. In fact, scarcely had 
one subsided, ere the other was upon the country. 
Though the war was national, its theater of opera- 
tions was partly in Ohio, that State taking an act- 
ive part in its operations. Indeed, its liberty 
depended on the war. 



■7" 



(2 k^ 



1±. 



126 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



LIST OF TERRITORIAL AND STATE GOVERNORS, 



From the organization of the first civil government in the Northwest Territory (17J 

Ohio was apart, until the year 1880. 



to 1802), of which the State of 



(a) Arthur St. Clair 

^Charles Willing Byrd 

(6) Edward Tiffin 

(c) f Thomas Kirker 

Samuel Huntington 

(d) Return Jonathan Meigs. 

■f Othniel Looker 

Thomas Worthington 

(e) Ethan Allen Brown , 

fAllen Trimble 

Jeremiah Morrow 

Allen Trimble 

Duncan McArthur 

Robert Lucas 

Joseph Vance 

W ilson Shannon 

Thomas Corwin 

(/) Wilson Shannon 

JThomas W. Bartley 

Mordecai Bartley 

William Bebb 

(g) Seabury Ford 

(h) Reuben Wood 

U)^ William Medill 

Salmon P. Chase 

William Dennison 

David Tod 

(k) John Brough 

^Charles Anderson 

Jacob D. Cox 

Rutherford B. Hayes 

Edward F. Noyes 

William Allen 

(/) Rutherford B. Hayes 

(m) Thomas L. Young 

Richard M. Bishop 

Charles Foster 



Hamilton 

Ross 

Adams 

Trumbull 

Washington .., 

Hamilton 

Ross 

Hamilton 

Highland 

Warren 

Highland 

Ross 

Pike 

Champaign .., 

Belmont , 

Warren 

Belmont 

Richland 

Richland 

Butler 

Geauga 

Cuyahoga 

Fairfield 

Hamilton 

Franklin 

Mahoning 

Cuyahoga , 

Montgomery. 

Trumbull 

Hamilton 

Hamilton 

Ross 

.Sandusky 

Hamilton 

Hamilton 

Sandusky 



Term 
Commenced. 



July 13 
Nov. 

March 3 
March 4 
Dec. 12 
Dec. 8 
April 14 
Dec. 8 



Dec. 
Jan. 
Dec. 
Dec. 
Dec. 
Dec. 
Dec. 
Dec. 
Dec. 
Dec, 



April 13 
Dec. 3 



Dec. 
Jan. 
Dec. 
July 
Jan. 
Jan. 
Jan. 
Jan. 



Aug. 30 
.Jan 9 



Jan. 
Jan. 
Jan. 
Jan. 



March 2 
Jan. 14 
Jan. 14 



1788 
1802 
1803 
1807 
1808 
1810 
1814 
1814 
1818 
1822 
1822 
1826 
1830 
1832 
1836 
1838 
1840 
1842 
1844 
1844 
1846 
1849 
1850 
1853 
1856 
1860 
1862 
1864 
1865 
1866 
1868 
1872 
1874 
1876 
1877 
1878 
1880 



Term Ended. 



Nov. 

March 3 
March 4 
Dec. 12 
Dec. 8 
March 25 
Dec. 8 



Dec. 
Jan. 
Dec. 
Dec. 
Dec. 
Dec. 
Dec. 
Dec. 
Dec. 
Dec. 



April 13 
Dec. 3 



Dec. 
Jan. 
Dec. 



July 15 
Jan. 14 



Jan. 

Jan. 

Jan. 

Aug. 

Jan. 

Jan. 

Jan. 

Jan. 

Jan. 

March 2 

Jan. 14 

Jan. 14 



1802 
1803 
1807 
1808 
1810 
1814 
1814 
1818 
1822 
1822 
1826 
1830 
1832 
1836 
1838 
1840 
1842 
1844 
1844 
1846 
1849 
1850 
1858 
1856 
1860 
1862 
1864 
1865 
1866 
1868 
1872 
1874 
1876 
1877 
1878 
1880 



(a) Arthur St. Clair, of Pennsylvania, was Governor of the North- 
west Territory, of which Ohio was a part, from July 13, 1788, when the 
first civil government WHS cstahlished in the Territory, until about 
the close of the year 1802, when he was removed by the President. 

♦Secretary of the Territory, and was acting Governor of the 
Territory after the removal of Gov. St. Clair. 

(6) RosigiK'd March 3, 18(l7, to accept the office of U. S. Senator. 

(c) Return .Jonathan Meigs was elected Governor on the second 
Tuesday of October, 18(i7, over Nathaniel Massie, who contested the 
election of Meigs, on the ground that "he had not been a resident of 
this Slate for four years ne.\t preceding the election, as required by 
the Constitution,"' and the General Assembly, in joint convention, 
declared that ho was not eligible. The office was not given to 
Massie, nor does it appear, from the records that he claimed it, but 
Thom;i8 Kirker, acting Governor, continued to discharge the duties 
of the office until December 12, 1808, when Samuel Huntington was 
inaugurated, he having been elected on the second Tuesday of 
October in that year 

(rf) Resigned March 2.5, 1814, to accept the oifice of Postmaster- 
General of the United States. 



(e) Resigned January 4, 1822. to accept the office of United 
States Senator. 

(/) Resigned April 13, 1844, to accept the office of Minister to 
Mexico. 

(gj The result of the election in 1818 was not finally determined in 
joint convention of the two houses of the General Assembly until 
•January 19,1849, and the inauguration did not take place until the 
22dof that month. 

(;*) Resigned July 15, 1853 to accept the office of Consul to Val- 
paraiso. 

(,;) Elected in October, 1853, for the regular term, to commence 
on tiie second Monday of January, 1854. 

(k) Died August 29, 1865. 

t Acting Governor. 

t Acting Governor, vice Wilson Shannon, resigned. 

'i Acting Governor, vice Reuben Wood, resigned. 

? Acting Governor, vice John Brough, deceased. 

(I) Resigned March 2, 1877, to accept the office of President of 
the United States. 

(m) Vice Rutherford B. Hayes, resigned. 



€ »^ 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



127 



CHAPTER XL 

THE WAR OF 1812— GROWTH OF THE STATE— CANAL, RAILROADS AND OTHER IMPROVEMENTS 

—DEVELOPMENT OF STATE RESOURCES. 



IN June, 1812, war was declared against Great 
Britain. Before this, an act was passed by Con- 
gress, authorizing the increase of the regular army 
to thirty-five thousand troops, and a large force of 
volunteers, to serve twelve months. Under this 
act, Return J. Meigs, then Governor of Ohio, in 
April and May, 1812, raised three regiments of 
troops to serve twelve months. They rendez- 
voused at Dayton, elected their officers, and pre- 
pared for the campaign. These regiments were 
numbered First, Second and Third. Duncan Mc- 
Arthur was Colonel of the First ; James Findlay, 
of the Second, and Lewis Cass, of the Third. 
Early in June these troops marched to Urbana, 
where they were joined by Boyd's Fourth Regiment 
of regular troops, under command of Col. Miller, 
who had been in the battle of Tippecanoe. Near 
the middle of June, this little army of about 
twenty-five hundred men, under command of Gov. 
William Hull, of Michigan, who had been author- 
ized by Congress to raise the troops, started on 
its northern march. By the end of June, the 
army had reached the Maumee, after a very severe 
march, erecting, on the way. Forts McArthur, Ne- 
cessity and Findlay. By some carelessness on the 
part of the American Government, no official word 
had been sent to the frontiers regarding the war, 
while the British had taken an early precaution to 
prepare for the crisis. Gov. Hull was very care- 
ful in military etiquette, and refused to march, or 
do any offensive acts, unless commanded by his 
superior officers at Washington. While at the 
Maumee, by a careless move, all his personal 
efi"ects, including all his plans, number and strength 
of his army, etc., fell into the hands of the enemy. 
His campaign ended only in ignominious defeat, 
and well-nigh paralyzed future efforts. All Mich- 
igan fell into the hands of the British. The com- 
mander, though a good man, lacked bravery and 
promptness. Had Gen. Harrison been in com- 
mand no such results would have been the case, 
and the war would have probably ended at the 
outset. 

Before Hull had surrendered, Charles Scott, 
Governor of Kentucky, invited Gen. Harrison. 



Governor of Indiana Territory, to visit Frankfort, 
to consult on the subject of defending the North- 
west. Gov. Harrison had visited Gov. Scott, and 
in August, 1812, accepted the appointment of 
Major General in the Kentucky militia, and, by 
hasty traveling, on the receipt of the news of the 
surrender of Detroit, reached Cincinnati on the 
morning of the 27th of that month. On the 30th 
he left Cincinnati, and the next day overtook the 
army he was to command, on its way to Dayton. 
After leaving Dayton, he was overtaken by an ex- 
press, informing him of his appointment by the 
Government as Commander-in-Chief of the armies 
of the Indiana and Illinois Territories. The army 
reached Piqua, September 3. From this place 
Harrison sent a body of troops to aid in the de- 
fense of Fort Wayne, threatened by the enemy. 
On the 6th he ordered all the troops forward, and 
while on the march, on September 17, he was 
informed of his appointment as commander of the 
entire Northwestern troops. He found the army 
poorly clothed for a winter campaign, now ap- 
proaching, and at once issued a stirring address to 
the people,' asking for food and comfortable cloth- 
ing. The address was not in vain. After his 
appointment, Gen. Harrison pushed on to Au- 
glaize, where, leaving the army under command of 
Gen. Winchester, he returned to the interior'of the 
State, and establishing his headquarters at Frank- 
linton, began active measures for the campaign. 

Early in March, 1812, Col. John Miller raised, 
under orders, a regiment of infmtry in Ohio, and 
in July assembled his enlisted men at Chillicothe, 
where, placing them — only one hundred and forty 
in number — under command of Captain Angus 
Lewis, he sent them on to the frontier. They erect- 
ed a block-house at Piqua and then went on to 
Defiance, to the main body of the army. 

In July, 1812, Gen. Edward W. 'Tupper, of 
Gallia County, raised one thousand men for six 
months' duty. Under orders from Gen. Winches- 
ter, they marched through Chillicothe and Urbana, 
on to the Maumee, where, near the lower end of 
the rapids, they made an ineffectual attempt to 
drive off the enemy. Failing in this, the enemy 



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128 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



attacked Tupper and his troops, who, though worn 
down with the march and not a Uttle disorganized 
through the jealousies of the officers, withstood 
the attack, and repulsed the British and their red 
allies, who returned to Detroit, and the Americans 
to Fort McArthur. 

In the fall of 1812, Gen. Harrison ordered a 
detachment of six hundred men, mostly mounted, 
to destroy the Indian towns on the Missisinewa}' 
River, one of the head-waters of the Wabash. 
The winter set in early and with unusual severity. 
At the same time this expedition was carried on, 
Bonaparte was retreating from Moscow. The expe- 
dition accomplished its design, though the troops 
suffered greatly fi-om the cold, no less than two 
hundred men being more or less frost bitten. 

Gen. Harrison determined at once to retake 
Michigan and establish a line of defense along the 
southern shores of the lakes. Winchester was 
sent to occupy Forts Wayne and Defiance; Perkins' 
brigade to Lower Sandusky, to fortify an old 
stockade, and some Pennsylvania troops and artil- 
lery sent there at the same time. As soon as 
Gen. Harrison heard the results of the Missis- 
ineway expedition, he went to Chillicothe to con- 
sult with Gov. Meigs about further movements, 
and the best methods to keep the way between the 
Upper Miami and the Maumee continually open. 
He also sent Gen. Winchester word to move for- 
ward to the rapids of the Maumee and prepare for 
winter quarters. This Winchester did by the 
middle of January, 1813, establishing himself on 
the northern bank of the river, just above Wayne's 
old battle-ground. He was well fixed here, and 
was enabled to give his troops good bread, made from 
corn gathered in Indian corn-fields in this vicinity. 

While here, the inhabitants of Frenchtown, on 
the llaisin River, about twenty miles from Detroit, 
sent Winchester word claiming protection from the 
threatened British and Indian invasion, avowing 
themselves in sympathy with the Americans. A 
council of war decided in favor of their request, 
and Col. Lewis, with 550 men, sent to their relief 
Soon after. Col. Allen was sent with more troops, 
and the enemy easily driven away from about 
Frenchtown. Word was sent to Gen. Winchester, 
who determined to march with all the men he 
could spare to aid in holding the post gained. He 
left, the 19th of January, with 250 men, and ar- 
rived on the evening of the 20th. Failing to 
take the necessary precaution, from some unex- 
plained reason, the enemy came up in the night, 
established his batteries, and, the next day, sur- 



prised and defeated the American Army with a 
terrible loss. Gen. Winchester was made a pris- 
oner, and, finally, those who were intrenched in 
the town surrendered, under promise of Proctor, 
the British commander, of protection from the 
Indians. This promise was grossly violated the 
next day. The savages were allowed to enter the 
town and enact a massacre as cruel and bloody as 
any in the annals of the war, to the everlasting 
ignominy of the British General and his troops. 

Those of the American Army that escaped, ar- 
rived at the rapids on the evening of the 22d of 
January, and soon the sorrowful news spread 
throughout the army and nation. Gen. Harrison 
set about retrieving the disaster at once. Delay 
could do no good. A fort was built at the rapids, 
named Fort Meigs, and troops from the south and 
west hurriedly advanced to the scene of action. 
The investment and capture of Detroit was aban- 
doned, that winter, owing to the defeat at French- 
town, and expiration of the terms of service of 
many of the troops. Others took their places, 
all parts of Ohio and bordering States sending 
men. 

The erection of Fort Meigs was an obstacle in 
the path of the British they determined to remove, 
and, on the 28th of February, 1813, a large band 
of British and Indians, under command of Proc- 
tor, Tecumseh, Walk-in-the-water, and other In- 
dian chiefs, appeared in the Maumee in boats, and 
prepared for the attack. Without entering into 
details regarding the investment of the fort, it is 
only necessary to add, that after a prolonged siege, 
lasting to the early part of May, the British were 
obliged to abandon the fort, having been severely 
defeated, and sailed for the Canadian shores. 

Next followed the attacks on Fort Stephenson, 
at Lower Sandusky, and other predatory excur- 
sions, by the British. All of these fiiled of their 
design; the defense of Maj. Croghan and his men 
constituting one of the most brilliant actions of the 
war. For the gallant defense of Fort Stephenson by 
Maj. Croghan, then a young man, the army merited 
the highest honors. The ladies of Chillicothe voted 
the heroic Major a fine sword, while the whole 
land rejoiced at the exploits of him and his band. 

The decisive efforts of the army, the great num- 
bers of men offered — many of whom Gen. Harrison 
was obliged to send home, much to their disgust — 
Perry's victory on Lake Erie, September 10, 
1813 — all presaged the triumph of the American 
arms, soon to ensue. As soon as the battle on 
the lake was over, the British at Maiden burned 



HISTORY or OHIO. 



129 



their stores, and fled, while the Americans, under 
their gallant commander, followed them in Perry's 
vessel to the Canada shore, overtaking them on 
the River Thames, October 5. In the battle that 
ensued, Tecumseh was slain, and the British Army 
routed. 

The war was now practically closed in the West. 
Ohio troops had done nobly in defending their 
northern frontier, and in regaining the Northwest- 
ern country. Gen. Harrison was soon after elected 
to Congress by the Cincinnati district, and Gen. 
Duncan McArthur was appointed a Brigadier 
General in the regular army, and assigned to the 
command in his place. Gen. McArthur made an 
expedition into Upper Canada in the spring of 
1814, destroying considerable property, and driv- 
ing the British farther into their own dominions. 
I'eace was declared early in 1815, and that spring, 
the troops were mustered out of service at Chilli- 
cothe, and peace with England reigned supreme. 

The results of the war in Ohio were, for awhile, 
similar to the Indian war of 1795. It brought 
many people into the State, and opened new por- 
tions, before unknown. Many of the soldiers im- 
mediately invested their money in lands, and became 
citizens. The war drove many people from the 
Atlantic Coast west, and as a result much money, 
for awhile, circulated. Labor and provisions rose, 
which enabled both workmen and tradesmen to 
enter tracts of land, and aided emigration. At the 
conclusion of Wayne's war in 1795, probably 
not more than five thousand people dwelt in the 
limits of the State ; at the close of the war of 1812, 
that number was largely increased, even with the 
odds of war against them. After the last war, the 
emigration was constant and gradual, building up 
the State in a manner that betokened a healthful 
life. 

As soon as the effects of the war had worn off, 
a period of depression set in, as a result of too 
free speculation indulged in at its close. Gradu- 
ally a stagnation of business ensued, and many 
who found themselves unable to meet contracts 
made in " flush " times, found no alternative but 
to fail. To relieve the pressure in all parts of 
the West, Congress, about 1815, reduced the 
price of public lands from $2 to $1.25 
per acre. This measure worked no little 
liardship on those who owned large tracts of 
lands, for portions of which they had not fully 
paid, and as a consequence, these lands, as well 
as all others of this class, reverted to the 
Government. The general market was in New 



Orleans, whither goods were transported in flat- 
boats built especially for this pupose. This com- 
rflterce, though small and poorly repaid, was the 
main avenue of trade, and did much for the slow 
prosperity prevalent. The few banks in the State 
found their bills at a discount abroad, and gradu- 
ally becoming drained of their specie, either closed 
business or failed, the major part of them adopt- 
ing the latter course. 

The steamboat began to be an important factor 
in the river navigation of the West about this 
period. The first boat to descend the Ohio was 
the Orleans, built at Pittsburg in 1812, and in 
December of that year, while the fortunes of war 
hung'over the Jand, she made her first trip from the 
Iron City to New Orleans, being just twelve days 
on the way. The second, built by Samuel Smith, 
was called the Comet, and made a trip as far 
south as Louisville, in the summer of 1813. The 
third, the Vesuvius, was built by Fulton, and went 
to New Orleans in 1814. The fourth, built by 
Daniel French at Brownsville, Penn., made two 
trips to Louisville in the summer of 1814. The 
next vessel, the JEtna, was built by Fulton & 
Company in 1815. So fiist did the business 
increase, that, four years after, more than 
forty steamers floated on the Western waters. 
Improvements in machinery kept pace with the 
building, until, in 1838, a competent writer stated 
there were no less than four hundred steamers in 
the West. Since then, the erection of railways 
has greatly retarded ship-building, and it is alto- 
gether probable the number has increased but 
little. 

The question of canals began to agitate the 
Western country during the decade succeeding the 
war. They had been and were being constructed 
in older countries, and presaged good and prosper- 
ous times. If only the waters of the lakes and 
the Ohio Biver could be united by a canal run- 
ning through the midst of the State, thought the 
people, prosperous cities and towns would arise on 
its banks, and commerce flow through the land. 
One of the firmest fiiends of such improvements 
was De Witt Clinton, who had been the chief man 
in forwarding the " Clinton Canal," in New York. 
He was among the first to advocate the feasibility 
of a canal connecting Lake Erie and the Ohio 
River, and, by the success of the New York canals, 
did much to bring it about. Popular writers of the 
day all urged the scheme, so that when the Assem- 
bly met, early in December, 1821, the resolution, 
offered by Micajah T. Williams, of Cincinnati, 



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130 



HISTOKY OF OHIO. 



for the appointment of a committee of five mem- 
bers to take into consideration so much of the 
Governor's message as related to canals, and see if 
some feasible plan could not be adopted whereby a 
beginning could be made, was quickly adopted. 

The report of the committee, advising a survey 
and examination of routes, met with the approval 
of the Assembly, and commissioners were ap- 
pointed who were to employ an engineer, examine 
the country and report on the practicability of a 
canal between the lakes and the river. The com- 
missioners employed James Geddes, of Onondaga 
County, N. Y., as an engineer. He arrived in 
Columbus in June, 1822, and, before eight months, 
the corps of engineers, under his direction, had 
examined one route. During the next two sum- 
mers, the examinations continued. A number of 
routes were examined and surveyed, and one, from 
Cleveland on the lake, to Portsmouth on the Ohio, 
was recommended. Another canal, from Cincin- 
nati to Dayton, on the Miami, was determined on, 
and preparations to commence work made. A 
Board of Canal Fund Commissioners was created, 
money was borrowed, and the morning of July 
4, 1825, the first shovelful of earth was dug near 
Newark, with imposing ceremonies, in the presence 
of De Witt Clinton, Governor of New York, and 
a mighty concourse of people assembled to witness 
the auspicious event. 

Gov. Clinton was escorted all over the State to 
aid in developing the energy everywhere apparent. 
The events were important ones in the history of 
the State, and, though they led to the creation of 
a vast debt, yet, in the end, the canals were a 
benefit. 

The main canal — the Ohio and Erie Canal — 
was not completed till 1832. The Maumee Canal, 
from Dayton to Cincinnati, was finished in 1834. 
They cost the State about ^G,000,000. Each of 
the main canals had branches leading to important 
towns, where their construction could be made 
without too much expense. The Miami and Mau- 
mee Canal, from Cincinnati northward along the 
Miami River to Piqua, thence to the Maumee 
and on to the lake, was the largest canal made, 
and, for many years, was one of the most important 
in the State. It joined the Wabash Canal on the 
ea.stern boundary of Indiana, and thereby saved 
the construction of many miles by joining this 
great canal from Toledo to Evansville. 

The largest artificial lake in the world, it is said, 
was built to supply water to the Miami Canal. It 
exists yet, though the canal is not much used. It 



is in the eastern part of Mercer County, and is 
about nine miles long by from two to four wide. 
It was formed by raising two walls of earth from 
ten to thirty feet high, called respectively the east 
and west embankments ; the first of which is about 
two miles in length ; the second, about four. These 
walls, with the elevation of the ground to the 
north and south, formed a huge basin, to retain 
the water. The reservoir was commenced in 1837, 
and finished in 1845, at an expense of several 
hundred thousand dollars. When first built, dur- 
ing the accumulation of water, much malarial 
disease prevailed in the surrounding country, owing 
to the stagnant condition of the water. The citi- 
zens, enraged at what they considered an innova- 
tion of their rights, met, and, during a dark night, 
tore out a portion of the lower wall, letting the 
water flow out. The damage cost thousands of 
dollars to repair. All who participated in the 
proceedings were liable to a severe imprisonment, 
but the state of feeling was such, in Mercer County, 
where the oifense was committed, that no jury 
could be found that would try them, and the aff'air 
gradually died out. 

The canals, so efiicacious in their day, were, 
however, superseded by the railroads rapidly find- 
ing their way into the West. From England, 
where they were early used in the collieries, the 
transition to America was easy. 

The first railroad in the United States was built 
in the summer of 1826, from the granite quarry 
belonging to the Bunker Hill Monument Associa- 
tion to the wharf landing, three miles distant. The 
road was a slight decline from the quarry to 
the wharf, hence the loaded cars were pro- 
pelled by their own gravity. On their return, 
when empty, they were drawn up by a single 
horse. Other roads, or tramways, quickly followed 
this. They were built at the Pennsylvania coal 
mines, in South Carolina, at New Orleans, and at 
Baltimore. Steam motive power was used in 1831 
or 1832, first in America on the Baltimore & Ohio 
Railroad, and in Charlestown, on a railroad there. 

To transfer these highways to the West was the 
question of but a few years' time. The prairies of 
Illinois and Indiana offered superior inducements 
to such enterprises, and, early in 1835, they began 
to be agitated there. In 1838, the first rail was 
laid in Illinois, at Meredosia, a little town on the 
Illinois River, on what is now the Wabash Railway. 

"The first railroad made in Ohio," writes Caleb 
Atwater, in his "History of Ohio," in 1838, "was 
finished in 1 836 by the people of Toledo, a town 



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liL 



HISTOKY OF OHIO. 



131 



some two years old then, situated near the mouth 
of Maumee River. The road extends westward in- 
to Michigan and is some thirty miles in length. 
There is a road about to be made from Cincinnati 
to Springfield. This road follows the Ohio River 
up to the Little Miami River, and there turns 
northwardly up its valley to Xenia, and, passing 
the Yellow Springs, reaches Springfield. Its length 
must be about ninety miles. The State will own 
one-half of the road, individuals and the city of 
Cincinnati the other half This road will, no 
doubt, be extended to Lake Erie, at Sandusky 
City, within a few short years." 

"There is a railroad," continues Mr. Atwater, 
" about to be made from Painesville to the Ohio 
River. There are many charters for other roads, 
which will never be made." 

Mr. Atwater notes also, the various turnpikes as 
well as the famous National road from Baltimore 
westward, then completed only to the mountains. 
This latter did as much as any enterprise ever en- 
acted in building up and populating the West. 
It gave a national thoroughfare, which, for many 
years, was the principal wagon-way from the At- 
lantic to the Mississippi Valley. 

The railroad to which Mr. Atwater refers as 
about to be built from Cincinnati to Springfield, 
was what was known as the Mad River Railroad. 
It is commonly conceded to be the first one built 
in Ohio.* Its history shows that it was chartered 
March 11, 183(), that work began in 1837; that 
it. was completed and opened for business from 
Cincinnati to Milford, in December, 1842; to Xe- 
nia, in August, 1845, and to Springfield, in Au- 
gust, 1846. It was laid with strap rails until 
about 1848, when the present form of rail was 
adopted. 

One of the earliest roads in Ohio was what was 
known as the Sandusky, Mansfield & Newark Rail- 
road. It was chartered at first as the Monroeville 
& Sandusky City Railroad, March 9, 1835. March 
12, 1836, the Mansfield & New Haven road was 
chartered; the Columbus & Lake Erie, March 12, 

1845, and the Huron & Oxford, February 27, 

1846. At first it ran only from Sandusky to 
Monroeville, then from Mansfield to Huron. These 



* Hon. E D. Mansfield staies, in 1873, that the " first actual piece 
of railroad laid in Ohio, was made on the Cincinnati & Sandusky 
Railroad; but, about the same time we have the Little Miami Rail- 
road, which was surveyed in 1836 and 1837. If this, the generally 
accepted opinion, is correct, then Mr. Atwater's statement as given, 
is wrong. His history is, however, generally conceded to be correct. 
Written in 1838, he surely ought to know whereof he was writing, 
as the railroads were then only in construction ; but few, if any, 
in operation. 



two were connected and consolidated, and then ex- 
tended to Newark, and finally, by connections, to 
Columbus. 

It is unnecessary to follow closely the history of 
these improvements through the years succeeding 
their introduction. At first the State owned a 
share in nearly all railroads and canals, but finally 
finding itself in debt about $15,000,000 for such 
improvements, and learning by its own and ^ neigh- 
bors' experiences, that such policy was detrimental 
to the best interests of the people, abandoned the 
plan, and allowed private parties entire control of 
all such works. x\fter the close of the ^Mexican 
war, and the return to solid values in 1 854 or there- 
abouts, the increase of railroads in all parts of Ohio, 
as well as all parts of the West, was simply marvel- 
ous. At this date there are more than ten thou- 
sand miles of railroads in Ohio, alongside of which 
stretch innumerable lines of telegraph, a system of 
swift messages invented by Prof IMorse, and adopted 
in the United States about 1851. 

About the time railroad building began to as- 
sume a tangible shape, in 1840, occurred the cele- 
brated political campaign known in history as the 
" Hard Cider Campaign." The gradual encroach- 
ments of the slave power in the West, its arrogant 
attitude in the Congress of the United States and 
in several State legislatures : its forcible seizure of 
slaves in the free States, and the enactment and 
attempted enforcement of the '■ fugitive slave" law 
all tended to awaken in the minds of the Northern 
people an antagonism, terminating only in the late 
war and the abolishment of that hideous system in 
the United States. 

The "Whig Party" strenuously urged the 
abridgment or confinement of slavery in the 
Southern States, and in the contest the party took 
a most active part, and elected William Henry 
Harrison President of the United States. As he 
had been one of the foremost leaders in the war of 
1812, a resident of Ohio, and one of its most pop- 
ular citizens, a log cabin and a barrel of cider were 
adopted as his exponents of popular opinion, as 
expressive of the rule of the common people repre- 
sented in the cabin and cider, in turn representing 
their primitive and simple habits of life. He 
Uved but thirty days after his inauguration, dying 
on the 9th of April, 1841, when John Tyler, the 
Vice President, succeeded him as Chief Executive 
of the nation. 

The building of railroads; the extension of com- 
merce ; the settlement of all parts of the State ; 
its srrowth in commerce, education, religion and 



132 



HISTOEY OF OHIO. 



population, are the thief events from 1841 to the 
iMexican war. Hard times occurred about as often 
as they do now, preceded by " flush " times, wlien 
speculation ran rife, the people all infatuated with 



an insane idea that something could be had for 
nothing. The bubble burst as often a.s inflated, 
ruining many people, but seemingly teaching few 
lessons. 



CHAPTER XII. 

MEXICAN WAR— CONTINUED GROWTH OF THE STATE— WAR OF THE REBELLION— OHIO'S 

PART IN THE CONFLICT. 



THE Mexican War grew out of the question of 
the annexation of Texas, then a province of 
Mexico, whose territory extended to the Indian 
Territory on the north, and on up to the Oregon 
Territory on the Pacific Coast. Texas had been 
settled largely by Americans, who saw the condi- 
tion of affairs that would inevitably ensue did the 
country remain under Mexican rule. They first 
took steps to secede from Mexico, and then asked 
the aid of America to sustain them, and annex the 
country to itself. 

The Whig party and many others opposed this, 
chiefly on the grounds of the extension of slave 
territory. But to no avail. The war came on, 
Mexico was conquered, the war lasting from April 
20, 18-46, to May 30, 1848. Fifty thousand vol- 
unteers were called for the war by the Congress, 
and SI 0,000,000 placed at the disposal of the 
President, James K. Polk, to sustain the army and 
prosecute the war. 

The part that Ohio took in the war may be 
briefly summed up as follows: She had five vol- 
unteer regiments, five companies in the Fifteenth 
Infantry, and several independent companies, with 
her full proportion among the regulars. When 
war was declared, it was something of a crusade to 
many ; full of romance to others ; hence, many 
more were ofl'ered than could be received. It was 
a campaign of romance to some, yet one of reality, 
ending in death, to many. 

When the first call for troops came, the First, 
Second and Third Regiments of infantry responded 
at once. Alexander Mitchell was made Colonel of 
the Fir-st; John B. Wellerits Lieutenant Colonel ; 
and L. Ilamer Giddings, of Dayton, its Major. 
Thomas Hanna, one of the ablest lawyers in Ohio, 
started with the First as its Major, but, before the 
regiment left the State, he was made a Brigadier 
General of Volunteers, and, at the battle of Mon- 
terey, distinguished himself; and there contracted 



disease and laid down his life. The regiment's 
Colonel, who had been wounded at Monterey, came 
home, removed to Minnesota, and there died. 
Lieut. Col. Weller went to California after the 
close of the war. He was United States Senator 
from that State in the halls of Congress, and, at 
last, died at New Orleans. 

The Second Regiment was commanded by Col. 
George W. Morgan, now of Mount Vernon ; Lieut. 
Col. William Irwin, of Lancaster, and Maj. Will- 
iam Wall. After the war closed, Irwin settled in 
Texas, and remained there till he died. Wall lived 
out his days in Ohio. The regiment was never in 
active field service, but was a credit to the State. 

The oflicers of the Thii'd Regiment were, Col. 
Samuel R. Curtis; Lieut. Col. G. W. McCook and 
Maj. John Love. The first two are now dead ; 
the Major lives in McConnellsville. 

At the close of the first year of the war, these 
regiments (First, Second and Third ) were mustered 
out of service, as their term of enlistment nad 
expired. 

When the second year of the war began, the 
call for more troops on the part of the Government 
induced the Second Ohio Infantry to re-organize, 
and again enter the service. William Irwin, of the 
former organization, was chosen Colonel; William 
Latham, of Columbus, Lieutenant Colonel, and 
William H. Link, of Circleville, Major. Nearly 
all of them are now dead. 

The regular army was increased by eight Ohio 
companies of infantry, the Third Dragoons, and 
the Voltigeurs — light-armed soldiers. In the Fif- 
teenth Regiment of the llnited States Army, there 
were five Ohio companies. The others were three 
from Michigan, and two fntm Wisconsin. Col. 
^Morgan, of the old Second, was made Colonel of 
'the Fifteenth, and John Howard, of Detroit, an 
old artillery officer in the regular army. Lieutenant 
Colonel. Samuel Wood, a captain in the Sixth 



sJ 

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"V 



HISTOHY OF OHIO. 



133 



United States Infantry, was made Major ; but was 

afterward succeeded by Mill, of Vermont. 

The Fifteenth was in a number of skirmishes at first, 
and later in the battles of Contreras, Cherubusco 
and Chapultepec. At the battle of Cherubusco, 
the Colonel was severely wounded, and Maj. Mill, 
with several officers, and a large number of men, 
killed. For gallant service at Contreras, Col. Mor- 
gan, though only twenty-seven years old, was made 
a Brevet Brigadier General in the United States 
Army. Since the war he has delivered a number 
of addresses in Ohio, on the campaigns in Mex- 
ico. 

The survivors of the war are now few. Though 
seventy-five thousand men from the United States 
went into that conflict, less than ten thousand now 
survive. They are now veterans, and as such de- 
light to recount their reminiscences on the fields of 
Mexico. They are all in the decline of life, and 
ere a generation passes away, few, if any, will be 
left. 

After the war, the continual growth of Ohio, 
the change in all its relations, necessitated a new 
organic law. The Constitution of 1852 was the 
result. It re-affirmed the political principles of 
the "ordinance of 1787 " and the Constitution of 
1802, and made a few changes necessitated by the 
advance made in the interim. It created the 
office of Lieutenant Governor, fixing the term of 
service at two years. This Constitution yet stands 
notwithstanding the prolonged attempt in 1873-74 
to create a new one. It is now the organic law of 
Ohio. 

From this time on to the opening of the late war, 
the prosperity of the State received no check. 
Towns and cities grew ; railroads multiplied ; com- 
merce was extended ; the vacant lands were rapidly 
filled by settlers, and everything tending to the 
advancement of the people was well prosecuted. 
Banks, after much tribulation, had become in a 
measure somewhat secure, their only and serious 
drawback being their isolation or the confinement 
of their circulation to their immediate localities. 
But signs of a mighty contest were appai'eut. A 
contest almost without a parallel in the annals of 
history ; a contest between freedom and slavery ; 
between wrong and right ; a contest that could 
only end in defeat to the wrong. The Republican 
party came into existence at the close of President 
Pierce's term, in 1855. Its object then was, prin- 
cipally, the restriction of the slave power ; ultimately 
its extinction. One of the chief exponents and sup- 
porters of this growing party in Ohio, was Salmon P. 



Cha.se ; one who never faltered nor lost fiiith ; and 
who was at the helm of State; in the halls of Con- 
gress; chief of one the most important bureaus of 
the Government, and, finally, Chief Justice of the 
United States. When war came, after the election 
of Abraham Lincoln by the Republican party, Ohio 
was one of the first to answer to the call for troops. 
Mr. Chase, while Governor, had re-organized the 
militia on a sensible basis, and rescued it from the 
ignominy into which it had fallen. When Mr. 
Lincoln asked for seventy-five thousand men, 
Ohio's quota was thirteen regiments. The various 
chaotic regiments and militia troops in the State 
did not exceed 1,500 men. The call was issued 
April 15, 1861 ; by the 18th, two regiments were 
organized in Columbus, whither these companies 
had gathered; before sunrise of the 19th the first 
and second regiments were on their way to Wash- 
ington City. The President had only asked for 
thirteen regiments; thirty were gathering; the 
Government, not yet fully comprehending the 
nature of the rebellion, refused the surplus troops, 
but Gov. Dennison was authorized to put ten 
additional regiments in the field, as a defensive 
measure, and was also authorized to act on the 
defensive as well as on the offensive. The immense 
extent of southern border made this necessary, 
as all the loyal people in West Virginia and Ken- 
tucky asked for help. 

In the limits of this history, it is impossible to 
trace all the steps Ohio took in the war. One of 
her most talented sons, now at the head of one of 
the greatest newspapers of the world, says, regard- 
ing the action of the people and their Legislature : 

" In one part of the nation there existed a grad- 
ual growth of sentiment against the Union, ending 
in open hostility against its integrity and its Con- 
stitutional law ; on the other side stood a resolute, 
and determined people, though divided in minor 
matters, firmly united on the question of national 
supremacy. The people of Ohio stood squarely 
on this side. Before this her people had been di- 
vided up to the hour when — 

"'That fierce and sudden flash across the rugged black- 
ness broke, 

And, with a voice that shook the land, the guns of Sum- 
ter spoke; 

And whcreso'er the summons came, there rose the 

angry din, 
As -when, upon a rocky coast, a stormy tide sets in.' 

" All waverings then ceased among the people 
and in the OhioLedslature. The Union must be 



^ 



134 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



preserved. The white heat of patriotism and fe- 
alty to the flag that had been victorious in three 
wars, and had never met but temporary defeat 
then meked all parties, and dissolved all hesitation, 
and, April 18, 18GI, by a unanimous vote of 
ninety-nine Representatives in its favor, there was 
passed a bill appropriating $500,000 to carry into 
effect the requisition of the President, to protect 
the National Government, of which sum $450,000 
were to purchase arms and equipments for the 
troops required by that requisition as the quota of 
Ohio, and $50,000 as an extraordinary contingent 
fund for the Grovernor. The commissioners of the 
State Sinking Fund were authorized, by the same 
bill, to borrow this money, on the G per cent bonds 
of the State, and to issue for the same certificates, 
freeing such bonds from taxation. Then followed 
other such legislation that declared the property of 
volunteers free from execution for debt during 
their term of service; that declared any resident 
of the State, who gave aid and comfort to the 
enemies of the Union, guilty of treason against 
the State, to be punished by imprisonment at hard 
labor for life; and, as it had become already evi- 
dent that thousands of militia, beyond Ohio's 
quota of the President's call, would volunteer, the 
Legislature, adopting the sagacious suggestion of 
Gov. Dennison, resolved that all excess of volunteers 
should be retained and paid for service, under 
direction of the Governor. Thereupon a bill 
was passed, authorizing the acceptance of volunteers 
to form ten regiments, and providing $500,000 
for their arms and equipments, and $1,500,000 
more to be disbursed for troops in case of an in- 
vasion of the State. Then other legislation was 
enacted, looking to and providing against the ship- 
ment from or through the State of arms or mu- 
nitions of war, to States either assuming to be 
neutral or in open rebellion; organizing the whole 
body of the State militia; providing suitable offi- 
cers for duty on the staff of the Governor ; re- 
quiring contracts for subsistence of volunteers to 
be let to the lowest bidder, and authorizing the 
appointment of additional general officers. 

" Before the adjournment of that Legislature, 
the Speaker of the House had resigned to take 
command of one of the regiments then about to 
start for Washington City ; two leading Senators 
had been appointed Brigadier Generals, and many, 
in fact nearly all, of the other members of both 
hou.ses had, in one capacity or another, entered the 
military service. It was the first war legislature 
ever elected in Ohio, and, under sudden pressure. 



nobly met the first shock, and enacted the first 
measures of law for war. Laboring under difficul- 
ties inseparable from a condition so unexpected, 
and in the performance of duties so novel, it may 
be historically stated that f>r patriotism, zeal and 
ability, the Ohio Legislature of 1861 was the 
equal of any of its successors ; while in that exu- 
berance of patriotism which obliterated party lines 
and united all in a common effort to meet the 
threatened integrity of the United States as a 
nation, it surpassed them both. 

" The war was fought, the slave power forever 
destroyed, and under additional amendments to her 
organic law, the Lhiited States wiped the stain of 
human slavery from her escutcheon, liberating over 
four million human beings, nineteen-twentieths of 
whom were native-born residents. 

" When Lee surrendered at Appomattox Court 
House, Ohio had two hundred regiments of all 
arms in the National service. In the course of 
the war, she had furnished two hundred and thirty 
regiments, besides twenty-six independent batteries 
of artillery, five independent companies of cavalry, 
several companies of sharpshooters, large parts of 
five regiments credited to the West Virginia con- 
tingent, two regiments credited to the Kentucky 
contingent, two transferred to the United States 
colored troops, and a large proportion of the rank 
and file of the Fifty-fourth and Sixty-fifth Massa- 
chusetts Regiments, also colored men. Of these or- 
ganizations, twenty-three were infantry regiments 
furnished on the first call of the President, an ex- 
cess of nearly one-half over the State's quota ; one 
hundred and ninety-one were infantry regiments, 
furnished on subsequent calls of the President^ — 
one hundred and seventeen for three years, twenty- 
seven for one year, two for six months, two for 
three months, and forty-two for one hundred days. 
Thirteen were cavalry, and three artillery for three 
years. Of these three-years troops, over twenty 
thousand re-enlisted, as veterans, at the end of 
their long term of service, to fight till the war 
would end." 

As original members of these organizations, Ohio 
furnished to the National service the magnificent 
army of 310,05-4 actual soldiers, omitting from 
the above number all those who paid commuta- 
tion money, veteran enlistments, and citizens who 
enlisted as soldiers or sailors in other States. The 
count is made from the reports of the Provost 
Marshal General to the War Department. Penn- 
sylvania gave not quite 28,000 more, while Illinois 
fell 48,000 behind; Indiana, 116,000 less; 



3?: 







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^^uhU-aJ^y yScLo~7^ 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



137 



Kentucky, 235,000, and Massachusetts, 164,000. 
Thus Ohio more than maintained, in the National 
army, the rank among her sisters which her popu- 
lation supported. Ohio furnished more troops than 
the President ever required of her ; and at the 
end of the war, with more than a thousand men in 
the camp of the State who were never mustered 
into the service, she still had a credit on the rolls 
of the War Department for 4,332 soldiers, beyond 
the aggregate of all quotas ever assigned to her ; 
and, besides all these, '6,479 citizens had, in lieu of 
personal service, paid the commutation ; while In- 
diana, Kentucky, Pennsylvania and New York 
were all from five to one hundred thousand behind 
their quotas. So ably, through all those years of 
trial and death, did she keep the promise of the 
memorable dispatch from her first war Governor : 
" If Kentucky refuses to fill her quota, Ohio will 
fill it for her." 

"Of these troops 11,237 were killed or mor- 
tally wounded in action, and of these 6,563 were 
left dead on the field of battle. They fought on 
well-nigh every battle-field of the war. Within 
forty-eight hours after the first call was made for 
troops, two regiments were on the way to Wash- 
ington. An Ohio brigade covered the retreat from 
the first battle of Bull Run. Ohio troops formed 
tlie bulk of army that saved to the Union the 
territory afterward erected into West Virginia ; 
the bulk of the army that kept Kentucky from 
seceding ; a large part of the army that captured 
Foi't Donelson and Island No. 10 ; a great part of 
the army that from Stone River and Chickamauga, 
and Mission Ridge and Atlanta, swept to the sea 
and captured Fort McAllister, and north through 
the Carolinas to Virginia." 

When Sherman started on his famous march to 
the sea, someone said to President Lincoln, "T hey 
will never get through; they will all be captured, 
and the Union will be lost." " It is impossible," 
replied the President ; "it cannot be done. There 
is a mighty siglit of fight in one hundred thou- 
sand Western men." 

Ohio troops fought at Pea Ridge. They charged 
at Wagner. They helped redeem North Carolina. 
They were in the sieges of Vicksburg, Charleston, 
Mobile and Richmond. At Pittsburg Landing, 
at Antietam, Gettysburg and Corinth, in the 
Wilderness, at Five Forks, bcfi)re Nashville and 
Appomattox Court House ; " their bones, reposing 
on the fields they won and in the graves they fill, are 
a perpetual pledge that no flag shall ever wave over 
their graves but that flag they died to maintain." 



Ohio's soil gave birth to, or furnished, a Grant, 
a Sherman, a Sheridan, a McPherson, a Rosecrans, 
a McClellan, a McDowell, a Mitchell, a Gilmore, a 
Hazen,a Sill, a Stanley, a Steadman,and others — all 
but one, children of the country , reared at West Point 
for such emergencies. Ohio's war record shows 
one General, one Lieutenant General, twenty Major 
Generals, twenty-seven Brevet Major Generals, and 
thirty Brigadier Generals, and one hundred and 
fifty Brevet Brigadier Generals. Her three war 
Governors were William Dennison, David Todd, and 
John Brough. She furnished, at the same time, 
one Secretary of War, Edwin M. Stanton, and 
one Secretary of the Treasury, Salmon P. Chase. 
Her Senators were Benjamin F. Wade and John 
Sherman. At least three out of five of Ohio's 
able-bodied men stood in the line of battle. On 
the head stone of one of these soldiers, who gave 
his life for the country, and who now lies in a 
National Cemetery, is inscribed these words : 

" We charge the living to preserve that Constitution we 
have died to defend." 

The close of the war and return of peace brought 
a period of fictitious values on the country, occa- 
sioned by the immense amount of currency afloat. 
Property rose to unheard-of values, and everything 
with it. Ere long, however, the decline came, and 
with it " hard times." The climax broke over the 
country in 1873, and for awhile it seemed as if 
the country was on the verge of ruin. People 
found again, as preceding generations had found, 
that real value was the only basis of true prosper- 
ity, and gradually began to work to the fact. The 
Government established the specie basis by 
gradual means, and on the 1st day of January, 
1879, began to redeem its outstanding obligations 
in coin. The effect was felt everywhere. Busi- 
ness of all kinds sprang anew into life. A feeling 
of confidence grew as the times went on, and now, 
on the threshold of the year 1880, the State is en- 
tering on an era of steadfast prosperity ; one which 
has a sure and certain foundation. 

Nearly four years have elaped since the great 
Centennial Exhibition was held in Philadelphia ; 
an exhibition that brought from every State in the 
Union the best products of her soil, factories, and 
all industries. In that exhibit Ohio made an ex- 
cellent display. Her stone, iron, coal, cereals, 
woods and everj'thing pertaining to her welfiire were 
all represented. Ohio, occupying the middle ground 
of the Union, was expected to show to foreign na- 
tions what the valleys of the Mississippi and Ohio 



138 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



could produce. The State nobly stood the test 
and ranked foremost among all others. Her cen- 
tennial building was among the first completed 
and among the neatest and best on the grounds. 
During the summer, the Centennial Commission 
extended invitations to the Governors of the several 
States to appoint an orator and name a day for his 



delivery of an address on the history, progress and 
resources of his State. Gov. Hayes named the 
Hon. Edward D. Mansfield for this purpose, and 
August 9th, that gentleman delivered an address 
so valuable for the matter which it contains, that 
we here give a synopsis of it. 



CHAPTER XIII. 



OHIO IN THE CENTENNIAL— ADDRESS OF EDWARD D. MANSFIJILD, LL. D., PHILADELPHIA, 

AUGUST 9, 1876. 



ONE hundred years ago, the whole territory, 
from the Alleghany to the Rocky Mountains 
was a wilderness, inhabited only by wild beasts and 
Indians. The Jesuit and Moravian missionaries 
were the only white men who had penetrated the 
wilderness or beheld its mighty lakes and rivers. 
While the thirteen old colonies were declaring 
their independence, the thirteen new States, which 
now lie in the western interior, had no existence, 
and gave no sign of the future. The solitude of 
nature was unbroken by the steps of civilization. 
The wisest statesman had not contemplated the 
probability of the coming States, and the boldest 
patriot did not dream that this interior wilderness 
should soon contain a greater population than the 
thirteen old States, with all the added growth of 
one hundred years. 

Ten years after that, the old States had ceded 
their Western lands to the General Govei-nment, 
and the Congress of the United States had passed 
the ordinance of 1785, for the survey of the pub- 
lic territory, and, in 1787, the celebrated ordinance 
which organized the Northwestern Territory, and 
dedicated it to freedom and intelligence. 

Fifteen years after that, and more than a quarter 
of a century after the Declaration of Independ- 
ence, the State of Ohio was admitted into the 
Union, being the seventeenth which accepted the 
Constitution of the United States. It has since 
grown up to be great, populous and prosperous 
under the influence of those ordinances. At her 
admittance, in 1803, the tide of emigration had 
begun to flow over the AUeghanies into the Valley 
of the Mississippi, and, although no steamboat, no 
railroad then existed, nor even a stage coach helped 
the immigrant, yet the wooden " ark " on the 
Ohio, and the heavy wagon, slowly winding over 



the mountains, bore these tens of thousands to the 
wilds of Kentucky and the plains of Ohio. In 
the spring of 1788 — the first year of settlement — 
four thousand five hundred persons passed the 
mouth of the Muskingum in three months, and 
the tide continued to pour on for half a century in 
a widening stream, mingled with all the races of 
Europe and America, until now, in the hundredth 
yearof America'sindependence, thefive Statesof the 
Northwestern Territory, in the wilderness of 177G, 
contain ten millions of people, enjoying all the 
blessings which peace and prosperity, freedom and 
Christianity, can confer upon any people. Of these 
five States, born under the ordinance of 1787, Ohio 
is the first, oldest, and, in many things, the greatest. 
In some things it is the greatest State in the Union. 
Let us, then, attempt, in the briefest terms, to 
draw an outline portrait of this great and remark- 
able commonwealth. 

Let us observe its physical aspects. Ohio is 
just one-sixth part of the Northwestern Territory 
— 40,000 square miles. It lies between Lake Erie 
and the Ohio Eiver, having 200 miles of navigable 
waters, on one side flowing into the Atlantic Ocean, 
and on the other into the Gulf of Mexico. Through 
the lakes, its vessels touch on 6,000 miles of 
interior coast, and, through the Mississippi, on 
36,000 miles of river coast; so that a citizen of 
Ohio may pursue his navigation through 42,000 
miles, all in his own country, and all within naviga- 
ble reach of his own State. He who has circumnavi- 
gated the globe, has gone but little more than 
half the distance which the citizen of Ohio finds 
within his natural reach in this vast interior. 

Looking upon the surface of this State, we find 
no mountains, no barren sands, no marshy wastes, 
no lava-covered plains, but one broad, compact 



1' 



HM<r 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



139 



body of arable land, intersected with rivers and 
streams and running waters, wbile the beautiful 
Ohio flows tranquilly by its side. More than three 
times the surface of Belgium, and one-third of the 
whole of Italy, it has more natural resources in 
proportion than either, and is capable of ultimately 
supporting a larger population than any equal sur- 
face in Europe. Looking from this great arable 
surface, where upon the very hills the grass and 
the forest trees now grow exuberant and abundant, 
we find that underneath this surface, and easily 
accessible, lie 10,000 square mUes of coal, and 
4,000 square miles of iron — coal and iron enough 
to supply the basis of manufacture for a world ! 
All this vast deposit of metal and fuel does not in- 
terrupt or take from that arable surface at all. 
There you may find in one place the same machine 
bringing up coal and salt water from below, while 
the wheat and the corn grow upon the surface 
above. The immense masses of coal, iron, salt and 
freestone deposited below have not in any way 
diminished the fertility and production of the soil. 

It has been said by some writer that the char- 
acter of a people is shaped or modified by the 
character of the country in which they live. If 
the people of Switzerland have acquired a certain 
air of liberty and independence from the rugged 
mountains around which they live ; if the people 
of Southern Italy, or beautiful France, have ac- 
quired a tone of ease and politeness from their 
mild and genial clime, so the people of Ohio, 
placed amidst such a wealth of nature, in the tem- 
perate zone, should show the best fruits of peace- 
ful industry and the best culture of Christian 
civilization. Have they done so? Have their 
own labor and arts and culture come up to the ad- 
vantages of their natural situation? Let us exam- 
ine this growth and their product. 

The first settlement of Ohio was made by a 
colony from New England, at the mouth of the 
Muskingum. It was litoi-ally a remnant of the 
ofiiccrs of the Revolution. Of this colony no 
praise of the historian can be as competent, or as 
strong, as the language of Washington. He says, 
in answer to inquiries addressed to him: "No col- 
ony in America was ever settled under such favor- 
able auspices as that which has just commenced at 
the Muskingum. Information, prosperity and 
strength will be its chai*acteristics. I know many 
of the settlers personally, and there never were 
men better calculated to promote the welfare of 
such a community ;" and he adds that if ho were 
a young man, he knows no country in which he 



would sooner settle than in this Western region." 
This colony, left alone for a time, made its own 
government and nailed its laws to a tree in the vil- 
lage, an early indication of that law-abiding and 
peaceful spirit which has since made Ohio a just 
and well-ordered community. The subsequent 
settlements on the Miami and Scioto were madi by 
citizens of New Jersey and Virginia, and it is cer- 
tainly remarkable that among all the early immi- 
gration, there were no ignorant people. In the 
language of Washington, they came with '• infor- 
mation," qualified to promote the welfare of the 
community. 

Soon after the settlement on the Muskingum 
and the Miami, the great wave of migration 
flowed on to the plains and valleys of Ohio and Ken- 
tucky. Kentucky had been settled earlier, but the 
main body of emigrants in subsec(uent years 
went into Ohio, influenced partly by the great 
ordinance of 1787, securing freedom and schools 
forever, and partly by the greater security of 
titles under the survey and guarantee of the 
United States Government. Soon the new State 
grew up, with a rapidity which, until then, was 
unknown in the history of civilization. On the 
Muskingum, where the butiiilo had roamed ; on 
the Scioto, where the Shawanees had built their 
towns ; on the Miami, where the gi-eat chiefs of 
the Miamis had reigned ; on the plains of San- 
dusky, yet red with the blood of the white man ; 
on the Maumee, where Wayne, by the victory of 
the " Fallen Timbers," had broken the power of 
the Indian confederacy — the emigrants fi-om the 
old States and from Europe came in to cultivate 
the fields, to build up towns, and to rear the insti- 
tutions of Christian civilization, until the single 
State of Ohio is greater in numbers, wealth, and 
education, than was the whole American Union 
when the Declaration of Independence was made. 

Let us now look at the statistics of this growth 
and magnitude, as they are exhibited in the cen- 
sus of the United States. Taking intervals of 
twenty years, Ohio had: In 1810, 230,700; in 
1830, 937,903 ; in 1850, 1,980,329 ; in 1870, 
2,0(55,260. Add to this the increase of population 
in the last six years, and Ohio now has, in round 
numbers, 3,000,000 of people — half a million 
more than the thirteen States in 1776 ; and 
her cities and towns have to-day six times the 
population of all the cities of America one hund- 
red years ago. This State is now the third in 
numbers and wealth, and the first in some of 
those institutions which mark the progress of 



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140 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



mankind. That a small part of the wilderness of 
1776 should be more populous than the whole 
Union was then, and that it should have made a 
social and moral advance greater than that of any 
nation in the same time, must be regarded as one 
of the most startling and instructive facts which 
attend this year of commemoration. If such has 
been the social growth of Ohio, let us look at its 
physical development ; this is best expressed by the 
aggregate productions of the labor and arts of a 
people applied to the earth. In the census statistics 
of the United States these are expressed in the 
aggregate results of agriculture, mining, manufact- 
ures, and commerce. Let us simplify these statis- 
tics, by comparing the aggregate and ratios as 
between several States, and between Ohio and some 
countries of Europe. 

The aggregate amount of grain and potatoes — 
farinaceous food, produced in Ohio in 1870 was 
134,938,413 bushels, and in 1874, there were 157,- 
323,597 bushels, being the largest aggregate 
amount raised in any State but one, Illinois, and 
larger per square mile than Illinois or any other 
State in the country. The promises of nature 
were thus vindicated by the labor of man ; and 
the industry of Ohio has fulfilled its whole duty 
to the sustenance of the country and the world. 
She has raised more grain than ten of the old 
States together, and more than half raised by 
Great Britain or by France. I have not the 
recent statistics of Europe, but McGregor, in his 
statistics of nations for 1832 — a period of pro- 
found peace — gives the following ratios for the 
leading countries of Europe : Great Britain, area 
120,324 miles; amount of grain, 262,500,000 
bushels; rate per square mile, 2,190 to 1; 
Austria — area 258,603 miles ; amount of grain, 
366,800,000 bushels; rate per square mile, 1,422 to 
1 ; France — area 215,858 miles ; amount of grain, 
233,847,300 bushels ; rate per square mile, 1,080 
to 1. The State of Ohio — area per square miles, 
40,000; amount of grain, 150,000,000 bushels; 
rate per square mile, 3,750. Combining the great 
countries of Great Britain, Austria, and France, 
we find that they had 594,785 square miles and 
produced 863,147,300 bushels of grain, which was, at 
the time these statistics were taken, 1 ,450 bushels per 
square mile, and ten bushels to each one of the 
population. Ohio, on the other hand, had 3,750 
bushels per square mile, and fifty bushels to each 
one of the population ; that is, there was five 
times as much grain raised in Ohio, in proportion 
to the people, as in these great countries of Europe. 



As letters make words, and words express ideas, so 
these dry figures of statistics express facts, and 
these facts make the whole history of civilization. 

Let us now look at the statistics of domestic 
animals. These are always indicative of the state 
of society in regard to the physical comforts. The 
horse must furnish domestic conveyances ; the 
cattle must furnish the products of the dairy, as 
well as meat, and the sheep must furnish wool. 

Let us see how Ohio compares with other States 
and with Europe : In 1870, Ohio had 8,818,000 
domestic animals ; Illinois, 6,925,000 ; New York, 
5,283,000; Pennsylvania, 4,493,000; and other 
States less. The proportion to population in these 
States was, in Ohio, to each person, 3.3 ; Illinois, 
2.7; New York, 1.2; Pennsylvania, 1.2. 

Let us now see the proportion of domestic ani- 
mals in Europe. The results given by McGregor's 
statistics are : In Great Britain, to each person, 
2.44; Russia, 2.00; France, 1.50 ; Prussia, 1.02; 
Austria, 1.00. It will be seen that the proportion 
in Great Britain is only two-thirds that of Ohio; 
in France, only one-half; and in Austria and 
Prussia only one-third. It may be said that, in 
the course of civilization, the number of animals 
diminishes as the density of population increases ; 
and, therefore, this result might have been ex- 
pected in the old countries of Europe. But this 
does not apply to Russia or Germany, still less to 
other States in this country. Russia in Europe 
has not more than half the density of population 
now in Ohio. Austria and Prussia have less than 
150 to the square mile. The whole of the north 
of Europe has not so dense a population as the 
State of Ohio, still less have the States of Illinois 
and Missouri, west of Ohio. Then, therefore, 
Ohio showing a larger proportion of domestic ani- 
mals than the north of Europe, or States west of 
her, with a population not so dense, we see at once 
there must be other causes to produce such a 
phenomenon. 

Looking to some of the incidental results of this 
vast agricultural production, we see that the United 
States exports to Europe immense amounts of 
grain and provisions ; and that there is manufiict- 
ured in this country an immense amount of woolen 
goods. Then, taking these statistics of the raw 
material, we find that Ohio produces one-fifth of 
all the wool; one-seventh of all the cheese; one- 
eighth of all the corn, and one-tenth of all the 
wheat ; and yet Ohio has but a fourteenth part of 
the population, and one-eightieth part of the sur- 
face of this country. 



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HISTORY OF OHIO. 



141 



Let us take another — a commercial view of this 
matter. We have seen that Ohio raises five times 
as much grain per square mile as is raised per 
square mile in the empires of Great Britain, France 
and Austria, taken together. After making allow- 
ance for the differences of living, in the working 
classes of this country, at least two-thirds of the 
food and grain of Ohio are a surplus beyond the 
necessities of life, and, therefore, so much in the 
commercial balance of exports. This corresponds 
with the fact, that, in the shape of grain, meat, 
liquors and dairy products, this vast surplus is con- 
stantly moved to the Atlantic States and to Europe. 
The money value of this exported product is equal 
to $100,000,000 per annum, and to a solid capital 
of $1,500,000,000, after all the sustenance of the 
people has been taken out of the annual crop. 

We are speaking of agriculture alone. We are 
speaking of a State which began its career more 
than a quarter of a century after the Declaration 
of Independence was made. And now, it may be 
asked, what is the real cause of this extraordinary 
result, which, without saying anything invidious of 
other States, we may safely say has never been 
surpassed in any country? We have already 
stated two of the advantages possessed by Ohio. 
The first is that it is a compact, unbroken body of 
arable land, surrounded and intersected by water- 
courses, equal to all the demands of commerce and 
navigation. Next, that it was secured forever to 
freedom and intelligence by the ordinance of 1787. 
The intelligence of its future people was secured 
by immense grants of public lands for the purpose 
of education; but neither the blessings of nature, 
nor the wisdom of laws, could obtain such results 
without the continuous labor of an intelligent 
people. Such it had, and we have only to take 
the testimony of Washington, already quoted, and 
the statistical results I have given, to prove that 
no people has exhibited more steady industry, nor 
has any people directed their labor with more in- 
telligence. 

After the agricultural capacity and production 
of a country, its most important physical feature 
is its mineral products; its capacity fur coal and 
iron, the two great elements of material civiliza- 
tion. If we were to take away from Great Britain 
her capacity to produce coal in such vast quanti- 
ties, we should reduce her to a third-rate pot^ition, 
no longer numbered among the great nations of the 
earth. Coal has smelted her iron, run her sieixm 
engines, and is the basis of her manufactures. 
But when we compare the coal fields of Great 



Britain with those of this country, they are insig- 
nificant. The coal fields of all Europe are small 
compared with those of the central United States. 
The coal district of Durham and Northumberland, 
in England, is only 880 square miles. There are 
other districts of smaller extent, making in the 
whole probably one-half the extent of that in 
Ohio. The English coal-beds are represented as 
more important, in reference to extent, on account 
of their thickness. There is a small coal district 
in Lancashire, where the workable coal-beds are in 
all 150 feet in thickness. But this involves, as is 
well known, the necessity of going to immense 
depths and incurring immense expense. On the 
other hand, the workable coal-beds of Ohio are 
near the surface, and some of them require no ex- 
cavating, except that of the horizontal lead from 
the mine to the river or the railroad. In one 
county of Ohio there are three beds of twelve, six 
and four feet each, within fifty feet of the surface. 
At some of the mines having the best coal, the 
lead from the mines is nearly horizontal, and just 
high enough to dump the coal into the railroad 
cars. These coals are of all qualities, from that 
adapted to the domestic fire to the very best qual- 
ity for smelting or manufacturing iron. Recollect- 
ing these facts, let us try to get an idea of the coal 
district of Ohio. The bituminous coal region de- 
escending the western slopes of the Alleghanies, 
occupies large portions of Western Pennsylvania, 
West Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee. I 
suppose that this coal field is not less than fifty 
thousand square miles, exclusive of Western ]Mary- 
land and the southern terminations of that field in 
Georgia and Alabama. Of this vast field of coal, 
exceeding anything found in Europe, about one- 
fifth part lies in Ohio. Prof Mather, in his 
report on the geology of the State (first Geologi- 
cal Report of the State) says: 

" The coal-measures within Ohio occupy a space 
of about one hundred and eighty miles in length by 
eighty in breadth at the widest part, with an area 
of about ten thousand square miles, extending 
along the Ohio from Trumbull County in the north 
to near the mouth of the Scioto in the south. 
The regularity in the dip, and the moderate incli- 
nation of the strata, afford fiicilities to the mines 
not known to those of most other countries, espe- 
cially Great Britain, where the strata in which the 
coal is imbedded have been broken and thrown out 
of place since its deposit, occasioning many slips 
and faults, and causing much labor and expense in 
again recovering the bed. In Ohio there is very 



l±* 



142 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



little difficulty of this kind, the faults being small 
and seldom found." 

Now, taking into consideration these geological 
facts, let us look at the extent of the Ohio coal 
field. It occupies, wholly or in part, thirty-six 
counties, including, geographically, 14,000 square 
miles ; but leaving out fractions, and reducing the 
Ohio coal field within its narrowest limits, it is 
10,000 square miles in extent, lies near the surface, 
and has on an average twenty feet thickness of work- 
able coal-beds. Let us compare this with the coal 
mines of Durham and Northumberland (England), 
the largest and best coal mines there. That coal 
district is estimated at 850 square miles, twelve 
feet thick, and is calculated to contain 9,000,000,- 
000 tons of coal. The coal field of Ohio is twelve 
times larger and one-third thicker. Estimated by 
that standard, the coal field of Ohio contains 180,- 
000,000,000 tons of coal. Marketed at only $2 
per ton, this coal is worth $360,000,000,000, or, 
in other words, ten times as much as the whole 
valuation of the United States at the present time. 
But we need not undertake to estimate either its 
quantity or value. It is enough to say that it is a 
quantity which we can scarcely imagine, which is 
tenfold that of Pjugland, and which is enough to 
supply the entire continent for ages to come. 

After coal, iron is beyond doubt the most val- 
uable mineral product of a State. As the mate- 
rial of manufacture, it is the most important. 
What are called the " precious metals" are not to 
be compared with it as an element of industry or 
profit. But since no manufactures can be success- 
fully carried on without fuel, coal becomes the first 
material element of the arts. Iron is unquestion- 
ably the next. Ohio has an iron district extending 
from the mouth of the Scioto River to some point 
north of the Mahoning River, in Trumbull County. 
The whole length is nearly two hundred miles, and 
the breadth twenty miles, making, as near as we can 
ascertain, 4,000 square miles. The iron in this dis- 
trict is of various (jualities, and is manufactured 
largely into bars and castings. In this iron dis- 
trict are one hundred furnaces, forty-four rolling- 
mills, and fifteen rail-mills, being the largest num- 
ber of either in any State in the Union, except 
only Penn.sylvania. 

Although only the seventeenth State in its admis- 
sion, I find that, by the census statistics of 1870, 
it is the third State in the production of iron and iron 
manufactures. Already, and within the life of 
one man, this State begins to show what must in 
future time be the vast results of coal and iron, 



applied to the arts and manufactures. In the 
year 1874, there were 420,000 tons of pig iron 
produced in Ohio, which is larger than the prod- 
uct of any State, except Pennsylvania. The 
product and the manufacture of iron in Ohio 
have increased so rapidly, and the basis for 
increase is so great, that we may not doubt that 
Ohio will continue to be the greatest producer of 
iron and iron fabrics, except only Pennsylvania. 
At Cincinnati, the iron manufacture of the Ohio 
Valley is concentrating, and at Cleveland the ores 
of Lake Superior are being smelted. 

After coal and iron, we may place salt among 
the necessaries of life. In connection with the 
coal region west of the AUeghanies, there lies in 
Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ohio, a large 
space of country underlaid by the salt rock, which 
already produces immense amounts of salt. Of 
this, Ohio has its full proportion. In a large 
section of the southeastern portion of the State, 
salt is produced without any known limitation. 
At Pomeroy and other points, the salt rock lies 
about one thousand feet below the surface, but 
salt water is brought easily to the surface by the 
steam engine. There, the salt rock, the coal 
seam, and the noble sandstone lie in successive 
strata, while the green corn and the yellow wheat 
bloom on the surface above. The State of Ohio 
produced, in 1874, 3,500,000 bushels of salt, 
being one-fifth of all produced in the United 
States. The salt section of Ohio is exceeded only 
by that of Syracuse, New York, and of Saginaw, 
Michigan. There is no definite limit to the 
underlying salt rock of Ohio, and, therefore, the 
production will be proportioned only to the extent 
of the demand. 

Having now considered the resources and the 
products of the soil and the mines of Ohio, we 
may properly ask how far the people have employed 
their resources in the increase of art and manu- 
facture. We have two modes of comparison, the 
rate of increase within the State, and the ratio 
they bear to other States. The aggregate value 
of the products of manufiicture, exclusive of 
mining, in the last three censuses were: in 1850, 
$62,092,000; in 1860, $121,691,000; in 1870, 
$269,713,000. 

The ratio of increase was over 100 per cent in 
each ten years, a rate far beyond that of the in- 
crease of population, and much beyond the ratio of 
increase in the whole country. In 1850, the man- 
ufiictures of Ohio were one-sixteenth part of the 
aggregate in the country ; in 1860, one-fifteenth 



r'v 



HISTORY or OHIO. 



143 



part; in 1870, one-twelfth part. In addition to 
this, we find, from the returns of Cincinnati and 
Cleveland, that the value of the manufactured prod- 
ucts of Ohio in 1875, must have reached $400,- 
000,000, and, by reference to the census tables, it 
will be seen that the ratio of increase exceeded that 
of the great manufacturing States of New York, 
Massachusetts and Connecticut. Of all the States 
admitted into the Union prior to Ohio, Pennsylvania 
alone has kept pace in the progress of manufacture. 
Some little reference to the manufacture of leading 
articles may throw some light on the cause of this. 
In the production of agricultural machinery and 
implements, Ohio is the first State ; in animal and 
vegetable oils and in pig iron, the second ; in cast 
iron and in tobacco, the third ; in salt, in machinery 
and in leather, the fourth. These facts show how 
largely the resources of coal, iron and agriculture 
have entered into the manufactures of the State. 
This great advance in the manufactures of Ohio, 
when we consider that this State is, relatively to 
its surface, the first agricultural State in the 
country, leads to the inevitable inference that its 
people are remarkably industiious. When, on 
forty thousand square miles of surface, three mill- 
ions of people raise one hundred and fifty million 
bushels of grain, and produce manufactures to the 
amount of $269,000,000 (which is fifty bushels 
of breadstuflF to each man, woman and child, and 
$133 of manufacture), it will be difficult to find 
any community surpassing such results. It is a 
testimony, not only to the State of Ohio, but to 
the industry, sagacity and energy of the American 
people. 

Looking now to the commerce of the State, we 
have said there are six hundred miles of coast line, 
which embraces some of the principal internal ports 
of the Ohio and the lakes, such as Cincinnati, Cleve- 
land, Toledo and Portsmouth, but whose commerce 
is most wholly inland. Of course, no comparison 
can be made with the foreign commerce of the 
ocean ports. On the other hand, it is well known 
that the inland trade of the country far exceeds 
that of all its foreign commerce, and that the larg- 
est part of this interior trade is carried on its 
rivers and lakes. The materials for the vast con- 
sumption of the interior must be conveyed in its 
vessels, whether of sail or steam, adapted to these 
waters. Let us take, then, the ship-building, the 
navigation, and the exchange trades of Ohio, as 
elements in determining the position of this State 
in reference to the commerce of the country. At 
the ports of Cleveland, Toledo, Sandusky and Cin- 



cinnati, there have been built one thousand sail and 
steam vessels in the last twenty years, making an 
average of fifty each year. The number of sail, 
steam and all kinds of vessels in Ohio is eleven 
hundred and ninety, which is equal to the number 
in all the other States in the Ohio Valley and the 
Upper Mississippi. 

When we look to the navigable points to which 
these vessels are destined, we find them on all this 
vast coast line, which extends from the Grulf of 
Mexico to the Yellowstone, and from Duluth to 
the St. Lawrence. 

Looking again to see the extent of this vast in- 
terior trade which is handled by Ohio alone, we 
find that the imports and exports of the principal 
articles of Cincinnati, amount in value to 8500,- 
000,000; and when we look at the great trade of 
Cleveland and Toledo, we shall find that the an- 
nual trade of Ohio exceeds $700,000,000. The 
lines of railroad which connect with its ports, are 
more than four thousand miles in length, or rather 
more than one mile in length to each ten square 
miles of surface. This great amount of railroads is 
engaged not merely in transporting to the Atlantic 
and thence to Europe, the immense surplus grain 
and meat in Ohio, but in carrying the largest part 
of that greater surplus, which exists in the States 
west of Ohio, the granary of the West. Ohio 
holds the gateway of every railroad north of the 
Ohio, from the Mississippi to the Atlantic, and 
hence it is that the great transit lines of the coun- 
try pass through Ohio. 

Let us now turn from the progress of the arts 
to the progress of ideas ; from material to intellect- 
ual development. It is said that a State consists 
of men, and history shows that no art or science, 
wealth or power, will compensate for the want of 
moral or intellectual stability in the minds of a 
nation. Hence, it is admitted that the strength 
and perpetuity of our republic must consist in the 
intelligence and morality of the people. A re- 
public can last only when the people are enlight- 
ened. This was an axiom with the early legislators 
of this country. Hence it was that when Yir- 
ginia, Connecticut and the original colonies ceded 
to the General Government that vast and then un- 
known wilderness which lay west of the Allegha- 
nies, in the valleys of the Ohio and Mississippi, they 
took care that its future inhabitants should be an 
educated people. The Constitution was not formed 
when the celebrated ordinance of 1787 was passed. 

That ordinance provided that, " Religion, mor- 
ality, and knowledge being necessary to good 



K 



^ 



144 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



government and the happiness of mankind, schools 
and the means of education shall be forever en- 
couraged;" and by the ordinance of 1785 for the 
survey of public lands in the Northwestern Terri- 
tory, Section 16 in each township, that is, one 
thirty-sixth part, was reserved for the maintenance 
of public schools in said townships. As the State 
of Ohio contained a little more than twenty-five 
millions of acres, this, together with two special 
grants of three townships to universities, amounted 
to the dedication of 740,000 acres of land to the 
maintenance of schools and colleges. It was a 
splendid endowment, but it was many years before 
it became available. It was sixteen years after the 
passage of this ordinance (in 1803), when Ohio 
entered the Union, and legislation upon this grant 
became possible. The Constitution of the State 
pursued the language of the ordinance, and de- 
clared that "schools and the means of education 
shall forever be encouraged by legislative provision." 
The Governors of Ohio, in successive messages, 
urged attention to this subject upon the people ; 
but the thinness of settlement, making it impossi- 
ble, except in few districts, to collect youth in suf- 
ficient numbers, and impossible to sell or lease 
lands to advantage, caused the delay of efiicient 
school system for many years. In 1825, however, 
a general law establishing a school system, and levy- 
ing a tax for its support, was passed. 

This was again enlarged and increased by new 
legislation in 1836 and 1846. From that time to 
this, Ohio has had a broad, liberal and efiicient sys- 
tem of public instruction. The taxation for schools, 
and the number enrolled in them at different pe- 
riods, will best show what has been done. In 
1855 the total taxation for school purposes was 
$2,672,827. The proportion of youth of school- 
able age enrolled was 67 per cent. In 1874 the 
amount raised by taxation was $7,425,135. The 
number enrolled of schoolable age was 70 per 
cent, or 707,943. 

As the schoolable age extends to twenty-one 
years, and as there are very few youth in school 
after fifteen years of age, it follows that the 70 
per cent of schoolable youths enrolled in the pub- 
lic schools must comprehend nearly the whole 
number between four and fifteen years. It is im- 
portant to observe this fact, because it has been 
inferred that, as the whole number of youth be- 
tween five and twenty-one have not been enrolled, 
therefore they are not educated. This is a 
mistake; nearly all over fifteen years of age have 
been in the public schools, and all the native 



youth of the State, and all foreign born, young 
enough, have had the benefit of the public schools. 
But in consequence of the large number who 
have come from other States and from foreign 
countries, there are still a few who are classed by 
the census statistics among the "illiterate;" the 
proportion of this class, however, is less in propor- 
tion than in twenty-eight other States, and less in 
proportion than in Connecticut and Massachusetts, 
two of the oldest States most noted for popular 
education. In fact, every youth in Ohio, under 
twenty-one years of age, may have the benefit of a 
public education ; and, since the system of graded 
and high schools has been adopted, may obtain a 
common knowledge from the alphabet to the classics. 
The enumerated branches of study in the pub- 
lic schools of Ohio are thirty-four, including 
mathematics and astronomy, French, German and 
the classics. Thus the State which was in the 
heart of the wilderness in 1776, and was not a 
State until the nineteenth century had begun, now 
presents to the world, not merely an unrivaled de- 
velopment of material prosperity, but an unsur- 
passed system of popular education. 

In what is called the higher education, in the 
colleges and universities, embracing the classics 
and sciences taught in regular classes, it is the pop- 
ular idea, and one which few dare to question, that 
we must look to the Eastern States for superiority 
and excellence; but that also is becoming an as- 
sumption without proof; a proposition difficult to 
sustain. The facts in regard to the education of 
universities and colleges, their faculties, students 
and course of instruction, are all set forth in the 
complete statistics of the Bureau of Education for 
1874. They show that the State of Ohio had the 
largest number of such institutions; the largest 
number of instructors in their faculties, except one 
State, New York ; and the largest number of stu- 
dents in regular college classes, in proportion to 
their population, except the two States of Connect- 
icut and Massachusetts. Perhaps, if we look at 
the statistics of classical students in the colleges, 
disregarding preparatory and iiTegular courses, we 
shall get a more accurate idea of the progress of 
the higher education in those States which claim 
the best. In Ohio, 36 colleges, 258 teachers, 
2,139 students, proportion, • 1 in 124; in Penn- 
sylvania, 27 colleges, 239 teachers, 2,359 students, 
proportion, 1 in 150; in New York, 26 colleges, 
343 teachers, 2,764 students, proportion, 1 in 176; 
in the six NewEngland States, 17 colleges, 252 teach- 
ers, 3,341 students, proportion, 1 in 105; in Illi- 



V 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



145 



nois, 24 colleges, 219 teachers, 1,701 students, 
proportion, 1 in 140. 

This shows there are more collegiate institutions 
in Ohio than in all New England ; a greater num- 
ber of college teachers, and only a little smaller ratio 
of students to the population ; a greater number of 
such students than either in New York or Pennsyl- 
vania, and, as a broad, general ftict, Ohio has made 
more progress in education than either of the old 
States which formed the American Union. Such 
a fact is a higher testimony to the strength and the 
beneficent influence of the American Government 
than any which the statistician or the historian 
can advance. 

Let us now turn to the moral aspects of the 
people of Ohio. No human society is found with- 
out its poor and dependent classes, whether made 
so by the defects of nature, by acts of Providence, 
or by the accidents of fortune. Since no society 
is exempt from these classes, it must be judged 
not so much by the fact of their existence, as by 
the manner in which it treats them. In the civil- 
ized nations of antiquity, such as Greece and 
Rome, hospitals, infirmaries, orphan homes, and 
asylums for the infirm, were unknown. These 
are the creations of Christianity, and that must be 
esteemed practically the most Christian State which 
most practices this Christian beneficence. In Ohio, 
as in all the States of this country, and of all 
Christian countries, there is a large number of the 
infirm and dependent classes; but, although Ohio 
is the third State in population, she is only the 
fourteenth in the proportion of dependent classes. 
The more important point, however, was, how does 
she treat them? Is there wanting any of all 
the varied institutions of benevolence? How does 
she compare with other States and countries in 
this respect? It is believed that no State or coun- 
try can present a larger proportion of all these 
institutions which the benevolence of the wise and 
good have suggested for the alleviation of suffer- 
ing and misfortune, than the State of Ohio. With 
3,500 of the insane within her borders, she has 
five great lunatic asylums, capable of accommodat- 
ing them all. She has asylums for the deaf and 
dumb, the idiotic, and the blind. She has the 
best hospitals in the country. She has schools 
of reform and houses of refuge. She has " homes" 
for the boys and girls, to the luimber of 8(10, who 
are children of soldiers. She has penitentiai'ies 
and jails, orphan asylums and infirmaries. la 
every county there is an infirmary, and in every 
public institution, except the penitentiary, there is a 



school. So that the State has used every human 
means to relieve the suffering, to instruct the igno- 
rant, and to reform the criminal. There are in 
the State 80,000 who come under all the various 
forms of the infirm, the poor, the sick and the 
criminal, who, in a greater or less degree, make 
the dependent class. For these the State has 
made every provision which humanity or justice 
or intelligence can require. A young State, de- 
veloped in the wilderness, she challenges, without 
any invidious comparison, both Europe and Amer- 
ica, to show her superior in the development of 
humanity manifested in the benefaction of public 
institutions. 

Intimately connected with public morals and 
with charitable institutions, is the religion of a 
people. The people of the United States are a 
Christian people. The people of Ohio have man- 
ifested their zeal by the erection of churches, of 
Sunday schools, and of religious institutions. So 
far as these are outwardly manifested, they are 
made known by the social statistics of the census. 
The number of church organizations in the leading 
States were : In the State of Ohio, 6,488 ; in 
the State of New York, 5,627 : in the State of 
Pennsylvania, 5,984 ; in the State of IlHnois, 4,298. 
It thus appears that Ohio had a larger number 
of churches than any State of the Union. The 
number of sittings, however, was not quite as 
large as those in New York and Pennsylvania. 
The denominations are of all the sects known in 
this country, about thirty in number, the majority 
of the whole being Methodists, Presbyterians and 
Baptists. Long before the American Independ- 
ence, the Moravians had settled on the JMahoning 
and Tuscarawas Rivers, but only to be destroyed ; 
and when the peace with Great Britain was made, 
not a vestige of Christianity remained on the 
soil of Ohio ; yet we see that within ninety years 
from that time the State of Ohio was, in the num- 
ber of its churches, the first of this great Union. 

In the beginning of this address, I said that 
Ohio was the oldest and first of these great States, 
carved out of the Northwestern Territory, and that 
it was in some things the greatest State of the 
American Union. I have now traced the physi- 
cal, commercial, intellectual and moral features of 
the State during the seventy-five years of its 
constitutional history. The result is to establish 
fully the propositions with which I began. These 
facts have brought out : 

1. That Ohio is, in reference to the square 
miles of its surface, the first State in agriculture 






■^ 



146 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



of tlie Amerioan Union; this, too, notwithstand- 
ing it has 800,000 in cities and towns, and a large 
development of capital and products in manu- 
factures. 

2. That Ohio has raised more grain per square 
mile than either France, Austria, or Great Britain. 
They raised 1,450 bushels per S(juare mile, and 
10 bushels to each person. Ohio raised 3,750 
bushels per square mile, and 50 bushels to each 
one of the population ; or, in other words, five 
times the proportion of grain raised in Europe. 

3. Ohio was the first State of the Union in 
the production of domestic animals, being far in 
advance of either New York, Pennsylvania or Illi- 
nois. The proportion of domestic animals to each 
person in Ohio was three and one-third, and in 
New York and Pennsylvania less than half that. 
The largest proportion of domestic animals pro- 
duced in Europe was in Great Britain and Russia, 
neither of which come near that of Ohio. 

4. The coal-field of Ohio is vastly greater than 
that of Great Britain, and we need make no com- 
parison with other States in regard to coal or iron ; 
for the 10,000 square miles of coal, and 4,000 
S((uare miles of iron in Ohio, are enough to supply 
the whole American continent for ages to come. 

5. Neither need we compare the results of 
commerce and navigation, since, from the ports of 
Cleveland and Cincinnati, the vessels of Ohio 
touch on 42,000 miles of coast, and her 5,000 
miles of railroad carry her products to every part 
of the American continent. 

G. Notwithstanding the immense proportion 
and products of agriculture in Ohio, yet she has 
more than kept pace with New York and New 
England in the progress of manufactures during 
the hust twenty years. Her coal and iron are pro- 
ducing their legitimate results in making her a 
great manufacturing State. 

7. Ohio is the first State in the Union as to 
the proportion of youth attending school ; and the 
States west of the Alleghanies and north of the 
Ohio have more youth in school, proportionably, 
than New England and New York. The facts on 
this subject are so extraordinary that I may be 
excused for giving them a little in detail. 

The proportion of youth in Ohio attending 
school to the population, is 1 in 4.2; in Illinois, 1 
in 4.3; in Pennsylvania, 1 in 4.8; in New York, 
1 in 5.2 ; in Connecticut and Massachusetts, 1 in 
8.7. 

These proportions show that it is in the West, 
and not in the East, that education is now advanc- 



ing; and it is here that we see the stimulus given 
by the ordinance of 1787, is working out its great 
and beneficent results. The land grant for educa- 
tion was a great one, but, at last, its chief effort 
was in stimulating popular education ; for the State 
of Ohio has taxed itself tens of millions of dollars 
beyond the utmost value of the land grant, to 
found and maintain a system of public education 
which the world has not surpassed. 

We have seen that above and beyond all this 
material and intellectual development, Ohio has 
provided a vast benefaction of asylums, hospitals, 
and infirmaries, and special schools for the support 
and instruction of the dependent classes. There is 
not within all her borders a single one of the deaf, 
dumb, and blind, of the poor, sick, and insane, not 
an orphan or a vagrant, who is not provided for 
by the broad and generous liberality of the State 
and her people. A charity which the classic ages 
knew nothing of, a beneficence which the splendid 
hierarchies and aristocracies of Europe cannot 
equal, has been exhibited in this young State, 
whose name was unknown one hundred years ago, 
whose people, from Europe to the Atlantic, and 
from the Atlantic to the Ohio, were, like Adam 
and Eve, cast out — " the world be/ore them where 
to choose." 

Lastly, we see that, although the third in pop- 
ulation, and the seventeenth in admission to the 
Union, Ohio had, in 1870, 6,400 churches, the 
largest number in any one State, and numbering 
among them every form of Christian worship. 
The people, whose fields were rich with grain, 
whose mines were boundless in wealth, and whose 
commerce extended through thousands of miles 
of lakes and rivers, came here, as they came to 
New England's rock-bound coast — 

" With freedom to worship God." 

The church and the schoolhouse rose beside the 
green fields, and the morning bells rang forth to 
cheerful children going to school, and to a Chris- 
tian people going to the church of God. 

Let us now look at the possibilities of Ohio in 
the future development of the American Repub- 
lican Republic. The two most populous parts of 
Europe, because the most food-producing, are the 
Netherlands and Italy, or, more precisely, Belgium 
and ancient Lombardy ; to the present time, their 
population is, in round numbers, three hundred to 
the square mile. The density of population in 
England proper is about the same. We may 
assume, therefore, that three hundred to the square 



V 



HISTORY or OHIO. 



147 



mile is, in round numbers, the limit of comfortable 
subsistence under modern civilization. It is true 
that modern improvements in agricultural machin- 
ery and fertilization have greatly increased the 
capacity of production, on a given amount of 
land, with a given amount of labor. It is true, 
also, that the old countries of Europe do not 
possess an equal amount of arable laud with Ohio 
in proportion to the same surface. It would seem, 
therefore, that the density of population in Ohio 
might exceed that of any part of Europe. On 
the other hand, it may be said with truth that the 
American people will not become so dense as in 
Europe while they have new lands in the West 
to occupy. This is true ; but lands such as those 
in the valley of the Ohio are now becoming 
scarce in the West, and we think that, with her 
great capacity for the production of grain on one 
hand, and of illimitable quantities of coal and 
iron to manufacture with on the other, that Ohio 
will, at no remote period, reach nearly the density 
of Belgium, which will give her 10,000,000 of 
people. This seems extravagant, but the tide of 
migration, which flowed so fast to the West, is 
beginning to ebb, while the manufactures of the 
interior ofier greater inducements. 

With population comes wealth, the material for 
education, the development of the arts, advance 
in all the material elements of civilization, and the 
still grander advancements in the strength and 
elevation of the human mind, conquering to itself 
new realms of material and intellectual power, 
acquiring in the future what we have seen in the 
past, a wealth of resources unknown and undreamed 
of when, a hundred years ago, the fathers of the 
republic declared their independence. I know 
how easy it is to treat this statement with easy 
incredulity, but statistics is a certain science ; the 
elements of civilization are now measured, and we 
know the progress of the human race as we know 



that of a cultivated plant. We know the resources 
of the country, its food-producing capacity, its 
art processes, its power of education, and the unde- 
fined and illimitable power of the human mind 
for new inventions and unimagined progress. With 
this knowledge, it is not difficult nor unsafe to say 
that the future will produce more, and in a far 
greater ratio, than the past. The pictured scenes 
of the prophets have already been more than ful- 
filled, and the visions of beauty and glory, which 
their imagination failed fully to describe, will be 
more than realized in the bloom of that garden 
which republican America will present to the 
eyes of astonished mankind. Long before another 
century shall have passed by, the single State of 
Ohio will present fourfold the population with which 
the thirteen States began theii- independence, more 
wealth than the entire Union now has ; greater 
universities than any now in the country, and a 
development of arts and manufacture which the 
world now knows nothing of. You have seen 
more than that since the Constitution was adopted, 
and what right have you to say the future shall 
not equal the past ? 

I have aimed, in this address, to give an exact 
picture of what Ohio is, not more for the sake of 
Ohio than as a representation of the products 
which the American Republic has given to the 
world. A State which began long after the 
Declaration of Independence, in the then unknown 
wilderness of North America, presents to-day 
the fairest example of what a republican govern- 
ment with Christian civilization can do. Look 
upon this picture and upon those of Assyria, 
of Greece or Rome, or of Europe in her best 
estate, and say where is the civilization of the 
earth which can equal this. If a Roman citizen could 
say with pride, " Oim's Romaniis siim,^' with far 
greater pride can you say this day, "I am an 
American citizen." 






<s r- 



-% a; 



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*2 k^ 



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148 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



CHAPTER XIV. 



EDUCATION* — EARLY SCHOOL LAWS — NOTES — INSTITUTES AND EDUCATIONAL JOURNALS- 
SCHOOL SYSTEM — SCHOOL FUNDS— COLLEGES A.ND UNIVERSITIES. 



WHEN the survey of the Northwest Terri- 
tory was ordered by Congress, March 20, 
1785, it was decreed that every sixteenth section 
of land should be reserved for the "maintenance 
of public schools within each township." The 
ordinance of 1787 — thanks to the New England 
Associates — proclaimed that, " religion, morality 
and knowledge being essential to good government, 
schools and the means of education should forever 
be encouraged." The State Constitution of 1802 
declared that " schools and the means of instruc- 
tion should be encouraged by legislative provision, 
not inconsistent with the rights of conscience." 
In 1825, through the persevering eflforts of Nathan 
Gruilford, Senator fi-om Hamilton County, Ephraim 
Cutler, Representative from Washington County, 
and other friends of education, a bill was passed, 
" laying the foundation for a general system of 
common .schools." This bill provided a tax of one- 
half mill, to be levied by the County Commis- 
sioners for school purposes ; provided for school 
examiners, and made Township Clerks and County 
Auditors school officers. In 1829, this county 
tax was raised to three-fourths of a mill ; in 1834 
to one mill, and, in 1836, to one and a half mills. 
In March, 1837, Samuel Lewis, of Hamilton 
County,was appointed State Superintendent of Com- 
mon Schools. He was a very energetic worker, trav- 
eling on horseback all over the State, delivering ad- 
dresses and encouraging school officers and teachers. 
Through his efforts much good was done, and 

* From the School Commissioners' Reports, principally those of 
Thomas W. Harvey, A. M. 

Note 1. — The first sthool taught in Ohio, or in the Northwestern 
Territory, was in 1791. The first teacher was Blaj. Austin Tiipper, 
eldcstson of Gon. Benjamin Tupper, both Revolutionary officers. 
The room occupied was the same as that in wliich.the first Court was 
held, and was situated in the northwest block-house of the garrison, 
called the stockade, at Marietta. During the Indian war school 
wiis also taught at Fort Harmar, Point Marietta, and at other set- 
tlements. A meeting was held in Marietta, April 29, 1797, to con- 
sider the erection of a school building suitable for the instruction 
of the youth, and for conducting religious services. Kesolulions 
were adopted which led to the erection of a building called the 
Muskingum Academy. The building was of frame, forty feet long 
and iwenly-four feet wide, and is yet(1878)8tanding. Thebuilding 
was twelve ffet high, with an arched ceiling It stood upon a stone 
foundation, three steps from tlie ground. There were two chimneys 
and a lobby projection. There was a cellar under the whole build- 
ing. It stood upon a beautiful lot, fronting the Muskingum River, 
and about sixty feet back fiorn the street. Some large trees were 



many important features engrafted on the school 
system. He resigned in 1839, when the officewas 
abolished, and its duties imposed on the Secretary 
of State. 

The most important adjunct in early education 
in the State was the college of teachers organized 
in Cincinnati in 1831. Albert Pickett, Dr. Joseph 
Ray, William H. McGruffey — so largely known by 
his Readers — and Milo C Williams, were at its 
head. Leading men in all parts of the West at- 
tended its meetings. Their published deliberations 
did much for the advancement of education among 
the people. Through the efforts of the college, 
the first convention held in Ohio for educational 
purposes was called at Columbus, January 13, 
183G. Two years after, in December, the first 
convention in which the different sections of the 
State were represented, was held. At both these 
conventions, all the needs of the schools, both com- 
mon and higher, were ably and fully discussed, 
and appeals made to the people for a more cordial 
support of the law. No succes.sful attempts were 
made to organize a permanent educational society 
until December, 1847, when the Ohio State Teach- 
ers' Association was formed at Akron, Summit 
County, with Samuel Galloway as President; T. 
W. Harvey, Recording Secretary; M. D. Leggett, 
Corresponding Secretary; William Bowen, Treas- 
urer, and M. F. Cowdrey, Chairman of the Executive 
Committee. This Association entered upon its 
work with commendable earnestness, and has since 

upon the lot and on the street iu front. Across the street was an 
open coinniou, and beyond that the river. Immediately opposite 
the door, on entering, was a broad aisle, and, at the end of the 
aisle, against the wall, was a desk or pulpit. On the right and left 
of the pulpit, against the wall, and fronting the pulpit, was a row 
of slips. On each sideof the door, facing the pulpit, were two slips, 
and, at each end of the room, one slip. These slips wore stationary, 
and were fitted with desks that could be let down, and there were 
boxes in the desks for holding books and papers. In the center of 
the room was an open space, which could be filled with movable 
seats. The first school was opened here in 1800." — Letter of A. T. 
Nye. 

Note 2. — Another evidence of the character of the New England 
Associates is the founding of a public library as early as 1790, or 
before. Another was also established at Belpre about the same time. 
Abundant evidence proves the existence of these libraries, all tend- 
ing to the fact that the early settlers, though conquering a wilder- 
ness and a savage foe, would not allow their mental faculties to 
lack for food. The character of the books shows that "solid" 
reading predominated. 



"?) >> 



iL 



HISTORY or OHIO. 



149 



■? 



never abated its zeal. Semi-annual meetings were 
at first held, but, since 1858, only annual meetings 
occur. They are always largely attended, and al- 
ways by the best and most energetic teachers. 
The Association has given tone to the educational 
interests of the State, and has done a vast amount 
of good in popularizing education. In the spring 
of 1851, Lorin Andrews, then Superintendent of 
the Massillon school, resigned his place, and be- 
came a common-school missionary. In July, the 
Association, at Cleveland, made him its agent, and 
instituted measures to sustain him. He remained 
zealously at work in this relation until 1853, when 
he resigned to accept the presidency of Kenyon 
College, at Gambler. Dr. A. Lord was then chosen 
general agent and resident editor of the Journal 
of Education, which positions he filled two years, 
with eminent ability. 

The year that Dr. Lord resigned, the ex officio 
relation of the Secretary of State to the common 
schools was abolished, and the office of school com- 
missioner again created. H. H. Barney was 
elected to the place in October, 1853. The office 
has since been held by Rev. Anson Smyth, elected 
in 1856, and re-elected in 1859 ; E. E. White, 
appointed by the Grovernor, November 11, 1863, 
to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of C. 
W. H. Cathcart, who was elected in 1862; John 
A. Norris, in 1865; W. D. Henkle, in 1868; 
Thomiis W. Harvey, in 1871; C. S. Smart, in 
1875, and the present incumbent, J. J. Burns, 
elected in 1878, his term expiring in 1881. 

The first teachers' institute in Northern Ohio 
was held at Sandusky, in September, 1845, con- 
ducted by Salem Town, of New York, A. D. Lord 
and M. F. Cowdrey. The second was held at Char- 
don, Geauga Co., in November of the same year. 
The first institute in the southern part of the 
State was held at Cincinnati, in February, 1837; 
the first in the central part at Newark, in March, 
1848. Since then these meetings of teachers have 
occurred annually, and have been the means of 
great good in elevating the teacher and the public 
in educational interests. In 1848, on petition of 
forty teachers, county commissioners were author- 
ized to pay lecturers from surplus revenue, and the 
next year, to appropriate $100 for institute pur- 
poses, upon pledge of teachers to raise half that 
amount. By the statutes of 1864, applicants for 
teachers were required to pay 50 cents each as an 
examination fee. One-third of the amount thus 
raised was allowed the use of examiners as trav- 
eling expenses, the remainder to be applied to in- 



stitute instruction. For the year 1871, sixty-eight 
teachers' institutes were held in the State, at which 
308 instructors and lecturers were employed, and 
7,158 teachers in attendance. The expense incurred 
was $16,361.99, of which $10,127.13 was taken 
from the institute fund; $2,730.34, was contrib- 
uted by members; $680, by county commis- 
sioners, and the balance, $1,371.50, was ob- 
tained from other sources. The last report of the 
State Commissioners— 1878— shows that eighty- 
five county institutes were held in the State, con- 
tinuing in session 748 days; 416 instructors were 
employed; 11,466 teachers attended; $22,531.47 
were received from all sources, and that the ex- 
penses were $19,587.51, or $1.71 per member. 
There was a balance on hand of $9,460.74 to com- 
mence the next year, just now closed, whose work 
has been as progressive and thorough as any former 
year. The State Association now comprises three 
sections; the general association, the superintend- 
ents' section and the ungraded school section. All 
have done a good work, and all report progress. 

The old State Constitution, adopted by a_ con- 
vention in 1802, was supplemented in 1851 by 
the present one, under which the General Assem- 
bly, elected under it, met in 1852. Harvey llice, 
a Senator from Cuyahoga County, Chairman of 
Senate Committee on "Common Schools and 
School Lands," reported a bill the 29th of March, 
to provide "for the re-organization,^ supervision 
and maintenance of common schools." This bill, 
amended in a few particulars, became a law 
March 14, 1853. The prominent features of the 
new law were : The substitution of a State school 
tax for the county tax ; creation of the office of 
the State School Commissioner; the creation of a 
Township Board of Education, consisting of repre- 
sentatives from the subdistricts ; the abolition of 
rate-bills, making education free to all the youth of 
the State; the raising of a fund, by a tax of one- 
tenth of a mill yearly, " for the purpose of fur- 
nishin"- school libraries and apparatus to all the 
common schools." This "library tax" was abol- 
ished in 1860, otherwise the law has remained 
practically unchanged. 

School journals, like the popular press, have 
been a potent agency in the educational history of 
the State. As early as 1838, the Ohio School 
Director was issued by Samuel Lewis, by legisla- 
tive authority, though after six months' continu- 
ance, it ceased for Vant of support. The same 
year the Pestalozzian, by E. L. Sawtell and H. 
K. Smith, of Akron, and the Conwion School 



k. 



150 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



Advocate, of Cincimiati, were issued. In 1846, 
the School Journal began to be published by A. 

D. Lord, of Kirtland. The same year saw the 
Free School Clarion, by W. Bowen, of Massillon, 
and the School Friend, by W. B. Smith <& Co., 
of Cincinnati. The next year, W. II. Moore & 
Co., of Cincinnati, started the Western School 
Journal. In 1851, the Ohio Teacher, by 
Thomas Rainey, appeared; the Heics and Edu- 
cator, in 1863; and the Educational Times, in 
1866. In 1850, Dr. Lord's Journal of Educa- 
tion was united with the School Friend, and 
became the recognized organ of the teachers in 
Ohio. The Doctor remained its principal editor 
until 1856, when he was succeeded by Anson 
Smyth, who edited the journal one year. In 1857, 
it was edited by John D. Caldwell ; in 1858 and 
and 1859, by W. T. Coggeshall; in 1860, by Anson 
Smyth again, when it passed into the hands of 

E. E. White, who yet controls it. It has an 
immense circulation among Ohio teachers, and, 
though competed by other journals, since started, 
it maintains its place. 

The school system of the State may be briefly 
explained as follows: Cities and incorporated vil- 
lages are independent of township and county con- 
trol, in the management of schools, having boards 
of education and examiners of their own. Some 
of them are organized for school purposes, under 
special acts. Each township has a board of edu- 
cation, composed of one member from each sub- 
district. The township clerk is clerk of this board, 
but has no vote. Each subdistrict has a local 
board of trustees, which manages its school affairs, 
subject to the advice and control of the township 
board. These officers are elected on the first 
Monday in April, and hold their offices three 
years. An enumeration of all the youth between 
the ages of five and twenty-one is made yearly. 
All public schools are required to be in session at 
least twenty-four weeks each year. The township 
clerk reports annually such facts concerning school 
affairs as the law requires, to the county auditor, 
who in turn reports to the State Commissioner, 
who collects these reports in a general report to 
the Legislature each year. 

A board of examiners is appointed in each 
county by the Probate Judge. This board has 
power to grant certificates for a term not exceed- 
ing two years, and good only in the county in 
which they are executed ; they may be revoked on 
sufficient cause. In 1864, a State Board of 
Examiners was created, with power to issue life cer- 



tificates, valid in all parts of the State. Since 
then, up to January 1, 1879, there have been 188 
of these issued. They are considered an excellent 
test of scholarship and ability, and are very credit- 
able to the holder. 

The school funds, in 1865, amounted to ^3,271,- 
275.66. They were the proceeds of appropriations 
of land by Congress for school purposes, upon 
which the State pays an annual interest of 6 per 
cent. The funds are known as the Virginia Mili- 
tary School Fund, the proceeds of eighteen quar- 
ter-townships and three sections of land, selected 
by lot from lands lying in the United States 
Military Reserve, appropriated for the u.se of 
schools in the Virginia Militar}^ Reservation; the 
United States Military School Fund, the proceeds 
of one thirty-sixth part of the land in the United 
States Military District, appropriated "for the use 
of schools within the same;" the Western Reserve 
School Fund, the proceeds from fourteen quarter- 
townships, situated in the United States Military 
District, and 37,758 acres, most of which was lo- 
cated in Defiance, Williams, Paulding, Van Wert 
and Putnam Counties, appropriated for the use of 
the schools in the Western Reserve; Section 
16, the proceeds from the sixteenth section of 
each township in that part of the State in which 
the Indian title was not extinguished in 1803; the 
Moravian School Fund, the proceeds from one 
thirty-sixth part of each of three tracts of 
4,000 acres situated in Tuscarawas County, orig- 
inally granted by Congress to the Society of United 
Brethren, and reconveyed by this Society to the 
United States in 1824. The income of these funds 
is not distributed by any uniform rule, owing to 
defects in the granting of the funds. The territo- 
rial divisions designated receive the income in 
proportion to the whole number of youth therein, 
while in the remainder of the State, the rent of 
Section 16, or the interest on the proceeds 
arising from its sale, is paid to the inhabitants of 
the originally surveyed townships. In these terri- 
torial divisions, an increase or decrease of popula- 
tion muht necessarily increase or diminish the 
amount each youth is entitled to receive ; and the 
fortunate location or judicious sale of the sixteenth 
section may entitle one township to receive a large 
sum, while an adjacent township receives a mere 
pittance. This inequality of benefit may be good 
for localities, but it is certainly a detriment to the 
State at large. There seems to be no legal remedy 
for it. In addition to the income from the before- 
mentioned funds, a variable revenue is received 



^ s ^ 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



151 



from certain fines and licenses paid to either county 
or township treasurers for the use of schools; 
from the sale of swamp lands (125,720.07 allotted 
to the State in 1850), and from personal property 
escheated to the State. 

Aside from the funds, a State school tax is fixed 
by statute. Local taxes vary with the needs of 
localities, are limited by law, and are contingent 
on the liberality and public spirit of difierent com- 
munities. 

The State contains more than twenty colleges 
and universities, more than the same number of 
female seminaries, and about thirty normal schools 
and academies. The amount of property invested 
in these is more than $6,000,000. The Ohio 
University is the oldest college in the State. 

In addition to the regular colleges, the State 
controls the Ohio State University, formerly the 
Agricixltural and Mechanical College, established 
from the proceeds of the land scrip voted by Con- 
gress to Ohio for such purposes. The amount 
realized from the sale was nearly $500,000. This 
is to constitute a permanent fund, the interest only 
to be used. In addition, the sum of $300,000 
was voted by the citizens of Franklin County, in 
consideration of the location of the college in that 
county. Of this sum $111,000 was paid for three 
hundred and fifteen acres of land near the city of 
Columbus, and $112,000 for a college building, 



the balance being expended as circumstances re- 
quired, for additional buildings, laboratory, appa- 
ratus, etc. Thorough instruction is given in all 
branches relating to agriculture and the mechanical 
arts. Already excellent results are attained. 

By the provisions of the act of ]March 14, 1853, 
township boards are made bodies politic and cor- 
porate in law, and are invested with the title, care 
and custody of all school property belonging to 
the school district or township. They have control 
of the central or high schools of their townships ; 
prescribe rules for the district schools ; may appoint 
one of their number manager of the schools of the 
township, and allow him reasonable pay for his 
services ; determine the text-books to be used ; fix 
the boundaries of districts and locate schoolhouse 
sites ; make estimates of the amount of money re- 
quired ; apportion the money among the districts, 
and are required to make an annual report to the 
County Auditor, who incorporates the same in his 
report to the State Commissioner, by whom it 
reaches the Legislature. 

Local directors control the subdistricts. They 
enumerate the children of school age, employ and 
dismiss teachers, make contracts for building and 
furnishing schoolhouses, and make all necessary 
provision for the convenience of the district schools. 
Practically, the entire management rests with 
them. 



CHAPTER XV. 



AGRICULTUIIE— AREA OF THE STATE— EARLY AGRICULTURE IN THE WEST— MARKETS— LIVE 

STOCK — NURSERIES, FRUITS, ETC. — CEREALS — ROOT AND CUCURBITACEOUS 

CROPS— AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS— AGRICULTURAL SOCIETIES— 

POMOLOGICAL AND HORTICULTURAL SOCIETIES. 



" Oft did the harvest to their sickles yield, 

Their furrow oft the stubborn glebe has broke ; 

How jocund did they drive their teams afield ! 

How bowed the woods beneath their sturdy stroke." 

THE majority of the readers of these pages are 
farmers, hence a resume of agriculture in the 
State, would not only be appropriate, but valuable 
as a matter of history. It is the true basis of 
national prosperity, and, therefore, justly occupies 
a foremost place. 

In the year 1800, the Territory of Ohio con- 
tained a population of -45,305 inhabitants, or a 
little more than one person to the square mile. At 



this date, the admission of the Territory into the 
Union as a State began to be agitated. When the 
census was made to ascertain the legality of the 
act, in conformity to the ''Compact of 1787," no 
endeavor was made to ascertain additional statis- 
tics, as now ; hence, the cultivated land was not 
returned, and no account remains to tell how 
much existed. In 1805, three years after the ad- 
mission of the State into the Union. 7,252,856 
acres had been purchased from the General Gov- 
ernment. Still no returns of the cultivated lands 
were made. Lq 1810, the population of Ohiowa.s 
230,760, and the land purchased from the Gov- 



152 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



eminent amounted to 9,933,150 acres, of which 
amount, however, 3,569,314 acres, or more than 
one-third, was held by non-residents. Of the lands 
occupied by resident land-owners, there appear to 
have been 100,968 acres of first-rate, 1,929,600 
of second, and 1,538,745 acres of third rate lands. 
At this period there were very few exports from 
the fai'm, loom or shop. The people still needed 
all they produced to sustain themselves, and were 
yet in that pioneer period where they were obliged 
to produce all they wanted, and yet were opening 
now farms, and bringing the old ones to a productive 
state. 

Kentucky, and the country on the Monongahela, 
lying along the western slopes of the Alleghany 
Mountains, having been much longer settled, had 
begun, as early as 1795, to send considerable quan- 
tities of flour, whisky, bacon and tobacco to the 
lower towns on the Mississippi, at that time in the 
possession of the Spaniards. At the French set- 
tlements on the Illinois, and at Detroit, were 
being raised much more than could be used, and 
these were exporting also large quantities of these 
materials, as well as peltries and such commodities 
as their nomadic lives furnished. As the Missis- 
sippi was the natural outlet of the West, any at- 
tempt to impede its free navigation by the various 
powers at times controlling its outlet, would lead 
at once to violent outbreaks among the Western 
settlers, some of whom were aided by unscrupulous 
persons, who thought to form an independent 
Western country. Providence seems to have had 
a watchful eye over all these events, and to have 
so guided them that the attempts with such objects 
in view, invariably ended in disgrace to their per- 
petrators. This outlet to the West was thought 
to be the only one that could carry their produce to 
market, for none of the Westerners then dreamed 
of the immense system of railways now covering 
that part of the Union. As soon as ship-building 
commenced at Marietta, in the year 1800, the 
farmers along the borders of the Ohio and Musk- 
ingum Rivers turned their attention to the culti- 
vation of hemp, in addition to their other crops. In a 
few years sufiicicnt was raised, not only to furnish 
cordage to the ships in the West, but large quan- 
tities were worked up in the various rope-walks 
and sent to the Atlantic cities. Iron had been 
discovered, and forges on the Juniata were busy 
converting that necessary and valued material into 
implements of industry. 

By the year 1805, two ships, seven brigs and 
three schooners had been built and rigged by the 



citizens of Marietta. Their construction gave a 
fresh impetus to agriculture, as by means of them 
the surplus products could be carried away to a 
foreign market, where, if it did not bring money, 
it could be exchanged for merchandise equally 
valuable. Captain David DevoU was one of the 
earliest of Ohio's shipwrights. He settled on the 
fertile Muskingum bottom, about five miles above 
Marietta, soon after the Indian war. Here he 
built a "floating mill," for making flour, and, in 
1801, a ship of two hundred and fifty tons, called 
the Muskingum, and the brig Eliza Greene, of one 
hundred and fifty tons. In 1804, he built a 
schooner on his own account, and in the spring 
of the next year, it was finished and loaded for a 
voyage down the Mississippi. It was small, only of 
seventy tons burden, of a light draft, and intended 
to run on the lakes east of New Orleans. In 
shape and model, it fully sustained its name, Nonpa- 
reil. Its complement of sails, small at first, was 
completed when it arrived in New Orleans. It 
had a large cabin to accommodate passengers, was 
well and finely painted, and sat gracefully on the 
water. Its load was of assorted articles, and shows 
very well the nature of exports of the day. It con- 
sisted of two hundred barrels of flour, fifty barrels of 
kiln-dried corn meal, four thousand pounds of 
cheese, six thousand of bacon, one hundred sets 
of rum puncheon shocks, and a few grindstones. 
The flour and meal were made at Captain Devoll's 
floating mill, and the cheese made in Belpre, at that 
date one of Ohio's most flourishing agricultural dis- 
tricts. The Captain and others carried on boating as 
well as the circumstances of the days permitted, fear- 
ing only the hostility of the Indians, and the duty 
the Spaniards were liable to levy on boats going 
down to New Orleans, even if they did not take 
it into their erratic heads to stop the entire navi- 
gation of the great river by vessels other than 
their own. By such means, merchandise was car- 
ried on almost entirely until the construction of 
canals, and even then, until modern times, the 
flat-boat was the main-stay of the shipper inhabit- 
ing the country adjoining the upper Ohio and 
Mississippi Rivers. 

Commonly, very little stock was kept beyond 
what was necessary for the use of the family and 
to perform the labor on the flirm. The Scioto 
Valley was pei'haps the only exception in Ohio to 
this general condition. Horses were brought by the 
emigi-ants from the East and were characteristic 
of that region. In the French settlements in Illi- 
nois and about Detroit, French ponies, marvels of 





y 



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HISTORY OF OHIO. 



155 



endurance, were chiefly used. They were impractic- 
able in hauling the immense emigrant wagons over 
the mountains, and hence were comparatively 
unknown in Ohio. Until 1828, draft horses 
were chiefly used here, the best strains being 
brought by the "Tunkers," " Mennonites," and 
" Ormish," — three religious sects, whose members 
were invariably agriculturists. In Stark, Wayne, 
Holmes, and Richland Counties, as a general thing, 
they congregated in communities, where the neat- 
ness of their farms, the excellent condition of 
their stock, and the primitive simplicity of their 
manners, made them conspicuous. 

In 1828, the French began to settle in Stark 
County, where they introduced the stock of horses 
known as " Selim," "Florizel," "Post Boy" and 
''Timolen." These, crossed upon the descents of 
the Norman and Conestoga, produced an excellent 
stock of farm horses, now largely used. 

In the Western Reserve, blooded horses were in- 
troduced as early as 1825. John I. Van Meter 
brought fine horses into the Scioto Valley in 1815, 
or thereabouts. Soon after, fine horses were 
brought to Steubenville from Virginia and Penn- 
sylvania. In Northern Ohio the stock was more 
miscellaneous, until the introduction of improved 
breeds from 1815 to 1835. By the latter date 
the strains of horses had greatly improved. The 
same could be said of other parts of the State. 
Until atler 1825, only farm and road horses were 
required. That year a race-course — the first in 
the State — was established in Cincinnati, shortly 
followed by others at Chillicothe, Dayton and Ham- 
ilton. From that date the race-horse steadily im- 
proved. Until 1838, however, all race-courses 
were rather irregular, and, of those named, it is 
difficult to determine which one has priority of 
date over the others. To Cincinnati, the prece- 
dence is, however, generally given. In 1838, the 
Buckeye Course was established in Cincinnati, and 
l)efore a year had elapsed, it is stated, there were 
fifteen regular race-courses in Ohio. The eff"ect 
of these courses was to greatly stimulate the stock 
(if racers, and rather detract from draft and road 
horses. The organization of companies to import 
blooded horses has again revived the interest in 
this class, and now, at annual stock sales, these 
strains of horses are eagerly sought after by those 
having occasion to use them. 

Cattle were brought over the mountains, and, 
for several years, were kept entirely for domestic 
uses. By 1805, the country had so far settled 
that the surplus stock was fattened on corn and 



fodder, and a drove was driven to Baltimore. The 
drove was owned by George Renick, of Chillicothe, 
and the feat was looked upon as one of great im- 
portance. The drove arrived in Baltimore in ex- 
cellent condition. The impetus given by this 
movement of Mr. Renick stimulated greatly the 
feeding of cattle, and led to the improvement of 
the breed, heretofore only of an ordinary kind. 

Until the advent of railroads and the sliipment 
of cattle thereon, the number of cattle driven to 
eastern markets from Ohio alone, was estimated at 
over fifteen thousand annually, whose value was 
placed at $600,000. Besides this, large numbers 
were driven from Indiana and Illinois, whose 
boundless prairies gave free scope to the herding of 
cattle. Improved breeds, "Short Horns," "Long 
Horns" and others, were introduced into Ohio as 
early as 1810 and 1815. Since then the stock 
has been gradually improved and acclimated, until 
now Ohio produces as fine cattle as any State in 
the Union. In some localities, especially in the 
Western Reserve, cheesemaking and dairy interests 
are the chief occupations of whole neighborhoods, 
where may be found men who have grown wealthy 
in this business. 

Sheep were kept by almost every family, in pio- 
neer times, in order to be supplied with wool for 
clothing. The wool was carded by hand, spun in 
the cabin, and frequently dyed and woven as well 
as shaped into garments there, too. All emigrants 
brought the best household and farming imple- 
ments their limited means would allow, so also did 
they bring the best strains of horses, cattle and 
sheep they could obtain. About the year 1809, 
Mr. Thomas Rotch, a Quaker, emigrated to Stark 
County, and brought with him a small flock of 
Merino sheep. They were good, and a part of 
them were from the original flock brought over 
from Spain, in 1801, by Col. Humphrey, United 
States Minister to that country. He had brought 
200 of these sheep, and hoped, in time, to see 
every part of the United States stocked with Me- 
rinos. In this he partially succeeded only, owing 
to the pi'ejudice against them. In 1816, Messrs. 
Wells & Dickenson, who were, for the day, exten- 
sive woolen manufacturers in Steubenville, drove 
their fine flocks out on the Stark County Plains 
for the summer, and brought them back for the 
winter. This course was pursued for several years, 
until fiirms were prepared, when they were per- 
manently kept in Stark County. This flock was 
originally dei'ived from the Humphrey importation. 
The failure of Wells & Dickenson, in 182-1, placed 



'^ 



150 



HISTOKY OF OHIO. 



-7 



a good portion of this flock in the hands of Adam 
Hildebrand, and became the basis of his celebrated 
flock. Mr. T. S. Humrickhouse, of Coshocton, 
in a communication regarding sheep, writes as fol- 
lows: 

" The first merinos brought to Ohio were doubt- 
less by Seth Adams, of Zanesville. They were 
Humphrey's Merinos — undoubtedly the best ever 
imported into the United States, by whatever 
name called. He kept them part of the time in 
Washington, and afterward in Muskingum County. 
He had a sort of partnership agency from Gen. 
Humphrey for keeping and selling them. They 
were scattered, and, had they been taken care of 
and appreciated, would have laid a better found- 
ation of flocks in Ohio than any sheep brought 
into it from that time till 1852. The precise date 
at which Adams brought them cannot now be as- 
certained; but it was prior to 1813, perhaps as 
early as 1804." 

"The first Southdowns," continues Mr. Hum- 
rickhouse," "New Leicester, Lincolnshire and Cots- 
wold sheep I ever saw, were brought into Coshocton 
County from England by Isaac Maynard, nephew 
of the famous Sir John, in 1834. There were 
about ten Southdowns and a trio of each of the 
other kinds. He was ofi"ered $500 for his Lin- 
colnshire ram, in Bufi"alo, as he passed through, 
but refused. He was selfish, and unwilHng to put 
them into other hands when he went on a farm, 
all in the woods, and, in about three years, most of 
them had perished." 

The raising and improvement of sheep has kept 
steady tread with the growth of the State, and 
now Ohio wool is known the world over. In quan- 
tity it is equal to any State in America, while its 
quality is unequaled. 

The first stock of hogs brought to Ohio were 
rather poor, scrawny creatures, and, in a short 
time, when left to themselves to pick a livelihood 
from the beech mast and other nuts in the woods, 
degenerated into a wild condition, almost akin to 
their originators. As the country settled, however, 
they were gathered from their lairs, and, by feed- 
ing them corn, the farmers soon brought them out 
of their semi-barbarous state. Improved breeds 
were introduced. The laws for their protection 
and guarding were made, and now the hog of to- 
day shows what improvement and civilization can 
do for any wild animal. The chief city of the 
State has become famous as a slaughtering place ; 
her bacon and sides being known in all the civil- 
ized world. 



Other domestic animals, mules, asses, etc., have 
been brought to the State as occasion required. 
Wherever their use has been demanded, they have 
been obtained, until the State has her complement 
of all animals her citizens can use in their daily 
labors. 

Most of the early emigrants brought with them 
young fi'uit trees or grafts of some favorite variety 
from the " old homestead." Hence, on the West- 
ern Reserve are to be found chiefly — especially in 
old orchards — New England varieties, while, in the 
localities immediately south of the Reserve, Penn- 
sylvania and Maryland varieties predominate ; but 
at Marietta, New England fruits are again #>und, 
as well as throughout Southeastern Ohio. One of 
the oldest of these orchards was on a Mr. Dana's 
farm, near Cincinnati, on the Ohio River bank. It 
consisted of five acres, in which apple seeds and 
seedlings were planted as early as 1790. Part of 
the old orchard is yet to be seen, though the trees 
are almost past their usefulness. Peaches, pears, 
cherries and apples were planted by all the pioneers 
in their gardens. As soon as the seed produced 
seedlings, these were transplanted to some hillside, 
and the orchard, in a few years, was a productive 
unit in the life of the settler. The first fruit 
brought, was, like everything else of the pioneers, 
rather inferior, and admitted of much cultivation. 
Soon steps were taken by the more enterprising 
settlers to obtain better varieties. Israel Putnam, 
as early as 1796, returned to the East, partly to 
get scions of the choicest apples, and, partly, on 
other business. He obtained quite a quantity of 
choice apples, of some forty or fifty varieties, and 
set them out. A portion of them were distrib- 
uted to the settlers who had trees, to ingraft. 
From these old grafts are yet to be traced some of 
the best orchards in Ohio. Israel Putnam was one 
of the most prominent men in early Ohio days. 
He was always active in promoting the interests of 
the settlers. Among his earliest efibrts, that of 
improving the fruit may well be mentioned. He 
and his brother, Aaron W. Putnam, living at Bel- 
pre, opposite Blennerhasset's Island, began the 
nursery business soon after their arrival in the 
West. The apples brought by them from their 
Connecticut home were used to commence the busi- 
ness. These, and the apples obtained from trees 
planted in their gardens, gave them a beginning. 
They were the only two men in Ohio engaged in 
the business till 1817. 

In early times, in the central part of Ohio, 
there existed a curious character known as "Johnny 



% 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



157 



Appleseecl." His real name was John Chapman. 
He received his name from his habit of planting, 
along all the streams in that part of the State, 
apple-seeds from which sprang many of the old 
orchards. He did this as a religious duty, think- 
ing it to be his especial mission. He had, it is 
Siiid, been disappointed in his youth in a love 
affair, and came West about 1800, and ever after 
followed his singular life. He was extensively 
known, was quite harmless, very patient, and did, 
without doubt, much good. He died in 18-47, at 
the house of a Mr. Worth, near Fort AVayne, 
Indiana, who had long known him, and often 
befriended him. He was a minister in the Swed- 
enborgian Church, and, in his own way, a zealous 
worker. 

The settlers of the Western Reserve, coming 
from New England, chiefly from Connecticut, 
brought all varieties of fruit known in their old 
homes. These, whether seeds or grafts, were 
planted in gardens, and as soon as an orchard 
could be cleared on some favorable hillside, the 
young trees were transplanted there, and in time 
an orchard was the result. jMuch confusion 
regarding the kinds of fruits thus produced arose, 
partly from the fact that the trees grown from 
seeds did not always prove to be of the same qual- 
ity as the seeds. Climate, soil and surroundings 
often change the character of such fruits. 
Many new varieties, unknown to the growers, 
were the result. The fruit thus produced was 
oft^n of an inferior growth, and when grafts were 
brought from the old New P]ngland home and 
grafted into the Ohio trees, an improvement as 
well as the old home fruit was the result. After 
the orchards in the Reserve began to bear, the 
fruit was very often taken to the Ohio River for 
shipment, and thence found its way to the South- 
ern and Eastern seaboard cities. 

Among the individuals prominent in introducing 
fruits into the State, were 3Ir. Dille, of P]uclid, Judge 
Fuller, Judge Whittlesey, and jMr. Lindley. 
George Hoajdly was also very prominent and ener- 
getic in the matter, and was, perhaps, the first to 
introduce the pear to any extent. He was one of 
the most persistent and enthusiastic amateurs in 
horticulture and pomology in the West. About 
the year 1810, Dr. Jared Kirtland, father of 
Prof. J. P. Kirtland, so favorably known 
among horticulturists and pomologists, came from 
Connecticut and .settled in Poland, jMahoning 
County, with his fomily. This family has done 
more than any other in the State, perhaps, to 



advance fruit culture. About the year 182-i, 
Prof. J. P. Kirtland, in connection with his brother, 
established a nursery at Poland, then in Trumbull 
County, and brought on from New England above 
a hundred of their best varieties of apples, cherries, 
peaches, pears, and smaller fruits, and a year or 
two after brought from New Jersey a hundred of 
the best varieties of that State ; others were ob- 
tained in New York, so that they possessed the larg- 
est and most varied stock in the Western country. 
These two men gave a great impetus to fruit cult- 
ure in the West, and did more than any others 
of that day to introduce improved kinds of all 
fruits in that part of the United States. 

Another prominent man in this branch of indus- 
try was Mr. Andrew H. Ernst, of Cincinnati. 
Although not so early a settler as the Kirtlands, 
he was, like them, an ardent student and propa- 
gator of fine fruits. He introduced more than 
six hundred varieties of apples and seven hun- 
dred of pears, both native and foreign. His 
object was to test by actual experience the most 
valuable sorts for the diversified soil and climate 
of the Western country. 

The name of Nicholas Longworth, also of Cin- 
cinnati, is one of the most extensively known of any 
in the science of horticulture and pomology. For 
more than fifty years he made these his especial 
delight. Having a large tract of land in the 
lower part of Cincinnati, he established nurseries, 
and planted and disseminated every variety of 
fruits that could be found in the United States — 
East or West — making occasional importations 
from European countries of such varieties as 
were thought to be adapted to the Western climate. 
His success has been variable, governed by the 
season, and in a measure by his numerous experi- 
ments. His vineyards, cultivated by tenants, gen- 
erally Germans, on the European plan, during the 
latter years of his experience paid him a hand- 
some revenue. He introduced the famous Catawba 
grape, the standard grape of the West. It is 
stated that ]Mr. Longworth bears the same relation 
to vineyard culture that Fulton did to steam navi- 
gation. Others made earlier effort, but he was the 
first to CvStablish it on a permanent basis. He has 
also been eminently successful in the cultivation of 
the strawberry, and was the first to firmly establish 
it on Western soil. He also brought the Ohio Ever- 
bearing Raspberry into notice in the State, and 
widely disseminated it throughout the country. 

Other smaller fruits were brought out to the 
West like those mentioned. In some cases fruits 



^( s ^ 



158 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



indigenous to the soil were cultivated and improved, 
and as improved fruits, are known favorably where- 
ever used. 

In chronology and importance, of all the cereals, 
corn stands foremost. During the early pioneer 
period, it was the staple article of food for both 
man and beast. It could be made into a variety 
of forms of food, and as such was not only palata- 
ble but highly nutritious and strengthening. 

It is very difficult to determine whether corn 
originated in America or in the Old World. Many 
prominent botanists assert it is a native of Turkey, 
and originally was known as " Turkey wheat." Still 
others claimed to have found mention of maize in 
Chinese writings antedating the Turkish discovery. 
Grains of maize were found in an Egyptian mum- 
my, which goes to prove to many the cereal was 
known in Africa since the earliest times. Maize 
was found in America when first visited by white 
men, but of its origin Indians could give no ac- 
count. It had always been known among them, 
and constituted their chief article of vegetable diet. 
It was cultivated exclusively by their squaws, the 
men considering it beneath their dignity to engage 
in any manual labor. It is altogether probable corn 
was known in the Old World long before the New 
was discovered. The Arabs or Crusaders probably 
introduced it into Europe. How it was introduced 
into America will, in all probability, remain un- 
known. It may have been an indigenous plant, 
like many others. Its introduction into Ohio dates 
with the settlement of the whites, especially its 
cultivation and use as an article of trade. True, 
the Indians had cultivated it in small quantities ; 
each lodge a little for itself, but no effort to make 
of it a national support began until the civilization 
of the white race became established. From that 
time on, the increase in crops has grown with the 
State, and, excepting the great corn States of the 
West, Ohio produces an amount equal to any State 
in the Union. The statistical tables printed in 
agricultural reports show the acres planted, and 
bushels grown. Figures speak an unanswerable 
logic. 

Wheat is probably the next in importance of the 
cereals in the State. Its origin, like corn, is lost 
in the mists of antiquity. Its berry was no doubt 
used as food by the ancients for ages anterior to 
any historical records. It is often called corn in 
old writings, and under that name is frequently 
mentioned in the Bible. 

"As far back in the vistas of ages as human 
records go, we find that wheat has been cultivated. 



and, with corn, aside from animal food, has formed 
one of the chief alimentary articles of all nations ; 
but as the wheat plant has nowhere been found wild, 
or in a state of nature, the inference has been 
drawn by men of uncjuestioned scientific ability, 
that the original plant from which wheat has been 
derived was either totally annihilated, or else cul- 
tivation has wrought so great a change, that the 
original is by no means obvious, or manifest to bot- 
anists." 

It is supposed by many, wheat originated in 
Persia. Others affirm it was known and cultivated 
in Egypt long ere it found its way into Persia. It 
was certainly grown on the Nile ages ago, and 
among the tombs are found grains of wheat in a 
perfectly sound condition, that unquestionably 
have been buried thousands of years. It may be, 
however, that wheat was grown in Persia first, and 
thence found its way into Egypt and Afiica, or, 
vice versa. It grew first in Egypt and Africa and 
thence crossed into Persia, and from there found 
its way into India and all parts of Asia. 

It is also claimed that wheat is indigenous to 
the island of Sicily, and that from there it spread 
along the shores of the Mediterranean into Asia 
Minor and Egypt, and, as communities advanced, 
it was cultivated, not only to a greater extent, but 
with greater success. 

The goddess of agriculture, more especially of 
grains, who, by the ijrreeks, was called Demeter, 
and, by the Romans, Ceres — hence the name ce- 
reals — was said to have her home at Enna, a fertile 
region of that island, thus indicating the source 
from which the Greeks and Romans derived their 
Ceralia. Homer mentions wheat and spelt as 
bread; also corn and barley, and describes his 
heroes as using them as fodder for their horses, as 
the people in the South of Europe do at present. 
Rye was introduced into Greece from Thrace, or 
by way of Thrace, in the time of Galen. In 
Caesar's time the Romans grew a species of wheat 
enveloped in a husk, hke barley, and by them 
called " Far." 

During the excavations of Herculaneum and 
Pompeii, wheat, in an excellent state of preserva- 
tion, was frequently found. 

Dr. Anson Hart, Superintendent, at one time, of 
Indian Affairs in Oregon, states that he found 
numerous patches of Avheat and flax growing wild 
in the Yackemas country, in Upper Oregon. There 
is but little doubt that both cereals were intro- 
duced into Oregon at an early period by the Hud- 
son Bay, or other fur companies. Wheat was also 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



159 



found by Dr. Boyle, of Columbus, Ohio, growing 
in a similar state in the Carson Valley. It was, 
doubtless, brought there by the early Spaniards. 
In 1530, one of Cortez's slaves found several grains 
of wheat accidentally mixed with the rice. The 
careful negro planted the handful of grains, and 
succeeding years saw a wheat crop in Mexico, 
which found its way northward, probably into 
California. 

Turn where we may, wherever the foot of civil- 
ization has trod, there will we find this wheat 
plant, which, like a monument, has perpetuated 
the memory of the event; but nowhere do we find 
the plant wild. It is the result of cultivation in 
bygone ages, and has been produced by "progress- 
ive development." 

It is beyond the limit and province of these 
pages to discuss the composition of this important 
cereal ; only its historic properties can be noticed. 
With the advent of the white men in America, 
wheat, like corn, came to be one of the staple prod- 
ucts of life. It followed the pioneer over the 
mountains westward, where, in the rich Missis- 
sippi and Illinois bottoms, it has been cultivated 
by the French since 1690. When the hardy New 
Englanders came to the alluvial lands adjoining 
the Ohio, Muskingum or jMiami Rivers, they 
brought with them this "stafi" of life," and forth- 
with began its cultivation. Who sowed the first 
wheat in Ohio, is a question Mr. A. S. Guthrie 
answers, in a letter published in the Agricultural 
Report of 1857, as follows: 

" My father, Thomas Guthrie, emigrated to the 
Northwest Territory in the year 1788, and arrived 
at the mouth of the Muskingum in July, about 
three months after Gen. Putnam had arrived with 
the first pioneers of Ohio. My father brought a 
bushel of wheat with him from one of the frontier 
counties of Pennsylvania, which he sowed on a 
lot of land in Marietta, which he cleared for that 
purpose, on the second bottom or plain, in the 
neighborhood of where the Court House now 
stands." 

Mr. Guthrie's opinion is corroborated by Dr. 
Samuel P. Hildreth, in his "Pioneer Settlers of 
Ohio," and is, no doubt, correct. 

From that date on down through the years of 
Ohio's growth, the crops of wheat have kept pace 
with the advance and growth of civilization. The 
soil is admirably adapted to the growth of this ce- 
real, a large number of varieties being grown, and 
an excellent quality produced. It is firm in body, 
and, in many cases, is a successful rival of wheat 



produced in the great wheat-producing regions of 
the United States — Minnesota, and the farther 
Northwest. 

Oats, rye, barley, and other grains were also 
brought to Ohio from the Atlantic Coast, though 
some of them had been cultivated by the French 
in Illinois and about Detroit. They were at first 
used only as food for home consumption, and, until 
the successful attempts at river and canal naviga- 
tion were brought about, but little was ever sent 
to market. 

Of all the root crops known to man, the potato 
is probably the most valuable. Next to wheat, 
it is claimed by many as the staff of life. In 
some localities, this assumption is undoubtedly 
true. What would Ireland have done in her fam- 
ines but for this simple vegetable? The potato is 
a native of the mountainous districts of tropical 
and subtropical America, probably from Chili to 
Mexico ; but there is considerable difficulty in 
deciding where it is really indigenous, and where 
it has spread after being introduced by man. 
Humboldt, the learned savant, doubted if it had 
ever been found wild, but scholars no less famous, 
and of late date, have expressed an opposite 
opinion. In the wild plant, as in all others, the 
tubers are smaller than in the cultivated. The 
potato had been cultivated in America, and its 
tubers used for food, long before the advent of the 
Europeans. It seems to have been first brought 
to Europe by the Spaniards, from the neighbor- 
hood of Quito, in the beginning of the sixteenth 
century, and spread through Spain, the Netherlands, 
Burgundy and Italy, cultivated in gardens as an 
ornament only and not for an article of food. 
It long received through European countries the 
same name with the batatas — sweet potato, which 
is the plant meant by all English writers down to 
the seventeenth century. 

It appears that the potato was brought from 
Virginia to Ireland by Hawkins, a slave-trader, 
in 1565, and to England by Sir Francis Drake, 
twenty years later. It did not at first attract much 
notice, and not until it was a third time imported 
from America, in 1623, by Sir Walter Raleigh, 
did the Europeans make a practical use of it. 
Even then it was a long time before it was exten- 
sively cultivated. It is noticed in agricu'tural 
journals as food for cattle only as late as 1719. 
Poor people began using it, however, and finding it 
highly nutritious, the Royal Geographical Society, 
in 1663, adopted measures for its propagation. 
About this time it betran to be used in Ireland as 



J 



.Jk. 



liL 



IGO 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



food, aud from the beginning of the eighteenth cent- 
ury, its use has never dedined. It is now known 
in every (juarter of the world, and has, by cultiva- 
tion, been greatly improved. 

The inhabitants of America learned its use 
from the Indians, who cultivated it and other 
root crops — rutabagas, radishes, etc., and taught 
the whites their value. When the pioneers of 
Ohio came to its fertile valleys, they brought 
improved species with them, which by cultiva- 
tion and soil, are now greatly increased, and are 
among the standard crops of the State. 

The cucurbitaccous plants, squashes, etc., were, 
like the potato and similar root crops, indigenous 
to America — others, like the melons, to Asia — 
and were among the staple foods of the original 
inhabitants. The early French missionaries of 
the West speak of both root crops and cucurbi- 
taccous plants as in use among the aboriginal inhab- 
itants. "They are very sweet and wholesome," 
wrote Marquette. Others speak in thesame terms, 
though some of the plants in this order had found 
their way to these valleys through the Spaniards 
and others through early Atlantic Coast and Mex- 
ican inhabitants. Their use by the settlers of the 
West, especially Ohio, is traced to New England, 
as the first settlers came from that portion of the 
Union. They grow well in all parts of the State, 
and by cultivation have been greatly improved in 
quality and variety. All cucurbitaceous plants 
require a rich, porous soil, and by proper atten- 
tion to their cultivation, excellent results can be 
attained. 

Probably the earliest and most important imple- 
ment of husbandry known is the plow. Grain, 
plants and roots will not grow well unless the soil 
in which they are planted be properly stiiTed, 
hence the first requirement was an instrument that 
would fulfill such conditions. 

The first implements were rude indeed ; gener- 
ally, stout wooden sticks, drawn through tlie earth 
by thongs attached to rude ox-yokes, or fastened 
to the animal's horns. Such plows were in use 
among the ancient Egyptians, and may yet be 
found among uncivilized nations. The Old Testa- 
ment furnishes immerous instances of the use of 
the plow, while, on the ruins of ancient cities and 
among the pyramids of Egypt, and on the buried 
walls of Babylon, and other extinct cities, are rude 
drawings of this useful implement. As the use 
of iron became apparent and general, it was util- 
ized for plow-points, where the wood alone would 
not penetrate the earth. They got their plow- 



shares sharpened in Old Testament days, also 
coulters, which shows, beyond a doubt, that iron- 
pointed plows were then in use. From times 
mentioned in the Bible, on heathen tombs, and 
ancient catacombs, the improvement of the plow, 
like other farming tools, went on, as the race of 
man grew in intelligence. Extensive manors in 
the old country required increased means of turning 
the ground, and, to meet these demands, ingenious 
mechanics, from time to time, invented improved 
plows. Strange to say, however, no improvement 
was ever made by the farmer himself This is ac- 
counted for in his habits of life, and, too often, 
the disposition to "take things as they are." When 
America was settled, the plow had become an im- 
plement capable of turning two or three acres per 
day. Still, and for many years, and even until 
lately, the mold-board was entirely wooden, the 
point only iron. Later developments changed the 
wood for steel, which now dlone is used. Still 
later, especially in prairie States, riding plows are 
used. Like all other improvements, they were 
obliged to combat an obtuse public mind among 
the ruralists, who surely combat almost every 
move made to better their condition. In many 
places in America, wooden plows, straight ax 
handles, and a stone in one end of the bag, to bal- 
ance the grist in the other, are the rule, and for no 
other reason in the world are they maintained than 
the laconic answer: 

" My father did so, and why should not I? Am 
I better than he?" 

After the plow comes the harrow, but little 
changed, save in lightness and beauty. Formerly, 
a log of wood, or a brush harrow, supplied its 
place, but in the State of Ohio, the toothed instru- 
ment has nearly always been used. 

The hoe is lighter made than formerly, and is 
now made of steel. At first, the common iron 
hoe, sharpened by the blacksmith, was in constant 
use. Now, it is rarely seen outside of the South- 
ern States, where it has long been the chief imple- 
ment in agriculture. 

The various small plows for the cultivation of 
corn and such other crops as necessitated their use 
are all the result of modern civilization. Now, 
their number is large, and, in many places, there 
are two or more attached to one carriage, whose 
operator rides. These kinds are much used in the 
Western States, whose rootless and stoneless soil is 
admirably adapted to such machinery. 

When the grain became ripe, implements to cut 
it were in demand. In ancient times, the sickle 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



161 



was t1-ie only instrument used. It was a short, 
curved iron, whose inner edge was sharpened and 
serrated. In its most ancient form, it is doubtful 
if the edge was but little, if any, serrated. It is 
mentioned in all ancient works, and iu the Bible is 
frequently referred to. 

" Thrust in the sickle, for the harvest is 
ripe." wrote the sacred New Testament, while 
the Old chronicles as early as the time of Moses : 
" As thou beginnest to put the sickle to the 
corn." 

In more modern times, the handle of the sickle 
was lengthened, then the blade, which in time led 
to the scythe. Both are yet in use in many parts 
of the world. The use of the scythe led some 
thinking person to add a " finger " or two, and to 
change the shape of the handle. The old cradle 
was the result. At first it met considerable oppo- 
sition from the laborers, who brought forward the 
old-time argument of ignorance, that it would 
cheapen labor. 

Whether the cradle is a native of America or 
Europe is not accurately decided; probably of the 
mother country. It came into common use about 
1818, and in a few years had found its way into 
the wheat-producing regions of the West. Where 
small crops are raised, the cradle is yet much used. 
A man can cut from two to four acres per day, 
hence, it is much cheaper than a reaper, where the 
crop is small. 

The mower and reaper are comparatively mod- 
ern inventions. A rude reaping machine is men- 
tioned by Pliny in the first century. It was pushed 
by an ox through the standing grain. On its 
front was a sharp edge, which cut the grain. It 
was, however, impracticable, as it cut only a por- 
tion of the grain, and the peasantry preferred the 
sickle. Other and later attempts to make reapers 
do not seem to have been successful, and not till 
the present century was a machine made that would 
do the work required. In 1826, Mr. Bell, of 
Scotland, constructed a machine which is yet used 
in many parts of that country. In America, Mr. 
Hussey and IMr. McCormick took out patents for 
reaping machines of superior character in 1833 
and 1834. At first the cutters of these machines 
were various contrivances, but both manufacturers 
soon adopted a serrated knife, triangular shaped, at- 
tached to a bar, and driven through " finger 
guards " attached to it, by a forward and backward 
motion. These are the common ones now in use, 
save that all do not use serrated knives. Since 
these pioneer machines were introduced into the 



harvest fields they have been greatly improved and 
changed. Of late years they have been constructed 
so as to bind the sheaves, and now a good stout 
boy, and a team with a " harvester," will do as 
much as many men could do a few years ago, and 
with much greater ease. 

As was expected by the inventors of reapers, 
they met with a determined resistance from those 
who in former times made their living by harvest- 
ing. It was again absurdly argued that they would 
cheapen labor, and hence were an injury to the 
laboring man. Indeed, when the first machines 
were brought into Ohio, many of them were torn 
to pieces by the ignorant hands. Others left fields 
in a body when the proprietor brought a reaper to 
his farm. Like all such fallacies, these, in time, 
passed away, leaving only their stain. 

Following the reaper came the thresher. As 
the country filled with inhabitants, and men in- 
creased their possessions, more rapid means than 
the old flail or roller method were demanded. At 
first the grain was trodden out by horses driven over 
the bundles, which were laid in a circular inclosure. 
The old flail, the tramping-out by horses, and the 
cleaning by the sheet, or throwing the grain up 
against a current of air, were too slow, and 
machines were the result of the demand. In Ohio 
the manufacture of threshers began in 18-46, in 
the southwestern part. Isaac Tobias, who came 
to Hamilton from Miamisburg that year, com- 
menced building the threshers then in use. They 
were without the cleaning attachment, and simply 
hulled the gxain. Two years later, he began 
manufacturing the combined thresher and cleaner, 
which were then coming into use. He continued 
in business till 1851. Four years after, the in- 
creased demand for such machines, consequent 
upon the increased agricultural products, induced 
the firm of Owens, Lane & Dyer to fit their estab- 
lishment for the manufacture of threshers. They 
afterward added the manufacture of steam engines 
to be used in the place of horse power. Since 
then the manufacture of these machines, as well as 
that of all other agricultural machinery, has greatly 
multiplied and improved, until now it seems ;is 
though but little room for improvement remains. 
One of the largest firms engaged in the manufact- 
ure of threshers and their component machinery is 
located at Mansfield — the Aultman & Taylor 
Co. Others are at Massillon, and at other cities 
in the West. 

Modern times and modern enterprise have devel- 
oped a marvelous variety of agricultural implements 



162 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



— too many to be mentioned in a volume like 
this. Under special subjects they will occasionally 
be found. The former's life, so cheerless in pioneer 
times, and so full of weary labor, is daily becom- 
ing less laborious, until, if they as a class profit 
by the advances, they can find a life of ease 
in farm pursuits, not attainable in any other 
profession. Now machines do almost all the work. 
They sow, cultivate, cut, bind, thresh, winnow 
and carry the grain. They, cut, rake, load, mow 
and dry the hay. They husk, shell and clean the 
corn. They cut and split the wood. They do al- 
most all ; until it seems as though the day may 
come when the farmer can sit in his house and 
simply guide the afiairs of his farm. 

Any occupation prospers in proportion to the 
interest taken in it by its members. This interest 
is always heightened by an exchange of views, hence 
societies and periodicals exercise an influence at 
first hardy realized. This feeling among prominent 
agriculturists led to the formation of agricultural 
societies, at first by counties, then districts, then 
by States, and lastly by associations of States. 
The day may come when a national agricul- 
tural fiiir may be one of the annual attractions of 
America. 

Without noticing the early attempts to found 
such societies in Europe or America, the narrative 
will begin with those of Ohio. The first agricul- 
tural society organized in the Buckeye State was 
the Hamilton County Agricultural Society. Its 
exact date of organization is not now preserved, 
but to a certainty it is known that the Society held 
public exhibitions as a County Society prior to 
1823. Previous to that date there were, doubt- 
less, small, private exhibitions held in older local- 
ities, probably at Marietta, but no regular organi- 
zation seems to have been maintained. The 
Hamilton County Society held its fairs annually, 
with marked success. Its successor, the present 
Society, is now one of the largest county societies 
in the Union. 

During the legislative session of 1832-.33, the 
subject of agriculture seems to have agitated the 
minds of the people through their representatives, 
for the records of that session show the first laws 
pa.ssed for their benefit. The acts of that body 
seem to have been productive of some good, for, 
though no records of the number of societies or- 
ganized at that date exist, yet the record shows 
that " many societies have been organized in con- 
formity to this act," etc. No doubt many societies 
held fairs from this time, for a greater or less 



number of years. Agricultural journals* were, 
at this period, rare in the State, and the subject of 
agricultural improvement did not receive that at- 
tention from the press it does at this time ; and, 
for want of public spirit and attention to sustain 
these fairs, they were gradually discontinued until 
the new act respecting their organization was 
passed in 1846. However, records of several 
county societies of the years between 1832 and 
1846 yet exist, showing that in some parts of the 
State, the interest in these fairs was by no means 
diminished. The Delaware County Society re- 
ports for the year 1833 — it was organized in June 
of that year — good progress for a beginning, and 
that much interest was manifested by the citizens 
of the county. 

Ross County held its first exhibition in the 
autumn of that year, and the report of the mana- 
gers is quite cheerful. Nearly all of the exhibited 
articles were sold at auction, at greatly advanced 
prices from the current ones of the day. The en- 
try seems to have been free, in an open inclosure, 
and but little revenue was derived. Little was ex- 
pected, hence no one was disappointed. 

Washington County reports an excellent cattle 
show for that year, and a number of premiums 
awarded to the successful exhibitors. This same 
year the Ohio Importation Company was organ- 
ized at the Eoss County fair. The Company began 
the next season the importation of fine cattle from 
England, and, in a few years, did incalculable good 
in this respect, as well as make considerable money 
in the enterprise. 

These societies were re-organized when the law 
of 1846 went into effect, and, with those that had 
gone down and the new ones started, gave an im- 
petus to agriculture that to this day is felt. Now 
every county has a society, while district, State 
and inter-State societies are annually held; all 
promotive in their tendency, and all a benefit to 
every one. 

The Ohio State Board of Agriculture was organ- 
ized by an act of the Legislature, passed February 
27, 1846. Since then various amendments to the 
organic law have been passed from time to time as 

*The Western Tillerwaa published in Cincinnati, in 1826. Itwas 
" miscelliineouB," but contained many excellent articles on agri- 
culture. 

The Farmers^ Record was published in Cincinnati, in 1831, and 
continued for several years. 

The Ohio Farmer was published at Batavia, Clermont County, In 
1833, by Hon. Samuel Jlodary, 

These were the early agricultural journals, some of which yet 
survive, though iu new names, and under new management. Others 
have, also, since been added, some of which have an exceedingly 
large circulation, and are an influence for much good in the Stat«. 



IS) 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



163 



the necessities of the Board and of agriculture in 
the State demanded. The same day that the act 
was passed creating the State Board, an act was 
also passed providing for the erection of county and 
district societies, under which law, with subsequent 
amendments, the present county and district agri- 
cultural societies are managed. During the years 
from 184G down to the present time, great impnive- 
ments have been made in the manner of conduct- 
ing these societies, resulting in exhibitions unsur- 
passed in any other State. 

Pomology and horticulture are branches of in- 
dustry so closely allied with agriculture that a 
brief resume of their operations in Ohio will be 
eminently adapted to these pages. The early 
planting and care of fruit in Ohio has already been 
noticed. Among the earliest pioneers were men of 
fine tastes, who not only desired to benefit them- 
selves and their country, but who were possessed 
with a laudable ambition to produce the best fruits 
and vegetables the State could raise. For this end 
they studied carefully the topography of the coun- 
try, its soil, climate, and various influences upon 
such culture, and by careful experiments with fruit 
and vegetables, produced the excellent varieties now 
in use. Mention has been made of Mr. Longworth 
and Mr. Ernst, of Cincinnati ; and Israel and Aaron 
W. Putnam, on the Muskingum River ; Mr. Dille, 



Judges Fuller and Whittlesey, Dr. Jared Kirtland 
and his sons, and others — all practical enthusiasts in 
these departments. At first, individual efforts alone, 
owing to the condition of the country, could be 
made. As the State filled with settlers, and means 
of communication became better, a desire for an in- 
terchange of views became apparent, resulting in 
the establishment of periodicals devoted to these 
subjects, and societies where different ones could 
meet and discuss these things. 

A Horticultural and Pomological Society was 
organized in Ohio in 1866. Before the organiza- 
tion of State societies, however, several distinct or 
independent societies existed ; in fact, out of these 
grew the State Society, which in turn produced 
good by stimulating the creation of county societies. 
All these societies, aids to agriculture, have pro- 
gressed as the State developed, and have done much 
in advancing fine fruit, and a taste for assthetic cul- 
ture. In all parts of the West, their influence is 
seen in better and improved fruit ; its culture and 
its demand. 

To-day, Ohio stands in the van of the Western 
States in agriculture and all its kindred associa- 
tions. It only needs the active energy of her 
citizens to keep her in this place, advancing 
as time advances, until the goal of her ambition is 
reached. 



CLIMATOLOGY— OUTLINE - 



CHAPTER XVI. 

-VARIATION IN OHIO— ESTIMATE IN DEGREES— RAINFALL— AMOUNT 
—VARIABILITY. 



THE climate of Ohio varies about four degrees. 
Though originally liable to malaria in many 
districts when first settled, in consequence of a 
dense vegetation induced by summer heats and 
rains, it has became very healthful, owing to clear- 
ing away this vegetation, and proper drainage. 
The State is as favorable in its sanitary char- 
acteristics as any other in its locality. Ohio is re- 
markable for its high productive capacity, almost 
every thing grown in the temperate climates being 
within its range. Its extremes of heat and cold 
are less than almost any other State in or near the 
same latitude, hence Ohio suffers less from the ex- 
treme dry or wet seasons which affect all adjoining 
States. These modifications are mainly due to the 
influence of the Lake Erie waters. These not 



only modify the heat of summer and the cold of 
winter, but apparently reduce the proftision of 
rainfall in summer, and favor moisture in dry pe- 
riods. Xo finer climate exists, all conditions consid- 
ered, for delicate vegetable growths, than that por- 
tion of Ohio bordering on Lake Erie. This is 
abundantly attested by the recent extensive devel- 
opment there of grape culture. 

Mr. Lorin Blodget, author of "American Clima- 
tology," in the agricultural report of 1858, says; 
"A district bordering on the Southern and West- 
ern portions of Lake Erie is more favorable in this 
respect (grape cultivation) than any other on the 
Atlantic side of the Rocky Mountains, and it will 
ultimately prove capable of a very liberal extension 
of vine culture." 



^- 



^. 



-^ 



164 



HISTORY OF OHIO. 



Experience has proven Mr. Blodget correct in 
his theory. Now extensive fields of grapes are 
everywhere found on the Lake Erie Slope, while 
other small fruits find a sure footing on its soil. 

" Considering the climate of Ohio by isother- 
mal lines and rain shadings, it must be borne in 
mind," says Mr. Blodget, in his description of 
Ohio's climate, from which these fiicts are drawn, 
" that local influences often require to be considered. 
At the South, from Cincinnati to Steubenville, the 
deep river valleys are two degrees warmer than the 
hilly districts of the same vicinity. The lines are 
drawn intermediate between the two extremes. 
Thus, Cincinnati, on the plain, is 2° warmer than 
at the Observatory, and 4° warmer for each year 
than Ilillsboro, Highland County — the one being 
500, the other 1,000, feet above sea-level. The 
immediate valley of the Ohio, from Cincinnati to 
Gallipolis, is about 75° for the summer, and 54° 
for the 3'ear; while the adjacent hilly districts, 
300 to 500 feet higher, are not above 73° and 52° 
respectively. For the summer, generally, the 
river valleys are 73° to 75° ; the level and central 
portions 72° to 73°, and the lake border 70° to 
72°. A peculiar mildness of climate belongs to 
the vicinity of Kelley's Island, Sandusky and 
Toledo. Here, both winter and summer, the cli- 
mate is 2° warmer than on the highland ridge ex- 
tending from Norwalk and Oberlin to Hudson and 
the northeastern border. This ridge varies from 
500 to 750 feet above the lake, or 850 to 1,200 
feet above sea level. This high belt has a summer 
temperature of 70°, 27° for the winter, and 49° 
for the year ; while at Sandusky and Kelley's 
Island the summer is 72°, the winter 29°, and the 
year 50°. In the central and eastern parts of 
the State, the winters are comparatively cold, the 
average falling to 32° over the more level districts, 
and to 29° on the highlands. The Ohio River 
valley is about 35°, but the highlands near it fall 
to 31° and 32° for the winter." 

As early as 1824, several persons in the State 
began taking the temperature in their respective 
localities, for the spring, summer, autumn and win- 
ter, averaging them for the entire year. From time 
to time, these were gathered and published, inducing 
others to take a step in the same direction. Not 
long since, a general table, from about forty local- 



ities, was gathered and compiled, covering a period 
of more than a quarter of a century. This table, 
when averaged, showed an average temperature of 
52.4°, an evenness of temperature not equaled 
in many bordering States. 

Very imperfect observations have been made 
of the amount of rainfall in the State. Until 
lately, only an individual here and there through- 
out the State took enough interest in this matter 
to faithfully observe and record the averages of 
several years in succession. In consequence of 
this fact, the illustration of that feature of Ohio's 
climate is less satisfactory than that of the 
temperature. "The actual rainfall of different 
months and years varies greatly," says Mr. Blod- 
get. "There may be more in a month, and, 
again, the quantity may rise to 12 or 15 inches 
in a single month. For a year, the variation may 
be from a minimum of 22 or 25 inches, to a maxi- 
mum of 50 or even 60 inches in the southern part 
of the State, and 45 to 48 inches along the lake 
border. The average is a fixed quantity, and, 
although requiring a period of twenty or twenty- 
five years to fix it absolutely, it is entirely certain 
and unchangeable when known. On charts, these 
average quantities are represented by depths 
of shading. At Cincinnati, the last fifteen years 
of observation somewhat reduce the average of 
48 inches, of former years, to 46 or 47 inches." 

Spring and summer generally give the most rain, 
there being, in general, 10 to 12 inches in the 
spring, 10 to 14 inches in the summer, and 8 to 
10 inches in the autumn. The winter is the most 
variable of all the seasons, the southern part of 
the State having 10 inches, and the northern part 
7 inches or less — an average of 8 or 9 inches. 

The charts of rainfall, compiled for the State, 
show a fall of 30 inches on the lake, and 46 inches 
at the Ohio River. Between these two points, the 
fiill is marked, beginning at the north, 32, 34, 36 
and 38 inches, all near the lake. Farther down, 
in the latitude of Tuscarawas, IMonroe and ]\Iercer 
Counties, the fall is 40 inches, while the south- 
western part is 42 and 44 inches. 

The clearing away of forests, the drainage of 
the land, and other causes, have lessened the rain- 
fall, making considerable difference since the days 
of the aborigines. 




CRAWFORD COUNTY COURT HOUSE. 



PAET II. 

HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



CHAPTER I. 

PRIMITIVE GEOLOGY — PHYSICAL FEATURES OF THE COUNTY — GEOLOGICAL CAUSES AND CON- 
DITIONS— TOPOGRAPH V—ME1E0R()L0G Y. 



THERE is nothing within the scope of hu- 
man attainments more beneficial and en- 
chanting to maukhid, than to looli back through 
the mists and shadows of past years to tlie 
morning of creation, and to trace through the 
lapse of time the numberless achievements of 
the genius of man. How strangely real and 
ominous have been the quiet whispers of 
prophecy from departed years, and how the 
radiant figure of the Future has ever stood 
beckoning with fairy hands to the world from 
the fleeting shadows of coming ^ears, with the 
glad promise of " Peace on earth, good will to- 
ward men ! " Out from the gloom of the past, 
troop the sorrowing specters of desolate and 
utterh' ruined lives, and wander away in lone- 
liness before the visions of the mind, like the 
shadows of a dream. From the dark depths 
of ages, long since dead, there comes the warn- 
ing voice of a sad experience, directing human 
life and endeavor to fountains of joy far sweet- 
er than ambi'osial streams in the happy islands 
of the West. Thrice blessed is the man whose 
depth and purity of heart and mind enable 
him to see and enjoy the beautiful in nature, 
literature or art. The archaeologist wanders 
with patient step through storm and sunshine 
in distant lands, searching with mingled pleas- 



ure and toil for crumbling mementoes of pre- 
historic man. The soldier, following his flag 
on the red field of war, recalls the courage of 
the Trojan during the Heroic x\ge, and emu- 
lates his daring in the heat of battle. The 
orator, glowing with the inspiration of elo- 
quence, loves to dwell upon the grandeur of 
Oriental nations. The tireless sculptor meets 
his conception of artistic genius in the sublime 
marble of Phidias or Praxiteles. The genius 
of the mathematician is delighted, though 
baffled, by the profound problems of Euclid 
and Archimedes. The Christian looks back 
with joy over the toiling 3'ears to the pensive 
vales and winding streams of Judea, and the 
simple story of the lowl}' Nazarene cheers 
man} a weary heart with the glad promise of 
eternal life. The gra3--haired philosopher looks 
with mingled awe and pleasure upon the pro- 
found logic of the Peripatetics. The song of 
the poet, immeasurabU' beautiful and sweet, is 
but the glad refrain of the divine measure 
sung by the bards in Eastern climes, long 
years before the earth was vexed with the sub- 
lime spectacle of a crucified Savior, looking in 
pity upon the world He was dying to redeem. 
There is not a legend or poetic tale coming to 
us from the distant shore of the Dead Sea 



~7[: 






ihL 



166 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



Past that does not bear to the children of men 
some sweet lesson of social or moral excel- 
lence. It is the province of history to gather 
and record the events from which these beauti- 
ful lessons and morals are derived. 

Since the dawn of intelligence, no field of 
research has been more fruitful in affording 
bountiful evidences of the origin of animate 
and inanimate creation than the testimony of 
the rocky structure of the earth and the knowl- 
edge of the natural laws which control the 
movements of the universe. Written indelibly 
on the bright page of nature, is the wonderful 
progress of evolution from the simplest combi- 
nation of effects to the sublime mechanism that 
guides the circling spheres. The heavenly 
bodies are everywhere found to be moving 
under the guidance and control of immutable 
laws, many of which have been discovered by 
the efforts of astronomers and mathematicians. 
It seems proper, before entering upon the de- 
tailed geology of Crawford County, to give a 
brief explanation of what is known as the 
nebular Jii/put/iesis, a beautiful theory framed by 
Laplace, and one that is now generally accepted. 
This theory supposes the substance composing 
all the heavenly bodies, including the earth, to 
have been diffused in a gaseous or nebular state 
throughout all space, and that, in revolving and 
cooling through periods of time, whose length 
cannot be computed, it gradually threw off 
vast portions, in obedience to universal physical 
laws. These vast portions, intensel}' hot and 
revolving with frightful rapidity, slowl}^ cooled 
and contracted, throwing off, in turn, other vast 
portions, which, b}' a similar pi'ocess, formed 
the present solar S3'stems. So many circum- 
stances connected with the movements of the 
celestial bodies point to the truth of the 
hypothesis, that but few scientific men at present 
question its correctness. To harmonize with 
the prevailing theory, there must be found the 
logical effects inevitably resulting from the 
relations of matter and law, as laid down in the 



terms of the hypothesis. According to the 
theory, the sun was once an incandescent 
sphere whose radius extended from the sun's 
center to an indefinite distance beyond the 
planet Neptune. The earth was a portion of 
this inconceivably vast body, and all the com- 
posing elements — liquids and solids — were in 
the form of nebulce, and were heated to a degree 
unknown to present physicists. As this pon- 
derous body, sweeping onward through space 
with inconceivable velocity, and on an orbit 
whose measurement bewilders thought, slowly 
cooled, there was thrown off, from the outer 
surface of its equatorial region, a belt, which 
finally broke, and gathered itself into a ball, 
still retaining its circular motion around the 
central bod}', and gaining a new one on its axis. 
This bod}' was Neptune, and, in a similar man- 
ner, all the planets of our solar system, except 
the satellites, are supposed to have been 
cast off from the great central body. The 
planets, when first cast off, were immensel}' large 
and in an incandescent state. They, there- 
fore, in turn, while cooling, threw off other 
portions, which formed the satellites or moons 
of the planets. The earth, though first 
extending be^'ond the orbit of the moon, sub- 
sequently threw off that body, and after- 
ward cooled to its present size and condition 
of temperature. It is interesting to know at 
what stage of the cooling process the condi- 
tions of the constituent elements became 
such as to form the various compounds, such 
as air. water, minerals, animal and vegetable 
life, etc. A crust of rocks glowing with heat 
was formed upon the surface of the earth. Air 
and water appeared, and oxygen and hydrogen 
began forming their wonderful combinations. 
The earth must have presented a beautiful 
scene when the sixtj^-five simple elements began 
to unite. The thin, rocky crust was broken by 
incessant volcanic eruptions, and storms of lieiy 
lava lighted the darkness of primeval night 
with lurid flame. Water, rising in the form of 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



vapor to vast heights, became condensed, and 
was swept in great storms of wind and hght- 1 
nin- along the surface of the earth, and precip- 
itated on the red-hot rocks beneath, only to hiss 
and boil, and again rise as vapor to lofty aerial 
heio-hts. Slowly the rocks cooled, and the water 
couM finally rest upon the surface without boil- 
ino- The air was saturated with vapor, which | 
continued to rise under the combined heat of 
the sun above and the earth beneath. After a 
time, though the air was hot and poisonous, the 
water became fitted for the simpler forms of 
animal and vegetable life. Geologists have 
bestowed the name Azoic upon those rocks 
which were formed prior to the appearance of 
life upon the earth, except, perhaps, the lowest 
forms From the Azoic Age to the present, 
innumerable species of animals and plants have 
spruncrinto existence, and lived as long as the 
condiUons under which life was possible re- 
mained, after which they became extinct, new 
and improved varieties taking their place, ihe 
casts of fossiliferous plants taken from the rocks 
indicate that vegetable life began with the sim- 
plest forms, such as algae and lichens. Afterward, 
at different periods, came liver-worts, mosses, 
ferns o-round-pines, conifers, cycads, sigiUarias, 
endooens and finally angiosperms. Vegetation 
reached its greatest perfection during the Car- 
boniferous Age, when the conditions of heat 
and moisture were suitable for the luxuriant 
growth of timber, which was afterward trans- 
formed into inexhaustible beds of coal. Fos- 
siliferous casts indicate that animal life began 
with the lowest protozoans. Afterward came 
radiates, moUusks, articulates and vertebrates, 
endincT with man, the highest type of all earthly 
life °These facts are reasonably conclusive 
from the language written indelibly on the 
rocky formations of the earth. If the surface 
were level, it would be covered with water ; but 
since, among other causes, lateral pressure and 
volcanic eruptions have elevated portions and 
lowered others, the area of water is confined to 



the low land. That almost or quite all the 
surface was at some time or times under water, 
is not disclaimed by any man familiar with 
geoloo-ical evidences. The soil, wherever exam- 
ined and at whatever depth, is found to exhibit 
unmistakable indications of having been covered 
with water. There is scarcely a square yard of 
earth, stratified or unstratified, that does not 
contain the casts of vegetation and of animals 
whose life was possible only beneath the water. 
By carefully comparing the casts found in strata 
of rocks in different parts of the globe, reason- 
ably accurate conclusions are reached regarding 
the time when the different species of animals 
and plants existed, and when the various strata 
were formed. Strata of rock were formed by 
layers of the heated interior of the earth 
becoming cooled and cohering to the under 
surface of the solid crust, by streams of melted 
lava which overspread the country in the neigh- 
borhood of volcanoes, and by the more universal 
process of deposition while covered with water. 
Durino- the irregular and comparatively frequent 
upheavals and subsidences, the surface became 
covered with alternate growths of vegetation 
and strata of sand, clay or solid rock. Thus 
it is that, in digging wells or other deep excava- 
tions those materials are passed through in 
strata which vary in thickness and relative po- 
sition.* ^, . ^ . 
The lower strata of earth in Ohio were tr^t 
formed, as shown by excavations in different 
parts of the State, near the commencement ot 
the Lower Silurian, but it was subsequently, 
durin<r the Devonian and Carboniferous Ages 
that almost all the valuable beds of limestone 
sandstone and coal, were deposited. Near the 
close of the Carboniferous Age, the Alleghany 
Mountains were raised from the ocean, and all 
the area of country lying between the Mississippi 
and the Atlantic was raised above the water, 
and was never afterward submerged. This ac- 



followiDg iiages. 




168 



ITISTOKY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



counts for the fact that, with the exception of a 
small area in the southern part of the State, no 
representative formations of the Permian, Tri- 
assic, Cretaceous or Tertiary systems, appear in 
Ohio. During the Quaternar}^ Age, large quan- 
tities of sand, gravel, clay and bowlders, were 
transported from Northern localities, and de- 
posited over almost the entire surface of the 
State, often hundreds of feet in depth. Since 
that period, the only changes made in the sur- 
face soil have been constant erosion and disin- 
tegration through the agency of alternate heat 
and cold and varying degrees of moisture, to- 
gether with the change made by the addition of 
large quantities of vegetation in various stages 
of decay. This is the condition of the present 
soil. 

" Crawford County lies north from the center 
of the State, and about midway between that 
point and Lake Erie. It is bounded north by 
Seneca and Huron, east by Richland, south by 
Morrow and Marion, and west by Wyandot, and 
has an area of al)out eleven Congressional towns, 
situated so as to give it nearly the form of a 
square. Its total area of taxable land is 250,- 
491 acres, of which 123,649 are arable ; 59,871 
meadow and pasture lands, and 66,971 uncul- 
tivated or woodland. The average value, ex- 
clusive of buildings, is $31.15 per acre, and the 
valuation of real propertj^, exempt from taxation, 
is $454,213. 

'• The county lies on the summit of the great 
water-shed, embracing the head-waters of some 
of the principal rivers of the State, that leave it 
in opposite directions. In the northeastern 
corner of the county are a few small tributaries, 
that join the Huron River in a northerly direc- 
tion. Those of the Scioto and Olentangy, have 
a general southwesterly direction, until the}' are 
well oft' the water-shed and on the southern 
slope. The upper waters of the Sandusky 
River, including its tributaries, the Sycamore 
Creek, Cass Run and Broken Sword Creek, 
have a noticeable flow southwestwardly and 



westwardly, along the direction of the general 

water-shed, until the}- are outside of the limits 
of the county ; they then turn nearly at right 
angles northwesterly and unite with that river. 
The streams are generally small, yet large 
enough to afford, in favorable situations, ample 
water-power for flouring and manufactures. 
The flatness of the county, generally, except in 
the eastern tier of towns, is unfavorable for the 
production of water-powers. The rivers rarely 
strike the bed-rock, and hence, rarely have 
water-falls or rapids, that can be so utilized. 

" A general division of the county may be 
made into three nearly equal belts, running 
north and south. The most easterly of these 
belts may be described as rolling and stony, 
with frequent gravel beds and bowlders ; yet in 
the townships of Vernon and Jackson, the sur- 
face is decidedly flat. The streams throughout 
this belt have greatly increased the original un- 
evenness of the drift surface, and in some cases 
their channels are dug, not only through the 
drift, but also into the rock, to the depth of 
forty or sixty feet. At the quarry of James 
Morrow, Jackson Township, the banks of the 
Sandusky have a height of sixt^'-eight feet, six 
inches, rising abruptly from the water with a 
furtiier ascent of ten feet, within a few rods. 
Thirty-five feet of this excavation is in the 
Berea grit of the Waverly sandstone. Under 
this stone is a shale, probabl}^ belonging to the 
Bedford, which is not bituminous. The second, 
or middle belt, atFords a strong contrast to the 
last, being usually' quite flat. It is very dis- 
tinctly marked off" by a series of knobs or 
gravelly hills pertaining to the Drift. East of 
this rolling upland, the surface is apt to con- 
tinue more or less broken, producing the fea- 
tures already describad, while toward the west, 
the surface becomes ver}' soon a monotonous 
flat, with a tough and heav}' clay soil. This 
distinction is very marked in the central and 
southern portions of the county. In the north- 
ern, its uniformity is disturbed by the influence 



^ 



;r^ 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



169 



of a series of ridges vvLich intersect it ; and the 
whole northern portion of the second belt, as in 
the vicinity of New Washington and Annapo- 
lis, is undulating, with a gravelly clay soil. 
This middle belt is underlain by the black slate 
and the shale beds above and below it. The 
streams in this middle belt, though deeply cut 
in the drift, very rarely expose the underlying 
rock. The third belt lies along the west side of 
the county, and is about co-exteusive with the 
area underlain by the upper member of the 
corniferous limestone. The surface here varies 
from flat to undulating. In the southern part 
of the county, it is flat and marshy. Extensive 
prairies prevail in Dallas and Whetstone Town- 
ships. But the northern portion of this belt is 
more broken, and characterized bj' broad surface 
swells or ridges, which cross the belt obliquely. 
The features of these three belts seem to be coin- 
cident with, and doubtless are dependent on the 
nature of, the underlying rock. They are all 
confined to the surface deposits. If these de- 
posits were brought about by a uniform force, 
acting equally on all parts of the count}^, such 
as submergence beneath the ocean, the charac- 
ter of the underlying rock would produce no ef- 
fect on the distribution and character of the 
drift, especially in a count}' so level as Craw- 
ford is. The force, whatever it was, must 
hence have been something that came some 
way in contact with the rock, in order to receive 
different impressions from it. 

" As has already been remarked, the uni- 
formity of the characters of these belts is inter- 
rupted by a series of ridges, equally pertaining 
to the Drift, which cross them in a direction 
northeast and southwest. A very prominent 
ridge of drift materials enters the county from 
Wyandot County, in Section 1, Todd Town- 
ship, and runs along the north side of Broken 
Sword Creek, serving in Crawford Count}', as in 
W^'andot, as a barrier to the westward flow 
of that stream to the valle}' of the Sandusky, 
driving it far to the southwest before it is able 



to pass it. The farm and residence of J. A. 
Klink, Section 6, Liberty Township, are located 
upon it. This ridge of drift can be traced, with 
some interruptions, as far as the Indiana State 
line. It has been named the Wabash Ridge, 
from the Wabash River, which is diverted over 
forty miles from its course. In Cx'awford County, 
the drift accumulations belonging to this ridge 
are not always heaped up in one ridge, but are 
spread out into a succession of ridges, having 
the same direction and made up of similar ma- 
terials. This is particularly noticeable north 
from Bucyrus, in the township of Chatfield. 
This series of parallel ridges crosses the north- 
ern portion of Todd and Holmes Townships. 
In Cranberry Township, as it enters upon the 
rolling tract due to the underl3ing Waverly 
sandstone, it becomes confused, and cannot cer- 
tainly be identified. It lies on the north side 
of the water-shed of the State, and pertains to 
the Lake Erie Valley. 

" The soil of Crawford County varies accord- 
ing to the pi'evalence of one or the other of the 
foi'egoing varieties of surface. In the eastern 
belt, it is generally gravelly, with some patches 
of tough cla}'. In the central belt, it is gener- 
ally clayey, and needs artificial drainage. In 
the western belt, it is a clayey soil, but shows 
more gravel than in the centi-al. Tlie soil of 
the ridges above described is sufficientl}- grav- 
elly, and the surface is sufficiently sloping, to 
admit of perfect natural drainage. The prairie 
patches, situated in different parts of the county, 
are sometimes untillable by reason of poor 
drainage. The soil is here made up largely of 
organic matters in process of decay. The 
count}' originall}' was mostly covered with a 
deciduous forest. The prairies, even in Dallas 
and Whetstone Townships, have some small 
oaks and hickories scattered through them on 
knolls of coarser drift that rise above the com- 
mon plat. The following-named vai'ieties of 
timber were observed in the county, although 
the list cannot be regarded as complete . White 



k. 



170 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



oak, pin oak, swamp white oak, chestnut oak, 
chinquapin, red oak, beech, cottonwood, sugar 
maple, black cherry, butternut, black walnut, 
shagbark hickory, tulip tree, pepperidge, buck- 
eye, white ash, swamp maple, sassafras, bass- 
wood, sycamore, ironwood, blue beech, honey 
locust, elm, aspen, willow, thorn, chestnut, mul- 
berry, papaw, wild apple, wild plum, sumac, flow- 
ering dogwood, wahoo, hackberry, prickly ash 
and black haw. 

" The strike of the rock formations is north 
and south across the county, the dip being 
toward the east. The rocks of the county per- 
tain to the Devonian and Carboniferous ages, 
and may be enumerated as follows, in descend- 
ing order : 

Approximate thickness. 

Cuyahoga shale and sandstone 50 feet 

Berea grit 3-5 feet 

Bedford shale 20 feet 

Cleveland shale 50 feet 

Erie shale 30 feet 

Huron shale 200 feet 

Olentangy shale 30 feet 

Upper Corniferous (Tully and Hamilton lime- 
stones) 35 feet 

Lower Corniferous (Corniferous and Onondaga 

limestones) 75 feet 

Total approximate thickness 525 feet 

Of these the upper four belong to the Car- 
boniferous system and the remainder to the 
Devonian. 

" The Cuyahoga shale and sandstone have 
not been certainly identified by outcrops in 
Crawford County, but most probably underlie 
the flat land in the eastern part of Vernon, 
Jackson and Polk Townships. 

" The Berea grit is the most important mem- 
ber of the Waverly group. Its line of out- 
crop is marked by a series of quarries which 
crosses the eastern tier of townships, the most 
important of which are located in Jackson and 
Polk Townships. Beginning in Auburn Town- 
ship, the most northerly outcrop of the Berea 
within Crawford County is on Section 28, 



where it is found along a little creek on Sam- 
uel Hilburn's land and at the highway bridge. 
It also occurs near De Kalb, in Vernon Town- 
ship, on the land of James Coruthers. Slight 
exposures occur also on Section 19, along a 
small creek on the land of Barnet Cole and 
xidam Freeze. It ma}- also be seen on the 
land of James Campbell and Jacob Myers. 
In Section 36, Sandusky Township, it is ex- 
posed in a ravine on the farms of David Wirtz 
and Fred Beech. In Jackson Township, north- 
east quarter of Section 1, is James Morrow's 
quarry, a section of which is as follows : 

Feet. Inches. 

No. 1. Thin-bedded sandstone 8 

No. 2. Heavy-bedded sandstone 27 

No. 3. Shale (Bedford and Cleveland) not 

well seen 33 6 

Total thic'jness 68 6 

This quarry is one of the oldest in the county. 
The quarries at Leesville are about a mile 
north of the railroad station, and in the bluffs 
of the Sandusky. Those of John Bippus have 
been constantly worked for thirty or forty 
3'ears. Others at Leesville are owned b}' John 
Haller and John Newman. J. W. Shumaker 
has also opened a quarry on his land. Mr. 
Bippus' quarry, near the highway bridge at 
Leesville, is on the same horizon as that of 
James Morrow. The exposure is something 
less, and as follows, in descending order : 

No. 1. Thin beds, or flags. 1 to 3 inches 10 feet 

No. 2. Heavy-bedded sandstone 16 feet 

The beds have a slight dip eastward. Mr. 
Haller's quarry has about twelve feet exposed. 
The upper six feet are in beds of six or eight 
inches. The rest is like the upper part of 
Bippus', and on the same horizon. Mr. New- 
man's quarry is in stone about the same as 
Bippus', without exposing the heavy l^cds. On 
the southeast quarter of Section 2, Polk Town- 
ship, Thomas Park's quarry is located just at 
the point where the river, the two railroads and 




C/y7l' 



1 



I 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



173 



the higliway all cross each other. The exposed 
section here is as follows : 

No. 1. Hard-pan drift 12 to 15 feet 

No. 2. Thin, loose beds of sandstone 15 feet 

No. 3. Thick beds of sandstone 12 feet 

No. 4. Blue shale, seen 10 in. 

" The quarry of Asa Hosford is situated on 
the northwest quarter of Section 1, Polk Town- 
ship, and shows about twentN'-five feet of sand- 
stone on the same horizon as Mr. Park's. Be- 
low the sandstone, Mr. Park encounters, ace )rd- 
ing to his description, a loose, sandy bed, of a 
few feet in thickness, and of a blue color, before 
reaching the Bedford shale. Some of the quar- 
ries in the Berea, in Crawford Count}', show a 
conglomeratic, or even a coarse-grained, com- 
position. The stone is rather a homogeneous 
and moderatel}' fine-grained sandstone. Its 
thickness seems to be no more than thirty-five 
or fort}' feet. It graduates upward into a shaly 
and thin-bedded sandstone, that probably be- 
longs to the Cu3'ahoga division of the Waverl}'. 

" At Leesville, the Berea grit is underlain 
by a copper-colored and bluish shale, the colors 
of which vary in their positions. The copper- 
colored, or red shale, lies first under the sand- 
stone, the horizontality of which is not dis- 
turbed, and the color is gra}', or light blue, 
weathering to an ashen blue. This shale may 
be seen a few rods above Mr. Bippus' quarry, 
on the left bank of the Sandusky, exposing 
about fourteen feet. The shale appears to pro- 
trude upward. Tiw exact manner of superpo- 
sition of the sandstone cannot be seen, but, 
judging from the horizontality of the sandstone 
beds, where they re-appear a few rods higher up 
the river, and also on the other bank, nearh' op- 
posite, the shale looks like an isolated or lentic- 
ular mass — at least, that its upper side is 
unconformable with the sandstone beds. The 
thickness of the Bedford shale cannot be stated. 
Its identity -with the shale at Mr. Bippus' quar- 
ry is also somewhat doubtful, although its hori- 
zon is exactl}' that of tlie Bippus shale. This 



fact, taken in connection with the occurrence of 
red shale below the stone at Mr. Morrow's 
quarry, Section 1, Jackson, is strong presump- 
tive evidence of the continuance of the Bedford 
as far, at least, as Crawford County. It is also 
slightly exposed on the creek, on the northeast 
quarter of Section 2, Polk Township, near the 
highway bridge. 

•' The identification of that member of the 
Waverly group, known as the Cleveland shale, 
is not as satisfactory as desirable. Yet there 
are two exposures of a black, or purplish-black, 
shale in the county, that cannot, apparentl}', be 
referred to the great black slate of the Devo- 
nian. At James Morrow's quarry, the sand- 
stone is underlain by thirty-three and one-half 
feet of shale. Near the bottom of the sand- 
stone, this shale is red. In the bed of the 
river, thirty feet lower, it is a bluish black. It 
is supposed that about twenty feet of this be- 
longs to the Bedford, and the remainder to the 
Cleveland, although the junction of the two 
has not been seen. Similar shale is exposed on 
the farm of Mrs. Steinbach, on the southeast 
quarter of Section 12, Jackson Township, in the 
bank of the Sandusky. When it is wet it is 
black, but when dry it becomes slate-colored. 
It crumbles under the weather into pieces no 
larger than an inch across, and usuall}- less 
than half an inch, and a quarter of an inch or 
less in thickness. It shows here a very slight 
dip east, and is exposed to the amount of twenty 
feet. This must be slighth' below the horizon, 
exposed in the river at Mr. Morrow's, and will 
give as the observed thickness of the Cleveland 
in the county, about thirty- three feet. Careful 
search for fossils in the outcrop on Mrs. Stein- 
bach's farm afforded none. 

" Below the Cleveland shale there is a con- 
siderable thickness of gray material that has 
been named Erie shale. Although this shale 
has not been observed in outcrop at but one 
place in the county, it is believed to occupy a 
belt of flat land, intervening between the out- 



4 



174 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



cropping edge of the Cleveland shale and that 
of the black slate. It was struck in a well at 
twenty-eight feet, by John Shumaker, on the 
northeast quarter of Section 26, Polk Township. 
Pieces thrown out of this well have a somewhat 
firm and rock-like aspect. It glitters in the 
sun as if with minute scales of mica, and is 
speckled as if with coal. 

" The Huron shale occupies a belt about six or 
eight miles wide, running north and south across 
the center of the county. The city of Bucyrus 
is just within its western edge. It underlies 
portions of Chatfield and Cranberry and all of 
Liberty and Whetstone Townships. Although 
it may be called a conspicuous geological hori- 
zon, yet not an exposure of it is known to 
occur in Crawford Count3^ It is met with 
sometimes within the area mentioned in drill- 
ing wells, and its presence is then evinced by 
the offensive odor of the water obtained, or b}^ 
the escape of inflammable gas. In general, 
wherever the Huron shale underlies the drift, 
there is a belt of sulphur springs and gas wells. 
Such sulphur springs occur at Annapolis, and 
in the vicinity of New Washington. At the 
latter place wells dug to the rock emitted a gas, 
which accidentally took fire and caused consid- 
erable alarm by the violence of the flame. They 
were immediately filled by the ownei's. On 
Joseph Knisely's land, Section 26, Sandusky 
Township, is an unusual assemblage of natural 
gas springs. The gas accompanies the rising 
water, and is sufficient to serve for illumination, 
for which it was used for some yeai's. The gas 
is also continually escaping into the air from 
areas of ground having an extent of several 
rods square, giving the soil the appearance of 
having passed through fire, and preventing 
grass and other vegetation from growing. An 
elaborate description of the Knisely Springs will 
be found in the history of Sandusky Township, 
accompanying this work. 

" Below the Huron shale, which is black, 
tough, and bituminous, is a thickness of about 



thirty feet of a bluish and more sectile shale, 
containing less bituminous matter. It some- 
times is inter-stratified through its whole per- 
pendicular extent with bituminous beds, like 
those of the Huron shale. It has afforded no 
fossils, but holds occasional thin beds of im- 
pure blue limestone. It lies on the top of the 
blue limestone quarried in the western part of 
the county. It is not visible in Crawford 
County. 

" The name corniferous limestone has been 
applied to the limestone intervening between 
the foregoing shales and the Oriskany stoae 
that forms the base of the Devonian. It is dis- 
tinctly divisible, on palaeontological and lith- 
ological differences, into two parts, the upper 
pai't embracing the ' blue limestone,' which 
shows some relation to the Hamilton, and the 
lower part embracing the lighter-colored and 
dolomitic limestones of the Upper Helderberg of 
the Mississippi basin. They are both well rep- 
resented and favorably exposed in the western 
part of Crawford County. The former is about 
thirty-five feet thick. In Crawford County, the 
exposures of the limestones are mostly confined 
to the Broken Sword Creek. Beginning in 
Section 18, Holmes Township, the upper cornif- 
erous appears first on the land of S. F. Sawyer, 
where it has been worked a little. It makes a 
fioor-like bed to the creek, rising but few inches 
above the water along the banks. Beds are 
three to five inches thick, containing casts of 
shells and numerous crinoidal stems. C. K. 
Stevens has opened a quarry on the next 
' eight}^ ' south. About four feet of hard blue 
limestone can here be made out, although much 
of the quarry is subject to inundations b}^ the 
creek, showing a decided dip to the northeast. 
The stone is in beds of about four inches, vary- 
ing below that thickness, making a good flag- 
stone. Some of it is harsh on weathering, al- 
though plainly argillaceous and sometimes 
with vermicular or fucoidal markings. It is 
also liable to be shaly, or slaty, irregularly ; 






HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



175 



lenticular flakes cleave off. It has distinct 
purely- calcareous bands of sedimentation. It 
contains Cyrtia Hamiltonensis and a species of 
Tentaculites. It also holds casts of large coiled 
cephalopods. Its general facies is that of a 
firm limestone, nearly free from magnesia, but 
containing irony, bituminous and argillaceous 
impurities. The next quarry in descending 
the htream is that of Christian Reiff, in beds of 
the Upper Corniferous, stone undistinguishable 
from the foregoing. The quarr}' of Perry Wil- 
son is opposite that of Nicholas Poole, on the 
southeast quarter of Section 24. The stone 
here is the same, essentiall}', as that at Stevens' ; 
but is undoubtedly in a lower horizon, exposed 
six or eight feet. The Bucyrus corporation 
owns a quarr3' here in the same beds of the 
Upper Corniferous. The Upper Corniferous 
also occurs on Edward Cooper's land on th3 
northwest quarter of Section 33, Liberty Town- 
ship. It is but little opened and cannot be 
seen in situ, although there is no doubt of its 
being so. The pieces that have been taken 
out are thin and fossil iferous, spirifer mucrona- 
tus being the most noticeable fossil. Although 
the stone so far as explored here, appears 
rather slaty, it would probably become thicker 
and very useful for common building, on reach- 
ing the undisturbed bedding. The situation of 
this outcrop demonstrates either a wide detour 
westward of the boundary line separating the 
geographical areas of the Corniferous and over- 
lying shale, or an isolated area of Corniferous 
surrounded by the shale, since it is sufficiently 
certain that the black slate underlies the city of 
Bucyrus. On the other hand, the Bucyrus area 
of black slate may be an outlier only, sur- 
rounded on all sides by the underlying lime- 
stone. Besides the places above mentioned, 
there are many indications of the occurrence of 
the Upper Corniferous in the bank of the San- 
dusky, on th* southeast quarter of Section 24, 
in Dallas Township, on the land of Mi'. McXeal. 
A little below Mr. ^IcNeal's, in the same section, 



flat stone, answering to the Upper Corniferous, 
was taken out of the bed of the Sandusky in 
small quantities, about twelve years since, on 
land now owned by James Echart. The Lower 
Corniferous is also exposed in the Broken 
Sword Creek, and at Benton, in the Sycamore 
Creek. At the latter place it is worked a little 
by Benjamin Kuntzman and ^lartin Stoertzer. 
It may be seen, more or less, in the bed of the 
creek between Benton and the county line. 
Throughout this distance the exposures are so 
meager, owing to the prevalence of the drift, 
that the rock cannot be seen except where the 
water actually runs, and no reliable section can 
be obtained. It is a coarse-grained, dirty fos- 
siliferous and magnesian limestone, with consid- 
erable bituminous matter, in beds varying from 
six to twenty inches in thickness, suitable for 
abutments and heavy walls. Near Osceola the 
Lower Corniferous is considerably exposed, 
and is quarried for general building stone and 
for quicklime. The following quarries are in the 
Lower Corniferous at this place : Those of John 
Schnavely, David Schnavely, Widow Schnavely, 
Luther M. Myers, Dennis Coder, Gotleib Doer- 
©r and Joseph B. Christie. Of these, John 
Schnavely's and Mrs. Schna^ely's are in the 
upper portion of the Lower Corniferous, the 
principal fossils of which are brachiopods. The 
stone is light colored and crystalline, appearing 
somewhat saccharoidal, in beds of about three 
inches. The lime made is nearly whi:,e. but 
slightly creamy. The quarries of .^lessrs. 
Myers, Coder, Doerer and Christie, are in lower 
beds. The stone of these quarries, when fossil- 
iferous, is characterized by a profusion of corals, 
with very few brachiopods. It is biluniinous, 
and also magnesian, harsh to the touch, ap- 
pearing often much like a sandstone. It is a 
much darker colored stone than that of 
Schnavely's quarry, but the lime matje from it 
is equally white. Large portions of the stone are 
perfectly free from bituminous impurities. Such 
are especialh' the comixict coral masses which 



^ k" 



:l^ 



176 



HISTORY OF CRA.WFORD COUNTY. 



make a purely white lime. At Mr. Myers^ 
quarry these corals ai'e especially displayed, 
making the stone very irregular, both as to 
color and bedding. Although the thickness of 
the beds is usually from two to four inches, 
the}' are quite loose and often lenticular. Thick 
films and scales of black bituminous matter 
spread through it, giving rise to various local 
designations for the different portions of the 
quarr}'. In some places the bituminous 
matter is evenly disseminated through the 
beds, making the whole appear darker, even 
to a brown ; in others, it is gathered into 
scales, films and pockets, which, combined 
with the occurrence of the different corals, 
produces a very uneven and unattractive 
stone. 

" The most common aspect of the Drift depos- 
its in the county is that of a gravelly clay, else- 
where designated hard-pan. This clay not 
only embraces gravel-stones, but also bowlders 
of all sizes, and has an average thickness of 
thirty to fift}' feet. Along streams, and in all 
valleys of erosion, even where no streams now 
exist, the bowlders belonging in this hard-pan 
are made to appear superficial by the removal 
by running water of the clayey ingredients. 
Occasional exposures of the drift in fresh sec- 
tions reveal, not only a confused mingling of 
clay, stones and bowlders, but also, in some 
portions, an oblique stratification and perfect 
assortment of gi'avel and sand. Such stratified 
beds pertain, for the most part, to the upper 
portion of the drift, and specially prevail in 
the eastern or sandstone district; they give 
rise to springs of ferriferous water, and fur- 
nish that of a great many wells. As has 
already been remarked, the drift of Crawford 
County lies in ridges crossing the northern and 
central portions of the county. These are be- 
lieved to be due to the temporary halting of 
the margin of the ice-field, when it occupied 
successively those positions. These ridges are 
all situated so near each other, and sometimes 



become so involved with each other, that they 
seein to pertain to one system, or to one greater 
moraine ridge. Indeed, they are not generally 
separable, but are heaped together in one ridge, 
that which lies along the northwest side of 
Broken Sword Creek. The color of the drift is 
blue, except where it is oxidized or stained by 
iron. The blue color ma}' be seen in railroad 
cuts, as on Sections 3 and 4, Vernon, and near 
New Washington ; but generally it is replaced 
by a 3'ellowish-brown, or rarely, by a reddish 
or irony brown, as in the northeastern part of 
Auburn Township, to the depth of about fifteen 
feet, depending on its porosity or facility for 
absorbing water and air. No glacial marks 
have been seen in the county. At Leesville, in 
the southern part of Section 7, Jackson Town- 
ship, is a long and prominent ridge of gravel, 
popularly denominated a "hog's back." The 
gravel ridge has been in use for about twenty 
years, during which time thousands of car- 
loads have been taken away for the Pittsburgh, 
Fort Wayne & Chicago Railroad ; but the part 
which still remains rises forty feet above the 
surrounding level. A former spur from this, 
known as the " Cleveland Hill," rose twenty 
feet higher, but it has been entirely removed. 
This gravel ridge is a little over half a mile 
long, and runs nearly north and south, or a 
trifle east of south. The "Cleveland Hill" 
tended more easterly along the southern ex- 
tremit}'. The main line lies on the observed 
line of super-position of the Berea grit over 
the Bedford shale. The soft shale is in out- 
crop along the banks of the Sandusk}' River, 
on Section 12, within a quarter of a mile of 
the ridge, and the sandstone is extensively 
wrought about half a mile east of the ridge. 
This ridge is not bordered on both sides by 
low, swampy belts, as several others have been 
observed to be, at least it is not on the eastern 
side. On the west side there is more low 
ground, but the Sandusky River and a ravine 
tributary to it, have somewhat broken up its 



:rz 



^'- 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUxYTY. 



177 



original surroundings in that respect. The 
countr}' about is flat, or nearly so, and the 
drift is made up of the common hard-pan 
clay. 

■' The gravel of the ridge embraces a g^eat 
man}- bowlders about the size of eighteen inches 
in diameter, some also much larger. The con- 
junction of a gravel ridge pertaining to the 
Drift with the line of outcrop of two forma- 
tions, the one hard and the other soft, seems to 
indicate that, whatever the cause was, it was 



susceptible of bein^; influenced by the charac- 
ter of the underlying rock. 

'' The following list of wells will give some 
idea, both of the thickness of the Drift deposit, 
and of the quality of water found in different 
parts of the count}-. The list is selected from 
different parts of the county, in order that the 
character of water mav be known, and to show 
the soluble chemical elements that prevail in 
the three principal geological belts extending 
north and south across the count}'. 



OWNERS MAME. 



Luther M. Myers., 
Luther M. Myers. 



George Heiby 

Western House 

Hudolph Heiply 

Paul Miller 

Catholic Church 

Jacob Stoutenour 

Jacob Stoutenour 

*John A. Sheetz 

*Abram Guiss 

Jacob Hofsaetz , 

Wensel Mohr 

William Lahnian 

Jacob Bender 

Louis Weller , 

John Warner , 

Public Pump , 

J. A. Klink , 

A. V. Moffit 

Jacob ^liller 

Phillip Moffit 

George Haupt 

T. 11. B. Clutter, M. D 

John Hahn 

J. H. Brokan 

B. Heckai'd , 

Samuel Stuck 

Franklin Stuck 



Widow Bishop... 

J. Hainla 

J. Hainla 

J. J. Shumaker. 
Sim's Stable 



Todd Tp., Sec. 25. 
Todd Tp., Sec. 25. 



Liberty Tp., Sec. 14.... 

Bucyrus 

N'ew Washington 

Xew Washington 

New Washington 

Sew Washington 

New Washington 

Cranberry Tp., Sec. 14 
Cranberry Tp., Sec. 14 

Waynesburg 

Waynesburg 

Waynesburg 

Vernon Tp., Sec. 5 

West Liberty 

West Liberty 

West Liberty 

Liberty Tp., Sec. 6 

Chatfield Tp., Sec. 31.. 

New Washington 

Chatfield Tp., Sec. 31.. 
Chatfield Tp., Sec. 19.. 

Leesville 

Leesville 

Leesville 

Leesville 

Bucyrus Tp., Sec. 30... 
Bucyrus Tp., Sec. 30... 



Dallas Tp., Sec. 26. 
New Winchester .... 

New Winchester 

Polk Tp., Sec. 26.... 
Bucvrus 



6 

40 

28 
18 
34 
65 
15 

30 
30 
21 
18 
32 
13 
16 
15 
22 
40 
26 
40 
26 
37 
10 
17 
6 

14 
47 
38 

15 
43 
19 
28 
20 



14 



THROUGH WUAT. 



REMARKS. 



10 

40 

28 

18 

34 

65 

15 

14J 

30 

30 

21 

18 

32 

13 

16 

15 

22 

40 

26 

40 

26 

37 

19 

17 

23 

14 

47 

38 

15 
43 
19 
42 

20 



All coarse gravel. 



Clay, then hard-pan.... 

To the rock 

Brown loam and sand.. 



Blue clay. 



GraTel, sand and blue clay 'Good water; well, situated 

thirteen rods of the creek. 

Good water; well in creek 
bottoms. 

Good water. 

Sulphurous water. 

Good water. 

Good water. 

Good water. 

Good water. 

Good water. 

Gas; filled again. 

Gas and water; filled again. 

Good water; in gravel. 

Good water. 

Good water. 

Good water. 

Good water. 

Artesian. 

Slightly sulphurous. 

Slightly irony ; on the ridge. 
Clay, sand and gravel..! [n gravel. 



Clay 

Brown and blue clay.. 



Clay and gravel , 



ISlightly irony. 



Stony clay 

Stony clay Slightly sulphurous. 

jsiightly sulphurous. 

jSulphurous. 

Clay and gravel Good water. 

Clay and sand 'Net jood for cookinj : makes food bitter ; 

I cannot be used for tea or coffee. 

Good water. 

Clay and sand JGood water. 

Bitter water, like Stuck's. 

Slightly sulphurous. 

Blue clav and ffravel...'Good water. 



*These gas woUs burned with violence, throwing a flsiine tan or fifteen feet above the surface of the ground. 



•V 



h 



178 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COI'NTY. 



k* 



"Crawford County is also well supplied with 
building-stone, and with limestone lor quick- 
linic. The quarries in the townships of Holmes 
and Todtl not only furnish stone for building 
throughout a wide circuit of countr}', but also 
prt)duce a large quantity' of quicklime, which 
is shipped from Nevada, in AVyandot County, 
by the i>ittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago Rail- 
road. The following proximate statements of 
the annual product of these quarries in quick- 
lime were obtained from the owners : 

Bushels. 

.T. B. Christie 20,000 

Dennis Coder 4,000 

Luther M. Myers 1.5,750 

Mary Schnavely 4,000 

Schnavely Brothers 6,000 

Joiin Schnavely 20,000 



Busliels. 

Nicholas Poole 10,000 

Perry Wilson 20,000 

Total proximate annual product 99,750 

" The retail price on the ground is about 20 
cents per bushel. It is delivered in wholesale 
quantit}' at Nevada for 18 cents. If the ag- 
gregate production sells for 18 cents, the rev- 
enue amounts to about $18,000 per year. All 
the kilns used at Osceola are of the old stjde, 
requiring to be empted entirely before second 
use. By this method, there is a loss of wood 
and of labor. The following tabular view 
shows the amount of wood required per hun- 
dred bushels, at some of the quarries, and the 
weight of the lime per bushel, as nearly as can 
be ascertained : 



Perry Wilson 

Jolin Schnavely... 
Luther M. Myers. 



FORMATION. 



Upper Corniferous , 
Lower Corniferous. 
Lower Corniferous. 



Hours of 
Biirninsr. 



GO 
60 
60 



Cunls per 
100 Bushels. 



Nearly 3 
Nearly 3 
Nearly 2) 



Pavs f jr 

■\Voo(i. 



§51 7o 
1 75 
1 75 



Weight per 
Bushel. 



65 to 70 

65 



" In the southeastern part of the count^^, the 
quarries in the Berea grit have been wrought 
for about fort}' years, and have become cele- 
brated throughout a wide extent of country' for 
the excellence of the building-stone which they 
afford. Stone from Berea is, on close compar- 
ison, seen to be of a coarser grain and less firm 
than that taken from beds of the same horizon 
in the central counties of the State. The lime- 
stone sold at the quarries in the Avestern part of 
the county brings about $1 a perch, or $5 a 
cord. The sandstone taken out in the eastern 
part of the count}' brings a better price. The 
best sells for $2 a perch, while other grades 
bring but $1.50 and $1. A cheaper quality is 
sold for 50 cents per load. Flagging sells for 
from 6 to 20 cents per square foot ; a thin kind 
of walling stone for 50 cents per load. 

" For brick and common red pottery, the Drift 
clays are considerably used. These clays afford 
in all places a very fine material for these uses. 



There is probably not a square mile within the 
county where such clay could not be obtained. 
In the progress of examination, the clay has 
been found peculiarly suitable for tile and 
brick, of which large quantities are manufac- 
tured in almost every township in the county. 
Large quantities are made at Bucyrus, from a 
light clay loam, which contains no gravel, and 
of which inexhaustible supplies are found in 
the creek bottoms. The brick made are of a 
dark red color, showing no evidence of lime 
when broken. 

•' The eastern portion of the count}', espe- 
cially the rolling strip of land that characterizes 
the line of junction between the Berea grit and 
the Bedford shale, is well supplied with gravel 
and sand. These knolls are largely made up 
of stratified gravel and sand, mingled with 
Northern bowlders. One of the oldest gravel 
pits in the county is that near Leesville. Hun- 
dreds of car and wagon loads are taken from it 



HISTOKY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



179 



annually, and the supply will not fail for many 
years to come. The pit also affords large num- 
bers of Northern bowlders of all sizes, averaging 
about eighteen inches in diameter. Large quan- 
tities of excellent sand, deposited in beds, or 
banks, on the Sandusky, in the southern part of 
Liberty Township, furnish Bucyrus and all the 
surrounding country with an abundant supply 
for building purposes. Several deposits of sand 
and gravel were also noted in the flat and more 
claj^ey portions of the county ; but here they 
are much more rare and also more valuable. 
One occurs on Nathan Cooper's land, in the bank 
of the Sandusky, on the southwest quarter of 
Section 32, Liberty Township. Scattered at 
irregular intervals over the county, are found 
these gravel beds, many of which graduate into 
a fine sand, not only suitable for rough walls, 
but for the finer portions of masonic work. The 
county is well supplied with sandstone, lime- 
stone, sand, cla}' and gravel." 

There are, within the limits of the county, 
several depressed portions of land, or] basins, 
which, before clearings were made or sluices 
dug, were covered with water during the year. 
Having been in that damp condition, ver}' likely 
for centuries, they became covered to the depth 
of several feet with a vegetable mixture of 
leaves, twigs, and the root and stock of the 
mai'sh-moss. Sphagnum, in an imperfect state 
of decomposition. Peat beds are usually 
largely composed of this moss, which has the 
propertj' of slowly dying at the extremities of 
the roots. It grows in the mud and muck of 
wet land, and finally accumulates a deep bed of 
its decaying roots. The peat or other basins 
also contain large quantities of decaying vege- 
tation, washed in by periodical floods, and con- 
tributing to the peat accumulation. In the 
large marsh in Cranberr\' Township there are 
found, in some places, beds of decomposing 
vegetation to the depth of several feet, although 
the peat thus formed is im[»ure, and contains 
large quantities of earthy ingredients. Within 



the memory of middle-aged people, the marsh 
was almost impenetrable, except when frozen, 
on account of the water and mud, and, although 
many portions are yet wet and impassable, ex- 
tensive and costl}^ systems of drainage promise 
a speedy preparation of these rich alluvial 
basins for cultivation. The peat in this marsh 
when dry will readily burn, and occasionally 
catches fire, burning until extinguished by rain 
or otherwise. Owing to its impurit}- and 
meagerness, however, and an abundance of 
cheaper and better fuel, the peat is not likely to 
become utilized in this respect. 

The principal feature of this marsh in early 
years was the prevalence of cranberries, which 
gi'ew there in great abundance. The beny is a 
member of the Heath Family, and is known to 
botanists as Oxycoccus niacrocarpus. The plant 
is a creeper, or trailer, with slender, hardy, 
woody stems, and small evergreen leaves, more 
or less white underneath, with single flowers, 
borne on slender, ei'ect pedicles, and having a 
pale rose corolla. The berries, which get ripe 
in autumn, are red, with some 3'ellow, and are 
very acid. The stems are from one to three feet 
long, and the flowers are lateral, rendering eas}' 
the gathering of the berries. Hundreds of 
bushels grew annually in this marsh when 
the count}^ was first settled, and from infoi'ma- 
tion obtained from the Indian tribes, they gath- 
ered the berries for man}- 3'ears before the ap- 
pearance of white men, convcA'ing them on 
ponies to cities in Eastern and Northern Ohio, 
and even to those in Pennsylvania and New 
York. Cranberry gathering was an important 
industry to the early settler, as it furnished him 
an annual revenue, proportioned to his energ}-. 
With the price of $3 or $4 per bushel, a 
cranberr}' marsh could be made profitable 
at present, as it is done in several localities 
farther east. But tho conditions for the possi- 
ble life of the plant have been removed, or al- 
tered, and cranberries, with insignificant excep- 
tions, no longer grow in the county. They also 



±1 



:i£ 



180 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



previously grew in the Bear Marsh, in northern 
Sandusky, on the wet land in Southern Vernon, 
and on other low lands in the county, but not 
in sufficient quantity to become available or 
valuable to the citizens. In Southern Huron 
Count}'^ was an extensive cranberry marsh, a 
portion of which, comprising about 300 acres, 
lay in northern Auburn Township. This fur- 
nished large quantities of berries, and was vis- 
ited annually by scores of citizens for miles 
around. The marsh also contained peat, al- 
though not as pure nor as deep as that in Cran- 
berry Township. Sluices and trenches have 
been dug to convey the standing water into 
Honey Creek or its branches, and the marsh is 
now quite dr}', and in a few 3'ears will be culti- 
vated. In the margins of these marshes and 
other depressions in the county is found an im- 
pure bog iron ore, although not in sufficient 
quantity to become of economic value. While 
no effort has been made to extract the iron, yet 
the ore has been dug and used for roads and 
private walks. 

It is in Crawford County that the vast prai- 
ries prevailing in Western States are first made 
manifest. A large one, about thirty miles long, 
and having an average width of five or six 
miles, begins in northeastern Whetstone Town- 
ship, extending southwestwardly across Bucy- 
rus and Dallas Townships, far down into Ma- 
rion County. This large section of country 
was named " Sandusky Plains " by the Indians, 
from its proximity to the river of that name. 
Why this land was not covered with a heavy 
forest like the country surrounding it, is difficult 
to explain. The character of the soil seems to 
indicate that the plains were covered with wa- 
ter, or were at least wet, after the surrounding 
country had become dry. This is shown b}' 
the fact, among others, that the soil contains 
more decaying vegetation, and is more largely 
alluvial than in other townships in the count}'. 
These facts also imply that the plains were 
somewhat depressed, and were silt basins, in 



which were collected the washings of the sur- 
rounding soil. So far as examined, the drift 
and washed soil of the plains is deeper than in 
other portions of the county. The drift is not 
found distributed at about the same depth over 
the plains, but occurs in knolls and embank- 
ments, scattered at irregular intervals over the 
surface. These knolls were about the only por- 
tions covered with timber when the settlers first 
appeared. The other portions, notwithstanding 
their exposure to the heat of the sun, were 
quite wet, and covered with a rank growth of 
weeds, sedges and coarse grass. The growth 
of the timber in comparatively late years, was 
no doubt prevented, in a measure, by destructive 
fires, which swept over the plains annually, 
destroying the young trees, and extending far 
enough into the surrounding timber to prevent 
its encroachment on the prairie. It is likely, 
also, that the character of the soil had some- 
thing to do with the non-appearance of the 
timber. The plains are frequently crossed with 
uneven belts of woodland, dividing their extent 
into a succession of prairies. Since the coun- 
tr}^ has become well settled, and the surrounding 
timber has been largely cut away to make room 
for the farms, and since rapidly-growing varie- 
ties of trees have been planted in groves upon 
every farm, the prairie can be scarcely distin- 
guished from other portions of the county. The 
soil of the plains is well adapted for the growth 
of corn ; much better than other portions of 
the county less alluvial in nature. A dearth 
of bowlders and other surface stones on the 
plains is noticeable, and the gravel and sand 
beds occur less frequently than in surround- 
ing localities. 

Its elevated situation and proximity to Lake 
Erie give to Crawford County a fine, healthy 
climate. The rigor of winter is modified, as is 
also the heat of summer. From meteorological 
tables, it is ascertained that the isothermal line 
passing through Crawford County reaches one 
of its points of highest latitude in the county. 



r 



\A' 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



181 



showing a temperature corresponding to that 
In other localities about 100 miles south. A 
great difference is noticed in the Michigan Pen- 
insula, where the temperature in the center of 
the State corresponds with that in Northern In- 
diana. Palmetto, and other timber growing in 
the warm climate of the Southern States, has 
been found in Northern Ohio, near Lake Erie, 
and far up into Michigan, giving unmistakable 
proof of the mildness of the climate, even if 
other proof wex'e lacking. The climate near 
these bodies of water is less subject to great 
and sudden extremes of heat and cold than 
country farther removed from such water. The 
mildness and salubrity are undoubtedly due to 
the proximity of the lakes, which temper the 
cold of winter and the heat of summer. Phys- 
icists account for this phenomenon by the state- 
ment that large bodies of water during the 
summer absorb the heat poured b}' radiation 
into the atmosphere from the heated land near 
the water, and that, during the winter, the water 



slowly parts with its latent heat accumulated 
in hot weather. Crawford County shares, in a 
measure, the mildness of climate due to the 
modifying influence of the lakes. Although 
the county is somewhat removed from the lake 
shore, yet thermometers show a comparatively 
equable temperature. The uniformity of the 
climate, however, is not so perfect as in counties 
bordering on the lake. A failure to record 
meteorological phenomena in the county pre- 
vents an accurate knowledge of the state of the 
weather in past years. 

The mean temperature for the winter months 
at Urbana is 28.75°, while that for the summer 
is 71.11°, giving a mean for the whole time, 
with observations taken during six months of 
each year, of 50°. It will also be seen that 
the greatest cold recorded was 17° below zero, 
and the greatest heat 95° above the same 
point. 

The following table is taken from the report 
of the Secretary of State for 1877 :* 





JANIARY. 


FEBRUARY. 


DF.CEMBEB. 




TEAB. 


a 

3 

a 

'S 


1 
1 


a 


a 

1 


a 

s 

s 


a 
<e 

1 


a 

s 

a 
i 


a 

3 
c! 


a 


i S 


1835 


4 
5 

14 
5 
6 

11 
5 
4 

14 


51 
46 
57 
55 
61 
57 
42 
54 
41 


31.69 
22.53 
33.97 
33.81 
29.55 
29.11 
18.55 
29.90 
19.08 


17 

10 
9 

16 
5 

2 
7 

16 


46 
52 
63 
55 
52 
66 
50 
55 
64 


20.06 
41.10 
36.36 
32.61 
22.53 
30.61 
30.08 
29.07 
19.04 


10 
5 
4 
9 
6 
5 
1 

12 



63 
62 
46 
56 
50 
43 
64 
53 
69 


29.66 
29.91 
23.94 
31.29 
28.77 
26.23 
31.30 
26.93 
38.78 


27.14 


1840 


31.18 


1845 


31.42 


1850 


32.57 


1855 


26.95 


I860 


28.65 


1865 


27.11 


1870 


28.63 


1875 


25.63 






Means 






27.58 






29.05 






29.65 


28.78 



It will be observed from the above table 
that the means, except in the last column, are 
for the entire month during the year at the left ; 
and also, that those in the last column are for the 
three winter months during each year, wliilc 
the figures below each column of means give 



the total for the whole time from a quinquen- 
nijil statement. The following table for the 
summer months during the same years is ob- 
tained from the same report as the above :")" 



♦From records kept by Jud^e Reynolds and others. 
fFroni the records of Milo G. W'illiams. 



J^ 



18i 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



YEAR. 



183o. 
1840. 
1845. 
18.>0. 
1855. 
18*50. 
18t)5. 
1870. 
1875. 



Menns. 69.64 



80 
84 



94 
93 
90 
93 
90 



45 
45 
48 
45 
41 
46 
50 
51 
44 



67.98 
67.23 
70.02 
70.75 
67.12 
69.77 
74.50 
70.79 
68.60 



84 



90 
95 
90 
94 
94 
92 



44 

48 
49 
57 
55 
48 
48 
58 
55 



68.81 
69.94 
71.69 
76.56 
75.08 
72.73 
71.81 
76.26 
73.37 



82 
90 
85 
87 
92 
92 
88 
95 
85 



72.92 70.7 



49 
48 
54 
50 
46 
44 
44 
50 
49 



66.64 
68.58 
74.32 

72 68 
72.50 
71.68 
69.70 

73 13 
67.81 



67.81 
68.58 
72.01 
73.38 
71.57 
71.39 
72.00 
73.39 
69.93 

71.11 



The observations for both of the above 
tables were made at Urbana, Ohio, with an or- 
dinary thei'mometer. It will be noticed that 
the mean temperature for each month during 
the nine years given is quite uniform^ varying 
but little through the lapse of nearl}' half a 
century. The uniformity of the temperature 
nearer the lakes is more noticeable, and does 
not show as great a divergence between winter 
and summer as is shown bj the tables above. 

The elevated situation of the county, on the 
" backbone " of Ohio, is favorable for an ob- 
servance of the direction, force and velocity of 
the wind. The healthfulness of any locality is 
largel}' dependent upon the purity and force of 
the wind ; and, since observations have estab- 
lished the fact that the motion of the air may 
be ascertained for from six to forty-eight hours 
in advance, the knowledge becomes of great 
value in serving to prevent loss of life and 
property in all parts of the country, and espe- 
ciallj' so on the lakes and oceans. Hence it is 
that extensive signal S3'stems have been de- 
vised and put in operation on the shores of all 
the great lakes and on every sea coast. From 
measurements made bj' different railroad com- 
panies in the count}^, Bucyrus is found to be 
elevated 434 feet above Lake Erie and 1,009 
feet above the Atlantic Ocean. It is not the 
highest point in the count}', however, Crestline 
being 1,176 feet above the ocean, and Gallon 



1,171. vSubtracting from these figures 575 feet, 
the assumed elevation of the lake above the- 
ocean, will give the elevation of the last two 
cities above Lake Erie. From observations 
made at eight points in Ohio, it is ascertained 
that the prevailing direction of the wind is 
from the southwest and west, although during 
the past year, as shown by the report of the 
Secretar}' of State, it has been from the south- 
east at Cincinnati. The approximate move- 
ment of the atmosphere per annum is about 
50,000 miles, with a mean hourly velocity of 6 
miles. March is found to be the windiest 
month, while August is the quietest. The 
humidity of the air varies with the direction 
and character of the wind. The majority of 
heav}' storms of wind and rain come from the 
southwest, and the height of mercury in the 
barometer varies about two inches, but the an- 
nual variation is usually less than this. The 
mean height during the last year was 30.063 
inches. Winds from across Lake Erie usually 
contnin a large percentage of moisture, varying 
with the season and the slant of the wind. 
Except in times of unusual storms, the veloc- 
ity of the wind rarely exceeds thirty miles per 
hour. It is probable that the county is too far 
removed from the lake shore to be swept by 
what are known as " sea breezes." Winds thus 
created b}^ a relative change in the temperature 
of the atmosphere covering large bodies of 



f* 



JJ^l 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



183 



water and the neighboring land, made by une- 
qual powers of radiatiou during the day and 
night, are usually laden with moisture, and are 
extremely icy and cold. These winds from 
the north sweep over Crawford County oftener 
and with greater velocity during the winter 
and spring months than at other seasons 
of the year. The county has been visited by 
several tornadoes during past years. One of 
these swept across the northern tier of town- 
ships about the beginning of the present cen- 
tury. It must have swept everything before 
it, as, when the first settlers arrived, in about 
1820, no large trees were standing in its 
course, and the ground was strewn with de- 
caying timber that had been torn asunder and 
broken off by the fury of the wind. The 
ground was covered with a heavy gi'owth of 
young timber. Another storm of later occur- 
rence passed across Whetstone Township, and 
was seen by several old settlers yet living. A 
description of this storm will be found in the 
history of the above township. Both of these 
storms came from the southwest. Other winds 
of less intensit}' have visited the county with 
a greater or less loss of property, and the 
future will likely bring many others. Every 
citizen should provide himself with a good 
barometer in order to avoid the unexpected 
appearance of gi*eat storms of wind and 
rain. 

The winds most likely to be followed by a 
precipitation of rain or snow are those var^'ing 
from southeast to southwest. The annual 
range of the barometer at Cincinnati during 
the past year was 1.318 inches. The barome- 
ter rai-ely fails to give warning of the approach 
of storms, and, if its language was alwavs 
heeded, thousands of dollars could be saved 
annually to the citizens throughout the coun- 
try. Localities with telegraphic communica- 
tion can readily receive the knowledge of an 
appi'oaching change of weather as soon as such 
knowledge becomes known ; but other sections 



lack the means of obtaining such information, 
and consequently are the oftenest to lose prop- 
erty and life because of their inability to learn 
of coming storms. A barometer, costing but 
a few dollars, would give the desired informa- 
tion, and, in the aggregate, prevent the loss of 
valuable property. 

A singular occurrence connected with the 
fall of rain and snow during the year is, that 
the quantity falling each 3'ear at any localit}- is 
about the same. The amount varies but few 
inches from 3'ear to year, and it is noticed that 
in almost everj- case heav^' and continuous rains 
during a portion of the year are followed by a 
lack of rain during the remainder. If the spring 
is unusually wet, one of the other seasons will 
be correspondingly dr}'. This uniformity of rain 
in an^' given locality is difficult to explain. 
When the air is motionless, and saturated with 
moisture, the evaporation from the earth under- 
neath is decreased. The greater the amount of 
water in the soil and on the surface, the greater 
will be the quantity' evaporated, other things 
being equal. It follows that, after the soil is 
soaked with water by incessant rains, the atmos- 
phere above becomes thoroughlv saturated, and> 
consequeutl}', much cooler, owing to the absorp- 
tion of heat during the process of evaporation. 
It also follows from these facts that the presence 
of so much moistui'e above prevents the wind 
from setting in toward that locality, and, conse. 
quently, prevents the further fall of rain. On 
the contrary-, the winds charged with rain-clouds 
blow from that locality to others where the 
atmosphere is lighter, and where the season has 
been dry. This leaves the locality above men- 
tioned without rain until the temperatui'e has 
become warm, and the relative humidity between 
that and surrounding sections of country has 
become reversed, when rain clouds again appear, 
and the same phenomena are repeated. This 
will account, in a measure, for the uniformity of 
the fall of rain at any locality during the year. 
Other circumstances, no doubt, influence and 



184 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



vary the causes referred to, although the latter 
may be regarded as primary. No record of the 
annual fall of rain, so far as known, has been 
kept in Crawford County. That at Urbana, 
Ohio, for the past twenty-eight years, including 
melted snow, has been 39f inches. This will 
give the proximate fall in the county, although 
the mean fall may vary several inches from that 



figure. No figures can be given as to the prob- 
able fall during any season of the year, the 
quantity being subject to variation from local 
causes. The following comparative table, show- 
ing the annual amount of water from rain and 
melted snow, in inches, at several stations in 
Ohio, for ten years, was prepared by Milo G. 
Williams, of Urbana, Ohio : 



STATIONS. 


1867 


1868 


1869 


1870 


1871 


1872 


1873 


1874 


1875 


1876 


Cincinnati 


28.91 
45.01 
46.70 
31.86 
32 83 
22.08 
8106 
40.90 
34.93 


41.60 
45.09 
50.03 
46.31 
36.03 
20.16 
4294 
45.21 
40.92 


39.84 
41.85 
42.86 
42.71 
39 02 
37.44 
42.25 
49.14 
41.89 


28.03 
40.86 
40.18 
32.30 
46.96 


35.64 
31.11 
29.02 
30.64 
32.78 


82 54 
31.13 
82.86 
28.53 
37.74 


32.78 
45.49 
47.98 
37.17 
41.40 
42.23 
35.88 
47.20 
41.20 


33.38 
38.32 
39.57 
34.03 
38.43 
34.74 
25.81 
44.45 
36.09 


41.04 
45.71 
46.05 
43.16 
39.78 
29.40 




Portsmouth 


41.22 


M ariet ta 


48.19 


Urban a 


41 93 


Cleveland 


45.22 


Hudson 


36.45 


Toledo 


32.84 
GO 28 
40.22 


28.72 
36.60 
32.07 


28.53 
80.35 
31.60 




Little Mountain 


60 45 
48.66 


48.08 


Mean 


43.52 



CHAPTER II. 

THE MOUND BUILDERS — WYANDOT AND OTHER INDIAN TRIBES — THE BORDER WARS- 
FORD'S CAMPAIGN AGAINST SANDUSKY— PERSONAL ADVENTURE— JOHN ROSE. 



-CRAW- 



"Lo! the poor Indian, whose untutored mind, 
Sees God in clouds and hears Him in the wind." 
ry^HE lack of mounds and other evidences 
_L of the presence of a semi-barbarous race 
in Crawford County, before the Indian first 
lighted his camp-fires on the prairie, or in the 
forest of the Western Continent, has led archae- 
ologists and antiquarians to the conclusion 
that the county was a portion of the neutral 
ground which separated the hosts of two or 
more hostile nations of Mound Builders. Tliat 
a strange and partially uncivilized people re- 
sided throughout all the countr}-, in times 
which ante-date the Indian's occupancy of the 
soil, is established by conclusive evidence, aside 
from the denial of the Indian races, of their 
having had any participation in the erection of 
the approximate 10,000 mounds scattered 
througliout the continent. In several places in 



Crawford Count}', the earl}' settlers found ob- 
scure and imperfect artificial earth embank- 
ments, which, in all probability, were thrown 
up by the Indians and not the Mound Build- 
ers. One of these is located on Broken Sword 
Creek, in Holmes Township, although nothing 
now remains but an irregular and barely noticea- 
ble ridge. If the county was between two 
opposing tribes at war, it was, undoubtedly, 
the scene of frequent battles, where the fate of 
primitive nations was decided. The soil gives 
no word of encouragement to such a thought, 
which is purely speculative. The mounds and 
their contents, however, speak plainly as to the 
characteristics of this strange people, although 
nothing is suggested to lead the miud to a 
knowledge of their origin or final destiny. 
Some authorities have suggested that the 
Mound Builders ultimately deteriorated into 



fk 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



185 



the ancestors of the Indian races ; but the ma- 
jority of intelligent writers on the subject dis- 
courage such a view, and present facts going 
to show that an interval of many centuries 
elapsed after the disappearance of the Mound 
Builders, and before the appearance of the 
Indian. There is no evidence showing that the 
Mound Builders ever had a written language ; 
and the only testimony of their presence and 
attainments is found in the various mounds, 
which are fast disappearing before the march 
of Time, the infinite iconoclast. From their 
works must be derived the solution of their 
history, habits, customs, their mode of life and 
degree of civilization, their knowledge of the 
arts of peace and war, and their ultimate fate, 
whether by extinction through war, famine or 
pestilence, or whether they became the ances- 
tors of the succeeding Indian races. 

Although Crawford County contains no 
mounds, or other works of the Mound Builders, 
yet, since research has thrown so much light 
upon their lives and customs and aroused so 
much interest among scientists, a brief state- 
ment will be given of the progress that has 
been made in this branch of archaeological re- 
search. The mounds have been divided into 
mounds proper, effigies and inclosures. Mounds 
proper are subdivided into sepulchral, temple, 
sacrificial, memorial and observator3^ Effigies 
are divided into animal, emblematic and sym- 
bolical. Inclosures are military, covered or sa- 
cred.* The most of the above works were con- 
structed of earth, a few of stone, and a fewer 
still of earth and stone combined. Sepulchral 
mounds are usuall}' conical, and some of them 
are seventy feet in height. They are more 
numerous than any other kind, and, beyond 
doubt, were used as memorials over the dead. 
Within these mounds, implements and orna- 
ments are often found, supposed to have been 
placed there when the individual was buried, 
for use in the Spirit Land. Ashes and charcoal 

*Isaac Smucker, in Ohio Statistics. 



are often found in proximity to the skeleton 
under conditions which render it probable that 
fires were used in the burial ceremony. With 
the skeletons are often found specimens of 
mica, pottery, bone and copper beads and bones. 
The skeletons found in each mound are usually 
limited in number, although a mound in Lick- 
ing Count}' contained fifteen, and one in Har- 
din County contained three hundred. Colonel 
Whittlesey and others entertain the opinion, 
however, that the skeletons belonged to the In- 
dians, who had used the mounds for burial pur- 
poses. Temple mounds are few in number, and 
are ordinarily circular. They are invariably 
truncated, and are often surrounded with em- 
bankments, inclined planes, or spiral pathways 
or steps, leading to the summit. It is supposed 
that these elevations were surmounted with 
wooden temples, all traces of which have been 
removed by the ravages of time. These 
mounds and the buildings at their summits 
are thought to have been erected for religious 
purposes. Sacrificial mounds are ordinarily 
stratified, with convex layers of clay and loam 
above a stratum of sand. They contain ashes, 
charcoal, igneous stones, calcined animal bones, 
beads, stone implements, pottery and specimens 
of rude sculpture. Altars of igneous clay or 
stone are often found. Evidences of fire upon 
the altars yet remain, showing that various ani- 
mals and probably human beings were im- 
molated to secure the favor of the Great Spirit. 
These mounds infrequentl}' contain skeletons, 
together with implements of war ; mica from 
the AUeghanies ; shells from the Gulf of Mex- 
ico; obsidian of different colors, red, purple 
and green varieties of porphyry, and silver, 
copper and other metallic ornaments and uten- 
sils. Mounds of observation were apparently 
designed for alarm-towers or signal stations. 
Some writers have fancied that they " occur in 
chains, or regular systems, and that many of 
them still bear traces of the beacon fires that 
were once burning upon them.'' The}' are often 



186 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



found built like towers from the summits of 
embankments surrounding inclosures. One of 
the latter, in Licking County, has a height of 
twenty-five feet. "Along the Miami River," 
says Judge Force, " are dotted small mounds or 
projecting highlands, which seems to have been 
built to carry intelligence by signals along the 
valley." Memorial mounds ax-e of that class of 
tumuli intended to commemorate some impor- 
tant event, or to perpetuate the memory of 
some distinguished character. xMost of the 
stone mounds belong to this class, and usually 
contain no bones, for the supposed reason that 
the mounds were erected to perpetuate great 
events, and not to be used as sepulchers. They 
are thought to be coincident in design with the 
Bunker Hill Monument, and with the beautiful 
marble column on the field of (lettN'sburg. 

Effigies are elevations of earth in the form of 
men, beasts, birds, reptiles, and, occasionally, of 
inanimate objects, varying in height from one 
foot to six feet above the surrounding surface, 
and often covering many acres of land. Mr. 
Schoolcraft expresses the belief that this class 
of mounds was designed for " totems " or tribu- 
lar symbols ; while Prof Daniel Wilson and 
other writers of distinction entertain the opin- 
ion that they were erected in accordance with 
the religious belief of the various tribes of 
Mound Builders who worshiped, or in some 
way venerated, the animals or objects repre- 
sented by the elevations. A large mound near 
Newark represents a bird of enormous size, 
with its wings outspread, in the act of flight. 
Its length is about 200 feet. An excavation in 
this effig}- disclosed a clay and stone altar, upon 
which were evidences of fire, together with 
ashes and charcoal. The surroundings indicated 
that the altar had been used for sacrificial of- 
ferings. Another mound near Newark repre- 
sents a huge alligator having a total length of 
200 feet. Prof Daniel Wilson believes that it 
" sj'mbolizes some ol)ject of special awe and 
veneration, thus reared on one of the chief 



' high places' of the nation, with its accompany- 
ing altar, upon which these ancient people of 
the valley could witness the celebration of the 
rites of their worship, its site having been 
obviously selected as the most prominent fea- 
ture in a populous district, abounding with 
military, civic and religious structures." The 
most remarkable mound in Ohio is in Adams 
County. Its form is that of an enormous ser- 
pent, more than a thousand feet in length, with 
body in graceful, anfractuous folds, and tail 
ending in triple coils. The greatest width of 
the body is thirty feet, and the effigy is elevated 
about five feet above the surrounding soil. 
" The neck of the figure," says the American 
Cyclopaedia, " is stretched out and slightly 
curved, and the mouth is opened wide, as if in 
the act of swallowing or ejecting an oval figure, 
which rests partly within the distended jaws. 
The. combined figure has been regarded by 
some as a representation of the oriental cosmo- 
logical idea of the serpent and the egg." 

Defensive inclosures are irregular in form, 
and are always on high ground, in positions 
difficult to approach by a savage foe. " The 
walls," says the American C3'clopoedia, "gener- 
ally wind around the borders of the elevations 
they occupy, and, when the nature of the ground 
renders some points more accessible than others, 
the height of the wall and the depth of the 
ditch at those weak points are pi'oportionally 
increased. The gateways are narrow and few 
in number, and well guarded by embankments 
of earth, placed a few j'ards inside of the open- 
ings or gatewaj's, and parallel with them, and 
projecting somewhat beyond them at each end, 
thus fully covering the entrances, which, in some 
cases, are still further px'otected bj^ projecting 
walls on either side of them. These works are 
somewhat numerous, and indicate a clear appre- 
ciation of the elements, at least, of fortification, 
and unmistakabh' point out the purpose for 
which they were constructed. A large number 
of these defensive works consist of a line of 



^ 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



187 



ditches and embankments, or several lines car- 
ried across the neck of peninsulas or bluff 
headlands, formed within the bends of streams 
— an easy and obvious mode of fortification^ 
common to all rude peoples." Man}- defensive 
mounds are found in Ohio, and the most notice- 
able one is in Warren County. The embank- 
ments are nearly four miles in length, varying 
in height from ten to twenty feet, to accord with 
the locality to be protected, and inclose several 
hundred acz'es. Covered ways, or parallel walls, 
are often found, either connecting different in- 
closures, or portions of the same. The}^ were 
undoubtedly designed to protect those passing 
back and forth within. There are large num- 
bers of sacred inclosures of almost every con- 
ceivable shape, and many of them were de- 
signed with surprising geometrical accurac}'. 
Some archaeologists maintain that many of the 
so-called sacred inclosures were intended and 
used for national games and celebrations, and 
it is probable that those without the altar were 
used as such. 

The mounds and their contents afford abun- 
dant opportunity to speculate as to the character 
and customs of the ancient people, of whom 
nothing is left save their crumbling habitations. 
They were unknown to the Indians, whose 
traditions I'eveal nothing of the Mound Build- 
ers' histor}', which will forever remain unwrit- 
ten and unknown. They were a numerous 
people, as is clearly proved by the magnitude 
and elaboration of their works. The}- were 
unquestionably subservient to rulers, or supe- 
riors, who had power to enforce the erection of 
gigantic structures, which, considering the 
semi-barbarous condition of the people, their 
lack of suitable implements of labor, and their 
imperfect and insufficient knowledge of me- 
chanical principles, are surprisingly vast in ex- 
tent and ingenious in design. Their works in- 
dicate that the people were war-like ; that the}- 
were familiar with man}' mathematical and me- 
chanical rules ; that they were religious and 



probably idolatrous, as the effigies and sacred 
structures imply ; that they were skilled in the 
manufacture of bone and metallic ornaments 
and pottery ; that they had attained no little 
degree of perfection in the working of metals ; 
and that they were essentially homogeneous in 
customs, pursuits, religion and government. 
They were unquestionably well advanced in 
many of the arts of civilization. They of ne- 
cessity were an agricultural people, being too 
numerous to live by the chase alone. Super- 
stitious and uninformed, they offered burnt and 
other sacrifices and oblations to both good and 
bad spirits. Dr. Foster said that they wor- 
shiped the elements, such as fire, air and 
watei' — ^that they worshiped the sun, moon 
and stars, and offered human sacrifices to the 
gods they worshiped. Their origin and ulti- 
mate fate are enveloped in obscurity. It is 
thought by many intelligent writers that they 
were the progenitors of the Aztecs and Peru- 
vians, found upon the shores of the New World 
when first visited by white men from Europe. 
It is thought that they were members of the 
same great family. However, authorities are 
widely at variance in their opinions regarding 
the origin of this strange people. But little 
can ever be known of their history ; yet 
throughout all the future, the civilized world 
will look with awe upon the decaying remnants 
of their works, and weave the bright fabric of 
romance about their mysterious lives. 

When the Indian first appeared upon the 
Western Continent is unknown ; and his origin, 
like that of the Mound Builder, lies largely 
within the province of speculation. When 
Europeans first came to the country, the In- 
dians were found in possession of the soil, and 
their rude camp fires were burning on every 
stream. The most of their villages were tem- 
porary, depending for location upon the preva- 
lence of game, upon which the people largely 
subsisted. Sometimes their towns remained 
unchanged for scores of years, becoming popu- 



188 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



lous and opulent. During the latter half of the 
last century, or about the time of Col. Bouquet's 
expedition to their towns in Ohio, among others 
there were found the following tribes of Indians 
living in what afterward became the State of 
Ohio : The Wyandots (called Hurons by the 
French), the Delawares and Shawanese (both of 
the Algonquin group), the Miamis (also called 
Twigtwees), the Mingoes (a branch of the Iro- 
quois or Six Nations), and the Ottawas and 
Chippewas. The Wyandots occupied the 
country in the vicinit}' of the Sandusky River. 
The Delawares were established on the Mus- 
kingum and Tuscarawas Rivers, and a few other 
places. The Shawanese were chiefly found on 
the Scioto and Mad Rivers, and at few other 
points. The Miamis were on the Great and Little 
Miami Rivers. The Mingoes were in great force 
at Mingo Bottom, on the Ohio River, and at sev- 
eral other points in Ohio. The Ottawas occu- 
pied the valley's of the Maumee and Sandusky 
Rivers, and the Chippewas, few in number, were 
confined to the southern shore of Lake Erie. 
By the provisions of the treaty at Fort Mcin- 
tosh in 1785, the Ottawas, Wyandots and Dela- 
wares wei-e assigned territory in Northern Ohio, 
west of the Cuyahoga River. 

The WA'andots, as indicated by the idioms 
and other characteristics of their language, 
were related to the Iroquois or Six Nations ; 
but, about the middle of the seventeenth cen- 
tur}', the3' embraced the religious faith of the 
Roman Catholics, and for some reason unknown 
severed their connection with their relatives, 
the Iroquois, and cast their lot with the power- 
ful Algonquins.* Their original residence was 
in Canada, some authorities fixing their loca- 
tion on Georgian Bay, and others, as Mr. 
Schoolcraft, on Montreal Island. Their num- 
ber is estimated to have been about 40,000 
souls. Some time after this they became in- 
volved in a war with the Iroquois, by whom 
they were nearly exterminated, after which, 

♦American Cyclopedia. 



they removed first to Charity Island, and after- 
ward to Quebec. They were found south of 
the Great Lakes in 1660, by some French 
traders, and ten years later, having become in- 
volved in a war with the powerful Sioux, they 
removed to Michilimackinac, and were accom- 
panied by Father Marquette. Afterward thej^ 
established themselves at Detroit, their hunting- 
grounds extending into Northern Ohio. Rem- 
nants of the tribe were yet in Canada, while 
that at Detroit, in 1778, was estimated to con- 
tain about 180 warriors. In 1829, a small 
band of the tribe was located in Michigan. 
They numbered about forty, and were provided 
with annuities by the Government. Immedi- 
ately after the war of 1812, the principal por- 
tion of the Wyandots, numbering about 600, 
was established on the Sandusky River on a 
tract of land eighteen miles long east and west, 
and twelve miles wide. In 1835, the Wyan- 
dots decided to sell a strip of land five miles 
wide on the eastern border of their Reservation, 
and the land was accordingly thrown into mar- 
ket, very likely through the influence of the 
whites, who coveted the possessions of the 
Indian. In 1843, the Wyandots were trans- 
ferred to Kansas, where the}' have since resided, 
and the land of their Reservation was annexed 
to the adjoining counties. 

When the white settlers first came to the 
county, and for many years afterward, the 
Wyandot Indians were established on their 
Reservation, which, until 1835, included a por- 
tion of Crawford County. Each year the Indi- 
ans were the recipients of an annuity of $10 
per capita, paid to them by the agent of the 
Govei-nment located at their Reservation. The 
white settlers invaded the lands of the Wvan- 
dots to trade and converse with them, and to 
learn more of their habits. The Indians, in 
turn, mingled freel}' with the whites at their 
settlements, buying ammunition, tobacco, orna- 
ments, etc., and disposing of valuable furs and 
other products of the chase. The Indians 



-n- 




\ 




^. 




^^y-^^pocy 



^- 



HISTOKY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



191 



traded largely at Bucyrus ; but their usual 
dealing with, the settlers was carried on in their 
villages, or at the store in their Reservation, 
where their creditors came to adjust their 
accounts, and where avaricious and unscrupu- 
lous men came to obtain, b}' artifice or impos- 
ture, the annuity paid the natives by the Gov- 
ernment. Each Indian came forward with his 
family, and the money belonging to him was 
counted out, placed upon the counter by the 
agent, and was conveyed to the buckskin pouch 
of the Indian, or quite often was turned over 
b}' the agent, at the Indian's suggestion, to the 
settler who held an unsettled claim against the 
Indian, and who was aware of the importance 
of being present when the agent distributed 
the annuities, if he desired a speedy settlement. 
White hunters and trappers invaded the Reser- 
vation without authority, killing and trapping 
large numbers of valuable animals. The Indi- 
ans also roamed far and wide over the country 
adjoining their lands, in small detachments, 
locating temporarily where hunting and trap- 
ping were good, and changing their camps as 
game became scarce or failed altogether. Mills 
were built on the streams in the Reservation ; 
blacksmith and carpenter shops were erected, 
trading posts were established, and tlie various 
Christian denominations in surrounding settle- 
ments sent ministers to preach to the Indians. 
Among the ministers who laboi'ed faithfull}' in 
the Reservation, were Revs. Daniel and James 
Hooker, Russell Bigclow, H. 0. Sheldon, Mr. 
Finlc}', Mr. Thompson and Mr. Wheeler, all of 
whom were Methodists. Notwithstanding the 
cessation of war and the permanent establish- 
ment of peace between the Wyandots and the 
settlers, all the war-like customs were still re- 
tained by the Indians, who were unable and 
unwilling to forget so soon the time-honored 
ceremonies of their tribe. War and scalp 
dances were held annually at their villages of 
Sandusky, Pipe Town and Broken Sword, the 
latter being situated about a mile west of the 



present village of Nevada, Wyandot County, 
the location afterward falling within the bounda- 
ries of Crawford County. Here the settlers 
often assembled, sometimes to participate in 
the wild ceremonies, but more frequently to 
look on the strange pantomimes with increasing 
and thrilling interest. Large fires were built, 
and the savages, armed and painted as if for 
the war-path, surrounded them in circles, and 
then with a wild, monotonous song accompani- 
ment, they began their dance around the fire, 
springing up and down, first on one foot and 
then on the other, chanting in the meantime a 
gutteral "he, he, he; haw, haw, haw!" which 
signified "me big Indian!" interspersing the 
song with wild whoops, made to quaver at first 
by the motion of the hand on the lips, but end- 
ing with a clearness and force that made the 
forest ring. Their annuities were largely spent 
for "cockhoos}'" or " Sandusky water ;" and, 
when under its influence, the savage nature 
was pi'edominant and asserted itself in fre- 
quent brawls and fights. The chiefs were 
elected by a vote of the tribe, the qualifications 
for that high office being honor, courage, and 
achievements in the chase and on the war-path. 
Some of the Indians were remarkable for 
strength and endurance, though they met their 
mutch in man}" of the white hunters. Their 
intercourse with the settlers was freely con- 
tinued until they were removed by the Gov- 
ernment to Kansas. 

There are many interesting incidents and 
circumstances connected with the Wj'andot 
Indians which occurred long before the settlers 
arrived, and which have never been made pub- 
lic save in miscellaneous newspaper articles. 
A few of these will be narrated. The facts 
from which the}'' are derived were disclosed by 
Judge G. W. Leith, of Nevada, Ohio, whose 
grandfather, John Leith, was for twentj'-nine 
3'ears, beginning in 17G3, a captive and a trad- 
er among the Wyandots. John Leith, when a 
bo}' of about sixteen, was employed by an ex- 



^'. 



193 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



perienced trader to go into the Indian country 
to tratlic with the natives. They built a rude 
store in an Indian village, where Lancaster, 
Ohio, now stands, and began trading cloth, 
ammunition, firearms and ornaments for furs 
of all kinds. After a time, Leith was left in 
charge of the store while his employer returned 
to Fort Pitt with a cargo of furs. While he 
was gone, an Indian war broke out all along 
the border settlements, and the Indians, fear- 
ing the destruction of their village, made 
immediate preparations to retire farther into 
the wilderness. Young Leith was summoned 
before Capt. Pipe, the chief of the tribe, who 
savagely informed him that his people were 
marching into the Indians' country, destroying 
and laying waste their villages and crops, and 
murdering their families. The boy was told to 
stand up, which he did, expecting to be in- 
stantly tomahawked, but he was told that he 
must either become a member of the tribe or 
be put to death. The ceremony of adoption 
was gone through with, greatly to the boy's 
relief, and the Indians bestowed upon him the 
name "John Tit." He went West with the 
tribe, and, several years afterward, the Indians 
having become the allies of the British, he was 
employed by the latter to open a store at San- 
dusky and trade with the Indians. Here he 
remained throughout the Revolution and the 
bloody Indian wars which followed it, a power- 
less and horrified spectator of the cruelty and 
fiendish atrocity of the Indian tribes. Here he 
became acquainted with and often met the no- 
torious outlaws Matthew Elliott, Alexander 
McKee and the three brothers, Simon, George 
and James Girt}-. His store became the head- 
quarters where these noted renegades came for 
supplies of various kinds, and where they 
assembled both before and after their bloody 
raids on the defenseless settlements. He mar- 
ried a captive white girl, named Sally Lowry, 
under romantic circumstances, and, finally, in 
1791, after having waited anxiously for many 



years, he succeeded in escaping with his wife 
and two children to the white settlements, 
closely pursued by the infuriated Indians. 
Soon after his store was established at San- 
dusky, he saw for the first time a white man 
run the gauntlet. The following is a narrative 
of that event, written by his biographer and 
grandson. Judge Leith : " One fine day in 
early summer, a band of warriors came in from 
the south with a captive, a powerful young 
Virginian. He had been overpowered and 
captured in a hand-to-hand struggle. I saw 
him stripped for the race, and thought him as 
fine a specimen of a man as I ever saw. His 
action was unimpaired, the onl}^ wound per- 
ceivable being a long gash on the fleshy part of 
his thigh, which, although considerably swelled, 
did not impede his motion. He was stripped 
naked and painted black for the race at my 
store. Two lines of Indians were formed, ex- 
tending back from the store about two hundred 
yards. He was marched back through the 
lines in a southerly direction, the savages pant- 
ing and yelling for the onset. Poor fellow ! 
he stepped with the elasticity of a race-horse, 
confidently believing that if he succeeded in 
the race his life would be spared. But his 
doom was sealed, and this was but the opening 
scene in the horrible tragedy. The warriors 
were armed with guns loaded with powder to 
be shot into his naked body, the boys were 
armed with bows and arrows, and the squaws 
and children with clubs and switches. No one 
was allowed to strike or shoot until the victim 
was opposite to where he stood, so that the 
speed of the runner might not be impeded or 
checked by a front fire. The word was given, 
' All ready, go ! ' and simultaneously a yell 
went up all along the line from the savages, 
who were eager to inflict the severest punish- 
ment upon the helpless captive. The young 
fellow came through the lines with astonishing 
swiftness, and ran into the store where I was. 
He was covered with ragged and gaping 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



193 



wounds made by the discharges of powder and 
the tomahawks, and the arrows stuck out from 
his blackened body like the shafts of a clothes- 
rack. He gave me a most imploring look, as 
if he expected me to help him, and suddenly 
sprang high in the air as if in terrible agony. 
He turned and went out at the door, when he 
was brained with a tomahawk and fell to the 
ground with his last despairing groan. They 
cut off his head and raised it some twelve or 
fifteen feet in the air on a pole, and left his 
body lying in the yard. I asked the privilege 
of the warriors to take the head down and 
bury the body out of sight. They told me 
haughtily, 'Your people do not bury our dead, 
and we will not bury yours.' I told them that 
unless I could have the privilege of burying 
the corpse out of my sight I would move ray 
store over to the 'Tymochtee.' They then said 
I might do as I pleased. I took the head 
down, placed it on the body, washed both and 
wrapped them in a clean blanket and buried 
them The Indians drove stakes down through 
the body, eager to glut their vengeance to the 
very last. This was one of the results of the 
march of the Virginians into the Indian 
country." 

Leith and his wife were members of different 
tribes, and, despite their wishes to the contrary, 
they were necessarily separated the greater por- 
tion of the time. Every argument and induce- 
ment were oflfered the wife's captors to permit 
her to go and live with her husband, and finally 
they concluded to do so. The Indians at first 
concluded to tattoo her boy by pricking powder 
and vermilion into the skin with a needle ; but 
this procedure was abandoned, and the Indians, 
in council, decided that they should be stripped 
of all their clothing and allowed to go. This 
was done, and the Indians said to her : " Now, 
if you want to go to Sandusky, go." " She 
shouldered her boy, waded the ' Walholding,' 
the 'Tuscarawas,' passed through the wilder- 
ness, slept in the leaves by a log, contending 



with briars, nettles, flies, mosquitos, and living 
on June berries, wild onions, wild peas, elm 
bark, roots, etc. She came to a squaw, who 
was tending a small piece of corn and taking 
care of several Indian children, while the war- 
rior was abroad. The squaw said : ' Where you 
go ? ' She replied : ' Sandusky — my husband.' 
' Where clothes ? ' ' They took them ' (point- 
ing from whence she came). ' You hungry ? ' 
' Yes.' ' Me get meat.' The squaw told her to 
remain until the warrior x'eturned ; but she con- 
cluded to journey on. The squaw gave her a 
piece of blanket and some deer meat, and she 
started. I was at the time busily engaged in 
handling pelts, revolving in my mind what I 
should do. I was whipping the pelts and throw- 
ing them on a pile, and had just stepped in to 
get another supply, when I saw my wife 
approaching. She threw the child down on the 
skins, dropping there herself, saying : ' Here, 
John, I have brought your boy.' The fatigue 
of the journey and the joy of the meeting over- 
whelmed her for a time. There have been many 
happy meetings under far more favorable cir- 
cumstances, but at no time or place was there 
ever a meeting that filled the parties with more 
triumphant joy."* 

For the purpose of subjugating and punish- 
ing the hostile Wyandots, Delawares, Shaw- 
anese and other Indian tribes that refused to 
enter into peace treaties with the Government, 
and that were outraging humanity by repeated 
acts of savage barbarity toward the settlers, 
several expeditions were fitted out and sent 
against them in 1764. Col. Bouquet marched 
against them with an army of 1,500 men ; where- 
upon the Indians sued for peace in the most 
abject manner, and over 300 white captives were 
surrendered to the victorious array. Compara- 
tive peace was thus secured until 1771:, when 
another border conflict, known as Lord Dun- 
more's War, was begun. Various expeditions 
were sent against the savages, many of whom 

♦Leith's Narrative. 






194 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY 



were slaughtered, and their fields and villages 
pillaged and burned. The Indians, who, when 
the Colonies rebelled, became allies of the Brit- 
ish, began, under the leadership of various 
chiefs and the white renegades, a bloody border 
wai', and conducted it with such malignant 
ferocity as to cast gloom and terror over the 
frontier settlements. War parties of infuriated 
savages traversed the forests of Eastern Ohio 
under the command of Girty, Elliott and others 
of their stripe. The Wyandots became so re- 
vengeful and troublesome that, in 1782, it was 
resolved to organize an expedition to be sent 
out for the reduction of Sandusky, their princi- 
pal village. The force consisted wholly of vol- 
unteers ; yet it was understood by each man 
that all wei'e to be govei'ned by military rules, 
and, in all cases, were expected to obey the 
commands of their officers. The rendezvous 
was to take place on the 20th of May, 1782, at 
Mingo Bottom, a beautiful plateau of about 250 
acres, on the Ohio River, a few miles below 
Steubenville. Each man furnished his own 
equipments, not doubting that his State would 
make good any loss resulting from the expedi- 
tion. By the 24th of May, 480 men had assem- 
bled at Mingo Bottom, mounted and armed for 
the journey. " For some time," says John 
Leith, b}'^ his biographer, " the Wyandots and 
other hostile tribes in Ohio had become aware, 
through their spies on the border, of an unusual 
commotion in the white settlements on the 
frontier. Reports of a pending invasion of their 
country swept rapidly from one Indian village 
to another, and scouts were dispatched to ascei'- 
tain the cause of the commotion in the white 
settlements." John Leith was eraploj'ed by the 
British to traffic with the Indians, and had at 
Sandusk}', the objective point of the military 
expedition, about $8,000 worth of goods. When 
the indications began to point to a contemplated 
invasion of the Indian country by the Ameri- 
cans, Mr. Leith, foreseeing the proliability of 
the destruction of Sandusk}", in which case the 



goods in his care would fall into the hands of 
the invaders, dispatched several Indian runners 
to watch the movements of the congregating 
borderers at Mingo Bottom.* Scarcely a day 
passed that did not bring some Indian runner 
to Sandusky and other villages with informa- 
tion regarding the number and strength of the 
advancing army and its probable course and 
design. 

The volunteers met at one o'clock on the 24th 
to elect their officers and perfect their organi- 
zation. It was deemed best to divide the force 
into eighteen companies, each of which was to 
elect its captain b}^ vote. There were chosen 
one Colonel, four Field Majors, and one Brigade 
Major. William Crawford was chosen Colonel; 
Daniel Williamson, John McClelland, Major 
Brinton, and Thomas Gaddis, Majors; Daniel 
Loet, Brigade Major; John Knight, Surgeon; 
John Slover and Jonathan Zane, Guides. John 
Rose was detailed to act as aid to the com- 
manding officer. Each man was provided with 
thirty days' provisions, and early in the morn- 
ing of May 25, 1782, the army, in four columns, 
began its march through the woods for San- 
dusky, distance 150 miles. " The route lay 
thi'ough what is now the counties of Jefferson, 
Harrison, Tuscarawas, Holmes, Ashland, Rich- 
land and Crawford — neai'ly to the center of 
Wyandot County, Ohio. The whole distance, 
except about thirty miles at the end of the 
route, was through an unbroken forest. But 
little worth}' of note transpired on the journey 
until after reaching what is now W^'andot 
County. Every precaution was employed to 
guard against surprises, and the armj' marched 
on as rapidly as could be done through the 
deep forest. While at their third encampment, 
several of the men lost their horses. These 
men were thus forced to return to Mingo Bot- 
tom, which they did reluctantly. On the fourth 
day of the march the army reached the Mus- 
kingum River. During the evening two In- 

*Juilge George W. Leitb, Nevada, Ohio. 



«<^ ^ 



HISTORY or CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



195 



dians were seen watching the army. They 
were pursued and fired at, but without effect. 
This had the effect of hastening the movements 
of the army, which up to this time had advanced 
but about fifteen miles a day. One of the men 
died and was buried in Holmes County. B3' 
the evening of the 1st of June, the army had 
reached a point in Richland County, eight miles 
almost due east of Crestline, Crawford Count}'. 
The army crossed into what is now Crawford 
County at one o'clock in the afternoon of the 
2d, and about an hour afterward reached the 
Sandusky River at a point immediately east of 
what is now the village of Leesville, at the 
mouth of a small creek called Allen's run, when 
a halt was called, and the volunteers took a 
half-hour's rest on the banks of the stream, for 
which they had been for some time anxiously' 
looking.* The army had traveled in the last 
five days about eighty-five miles. They were 
now fairly in the enemy's country, due east 
from the point of destination only twent3--five 
miles. Slover announced to the commander 
that the open country — the Sandusky' Plains — 
was but a few miles away in a southwest direc- 
tion. Following along the southern margin of 
the stream until it suddenly swept around to 
the north, the army then struck off from it 
through a somewhat broken country for two 
miles, and encamped a short distance beyond, 
where the surface was quite level. They were 
still in what is now Jefferson Township, but 
very near the eastern edge of the plains. Early 
on the morning of the 3d of June, the arm}^ 
moved out into the sunlight of the open coun- 
try. It was at a point not very far west of a 
small stream flowing south into the Whetstone 
Creek, in what is now Whetstone Township — a 
memorable spot, as will be seen hereafter. 
Many of the volunteers had never before seen 

*It has long been a tradition among the citizans of Jefferson 
Township, CrawfoiJ County, Ohio, tliiit, initny yeTrs ago when a 
large tree was cut down on tlie lianks of tlie slrrtim wlier>- this on- 
Ciimpment liad been, Col. Crawford's name and the date of liis stop- 
ping there were found cut dee|ily into the wood, and covered with 
mauy concentric layers of growth. 



prairie land, and gave vent to exclamations of 
delight at the novel scene. The route of the 
army was through the present townships of 
Bucyrus and Dallas, in Crawford County — pass- 
ing a little over three miles south of what is 
now the town of Buc^'rus — thence into what is 
now Antrim Township, Wyandot County. 
Here the army encamped near the site of the 
present village of Wyandot, within ten miles of 
their point of destination. The next morning 
— the 4th of June — at 7 o'clock, after care- 
ful preparations for an emergency, the army 
began its march in nearly a northwest direction. 
After about six miles' travel, the mouth of the 
Little Sandusky was reached. The spot was a 
familiar one to Slover, who had been there be- 
fore. Crossing the river, Crawford's course 
was along the east bank of the stream, follow- 
ing the Indian trace in a direction a little west 
of north, in what is now Pitt Township. The 
army moved with great caution. Not an In- 
dian, however, was seen. Crawford was assured 
by Slover that the Wyandot town was close at 
hand. As 3'et there had not been discovered 
any indications of an Indian settlement, except 
a sugar-camp, where maple sugar had evi- 
dently been made the previous spring. Pass- 
ing a bluff bank, the river made a sudden turn, 
flowing almost directly west. The movement 
of the army was now rapid. A little farther on, 
just where the river enters what is now Crane 
Township, suddenlj- an opening in the woods 
before them was discernible — the Wyandot 
town was reached. To the utter astonishment of 
the whole army it was found uninhabited. All 
was a solitude ! The log huts had, apparently, 
been deserted for some time. Here was a di- 
lefnma!"* 

It is now well to learn the cause of the dis- 
appearance of the Indians. The village which 
the American army had reached was in reality 
the old town of Sandusky, which had been 
deserted a j^ear or two before, the Indians 

♦Crawford's campaign against Sandusky. — BuTTBRriEU). 



•t. 



196 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



establishing tliemselves about three miles north 
of the pi'esent town of Upper Sandusky, on the 
river. This was really the point upon which 
the blow Avas designed to fall, although Slover 
and Zane were unaware of the removal of the 
Indians to the new town of Sandusky, which 
was called Half King's Town, from its being 
the residence of the Wj'andots' head chief, 
Pomoacan, or Half King. Leith's store was 
at Half King's Town. He was in the employ- 
ment of British traders, five of whom had placed 
their goods in his charge for disposal. His 
spies brought tidings every day of the progress 
and probable designs of Crawford's army. 
Information was brought in by swift runners as 
soon as the men began to assemble at Mingo 
Bottom, and messengers were instantl}'^ dis- 
patched b}' the apprehensive Indians for assist- 
ance to DePeyster, the commandant at Detroit, 
and to all the Indian villages likely to be 
attacked. In response to the call, a consider- 
able force of mounted troops, consisting of 
Butler's Rangers, was ordered from Detroit to 
the valley of the Sandusky, to assist the dusky 
allies of Great Britain in repelling the invaders. 
Captain Pipe, or Kogieschquanoheel, the Dela- 
ware war-chief, with the same object in view, 
started south with about two hundred warriors 
from Pipe Town, a Delaware village on Tymoch- 
tee Creek, about five miles from its mouth. 
Two hundred warriors from the Shawanese 
towns in Logan Countj^ were also dispatched 
to assist the W^^andots, against whom the army 
of Crawford was now seen to be marching. 
Leith, to prevent his goods from falling into 
the hands of the enemy, packed them on horses 
and started for Lower Sandusky, driving his 
cattle before him. He started in great haste 
on the morning of the 4th, and met, during the 
forenoon, Matthew EUittt, and, soon afterward, 
" the whole British army, composed of Butler's 
Rangers," all of whom were hurrying forward 
to assist in opposing the progress of Crawford's 
command. Tiie troops took Leith's cattle, but 



permitted him to proceed with his goods. The 
squaws and children of the Delawares and 
Wyandots were hidden away in a deep ravine 
on Tymochtee Creek, about a mile from its 
mouth. The allied forces that were to resist 
the encroachment of the American army rapidly 
assembled at a spot nearly two miles southwest 
of Half King's Town. Here about four hun- 
dred Wyandot warriors, under their war-chief 
Zhaus-sho-toh, and two hundred Delawares 
under Captain Pipe, were lying in ambush, 
anxiously awaiting the approach of both the 
enemy and re-enforcements. This was the sit- 
uation of the hosts of Great Britain on the 
morning of the 4th of June, 1782. 

" The American army halted half an hour on 
the site of the deserted W3'andot town, discuss- 
ing in council the best course to be pursued. 
All were satisfied of the presence of another 
village at no great distance down the river, and, 
full of hope for the result, the army was or- 
dei'ed to advance. It reached the springs where 
Upper Sandusky is now located, and soon after- 
ward several of the men expressed a desire to 
return, alleging the}' had but five da^'s' provis- 
ions in reserve. The command was halted, 
and a council of war was called. Zane and 
others advised an immediate return. They 
were of the opinion that the Indians would 
bring an overwhelming force against them. 
They argued that the Indians were concentrat- 
ing at some point not far distant, preparing for 
a determined resistance. Crawford thought 
likewise, and it was finall}'^ determined by the 
council that the army should continue its march 
that day, but no longer. Crawford had previ- 
ously formed a companj' of light-horse to act 
as scouts in advance of the army. They fol- 
lowed along the Indian trail, and saw, to their 
left, on the prairie, a beautiful island or grove, 
which seemed to beckon them from the fierce 
heat of the sun. The}^ halted here a few mo- 
ments to enjoy the cool shade. The spot was 
somewhat elevated above the surrounding: 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



197 



country, and notwithstanding the trees, was 
thickly covered with tall, wild grass. The}" 
were surrounded with prairie, which was dotted 
here and there with small, island-like groves. 
The scouts moved on to the north, and, having 
gone about a mile, suddenly came in full view 
of the enemy, having unsuspectingly approached 
near the rendezvous of the latter. The Indians 
were running directly toward them, and the 
scouts immediately dispatched one of their 
number to inform Crawford of the appearance 
of the savages, and then slowly retired as the 
foe advanced. The warriors in advance were 
the Delawares, under Capt. Pipe, in whose com- 
pany were Wingenund, a distinguished Delaware 
chief, and the notorious renegade, Simon Girty. 
The Wyandots, under Zhaus-sho-toh, were held 
back for the time by Matthew Elliott, another 
renegade. Just as the council of the army had 
ended, the scout from the north came riding up 
at full speed, announcing the discovery and 
advance of the enemy. The news was received 
with evident satisfaction by the whole army. 
The volunteers rapidly mounted and fell into 
line, ready to meet the foe for whom they had 
so long been anxiously looking. An advance 
was ordered, and obeyed with alacrity, and the 
army soon joined the retiring scouts, who re- 
ported the savages ahead in considerable force, 
prepared for battle. It was now that the splen- 
did genius of John Rose began to exhibit it- 
self His cool eye flashed with fire, as he gal- 
loped along the line, carrying the orders of his 
commander, and cheering the men by his daunt- 
less demeanor. The army had advanced scarcely 
a mile, when the enem}' was discovered in front, 
taking possession of the grove already men- 
tioned. Crawford ordered his men to dismount, 
and a quick charge soon drove the Indians from 
the grove into the open prairie. The Wyandots 
held in reserve at this moment came up. Elli- 
ott, who commanded the entire force of the 
enemy, ordered Capt. Pipe to flank to the right, 
and attack Crawford in the rear, which was 



quickly done, and the action at once became 
general. The firing was very close and hot. 
The Americans were outnumbered, but they 
had the advantage in position. Girtj^ rode a 
white horse, and his shouts were frequently 
heard above the reports of the rifles, although 
he carefull}^ kept beyond gunshot. The battle 
continued until dark, decreasing in intensity as 
the Indians slowly retired before the murderous 
fire of the frontiersmen. The afternoon had 
been intensely hot, and the men had suffered 
severely from thirst. No water was in the 
grove except a small, stagnant pool, which, bad 
as it was, was used by the men. The victory 
was clearly with the Americans, although their 
savage foe was far from being dispirited. Re- 
enforcements for the enem}' were hourly ex- 
pected. The Americans had lost five men 
killed and nineteen wounded, and the enemy 
had undoubtedly suffered a greater loss, as they 
were more exposed. The savages skulked in 
the tall grass of the prairie, while the borderers 
from tree-tops poured a deadl}" fire upon them, 
as their heads rose above the gi*ass. One of the 
men from his high position saw the dauntless 
Rose pursued by a party of mounted Indians. 
They were so close to him as to throw their 
tomahawks, but were finally baflfled by his re- 
markable coolness and superior horsemanship. 
One of the Indians in the battle was " Big 
Captain Johnny," who was seven feet in height, 
and as frightfully ugly as he was large. The 
enemy drew ofl' at dark, and Crawford was left 
in possession of the field. Both parties lay on 
their arms during the night, and both adopted 
the precaution of kindling large fires, and then 
retiring some distance in the rear of them, to 
guard against a night attack. The Wyandots 
were encamped north of the grove, and the 
Delawares south. The action took place on 
what is now the southeast quarter of Section 
17, Township 2 south, Range 14 east, of the 
Government survey. 

" The battle began again on the mornino; of 



'.k^ 



198 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



the 5th, and continued during the day, but was 
little better than a skii-mish, as the firing was 
done at long range, with frequent cessations. 
Four men were wounded during the day. The 
enemy were expecting re-enforcements and did 
not care for a general engagement, and Craw- 
ford formed obstacles in the way of a general 
attack until nightfall. As the afternoon wore 
away, the army was astonished by the informa- 
tion that the enemy were receiving re-enforce- 
ments. Mounted troops were seen advancing, 
and to the surprise and dismay of the Ameri- 
cans,they were seen to be white men. In fact, they 
were Butler's Rangers. A council of war was 
called, and, while the officers were deliberating, 
a large re-enforcement of Indians — two hundred 
strong — was seen advancing to the assistance 
of the enemy. Other small squads arrived, 
and the ' enemy kept pouring in hourly from all 
quarters,' are the words of Rose. Crawford 
instantly saw that the army must assume the 
defensive, and the council of war unanimously 
resolved upon a night retreat. The enemy out- 
numbered them more than two to one, and, in 
the language of Rose, 'Prudence, therefore, dic- 
tated a retreat.' The volunteers killed were 
now buried, and fires burned over their graves. 
The wounded were mounted on horses, and 
soon after dark the entire army, in four divi- 
sions, with Crawford at the head, began its re- 
treat. Just as this moment, they were discov- 
ered by the enemy, who opened a hot fire in the 
rear. This created much confusion, many of 
the men hurrying off without orders, leaving 
seven dangerously wounded men behind. All 
but two, however, were removed by their com- 
rades. McClelland's division was in front and was 
hotly engaged with the Delawares and Shawan- 
ese. The army started back over the route it had 
come, keeping together as well as could be done 
in the darkness. Although the enemy were 
aroused, yet, not knowing whether the Ameri- 
cans intended a retreat or a night attack, they 
made no concerted effort to pursue them. Mc- 



Clelland was badly wounded and left to the in- 
furiated savages, and his division suffered the 
loss of several men. The other divisions de- 
scribed a circle to the west, and finally arrived 
at the deserted Indian Village, when a halt was 
called. Detached parties continued to arrive 
until the command numbered about 300. It 
was now discovered that Col. Crawford, Dr. 
John Knight, John Slover and other prominent 
officers and men were missing. Daniel Will- 
iamson took command of the army, and began 
to create order out of the confusion, receiving 
great assistance from the intrepid Rose. Under 
their new commander the soldiers took up their 
retreat. Men, separated during the night from 
the main body, continued to arrive, among 
whom was John Sherrard,who told a melancholy 
story. In company with John Harbaugh, he 
had become separated from his division, and 
while making his way through the woods after 
daylight, suddenly saw an Indian off to the left. 
He called to his companion, who was not quick 
enough to screen himself, and who was instantly 
shot by the savage, exclaiming as he fell : 
' Lord have mercy upon me, I'm a dead man !" 
and immediately' expired. The Indian ran 
away, and Sherrard, taking his dead companion's 
saddle and bridle, hurried off. He soon discov- 
ered that he had left his provisions, and turned 
back to secure them. He found that the Indi- 
an had been before him, and had scalped the 
lifeless soldier, and taken his horse, gun and 
provisions. Harbaugh had been shot through 
the breast. 

" Not long after the army had reached the 
open country southeast of the mouth of the Lit- 
tle Sandusky Creek, and was well on its way in 
the plains, a large bod}^ of the enemy was dis- 
covered a considei'able distance in the rear. It 
consisted of mounted Indians and the British 
light cavalry. At noon, the arm}^ had reached 
a point on the trail, due south of the present 
site of Bucyrus. ' The enemy,' sa3's Rose, ' hung 
on our rear through the plains ;' and they now 






HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



199 



began to press the Americans. The eastern 
verge of the prairie was not very far ahead. By 
2 o'clock the woodland had almost been 
reached, when the enemy crowded hard upon 
their rear, and began a flank movement of the 
Americans both right and left. 'It was evi- 
dently their design,' sa^'s Rose, to retard our 
march until they could possess themselves of 
some advantageous ground in our front, and so 
cut off our retreat, or oblige us to fight at a dis- 
advantage. Although it was best to avoid a 
general engagement on the plains, on account 
of the numbers of the enem}^ yet they pressed 
our rear so hard that we concluded on a gene- 
ral and vigorous attack, while our light-horse 
secured the entrance of the woods.' " 

Here it was that the battle of Olentangy took 
place about 2 o'clock on the afternoon of the 
Gth of June, 1782. The spot is on the north- 
west quarter of Section 22, Township 3 south. 
Range 17 east, of the Government survey, in 
what is now Whetstone Township, Crawford 
Count}-, Ohio. While the battle was in prog- 
ress, clouds began to obscure the sun, and the 
change of the temperature from intense heat to 
comparative coolness indicated an approaching 
storm, and was a great relief to the exhausted 
men. Williamson exerted himself to encourage 
his men, and was greatlj' assisted by Rose, 
whose spirit, cheerfulness and coolness were 
only surpassed by his wonderful skill and in- 
trepidity. He was a foreigner, and but little 
was known of him, except that he was highly 
cultured and a perfect gentleman. His martial 
bearing and astonishing coolness at the moment 
of extreme danger aroused the admiration of 
the whole army. He was a natural leader, and 
was of invaluable aid in encouraging and di- 
recting the men. " Stand to your ranks, boys," 
said he, " fire low, and do not throw away a 
single shot. Remember, everything depends 
upon your steadiness." The battle was con- 
ducted with great spirit on both sides for about 
an hour, when the enemy, who had fought fu- 



riously, " attacking the Americans on the front, 
left flank, and rear," gave way on all sides, and 
withdrew beyond gunshot. " We had three 
killed and eight wounded," is the language of 
Rose. The loss of the enemy is not known, al- 
though probably much severer than that of the 
Americans. It is said that a Frenchman, dis- 
guised as an Indian, and fighting for the enemy 
at this battle, had painted a large red spot upon 
his breast, remarking as he did so : " Here is a 
mark for the Virginia riflemen." He was killed 
instantly by a ball which struck the spot with 
which he had decorated his person. Just as 
the battle ended, a furious rain-storm swept 
across the plains, drenching the men to the 
skin, and rendering the firearms almost useless. 
The dead were hastily buried, the wounded 
cared for, and the troops again continued their 
retreat. The enem}' followed them in consider- 
able force, harassing them with a desultory 
fire, but keeping at a respectful distance. The 
shots at last became so galling that, in shifting 
the various companies to new positions, and 
thus exposing some divisions to a sudden fire, 
the men hurried forward in confusion, which 
was almost precipitated into a panic and a rout. 
It was only through the almost superhuman ef- 
forts of Williamson and Rose that the waver- 
ing companies were reduced to order. The 
army pressed rapidly forward, and at dark had 
reached the spot in Crawford Count}^, near 
Leesville, where it had stopped on its wa}^ out. 
The army halted and camped for the night, as 
did also the enemy a short distance away. 
Every pi*ecaution was adopted by both parties 
against a night surprise and attack. The night 
passed without incident, and at daybreak the 
retreat was renewed. The enemy immediately 
advanced and opened fire, " Two of the bor- 
derers were, at this juncture, unfortunately cap- 
tured, and, it is supposed, immediately toma- 
hawked. Now, however, to the great relief of 
the army, the pursuit was abandoned. 'The 
Indians,' says Dunlevy, ' pursued the main body 






^ 



200 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY 



no longer.' The last hostile shot was fired near 
where the village of Crestline now stands. 
Here the Americans had their last view of the 
foe ; it was a welcome adieu. Not a single 
savage or British ranger was afterward seen 
by the army." 

The retreat was rapidly continued, and the 
vigilance and discipline of the army were con- 
siderably relaxed, though not entirely aban- 
doned. INIany of the men had consumed their 
last provisions, and naturally all were anxious 
to get home. A large portion of the men were 
on foot ; and, as the army moved along, it was 
often joined by comrades who had been sepa- 
rated from it on the night the retreat com- 
menced, and who were greeted with loud hur- 
rahs as the}' appeared. Not a word was learned, 
however, of Crawford. The troops reached 
Mingo Bottom on the 13th of June, just twenty 
days from the time they 'had left the same spot, 
so full of hope and expectancy. Here they 
found several of the missing men, who had 
arrived before them. Great excitement was 
created on the border when the news of the 
fiiilure of the expedition became known. Strag- 
glers from the main body, who had reached the 
settlements in advance, gave exaggerated ac- 
counts of the disaster. Reports were circulated 
and currently believed that the savages were 
pursuing the volunteers even to the Ohio River, 
and, in a panic, the settlers fled to the forts for 
protection. The appearance of the army, how- 
ever, quieted all apprehension"' of sudden and 
serious danger. - The army crossed the Ohio 
River, opposite Mingo Bottom on the 13th, and 
encamped for the last time. On the morrow, 
the men were discharged and returned to their 
homes. The total loss in killed, those d3'ing 
from wounds and those who afterward suffered 
death in the wilderness, together with a few 
whose fate never became known, was less than 
sevent}' men. The States whence the volunteers 
had marched made good all losses of prop- 
erty', and many of them received pensions for 



services, of which the Sandusky campaign was 
the basis. 

On the night when the army began its retreat, 
the confusion was so great that many of the 
men became separated from the main body, and, 
being unable to recover the trace, were com- 
pelled to make the eflfort to reach home alone. 
Among the number thus bewildered were John 
Slover, James PauU and five others, all on foot. 
They marched north until they reached Ty- 
mochtee Creek, when the}^ turned south and 
finally crossed into Crawford County. They 
came very near being discovered several times 
by bands of Indians. They traveled all day, 
and the next night were at a point about five 
miles eastof Bucyrus. They crossed Sandusky 
and Vernon Townships and journeyed on until 
they came to Wayne County, when they were 
attacked by a party of Shawanese that had fol- 
lowed them. Two of the men were shot dead, 
Paull ran and escaped, and the others, includ- 
ing Slover, were taken prisoners. The Indians 
immediately started for the Shawanese towns on 
Mad River, in what is now Logan County, Ohio. 
Arriving there, the prisoners were set upon by 
the inhabitants, who beat them with clubs and 
tomahawks. The oldest man was seized, stripped 
naked and painted black with charcoal and 
water. All except Slover were compelled to run 
the gauntlet, but the Indians inflicted the most 
of the punishment upon the man who had been 
painted black. He was cut with tomahawks, 
beaten with clubs, and his naked bod}' was shot 
full of powder. Holes were blown into his 
flesh by the discharges. The savages were a 
long time beating, wounding, pursuing and kill- 
ing him. He was afterward cut in pieces, and 
his head, limbs and body were raised on poles 
on the outside of the town. The other com- 
panions of Slover were sent to other towns, 
where they shared the same awful fate. Slover 
was at Wapatomica, and while there saw three 
bodies lying on the ground — black, bloody, mu- 
tilated and burnt with powder. He recognized 



il^ 



HISTORY OF CRAWFOED COUNTY. 



201 



them as belonging to William Crawford, a 
nephew of the Colonel, and William Harrison, 
the Colonel's son-in-law. He believed the third 
bod.y to be that of Maj. McClelland, but was not 
certain. The bodies were frightful to look at. 
The next da}^ the heads were raised on poles 
and the corpses given to the dogs. What an 
awful fate ! All these men had been members 
of Crawford's arm}-, and had been captured 
while endeavoring to make their way to the 
settlements. " What a gorge of Infernal revelry 
did these unfortunate prisoners afford the infu- 
riated savages." Slover had been a captive 
among the Indians many 3'ears before, receiv- 
ing the name Mannucothe. The Indians knew 
him, and, having summoned him to a council 
held for the purpose, interrogated him concern- 
ing the state of the war. He told them, among 
other things, that Cornwallis had surrendered. 
The next day, Matthew Elliott and James Girty 
came to the Council. They assured the Indians 
that Slover had lied. Slover was looked upon 
with suspicion b}' the savages, who were aware 
of his having been with Crawford's army ; and, 
notwithstanding the fact that he had once been 
adopted by them, but had afterward gone to the 
white settlements, the Indians began to enter- 
tain misgivings that he was their foe. Their 
belief in his enmity was firmly established by 
the statements of Elliott and Grirty, and they 
resolved to put him to death by the most cruel 
tortures. He was allowed to go freely among 
the Indians, but was closely watched, and was 
kept in suspense several days as to his fate. It 
was about this time that twelve white men were 
brought in captives from Kentucky, three of 
whom were tortured to death with fire at Wapa- 
tomica. The remainder were sent to other 
towns, where the}' shared a like fate. About 
forty warriors, among whom was George Girty, 
finally took Slover, stripped him naked, painted 
him black, tied his arms securely behind him, 
and fastened a rope around his neck. In this 
condition he was driven to a village seven miles 



distant, the Indians beating him terribly on the 
wa}', and, when there, he was tied to a post and 
a fire builded around him. While it was burn- 
ing, a sudden rain-storm came on and extin- 
guished the fii-e, and the Indians, after some 
discussion, resolved to put ofi" his death until 
the morrow. They kept beating, kicking and 
wounding him until long after midnight, when 
finally they tied him securely in a block-house, 
with three warriors to watch. These at last lay 
down to sleep. Slover then, knowing it to be 
his last and onl}' chance, began to make des- 
perate eflTorts to free himself He tore at the 
cords for a long time, and at last thought he 
must give it up. It was now daybreak. He 
made a last desperate eflTort, when, to his great 
surprise and joy, the cord came untied, and he 
was free. He stepped over the sleeping bodies 
and ran rapidly out into the woods. He caught 
a horse that was feeding near, and, using the 
rope with which he had been tied as a halter, 
he mounted and rode rapidly away. He was 
entirely naked, and covered with wounds and 
black paint. His horse was a good one ; and, 
knowing that he would be swiftlj' pursued by 
the blood-thirsty savages, he urged it to its best 
pace. The animal finally' gave out, and Slover 
pushed forward rapidly on foot. Finally, after 
four days of intense sufllering and hardship, 
having had nothing to eat save a few berries 
and crawfishes, he arrived, on the 10th of July, 
at Wheeling — the last of Crawford's army to 
return. 

On the night of the retreat, Crawford, like 
others of his command, became separated from 
his comrades. He called aloud, but received 
no reply. After a time, he was joined by Dr. 
Knight, who said he thought the army was in 
advance. They started on, and were soon 
joined by two other men. Neither knew which 
way to go. They first started southwest, but 
finally turned north, and, after traveling two 
miles, they turned due east, keeping fifteen 
yards apart, as a precaution against surprise. 



"l 



^\<r 



^kn. 



203 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



At da^'light, they passed into Crawford County 
at a point about two miles northwest of Osce- 
ola. Several of their horses failed here and 
were left. They turned somewhat to the south- 
east, and, about 2 o'clock in the afternoon, 
fell in with Capt. Biggs, who had heroically 
taken charge of Lieut. Ashley, the latter hav- 
ing been dangerously wounded. The rain- 
storm, already mentioned, came on at this 
time with great fury. The party encamped for 
the night in Holmes Township, about two 
miles almost due north of BucN'rus. The next 
morning the}' passed across the southern part 
of Libert}-- Township, crossed the Sandusky 
River, and traveled on into northern Whet- 
stone Township. Here the}^ were joined by 
another straggler, who increased the party to 
seven. About 2 o'clock, the}' came upon the 
path made by the arm}^ on its journey out. 
They were now in Jefferson Township, on the 
Sandusky River, about a mile and a half down 
the stream from Leesville, at the same point 
where the army, in marching out, had left the 
river, bearing off southwesterly. They marched 
on toward the east, following the trail made by 
the arm}'. All were mounted except Crawford 
and Knight, and, while marching along a short 
distance east of where the army first reached 
the river, they suddenly ran into an ambuscade 
of Delaware Indians. These were members of 
the band under Wingenuud, a celebrated Dela- 
ware chief, whose camp was located three- 
fourths of a mile northeast of Leesville. The 
army, in marching out, had passed within a 
mile of this camp without discovering it. 
Crawford and Knight were immediately made 
prisoners, but the others, who were on horses, 
escaped for the time. 

In the meantime, great rejoicings, wild dances 
and fierce exultation were transpiring at the 
Half King's town. The savages had returned 
from pursuing the American army, and were 
laden with spoils and scalps. The squaws and 
children came forth from their hiding-place to 



join the wild revelry, and hear the exultant 
braves boast of their exploits. As soon as the 
news of Crawford's capture reached the Wyan- 
dot and Delaware villages, on Sandusky River, 
orders were sent by Capt. Pipe and Wingenund 
to have him brought to Pipe Town, on Ty- 
mochtee Creek. Crawford and Knight were 
captives of the Delawares, who, in order to 
burn them, as desired, must obtain the consent 
of the Half King of the Wyandots, to whom 
the Delawares were subject, and among whom 
the custom of burning prisoners was obsolete. 
The request was granted, and the infuriated 
savages — old and young — made preparations 
to enjoy the tortures of the unfortunate men. 
Crawford and Knight were at first taken to 
Wingenund Camp, near Leesville, whei-e they 
found nine other men, all of whom had been 
taken prisoners from Crawford's army. On 
the morning of the 10th of June, all the pris- 
oners were marched to Half King's Town, 
Crawford in charge of two Indian guards, 
marching separate from the others. He here 
requested, and obtained, an interview with Si- 
mon Girty, and offered him $1,000 to save his 
life, and the white savage promised to make 
the effort, with no intention of keeping his 
promise. On the morning of the 11th, the 
faces of all the eleven prisoners were painted 
black. Crawford and Knight were separated 
from the others, four of whom they afterward 
saw lying by the roadside, tomahawked and 
scalped. Crawford and Knight were marched 
toward Pipe Town, and, when within a mile of 
the place, overtook their remaining five com- 
panions, who, soon afterward, were set upon by 
a number of infuriated squaws and boys, and 
all five were tomahawked and scalped. Craw- 
ford and Knight saw Girty at this place, but 
the savage renegade did not make an effort to 
save their lives. They were marched on to- 
ward Pipe Town, and, when within three-fourths 
of a mile of the place, were halted on the 
banks of the Tymochtee. This was about the 






middle of the afternoon. That night the Doc- 
tor was securely guarded at the Delaware vil- 
lage and the next morning-the 12th of June 
Jwas taken out by Tutelu, the savage who 
had him in charge, and again painted hlack. 
Tutelu then mounted a horse, and, ordermg 
Knicrht, who was on foot, to proceed, the two 
struck westward for the Shawanese towns 
about fotry miles distant. They traveled 
twenty-five miles, and encamped for the night. 
Earl/ the next morning, the Doctor, under a 
pretense to drive off the mosquitoes, took a 
heavy dogwood stick, the end of which was on 
fire and, wheeling suddenly, struck his captor 
a terrible blow across the head, knocking him 
into the fire. Knight seized the Indian's gun, 
and the latter, howling with pain, ran swiftly 
off through the woods. The savage was pur- 
sued but the Doctor, who had broken the 
mainspring in his efforts to cock the gun, was 
unable to fire, though he continued to run aft- 
er the savage, who was soon out of sight. 
This occurred in Hardin County. Knight im- 
mediately started east toward the settlements, 
pas«ino- in a northeast direction across Craw- 
ford County, near where Gallon now stands. 
After almost incredible sufferings from hunger 
and exposure, having nothing to eat save wild 
berries and an occasional bird, which was de- 
voured raw, he arrived on the 4th of July at 

Fort Pitt. , 

The afternoon previous to Knights confine- 
ment in Pipe Town-the afternoon of the 11th 
of June-he witnessed the awful death of the 
unfortunate Crawford, on the bank of Tymoch- 
tee Creek. The latter had made every eflort 
for his life, but all his offers were rejected. The 
nicrht of the 10th he had been confined in the 
store of John Leith, at Half King's Town, the 
latter having returned with his goods when the 
army retreated. Crawford appealed to Leith 
to shoot him in case the savages made prepa- 
rations to burn him on the morrow, but Leith 
sio-nified his inability to do so, alleging that the 



infuriated savages would brook no inter- 
ference.* It was about 4 o'clock on the 
afternoon of the 11th that Crawford's punish- 
ment began. There were present about forty 
warriorslmd sixty or seventy squaws and boys. 
Simon Gerty, Dr. Knight, Samuel Wells (a 
negro boy). Christian Fast (a captive white boy 
about seventeen years of age), and, very prob- 
ably, Matthew Elliott, the British Captain, were 
also' present at times during the torture. 
"Crawford was stripped naked and ordered to 
sit down. It is a tradition that his clothes, 
especially his hat, which was made of leather, 
were long after in the keeping of the Del- 
awares. The Indians-now beat him with sticks 
and their fists, and, immediately after, Knight 
was treated in the same manner. A post about 
fifteen feet high had been set in the ground. 
Crawford's hands were bound behind his back, 
and one end of a strong rope was tied to the 
licrature between his wrists, the other end being 
fa'stened to the post. The rope was long 
enough for him to sit down or walk around the 
post once or twice and return the same way. 
Crawford then called to Girty and asked if they 
intended to burn him. Girty answered, ' Yes.' 
He then replied he would take it all patiently. 
Upon this. Captain Pipe made a speech to the 
Indians, who, at its conclusion, yelled a hideous 
and hearty assent to what had been said. The 
spot where Crawford was now to be immolated 
was in what is now Crawford Township, Wyan- 
dot County, a short distance northeast of the 
town of Crawfordsville. The Indian men now 
took up their guns and shot powder into Craw- 
ford's naked body, from his feet as far up as 
his neck. It was the opinion of Knight that 
not less than seventy loads were discharged 
upon him! They then crowded about him, 
and, to the best of Knight's observation, cut 
off both his ears; for, when the throng dis- 
persed, he saw blood running from both sides 
of his head. The fire was about six yards from 

*Jiulgp Leith, Nevada, Ohio. 



V?- 



204 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY, 



the post. It was made of small liickoiy poles 
about six feet in length. Three or four Indians, 
by turns, would take up, individually, one of 
these burning pieces of wood and apply it to 
his naked body, already burnt black with pow- 
der. These tormentors presented themselves 
on every side of him, so that, whichever way he 
ran around the post, they met him with the 
burning fagots. Some of the squaws took 
broad boards, upon which they would carry a 
quantity' of burning coals and hot embers and 
throw on him, so that, in a short time, he had 
nothing but coals of fire and hot ashes to walk 
on. In the midst of these extreme tortures, 
Crawford called to Girty and begged to be 
shot, but, the white savage making no answer, 
he called again. Girty then, by way of derision, 
told Crawford he had no gun, at the same time 
turning to an Indian and laughing at the horrid 
scene. Crawford then besought the Almighty 
to have mercy on his soul, spoke very low, and 
bore his torments with the most manly forti- 
tude. He continued in all the extremities of 
pain for about two hours longer, when, at last, 
being almost spent, he lay down upon his 
stomach. The savages then scalped him, and 
repeatedly threw the scalp into the face of 
Knight, telling him that was his ' Great Cap- 
tain.' An old squaw, whose appearance. 
Knight thought, every way answered the ideas 
people entertain of the devil, got a board, took 
a parcel of coals and ashes, and laid them on 
his back and head. He then raised himself 
upon his feet and began to walk around the post. 
They next put burning sticks at him, as usual, but 
he seemed more insensible to pain than before. 
Knight, whose recital has been followed, was 
now taken away from the dreadful scene. It 
was a tradition among the Indians that Craw- 



ford breathed his last just at the going down 
of the sun. After he died — so runneth tra- 
dition — the fagots were heaped together, his 
body placed upon them, and around his smoking 
and charred remains danced the delighted sav- 
ages for many hours. Crawford's melancholy 
death fell like a knell upon the settlements. 
Heart-rending was the anguish of his lonely 
wife at his cabin on the banks of the Youghio- 
gheny." 

The aid of Col. Crawford in the Sandusky 
campaign — John Rose — was a foreigner, who 
had come to the United States some years be- 
fore. His story was that, sympathizing with 
the colonies in their struggle with the mother 
countr}', he had resolved to volunteer his serv- 
ices in the cause of liberty. He was fine 
looking, spoke the French language fluently, 
was highly educated, and was undoubtedl}^ a 
man of high rank. He made many warm per- 
sonal friends, among whom was Gen. William 
Irvine, the Commander of the Western Depart- 
ment, at whose house he was always a welcome 
visitor. His polished and agreeable manners 
made him conspicuous wherever he moved. 
He was sent by Gen. Irvine to act as Crawford's 
aid in the Sandusky campaign. In 1784, he 
returned to the old world, and. soon afterward, 
wrote to Irvine, giving his true history. His 
name was not John Rose, but Gustavus H. de 
Rosenthal, of Livonia, Russia — a Baron of the 
Empire. He left his country because of having 
killed a nobleman in a duel, caused by a blow 
the latter had inflicted on an aged uncle in his 
presence. Thus, the gallant soldier on the 
Sandusky Plains, the hero of Olentangy and 
Battle Island, was none other than Baron Rosen- 
thal, of Russia. 



i^ 



S- 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



205 



CHAPTER III. 



EARLY SETTLEMENT BY THE WHITES — ORIGIN 
TERRITORIAL CHANGES— COUNTY 

THE pioneers who made the early white set- 
tlements of Ohio, came from the south and 
east, following close upon the steps of the re- 
treating savages. The hardy sons of toil, who 
had wrested the fair lands of Western Pennsyl- 
vania and Kentucky from the Indian, turned 
their backs upon this, and pressed forward to 
the Ohio River, eager to cross and possess the 
lands beyond. Here, for a time, the savage 
defense of the natives delayed the fatal tide, 
until at last, overwhelmed and beaten from the 
south, they withdrew to the Maumee Valley. 
By a treaty made at Greenville, August 3, 1795, 
the Indians ceded the whole of the State, save 
that portion included within a line drawn from 
the mouth of the Cuyahoga River to Fort Lau- 
rens, the present site of Bolivar, in Tuscarawas 
County, and thence west, with the line known 
as the Grreenville Treaty Line or Indian Bound- 
ary. It was not many years before the vast 
wilderness, thus thrown open to peaceable settle- 
ment, was everywhere dotted with the cabin of 
the pioneer, and the squatter, the advance guard 
of the pioneer hosts, was again upon the Indian 
border. In 1807, a further cession was made 
by the Indians of that part of their territories, 
which was included between the line of the 
Cuj'ahoga River and a new one, drawn from a 
point on the southern shore of Lake Erie, be- 
tween the mouth of Sandusky Bay and Portage 
River, to a point due south on the Boundary 
line, a point just a little east of the village 
of Cardington, in Morrow Count3\ This line 
passed through what is now Crawford County 
on the western boundary of the Three Mile 
Strip, represented in its width in this county 
by Sandusky Township. In 1813, the arm}', 
under Gen. Crook, starting from Pittsburgh to 



AND ORGANIZATION OF CRAWFORD COUNTY- 
BUILDINGS— JOHNNY APPLESEED. 

join the forces of Gen. Harrison at Fort Meigs, 
traversed this territory from Wooster through 
Mansfield, Bucyrus and Upper Sandusky, thence 
northerly to their destination. This was the 
first road made through the country west of 
Mansfield, and this event, not only served to 
open up the territory, but brought it to the ob- 
servation of many who were not slow to sound 
the praises of this country through which the 
army passed. Richland County, which extended 
to the eastern border of Three Mile Strip, was 
rapidly settling up, and that restless portion of 
her population, which is found in every pioneer 
community, longing for newer scenes and plea- 
tier game, began to move over into the newly 
opened territory. On September 29, 1817, by a 
treaty made at the foot of the Maumee Rapids, 
the whole of the remaining portion of the State, 
under Indian domination, was ceded to the 
United States, and immigration, greatl}' stimu- 
lated by the news of the " New Purchase," be- 
gan to pour in. On the 20th of February, 1820, 
the General Assembly of the State passed an 
act for the " erection of certain counties " out 
of the vast tract of wilderness thus acquired, 
and Crawford was the seventh in order out of 
fourteen thus created. 

The country, which thus invited immigration, 
presented every variety of surface. In the 
lower part of the county, south and west of the 
Sandusky River, though seldom touching its 
banks, stretched out the great Sandusky Plains ; 
north of the river, extended an immense cran- 
berry marsh, that furnished the natives their 
principal stock in trade with the whites. In 
the northern and eastern parts of the territory', 
marshes of greater or less extent were ever}'- 
where found. In the northern part of Cran- 



iji 



hu 



206 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



berry and Auburn Townships, the Government 
Sui-vej'or planted his stakes from a canoe, and 
describes the country in his notes as the most 
" abandoned and God-forsaken " of any he had 
met with in a long surveying experience. But 
in all parts of the county, save on the plains, 
the land was covered with a dense growth of 
heavy timber, 

"Where the rude ax with heaved stroke 
Was never heard the nymphs to daunt.' 

The character of this country in 1821 is 
thus described by an early settler: "The 
Indians had been accustomed to bring cranber- 
ries East, when we first came to Richland 
Count3\ We could often see ten to twent}' 
horses, loaded with cranberries put in bark 
boxes, which were tied together and swung 
over the horses' backs, following each other 
east, each horse led by an Indian in single file. 
Our curiosit}^ was, of course, raised to know 
where these cranberries grew. So in the fall 
of the year 1821. my father-in-law, John Brown, 
Michael Brown, myself and a Mr. Jacob Miller, 
who had moved in our neighborhood from 
Pennsylvania, started on a trip to see whether 
we could find out where the cranberries grew. 
We took our horses, horse feed, etc., and started 
in a southwesterl}' direction, until we struck 
the Pennsylvania army road, then followed the 
route, which we could clearly distinguish. After 
passing along said route for several miles, we 
thought we were not getting far enough to the 
north, and, therefore, turning further north, 
struck the Sandusky River east of Bucyrus. 
As we came to the stream, we heard a man 
chopping wood a little further up the river. 
I told the men that there were Indians around, 
or else some white man had got in here. We 
rode up the river and found Daniel McMichael, 
a man whom I had seen before. He looked 
rather scared, but knew me as soon as I came 
close to him. He had come there in the spring 
and put up a little cabin, where he and his 



family resided. He gave us directions and 
accompanied us a little distance, showing us 
the old Indian trail, which would lead to the 
cranberry' marsh. We followed it until we 
reached our destination about sunset. After 
t^'ing and feeding our horses, we started into 
the marsh for cranberries, Mr. Miller walking 
behind, with his head up, expecting to find the 
fruit on bushes. An incautious step plunged 
him into a hole up to his waist, while he 
screamed for help, declaring that the bottom of 
the marsh had fallen out. We camped out that 
night. We saw several Indian camp-fires dur- 
ing the night, and heard several screaming, but 
were not molested. The next morning we gath- 
ered as many cranberries as our horses could 
carry, in a short time, the ground being literally 
covered with them. We left, perhaps, at 9 
o'clock in the morning, passing back to Mr 
MciMichael's, and then home, where we arrived 
late in the night. During this trip we saw no 
living man, except McMichael and his family, 
and no sign of any settlement from the time 
we started until our return. As long as we 
followed the arra}"^ road, the weeds were as high 
as the horses' heads, and from there the country 
was heavily timbered. We concluded this 
country would never be settled."* 

As in the early settlement of almost every 
new country, there were two classes of pioneers 
that left a more or less durable impress upon 
the eai'lier settlements of Crawford County. 
Held back from settlement by treaties with the 
natives until the tide of population beat against 
the barriers, this section was peculiarly fitted 
for the occupation of the squatter element, that 
knew no law but its own convenience, and 
feared no danger that freed it of the irksome 
restraint of civilization. '-The improvements 
of a back-woodsman (squatter) were usually 
confined to building a rude log cabin, clearing 
and fencing a small piece of ground for raising 



•"Personal Recollections of Jiimes Nail, in Bucjtub Forum, 
January 24, 1874. 








^^ (y^6^-^7-^>^l^cM- 



I 



HISTORY OF CKAWFORD COUNTY. 



209 



Indian corn ; a horse, a cow, a few hogs and 
some poultry, comprise his live stock ; and his 
farther operations are performed with his rifle. 
The formation of a settlement in his neighbor- 
hood is hurtful to the success of his favorite 
pursuit, and is the signal for his removing into 
more remote parts of the wilderness. In case 
of his owning the land on which he is settled, 
he is content to sell at a low price, and his 
establishment, though trifling, adds much to 
the comfort of his successor. The next class 
of settlers differs from the former, in having 
considerably less dependence on the killing of 
game, in remaining in the midst of a growing 
population, and in devoting themselves more to 
a^n-iculture. A man of this class proceeds on 
small capital ; he either enlarges the clearings 
begun in the woods by his back-woodsman pre- 
decessor, or establishes himself on a new site. 
On his arrival in a settlement, the neighbors 
unite in assisting him to erect a cabin for the 
reception of his family; some of them cut 
down the trees, others drag them to the spot 
with oxen, and the rest build up the logs. In 
this way a house is commonly reared in a day. 
For this well-timed assistance, no payment is 
made, and he acquits himself by working for 
his neighbors. It is not in his power to hire 
laborers, and he must depend, therefore, on his 
own exertions. If his family is numerous and 
industrious, his progress is greatly accelerated. 
He does not clear away the forest by dint of 
labor, but girdles the trees. By the second 
summer after this operation is performed, the 
foliage is completely destroyed, and his crops 
are not injured by the shade. He plants an 
orchard, which thrives abundantly under every 
sort of neglect. His live stock soon becomes 
much more numerous than that of his back- 
woods predecessor ; but, as his cattle have to 
shift for themselves in the woods, where grass 
is scanty, they are small and lean. He does 
not sow grass seed to succeed his crops, so that 
his land, which ought to be pasturage, is over- 



grown with weeds. The neglect of sowing 
grass seeds deprives him of hay ; and he has 
no fodder laid up, except the blades of Indian 
corn, which are much withered, and do not ap- 
pear to be nutritious food. The poor animals 
are forced to range the forests in winter, where 
they can scarcely procure anything which is 
green, except the buds of the underwood, on 
which they browse. These are sometimes cut 
down that the cattle may eat the buds. Want 
of shelter in the winter completes the sum of 
misery. Hogs suffer fiimine during the droughts 
of summer, and the frosts and snows of winter ; 
but they become fat by feeding on the acorns 
and beech-nuts which strew the ground in 
autumn. Horses are not exempted from their 
share in these common sufierings, with the 
addition of labor, which most of them are not 
very able to undergo. * * * * The set- 
tler, of the grade under consideration, is only 
able to bring a small portion of his land into 
cultivation ; his success, therefore, does not so 
much depend upon the quantity of produce 
which he raises, as on the gradual increase in 
the value of his property. When the neigh- 
borhood becomes more populous, he, in general, 
has it in his power to sell his property at a high 
price, and to remove to a new settlement, where 
he can purchase a more extensive tract of land, 
or commence farming on a larger scale than 
formerly. The next occupier is a capitalist, 
who immediately builds a larger barn than the 
former, and then a brick or frame house. He 
either pulls down the dwelling of his predeces- 
sor, or converts it into a stable. He erects 
better fences, and enlarges the quantity of cul- 
tivated land, sows down pasture fields, intro- 
duces an improved breed of horses, cattle, 
sheep, and these, probably, of the merino breed ; 
he fattens cattle for the market, and perhaps 
erects a flour-mill, or a saw-mill, or a distillery. 
Farmers of this description are frequently part- 
ners in the banks, members of the State Assem- 
bly, or of Congress, or Justices of the Peace. 



Ml 



210 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



The condition of the people has, necessarily, 
some relation to the age and prosperity of the 
settlements in which they live. In the earliest 
settlements of Ohio, the first and second rate 
farmers are most numerous, and are mixed to- 
gether. The three conditions of settlers de- 
scribed, are not to be understood as uniformly 
distinct, for there are intermediate stages, from 
•which individuals of one class pass, as it were, 
into another. The first invaders of the forest 
frequently become farmers of the second order ; 
and there are examples of individuals, acting 
their parts in all the three gradations."* 

This general picture of the early settlements 
of Ohio, is borne out by the first twenty-five 
years of historj^ in every township in Crawford 
County. The Ohio fever took strong hold of 
man}' of the communities in the older States, 
and no sooner was the " New Purchase " heard 
of, than hundreds, anxious to secure a home 
with plent}' of land, flocked to the new country. 
The eastern tier of townships formerl}- belong- 
ing to Richland, Auburn, Vernon, Jackson and 
Polk, were surveyed by Maxwell Ludlow, in 
1807. The remaining territory was surveyed 
in 1819, by Deputy Surveyor General Sylvanus 
Bourne. The early pioneers came close after 
the surveyors, and in many places found the 
bark still fresh upon the stakes that marked 
the different sections. The first actual settler, 
however, was more bold, and, braving the dan- 
gers and inconveniences of frontier isolation, 
penetrated the dense forest, and took up a claim 
on the border of the Sandusky Plains, eight 
miles from the nearest cabin, and twice that 
many miles from what might be called a com- 
munity. He is represented as a man of large 
athletic proportions, standing six feet high, of 
strong determination, keen intelligence, and 
full of the true spirit of enterprise. Tliis was 
Samuel Norton, the founder of the village of 
Bucyrus. He came from Susquehanna County, 
Penn., and, after selecting his quarter-section 

* Flint's Letters from America, 1818. 



on the present site of the county seat, he re- 
turned to his native State for his famil}'. The 
land was not yet surveyed, nor offered for sale ; 
but here he erected his pole cabin, and pro- 
ceeded to make a clearing, trusting that he 
would have no difficulty in securing the land 
by purchase, when put on the market. In this 
cabin, located near the site of the present rail- 
road bridge, his daughter, Sophronia, was born ; 
the first white child, probably, within the origi- 
nal limits of the county. "At this time his 
only neighbors were David Beadle, and his 
sons, Mishel and David, Daniel McMichael, and 
Joseph Young. Col. Kilburn's 'Song of Bu- 
cyrus ' has it : 

" ' First Norton and the Beadles came 
With friends, an enterprising band ; 

Young and McMichael, men of fame, 
Soon joined the others hand in hand.' 

" Of these, Daniel McMichael settled on a quar- 
ter-section, two miles east on the river ; Young 
settled on the farm now owned by John A. 
Gormly ; Mishel Beadle, on the farm now 
owned by L. Converse, and David Beadle, just 
southwest of the village of Bucyrus. Of the 
settlers who came into the various parts of the 
county about this time, were Resolved White, 
a descendant of the child born on the Ma}'- 
flower ; Rudolph Morse and David Cummins, 
in the present limits of Auburn Township ; Ja- 
cob Snj^der, near Leesville ; David Anderson 
and Andrew Dixson and sons, in Vernon Town- 
ship ; John Brown and his son, Michael Brown, 
on the farm owned by the late Mr. Beltz, of 
Polk Township ; David Reid and two men 
named Pleteher, a little south of that point ; in 
Sandusky Township, there were Westel, Ridge- 
ly and J. S. Griswell, near where the Buc3'rus 
and Leesville road crosses the Sandusky River ; 
a little south was Peter Bebout ; Samuel 
Knisely, at Kniscly's Springs, and his brother 
Joseph, and John B. French, just north of him. 
Near the Bear Marsu, were Isaac Matthews 



l^ 



M'. 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



211 



William Handle}^, Nelson Tustason, two fami- 
lies of Mclntyres, and John Davis. "* 

" *The great avenue of travel at this early 
period was along the route followed by Gen. 
Crook's army in 1813, and rendered this section 
of country particularl}^ accessible to immigra- 
tion from Pennsylvania. Another feature of 
the early settlement of the county, will be ob- 
served in the fact that there was no common 
center in this territory, from which the increas- 
ing population seemed to disperse over the 
county. This country had filled the eye of 
many in the older settlements, who were pre- 
pared to move forward so soon as the way 
should be opened, and, when once the treaty 
barriers were removed, there was a general rush 
for the various points that had already been 
canvassed. The settlement in what is now Au- 
burn Township, was largely made up of New 
Englanders, and received" its first white inhab- 
itants in 1815. These facts, somewhat at va- 
riance with the histor3^ of the greater part of 
the count^', have their explanation in the loca- 
tion of this township adjoining the ' fire lands ' 
of the Western lleserve. These lands, appro- 
priated for the use of certain citizens of Con- 
necticut, who suffered by the devastation of the 
English during the Revolutionary war, were 
early settled by these beneficiaries, and naturally- 
attracted others of their friends to the same vi- 
cinity. Although much of the land in Auburn 
at an early date was occupied by marshes, it 
still presented attractions enough in its near- 
ness to old friends, to induce John Pettigon 
and William Green to settle here as earl}- as 
1815. Two years later, Charles Morrow joined 
the little settlement ; in 1819, the little colony 
from New York, named above ; John Blair, 
in 1821, and A. T. Ross in 1825. Vernon 
was principally settled by New Englanders, 
many of them locating Revolutionary war land 
warrants. The land w-as not the most inviting, 
a lai-ge part of it being covered with marshes. 

*Juhn Moderwell's letters in Bucyrus Journal, 18C8. 



The first settler was George Byers, in 1818. 
He occupied a squatter's claim, and was noto- 
rious in the early times as a trapper. Coming 
soon after him was James Richards, in 1821, 
and George Dickson from Pennsylvania, in 
1822. The settlement in the southeast corner 
of the county was an earl}- and important one. 
This whole corner of the county was known as 
Sandusky Township, in Richland County. Ben- 
jamin Leveredge and his sons James and Na- 
thaniel, together with George Wood- and David, 
came in 1817, and were the first to settle on the 
present site of Gallon. Benjamin Sharrock 
came in 1818 and Asa ITosford in 1819. These 
hardy, stalwart men were followed, in 1 820, b}' 
Father Ketteridge, a great trapper and hunter, 
b}- Rev. James Dunlap. in 1822, and Nathan 
iMerriman in 1824. James Nail, in his printed 
recollections, says : " In 1819, 1 left my fother's 
farm and came to what was then called San- 
dusky Township, Richland Count}-, and bought 
160 acres of Congress land, about two miles 
from Gallon, on the road to Leesville. All the 
settlers then heard of, in what is now Crawford 
County, were three brothers by the name of Lev- 
eredge, living a little west of where Gallon is, and 
my brother-in-law, Lewis Leiberger, who settled 
on a piece of land adjoining me. Living with 
Leiberger, I put up a cabin on my land, and 
commenced clearing it. In the fall of 1821, 1 
married, and settled on my piece of land. By 
this time, some other settlers came into the 
community, such as John Brown, Benjamin 
Sharrock, Nehemiah Story and others." Whet- 
stone was first settled about 1820. and num- 
Ibered among its earliest pioneers. Esi Norton, 
Frederick Garver, Eleman Rowse, Christopher 
Bair, John Kent and others. The conununity 
hei-e grew rapidly, and by 1827 numbered 
some thirty families, principally from Pennsyl- 
vania and the New England States. Liberty 
was first invaded by Daniel McMicliael, who 
was followed b}- Ralph Bacon in 1821, from 
Mentor, Ohio. In the same year, the families 



:l^ 



213 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY 



of John Maxfield, a native of Vermont, and 
John 0. Blowers, from Wa3'ne County, Ohio, 
were added to the population of the township. 
In 1822, William Blowers, Calvin Squier and 
Nehemiah Squier, came from New York, and in 
1823, some sixteen families were added to this 
settlement, principally from the far Eastern 
States. The settlement of Chatfield was not quite 
so rapid as some of the southern and eastern 
parts, but had a nucleus about which a settle- 
ment gathered as earl}- as 1820. An early 
character was Jacob Whetstone, who spent his 
time hunting and trapping. The more impor- 
tant family was represented b}' Silas and Oliver 
Chatfield, whose name has been perpetuated in 
that of the township. Holmes township labored 
under some disadvantages at this period. The 
western portion was still reserved to the In- 
dians, and along its southern border an exten- 
sive cranberry marsh made it undesirable for 
settlement. Mr. Hearman was the first resident 
of the township, who was followed in a short 
time b3' William Flake. The growth of the set- 
tlement here was slow, and it was probably 
1825, before it could aspire to the title of com- 
munity. 

"The diflrtculty and trials of the early set- 
tlers of Crawford Count}', although not so 
great as those encountered by the first settlers 
west of the Alleghanies, were yet such as 
would be considered by their descendants of 
the present day as almost insurmountable. 
Nearly all the land within the present limits of 
the county was covered by heavy timber, which 
almost entirely prevented the sun's rays from 
reaching the ground. This, in connection with 
the formation of the country and the nature of 
the soil, necessarily made ver}- muddy roads, 
even with the little travel then passing on 
them, and mud, and the fever and ague pro- 
duced by the same causes, were the great 
drawbacks to the rapid development of this 
country. The distance from mills and from 
other settlements was also among the serious 



difficulties they had to contend with. For sev- 
eral years, nearl}' all the flour used had to be 
brought from the mills on Mohican Creek and 
its tributaries, in Richland County, thirty and 
forty miles distant. The practice then was to 
make a trip in an ox wagon to the vicinity of 
one of these mills, purchase a small quantity 
of wheat from some of the settlers there, have 
it ground, and carry the flour back to Bucyrus 
— the voyage consuming from a week to ten 
days' time. 

" Most of the pioneers were men of small 
means. Their stock of cash being generally ex- 
hausted upon paying the Government price for 
eighty, or, at most, one hundred and sixty 
acres of land, many became discouraged at the 
hardships they had to encounter and returned 
to their old homes. Others would have done 
so could they have raised the wherewith to 
carry them there. This, however, did not last 
long, most of them becoming entirely satisfied 
after a few years' residence, the improvement 
of the country each 3'ear making it more toler- 
able to live in, and giving increasing promise 
of its future prosperity. 

" The total change in the appearance of the 
countr}^ to one wlio can look back forty-five 
years (written in 18G8) seems almost mirac- 
ulous. Could one of the residents here in 
1825, after an absence of forty years, now re- 
turn, he would find it difficult to recognize a 
single familiar landmark or half a dozen famil- 
iar faces, and one who has not a correct record 
of his age is inclined to think he has been 
here a century instead of less than half of 
one."* 

It will be observed that quite a large pro- 
portion of these earl}' settlers were of New 
England origin. This fact of late j'ears has 
been entirely changed, and the German element 
in most parts of the county has assumed the 
ascendency. This change began about 1832. 
In this year and succeeding ones, there was a 

*JUoder\vcir8 Letter?', liiCS. 



IV 



4. 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



213 



large accession of German population coming 
direct from Europe. Coming by the Erie 
Canal to Buffalo, and thence to Clevekind or 
Sandusk}^ the Maumee Valley presented the 
most available place for settlement at that 
time, and this fact undoubtedly determined the 
destination of scores of persons who have 
since made this once marshy and unhealthful 
country to become a strong competitor with 
localities far more highly favored by nature. In 
1848, the political troubles of Germany brought 
another considerable addition to the Teutonic 
element of Crawford, and many a German 
"agitator" is to-day among the county's most 
reliable citizens. 

The origin of Crawford County as a distinct 
political division of the State dates back to 
February 20, 1820. At this time, the whole 
Maumee Valley was opened to settlement, and 
was divided up into counties for judicial and 
governmental purposes. Townships 1, 2 and 
3 south, in Ranges 13, 14, 15, 16 and 17 east, 
and all the land east of these townships up to 
what was then the western limits of Richland 
County, was named Crawford County, in honor 
of the gallant soldier who ended, in 1782, a 
brave and praiseworthy career on the plains 
within these boundaries. This division did 
not at that time have any political significance 
or power, but was simply attached to Delaware 
County, an association that did not even 
have the merit of an equality in the disadvan- 
tages. Fortunately, the matter of law or taxa- 
tion did not enter very largely into the 
"experiences of the pioneer settlements until a 
nearer county seat was provided. December 
15, 1823, the county of Marion, roughly 
blocked out at the time Crawford was named, 
was regularly organized, and became the 
guardian of her younger sister, as the act 
reads, " for judicial purposes." Save that some 
of its townships had received a name and 
something of a start toward civilization, Craw- 
ford was the same insignificant figure in affairs 



of state as before. On the 17th of February 
in the following year, the increase of popula- 
tion having become so great as to make it 
inconvenient for the more remote settlers to go 
to Marion to transact their business, that part 
of Crawford which was situated north of the 
Wyandot reservation, "including one tier of 
townships lying east and west," was attached 
to Seneca County for judicial purposes. This 
continued until January 31, 1826. Crawford 
County was independently organized and intro- 
duced into the sisterhood of counties by the 
following act : 



Section 1. Be it enacted, etc., that the county of 
Crawford be, and the same is hereby, organized into a 
separate and distinct county. 

Sec. 2. That all Justices of the Peace residing 
within the county of Crawford shall continue to dis- 
charge the duties of their respective offices until their 
commissions shall expire and their successors are 
chosen and qualified. 

Sec 3. That the qualified electors residing in the 
county of Crawford shall meet in their respective 
townships on the first Monday of April next, and elect 
their several county officers, who shall hold their re- 
spective offices until the next annual election, and 
until others are chosen and qualified according to law. 
Sec. 4. That all suits and actions, whether of a civil 
or criminal nature, which shall have been commenced, 
shall be prosecuted to final judgment and execution, and 
all taxes, fines and penalties which shall have become 
due shall be collected in the same manner as if this 
act had not been passed. 

Sec. 5. That Zalmon Rowse is hereby appointed 
Assessor for said county of Crawford, who shall, on or 
before the first d^y of April next, give bond, as is pro- 
vided in the fourth section of the "act establishing an 
equitable mode of taxation," to the acceptance of 
Enoch B. Merryman, who is hereby authorized to re- 
ceive said bond, and deposit the same with the County 
Auditor of said county forthwith after such Auditor 
shall have been elected and qualified ; and the Asses- 
sor herein appointed shall be required to perform the 
same duties, hold his office for the same time and in 
the same manner as if he had been appointed by a 
court of common pleas for said county of Crawford ; 
and the Auditor of State is hereby required to trans- 
mit to said Assessor a schedule of all lands subject to 



>> 



214 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



taxation within said county, which schedule said As- 
sessor shall return with his other returns to the County 
Auditor. 

Sec. 6. That the Commissioners elected according 
to the provisions contained in the third section of this 
act shall meet on the first Monday in May next, at the 
town of Bucyrus, and then an'l there determine at 
what place in said county of Crawford the judicial 
courts shall be held till the permanent seat of justice 
shall be established in said county. 

Sec. 7. That those townships and fractional town- 
ships in Crawford County which have heretofore been 
aiiached to and formed a part of any township in 
Marion or Seneca Counties respectively, are hereby 
attached to, and declared to be a part of, Crawford 
Township, in said Crawford County, till the same shall 
be otherwise provided for by the Commissioners of 
said county. 

The county thus organized included a scope 
of territory three Congressional townships in 
width, and extending from the eastern bound- 
ar}- of Sandusky and Cranberry Townships to 
the western boundary of Crawford, Salem and 
MitHin Townships, in W^'andot County. The 
larger part of what is now AVyandot County, 
and three miles of the western portion of Holmes 
and Eueyrus townships, was covered by the 
AVyandot Indian reservation. In 1835, the In- 
dians sold to the government a strip seven 
miles off the east end of their reservation, 
which was sold by the government publicl}' in 
IMarion, Ohio. This tract extended in what is 
now Wyandot County, some two miles. A 
considerable part of this land located around 
the present village of Osceola, was bought by a 
company who laid out this town and sold a 
good many lots in the belief that the county 
seat would eventually be removed there, as it 
was near the center of the county as then con- 
structed. This speculation was defeated on 
February 3, 1845, by the erection of Wyandot 
County. In the general re-organization of the 
counties that then took place, Crawford lost all 
the territory west of the middle line of town- 
ships in Range 15 east, and gained from 
IMarion County a strip of territory two miles 



while extending to the Richland County line, 
and from the latter county on the east a tract four 
miles wide, extending the whole length of Craw- 
ford from north to south, some twenty miles. In 
1848, a tier of fractional sections were taken oflE" 
in the erection of Morrow County, leaving Craw- 
ford in its present outlines. In the matter of 
township lines the information is not so accu- 
rate. The early records of this county having, 
unfortunately, been burned, the only clew is to 
be found by a tedious search in the early records 
of Delaware and Marion Counties. Bucyrus, 
Liberty and Whetstone were probabl}' erected 
by the Commissioners of Delaware County, but 
with what boundaries is not known. During 
the three years this county was attached to 
Marion, a number of townships north, east and 
west of the Indian reserve were erected. S^'ca- 
more, Tymochtee, Pitt and Antrim Townships 
were among these. "Tj^mochtee Township," 
says Mr. Moderwell, " lay directly west of S^'ca- 
more, and probably contained more inhabitants 
forty [now fifty-two] years ago, than any town- 
ship in the county, and contributed its full share 
to the business of our courts." What was done 
before the latter part of 1831, b}^ the Commis- 
sioners of Crawford is open to conjecture only. 
In 1845, there were the following sixteen town- 
ships, of which none of those located within the 
present limits of Crawford, were erected subse- 
quent to 1831 : Antrim, Bucyrus, Center, 
Chatfield, Cranberry, Crawford, Holmes, Jack- 
son, Liberty, Lykens, Mifflin, Pitt, Sandusky, 
Sycamore, Tymochtee, and Whetstone. On 
the 6th of March, 1845, the commissioners of 
Crawford County took the following action iu 
regard to the fractional townships and territory 
added : 

This d.ay, it was resolved by the Commissioners of 
Crawford County, that the following fractional town- 
ships taken from the counties of Kichland and Marit>n, 
and those lying on the west side of said county of Craw- 
ford, according to an act of the General Assembly of 
the State of Ohio, passed February 3, 1845, to erect the 



>v 



^ s 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



215 



new county of Wyandot, and alter the boundaries of 
Crawford, be organized into separate townships, to wit: 

All that part taken from the county of Richland, and 
being in Township twenty-two (22) north, Range twen- 
ty (20) west, be, and the same is hereby, organized into 
a separate township, and shall be known by the name 
of Auburn : 

All that part taken from the county of Richland, and 
being in Township twenty-one (21) north. Range twenty 
(20) west, be, and the same is hereby, organized into a 
separate township, and shall be known by the name of 
Vernon. 

All that part taken from the county of Richland, and 
being in Township twenty (20) north. Range twenty 
(2 I) west ; and all that part taken from Township 
nineteen (19) north. Range twenty (20) ; and all that 
part taken from the county of Marion, and being in 
Township fifteen (15) north. Range twenty-one (21), 
be, and the same is hereby, organized into a separate 
township, and shall be known by the name of Polk : 

All that part taken from the county of Marion, and 
being in township four (4) south. Range sixteen (16) 
east ; and all that part taken from the county of Marion, 
and being in Township four (4) south. Range fifteen 
(15) east ; and all that part taken from Township three 
(8) south, Range fifteen east, except six sections off 
the north end of said fractional township, be, and the 
same is hereby, organized into a separate township, and 
shall be known by the name of Dallas : 

All that part taken from Township two (2) south, 
Range fifteen (15) east, and six sections off the north 
end of fractional Township three (3) south, Range fif- 
teen (15) east be, and the same is hereby, organized into 
a separate township, and shall be known by the name 
of Todd : 

All that part taken from Township one (1) south. 
Range fifteen (15) east, be, and the same is hereby, or- 
ganized into an independent township, and shall be 
known by the name of Texas : 

All that part taken from the county 'of Marion, and 
being in Township four (4) south, Range seventeen 
(17) east, be, and the same is hereby, attached to Whet- 
stone : 

All that part of fractional Section thirty-one (31), 
thirty-two (32), in Township three (3) south, Range 
sixteen east, be, and the same is hereby, attached to 
Bucyrus. 

It will be observed that the township of Polk, as 
thus constructed, occupied the southeast corner of the 
county as Dallas does the southwest. To this arrange- 
ment the citizens objected, and in the following June 



the line of division between Jackson and Polk Town- 
ships was run from the " northeast corner of Sec- 
tion twenty-seven (27), in Polk Township, and thence 
west on the section line to the southwest corner of Sec- 
tion twenty-two (22), in Jackson Township." 

On the 10th of March, 1873, Jefferson Town- 
ship was erected out of the twenty sections in 
the western part of Jackson Township. There 
had been two polling precincts for some time, 
and, a jealousy springing up in regard to the 
division of officers, a division was made, cut- 
ting Jackson Township off with but eight sec- 
tions. With these changes, Crawford County 
stands as at present, divided into sixteen town- 
ships. Three of these have thirty-six sections, 
one has forty full sections besides eight frac- 
tional sections, two have thirty sections, and 
two eighteen sections, and the others have re- 
spectively twenty-eight, twenty-six, twenty- 
four, twent3'-two, twenty-one, twenty, twelve 
and eight sections. 

The first election provided for by the act 
erecting the count}^, was contested with consid- 
erable spirit. By a provision of the act, the 
first Commissioners were empowered to fix the 
place for holding the courts, until permanently 
fixed by commissioners appointed by the State. 
The result of the election, therefore, practi- 
cally decided this interesting question, and 
this fact constituted the point on which the 
factions joined issue. The western part of the 
population considered the village of Crawford, 
located on the Broken Sword Creek, the more 
generally accessible, and the southern part pre- 
ferred Bucyrus as the site for the county seat 
The result was a victory for the partisans of 
Bucyrus, in the election of Thomas McClure, 
John Magers and Greorge Poe, who established 
the county seat, temporarily, at Bucyrus. In 
1 830, Judge Williams, of Delaware ; R. S. 
Dickenson, of Fremont, and J. S. Glassgo, of 
Holmes Count}^, Commissioners appointed by 
the Legislature for the purpose, confirmed this 
action of the County Commissioners, and es- 



IT 



216 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY 



tablisbed the county seat permanently at Buc}'- 
rus. A Mr. Beardsley received the first ap- 
pointment as Clerk, but shortly afterward 
resigned, and was succeeded by Col. Rowse, 
who held the office for a number of years, and 
at the samQ time discharged the duties of 
County Recorder. He was succeeded as Clerk 
by J. B. Larwill, D. W. Swigart, Alexander P. 
Widman, J. R. Clymer, Thomas Coughlin, 
David C. Cahill and A. A. Ruhl ; and as Re- 
corder, by Jacob Howenstine, James Robinson, 
Frank M. Bowyer, William Stremmel and 1). 
0. Castle. Hugh McCracken was the first Sher- 
iff, and was succeeded by John Miller, 
John Moderwell, David Holm, John Shull, 
Samuel Andrews, James L. Harper, John Cald- 
well, James Clements, Jonathan Kissinger, 
William C. Beal, John Franz, Joseph Worden, 
Daniel Keplinger, James Worden, Henry J. 
Row and John A. Schaber. James Martin was 
first elected Auditor, and was succeeded in this 
office by Charles Merriman, Edward Billips, 
John Caldwell, Jacob Howenstein, George 
Sinn, Owen Williams, John Pitman, A. M. Jack- 
son, E. R. Kearsley, A. A. Ruhl, Samuel Hoyt, 
William Scroggs, Frederick M. Swingley, J. 
H. Robinson. The first County Treasurer, 
John H. Morrison, was succeeded by Gen. 
Samuel Mjers, George Lauck, Charles Hetich, 
Otto Fieldner, George Donnenwirth, Joseph 
Roop, John Franz, J. B. Franz, John G. Birk, 
C. H. Shoner and W. Riblet. The first Probate 
Judge was Harvey Eaton, who was succeeded 
by George Wiley, P. S. Marshall, J. S. Elliott, 
Abram Summers, James Clements, Robert Lee 
and Shannon Clements. 

The delay in permanently locating the coun- 
ty seat, caused a delay in erecting public build- 
ings. The Commissioners provided for the 
first sessions of the courts in private houses, 
but feeling the need of a jail, contracted with 
Z. Rowse, in 1827, to build one of squared tim- 
ber. This served to accommodate the county 
as a place for the archives of the county as well 



as the rogues, but was destroj-ed by fire about 
1831, destroying all the records of the Com- 
missioners up to October 31, 1831. When, in 
1830, the question of the location of the seat 
of justice was settled, the proprietors of Bucy- 
rus donated Lots 89, 90 and 92, and the citi- 
zens made liberal contributions to erect the 
public buildings. In this year the first court 
house was built and finished, in 1832, though 
not finally accepted by the Commissioners un- 
til June 4, 1833. Col. Kilbourne was archi- 
tect, and Nicholas Cronebaugh, Abraham 
Holm, Sr., and William Early, contractors. 
There is no clew to the specifications, but from 
later records it is ascertained that it was built 
with a cupola, and the whole was painted white 
on the outside. The inside was painted a light 
blue. In 1837, a bell was added, at a cost of 
about $100. In this year, a proposition to 
build a new jail was submitted to the people, 
which was indorsed, and, on February 4, 1839, 
Z. Rowse received a contract for the building. 
The records give no inkling of specifications, 
but it was built of brick, on the court-house 
yard, and was fiimlly accepted by the county 
in July, 1840, and fenced around at a cost of 
$58, in 1844. In 1854, the building of a new 
brick court house was agitated, and, in 1856, 
was completed at a cost of about $18,000. 0. 
S. Kinney, of Cleveland, was the architect, and 
Auld & Miller, of Mount Gilead, Ohio, the 
contractors. In the fall of this year, a proposition 
to spend $12,000, in buying a farm and build- 
ing an Infirmary building, was submitted to the 
people and lost, but in the following spring, 
April, 1857, the people voted for a new jail. 
Accord ingl}', on August 3, 1858, a contract was 
entered into with E. Jacobs & Co., of Cincin- 
nati, to build the whole of the prison part, at a 
cost of $5,500, and with George B. Terwilleger, 
of Bucyrus, for all the work, save the prison 
part, for $3,076.98. This was placed on Lot 88, 
which was donated to the county for this pur- 
pose by Samuel Norton. Finally, in 1867, the 






HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



217 



building of an Infirmary was undertaken, at a 
cost of $33,000, David Shank being tlie con- 
tractor. Tliis building is a large two-story 
rectangular brick building, with basement, with 
an addition in the rear, and is finely situated 
on the farm in Whetstone Township. The style 
of construction is plain, verging on unsightli- 
ness. A recently erected building for the in- 
sane is much more presentable, though showing 
off the main building at a disadvantage. The 
farm is composed of 300 acres of good farming 
land, and is provided with good barns and out- 
buildings. 

•' At the time the town of Bucyrus was laid 
out, the only outlet to the lake with teams was 
by way of New Haven, and the time required 
to make the trip with an ox team was usually 
from ten days to two weeks. Directly north 
was an almost unbroken wilderness to the Hu- 
ron Plains, and very few settlers between this 
and Sandusky City. The citizens here raised, 
by subscription, funds to open a wagon track 
through to Honey Creek. Any person that 
ever passed over it found it a hard road to 
travel. At this time, we had a weekly mail 
from Marion and Sandusky City. At times in 
the winter, when the ground was not sufficiently 
frozen in the woods to bear a horse, the carrier 
would leave his horse here, take the mail on his 
shoulders, and carry it afoot to Sandusky and 
back. One of the first, and probably the most 
important public improvement, and one that 
did more for the interest of the town and the 
openiug-up and settlement of the county, was 
the Columbus and Sandusky Turnpike road. 

" In 1826, an act was passed by the General 
Assembly incorporating seven gentlemen of 
Franklin County, Judge Merriman and Col. 
Kowse, of Bucyrus, and seventeen others named 
in the act, and residing along the line of road, 
and their associates, by the name of the Colum- 
bus and Sandusky Turnpike Company, with a 
capital of $100,000, the stock divided into shares 
of $100 each, and the company to be governed 



by a board of nine directors. The charter was 
accepted by the company, and, by an act of 
Congress, passed in 1827, there were about 
32,000 acres of land given to the State of Ohio 
in trust for the use of said company, to aid 
them in the construction of the road. Soon 
after, the incorporators met in the brick school- 
house in Bucyrus, and completed the organiza- 
tion of the company. Col. Kilbourne was sur- 
veyor, and Orange Johnson was one of the 
locating Commissioners and the principal agent 
as long as the road was under the control of the 
company. It was some seven years in building, 
and was finished in 1834, and was 106 miles in 
length from Columbus to Sandusky. The aver- 
age cost was a little more than $700 per mile. 
It was a splendid road when dry, but being only 
a clay or mud pike, in the spring or wet season 
of the year, it was in places almost impassable. 
This finally wore out the patience of those who 
were obliged to pay toll for the use of the road, 
and an attack was made upon the toll gates by 
an armed mob, which started out from Colum- 
bus and leveled every gate to the northern part 
of Delaware County. This brought the question 
before the Legislature of 18-13, which repealed 
the act incorporating the company. The case 
was brought before the Legislature again for a 
re-heariug, but was passed over from time to 
time, until the session of 1856, when the Senate 
passed a bill authorizing the company to bring 
suit against the State, but this was lost in the 
House, which seems to have ended the matter. 
" The citizens, from the time the building of 
this turnpike was determined upon, took a 
lively interest in having it pass through Bucy- 
rus. For some years, it was the great thorough- 
fare of the State from the river to the lakes, and 
was the principal road to market for the coun- 
ties of Delaware, Union and Marion. Seventy- 
five wagons loaded with wheat were counted 
passing through Bucyrus in one day, all of 
which would return loaded with goods, and the 
constant traffic incident to so much transporta- 



)^ 



218 



HISTORY or CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



tion, created business, and was an active stimu- 
lus in developing the town and county. 

" For the first ten j'cars after the settlement 
of the county, it may be truly said of the in- 
habitants that tlicy were poor, having but little 
to sell, and no market for that little, except 
what supplied the wants of new-comers, and 
some cattle and hogs which had to be driven 
mostly to the East on foot, and there sold at 
barel}' living prices. One steer or cow would 
bring about as much now as four did at that 
time, and other products were equall}' low. 
After the New York Canal was completed, there 
was quite a change for the better ; prices of 
store goods came down, and many articles of 
produce, particularly wheat, found a ready 
market at the lake. 

" About 1828-29, there was a xevy marked 
improvement in times. Emigrants, in large 
numbers, were arriving, many of them substan- 
tial men with considerable means, who bought 
out man}' of the first settlers, enabling such as 
were in debt to pay up with cash, thus gradu- 
ally' substituting a money currenc}^ for our old 
s^'stem of barter. About this time, the Ger- 
mans commenced settling rapidly in the county, 
some of them locating on low, wet land, which 
the}' have since brought into a fine state of 
cultivation. 

" At this time a better class of houses was 
being put up than heretofore. In 1831, Mr. 
Hahn got into his new brick hotel in Bucyrus, 
now the Sims House. The following summer, 
Mr. Norton built his brick house at the north 
end of the town. In this year, 1832, the United 
States Land Office was removed to Bucyrus, 
from Tiffin. Thomas Gillipsie was Register, 
and Joseph H. Larwill, Receiver. Lands were 
now rapidly entered ; frequently, on IMonday 
morning (or if the office had been closed for a 
day or two), fi-om twenty to forty persons have 
been seen gathered around the office of the 
Register, waiting for the door to open, each 
fearful some other person was after the same 



land he wished to obtain. This was the com- 
mencement of the daj'S of wild speculation 
that apparently pervaded the whole country. 
Crawford County, being comparatively new and 
less wealth}^, did not partake of this spirit so 
fully as the older sections. The removal of the 
Government deposits from the United States 
Bank to local banks gave an impetus in this 
direction, which resulted in the opening of a 
large number of banks and the flooding of the 
countx}' with paper mone.y. Produce and real 
estate, both in town and country, ran up to 
fabulous prices. A kind of mania for land 
appeared to possess the people. This continued 
until 1837, when the bubble burst, and Craw- 
ford County suftered keenly with the rest of the 
nation for its folly. The recovery was slow, 
and it was not before 1845 that the effects of 
the panic of '37 could be said to have lost their 
power. The establishment of the State Bank 
in this j'ear had a salutary efiect upon the 
business of the county. The Irish famine, 
occurring directly after this, creating a demand 
for our produce, which brought coin principally 
in return, added to the improved feeling here. 
The Mexican war, closely following this event, 
resulting in large expenditure by the Govern- 
ment, was of great benefit to a new country 
like Crawfordj that needed nothing so much as 
a good market. Then followed the discovery 
of gold in California. These causes together 
furnished the county, with the rest of the coun- 
try, an abundance of money and an excellent 
currency. The county now improved rapidly ; 
towns were flourishing, and the farming inter- 
ests were never more flourishing." 

The growth of the county in point of popula- 
tion has been regular and healthful, as will 
appear from the accompanying table. In the 
census of 1830, it has been found impossible to 
ascertain the proper division of the total 
among all the townships. So far as given, the 
information has been derived from reliable 
sources. 



IB 

;fr 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY 



219 



TOWNS. 



Auburn 

Antrim 

Biicyrus 

liiic^Tus Village.., 

Center 

Chattield 

Cranberry 

Crawfoid 

I'allas 

Holmes 

Jackson , 

Crestline Village.. 

*Jeft'er8on 

Liberty 

Lvkens 

Slifflin 

Pitt 

Polk 

Gallon Village 

Sandusky 

Svcaraore 

Texis 

TodJ 

Tymochtee 

Vernon 

Wbetatone 



139 



579 
334 



750 



951 

261 
1654' 2315 



l;!2 

878, 13.il 
680 1042 

812 

I 406 

744j 1238 
630 1711 



1469, 1782 
742 1185 

316 

423 

t- 1318 



679; 
958, 



822 



545 
57S 



1659, 
I 

ii24: 



1276 

1057 



Totals 4778' 13167 18177 23881 2.5556 30575 



1870 1880 



l.'i5i 1718 
2180 3000 



1176 



1238 

3848 



1430 
1339 



407 
1639 
1813 
1487 



1247 
1281 



370 
1570 
1742 
2279 



1788 1597 
1265 1140 



944 836 

19671 3523 

792| 665 



566 5G6 
1093 1156 



12241 ' 
1524 1490 



IvGi 
1821 



500 

i6i;o 

3,-<fl 
2787 
121S 
1085 
1247 



883 

56:-l8 

658 



583 
1100 



1038 
1840 



In bringing this chapter to a close, the name 
of Johnny Appleseed, whose kindl}' charity and 
generous philanthropy wrought so much for 
ever}- frontier community in Central Ohio, should 
not be forgotten. The scene of his early ac- 
tivity in this State was in Richland County, and 
Crawford, which profited so largely by its close 
neighborhood to this section, certainly owes 
him the tribute of a good word. He was fre- 
quently seen here by the earliest settlers, and 
nine out of ten of the early orchards here are 
said to have originated from his nurseries. " He 
was born in the State of Massachusetts. As 
early as 1780, he was seen in the autumn, for 
two or three successive years, along the banks 
of the Potomac River in Eastern Virginia. He 
attended the cider-mills when the farmers made 
their cider, and picked the seeds from the pom- 
ace after the juice had been expressed. This 
occupation procured for him the sobriquet of 
Jolinny Appleseed. After he had procured a 
sufficient quantity of seeds for his purpose, 
amounting to about a half bushel at one visit, 
he started westward with his sack of seeds upon 
his back, on foot and alone, to cross the Alle- 
ghanies, and to penetrate the wilderness west 

♦Erected in 1873. 



of the mountains, embracing what was then 
known as the ' New Purchase,' and which is now 
a part of the State of Oliio. 

" Years afterward, when the hard}" pioneers 
from Western Virginia and Pennsylvania, scaled 
the Alleghany Mountains and sought homes in 
the valleys of the Ohio, they found the little 
nurseries of seedling apple trees on Braddock's 
Field, at Wheeling Creek, the Flats of Grave 
Greek, Holidaj^'s Cove, and at other places 
along the Ohio Valle}-. 

" The eccentric, but ever amiable Chapman,* 
was also found here, read}' to sell his seedlings 
to the settlers at a ' fippennybit ' apiece. His 
habits of life were then as they remained until 
his decease. He would spend a week or ten 
days among the white settlers, or borderers, 
then penetrate to his nurseries on the banks of 
the Tuscarawas, or, as that river was then called 
in the language of the aborgines, Ne-tusta-raws. 
At length the fertile soil of Richland County in- 
vited this enterprise and industry farther west. 
Here were traced* the foot-prints of Johnny 
Appleseed. On the banks of tlie Mohican 
Creek, at Mansfield, near the present site of the 
depot of the Pittsburgh & Chicago Railroad, was 
found one of his seedling nurseries. For 3'ears 
he remained in the vicinit}- of 3Iansfield, as his 
home or headquarters, whence he would make 
trips of two or three months length, farther 
west into the wilderness, to attend to his nur- 
series. 

"Near his plantations, which were remote 
from any habitation, he provided comfortable 
shelters from the inclemoncT of the weather. 
Hollow trees and hollow logs, provided with a 
deep nest of diy leaves served this purpose in 
some cases. At his nursery in Sandusky 
Township, near the present location ofLeesville 
in Crawford County, he erected a shelter by 
rearing large sections of the bark of an elm tree 
against a log. Under this he had a home. 
From this nursery was obtained many of the 

*Uis real name was John Chapman. 



^ 



220 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



orchards of Springfield Township, Richland 
Count}-. The father of the writer, Mordecai 
Bartley, Joseph Welch, Richard Congdon, 
Matthew Curran and Jonathan Beach, went to 
this nursery in company, spent the night with 
Johnny and packed their trees home the next 
day on horses. They supped and broke their 
fast in the morning with the recluse, both 
meals consisting of mush made of Indian meal. 
The culinary utensils of the household consisted 
of a camp kettle, a plate, and a spoon. 

" The residence of Chapman at Mansfield 
covered the period of the war of 1812 and sev- 
eral years following it. During the dangers 
and alarms of this period, Johnny Appleseed 
was regarded in the light of a protecting angel. 
On the night of the massacre of Seymour's 
family on the Black Fork, within a few miles of 
IMansfield, he left the house of Seymour on foot 
and entered Clinton, one mile north of Mount 
Vernon, by sunrise, pausing ever^'where on his 
wa}' to give the alarm. Although I was then 
but a mere child, I can remember, as if it were 
yesterday, the warning cry of Johnnj' Apple- 
seed, as he stood before my father's log cabin 
door on that night. I remember the precise 
language, the clear, loud voice, the deliberate 
exclamation, and the fearful thrill it awakened 
in my bosom. ' Fly ! % for your lives ! the 
Indians are murdering and scalping Seymours 
and Copuses.' My father sprang to the door, 
but the messenger was gone, and midnight, 
silence reigned without. Many other circum- 
stances inc.dent to the exposed frontier settle- 
ments in days of danger which tried men's souls, 
manifested the cool courage, the discreet fore- 
sight, and the mature and deliberate judgment, 
as well as the fidelity, patience and abnega- 
tion of this frontier philanthropist. 

" John Chapman was a small man, wiry and 
thin in habit. His cheeks were hollow, and his 
face and neck dark and skinny from exposure 
to the weather. His mouth was small ; his nose 
small, and turned up so much as apparently 



to raise his upper lip. His eye was dark 
and deepl}^ set in his head, but searching and 
penetrating. His hair, black and straight, was 
parted in the middle and permitted to fall about 
his neck. His hair withal, was thin, fine and 
glossy. He never wore a full beard, but shaved 
all clean, except a thin roach at the bottom of 
his throat. His beard was lightl}' set, and very 
black. This was his appearance in 1840, when 
the writer last saw him in Mansfield, and at 
that time he had changed but little, if an}', in 
general appearance during the twenty-five 
3'ears preceding. The dress of the man was 
unique. The writer assumes to say that he 
never wore a coffee sack as a part of his ap- 
parel. He may have worn the off-cast clothing 
of others ; he probablj' did so. Although often 
in rags and tatters, and at best in the most 
plain and simple wardrobe, he was always 
clean, and, in his most desolate rags, comfort- 
able, and never repulsive. He generally, when 
the weather would permit, wore no clothing on 
his feet, which were consequentl}' dark, hard 
and horn}'. He was frequently seen with shirt, 
pantaloons, and a long- tailed coat of the tow- 
linen then much worn b}' the farmers. This 
coat was a device of his own ingenuity, and in 
itself was a curiosity. It consisted of one width 
of the coarse fabric, which descended from his 
neck to his heels. It was without collar. In 
this robe were cut two arm-holes, into which 
were placed two straight sleeves. The mother 
of the writer made it up for him under his im- 
mediate direction and supervision. 

" John Chapman was a regularly constituted 
minister of the Church of the New Jerusalem, 
according to the revelations of Emanuel Swe- 
denborg. He was also a constitued missionary 
of that faith, under the authorit}' of the regu- 
lar association of that faith in the cit}' of Bos- 
ton, Mass. The writer has seen and examined 
his credentials as to the latter of these. This 
strange man was a beautiful reader, and never 
traveled without several of the Swedenboroian 



V 



:^i 



A^ 



HISTORY OF CRAWFOKD COUNTY 



221 



^ 



pamphlets with him, which he generally carried 
in his bosom, and which he was ever ready to 
produce and read upon request. He never at- 
tempted to preach or to address public audiences. 
In private consultations, he often became en- 
thusiastic, when he would frequently arise to 
expound the philosophy of his faith. On such 
occasions, his eyes would flash, his wiry little 
form would swell, his voice expand, and his 
clear thought would burst into a startling in- 
spiration of eloquence, complete and consum- 
mate, exalted, beautiful, forcible and replete 
with chaste figures and argumentative deduc- 
tions. His diction was pure and chaste, and 
his language simple but grammatical. ^ 

" The year of the erection of the old court 
house in Mansfield, while the blocks of founda- 
tion stone and the timber lay scattered upon 
the public square, a wandering street preacher, 
of the name of Paine, a man with a long, white 
beard, who called himself ' The Pilgi'im,' entered 
the town. After blowing a long tin horn which 
he carried with him, he assembled an audience 
on the stone and timbers of the court house. 
In the course of his sermon, he pointed to where 
Johnny Appleseed lay upon the ground, with 
his feet resting upon the top of one of the 
stones, and exclaimed : ' See yon ragged, old, 
barefooted sinner, and be warned of the paths 
of sin by his example.' Johnny arose to his 
feet, folded his hands behind him, under his 
tow-linen coat, and slowly approached the 
speaker. As the speaker paused a space, John- 
ny commenced in this wise : ' I presume you 
thank God that you are not as other men ? ' 'I 
thank God that I am not as you are, ' returned 
Paine. ' I am not a hypocrite, nor am I of the 
generation of vipers. I am a regularly ap- 
pointed minister, whether you are or not. ' ' Lord 
be merciful unto me a sinner, ' said Chapman, 
and walked away. 

" In the character of John Chapman there 
was nothing light or frivolous. He was free 
from all affectation. He never affected the style 



or language of the sacred Scriptures. His lan- 
guage was plain, simple and gi-aphic — his man- 
ner earnest and impressive. His utterances 
always commanded respect, and awakened deep 
and thoughtful consideration from those who 
heard him. His deportment was uniformly 
chaste and respectable, and marked by a pas- 
sive dignity. In his method of thought, he was 
analytical, and in his line of argument, varying 
between the inductive and logical. He spoke 
apparently without effort, in a natural and sim- 
ple, yet elegant flow of language, to express a 
deep current of metaphysical reasoning and 
ethical thought. He penetrated his auditors, 
apparently without intending to do so, and 
moved them without knowing it. 

" Physically, he was indolent and fond of ease. 
The writer once watched him, undiscovered, as 
he was working in his nursery, near the Big 
Bend in the creek near Mansfield. He lay in 
the sliade of a spreading thorn tree in the cen- 
ter of his nursery, and there, lying on his side, 
he reached out with his hoe and extirpated 
only such weeds as were within his reach. He 
preferred sleeping upon the floors of the farmers, 
as, he said that the indulgence in the luxury 
of soft beds would soon beget a bad habit which 
he could not hope to indulge in his varied 
method of living. 

"This man cherished the kindest feelings 
toward all living things. His every act and 
step in life manifested this attribute as the per- 
vading trait of his nature. He was as tender 
and innocent as a child, and as easily moved to 
tears by the sorrows of others, or even the suf- 
ferings of animals. He has been known to pay 
the full value of horses, take them from the 
harness, and, with a blessing, turn them loose 
to the luxurious pastures of the wilderness, to 
become their own masters. He was never 
without money, and frequently furnished the 
housewives with a pound or two of tea, a great 
expense at that time, although he held that the 
indulgence in that aromatic luxury was a dissi- 



223 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



pation. At one time he bought six breakfast 
plates at a IMansfield store, and, upon being 
asked what use he had for them, he replied 
that he would save dishwashing by having so 
many ; that by eating his meats upon a fresh 
plate each da}^ he need not wash dishes more 
than once a week. The truth was, he carried 
the plates to a poor family near Spring Mills, 
Richland Count}-, who had a few days before 
had the misfortune of losing the most of their 
table furniture by an accident. 

"In 1838 — thirty-seven years after his ap- 
pearance on Licking Creek — Johnny noticed 
that civilization, wealth and population were 
pressing into the wilderness of Ohio. Hither- 
to he had easily kept just in advance of the 
wave of settlement; but now towns and 
churches were making their appearance, and, 
at long intervals, the stage-driver's horn 
broke the silence of the grand old forest, and 
he felt that his work was done in the region in 
which he had labored so long. In 1840, he 
resided near Fort Wayne, in the State of Indi- 
ana, where he had a sister living, and probably 
made that his headquarters* during the nine 
years that he pursued his eccentric avocation 
on the western border of Ohio and in Indiana. 
In the summer of 1847, when his labors had 
literally borne fruit over a hundred thousand 
miles of territor}-, at the close of a warm da}- 
after traveling twenty miles, he entered the 
house of a settler in Allen County, Ind., and 
was warmly welcomed. He declined to eat 



with the famil}', but accepted some bread and 
milk, which he partook of sitting on the door- 
step and gazing on the setting sun. Later, he 
delivered his ' news right fresh from heaven ' 
b}' reading the Beatitudes. Declining other 
accommodations, he slept as usual on the floor, 
and in the early morning he was found with 
his features all aglow with a supernal light and 
his body so near death that his tongue refused 
its office. The physician, who was hastily sum- 
moned, pronounced him dying, but added that 
he had never seen a man in so placid a state at 
the approach of death. At seventy-two years 
of age, forty-six of which had been devoted to 
his self-imposed mission, he ripened into death 
as naturally and beautifully as the seeds of his 
own planting had grown into fiber and bud and 
blossom and the matured fruit."* 
" He had full many a story to tell, 

And goodly hymns that he sung right well ; 

He tossed up the babies, and joined the boys 

In many a game full of fun and noise. 
*' And he seemed so hearty, in work or play, 

Men, women and boys all urged him to stay." 

Thus passed from earth one of the memo- 
rable characters of pioneer da3's,but his memory 
will linger in the hearts of succeeding genera- 
tions for years to come, and their children will 
learn to revere the decaying monuments of his 
industry and benevolence, as the memorials of 
one whose character, though unbalanced, 
swa^'ed to the brighter side of human nature. 

* Bartley, iu the Mansfield Shield and Banner, 




r 



^1 



ft 



HLSTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



223 



CHAPTER IV. 



THE PROFESSIONS- 



T 



RESIDENT LAWYERS— THE PRESENT BAR— EARLY PRACTICE OF MEDICINE- 
DIFFERENT SYSTEMS— THE MODERN PHYSICIANS. 

HE professions exert a wide influence in a Indian title to tlie balance was extinguished b}' 



community, and the history of Crawford 
County would be incomplete without a history 
of the legal and medical professions. The fol- 
lowing sketch of the bar of the county is by 
Franklin Adams, Esq., and was prepared at our 
special request for this work : 

Crawford County was erected and attached 
to Delaware County April 1, 1820. In Febru- 
ary, 1824, the northern tier of townships was 
attached to Seneca County for judicial pur- 
poses, and on May 1, 1824, the remainder to 
Marion County. The county was organized 
April 1, 1826, and soon after Bucyrus was 
selected as the county seat. 

The general surface of the county was a clay 
soil, covered with rich vegetable mold, and so 
level that the fallen and decaying timber of the 
forests and the grasses and rank growths of the 
prairies were sufficient to obstruct drainage? 
and present, upon a large proportion of the ter- 
ritory, a series of swails, marshes and sluggish 
water-courses. Bridges and culverts were few, 
and mostly of the corduroy style. The houses 
and barns were constructed of logs, and in the 
most economical manner. The property of the 
inhabitants consisted of their lands, and scarcely 
anything else. Until after the public lands in 
this part of the country were taken up, the mar- 
ket value of unimproved land was $1.25 per 
acre, the Government price. 

The Wyandot and the Cherokee Boy reser- 
vations, containing about 147,000 acres, were 
within the original limits of Crawford, and were 
occupied by the aboriginal inhabitants, about 
700 in number, until July, 1843. Thirty-eight 
thousand four hundred acres of these lands were 
ceded to the Genei'al Government in 1836. The 



a treaty made at Upper Sandusk}^, March 17, 
1842. 

The fii'st term of the Common Pleas Court of 
the county was held at Bucyrus, in the dwelling- 
house of Lewis Cary, on the south bank of 
Sandusky River, at the site of the present resi- 
dence of C. H. Shonert. Ebenezer Lane, of 
Norwalk, was Presiding Judge. He w^as ap- 
pointed in 1824, his circuit including all the 
northwestern part of the State. Upon its organ- 
ization, Crawford County was attached to it. 
He continued to discharge the duties of Com- 
mon Pleas Judge until the fall of 1830. He 
was then appointed Judge of the Supreme Court 
of Ohio, a position he held until the close of the 
session of the Court in Banc, in the winter of 
1844-45, when he resigned. 

Judge Lane was born at Northampton, Mass., 
September 17, 1793, and died at Sandusky, Ohio, 
June 12, 1866. He graduated at Harvard Uni- 
versity in 1811, He studied law with Judge 
Matthew Griswold, at Lyme, Conn., and in 1814 
was admitted to the bar, and commenced 
practice at Norwich, Conn. In March, 1817^ 
he came to EljTia, Ohio. In 3Iay, 1819, he 
was appointed Prosecuting Attorney of Huron 
County, and in October of the same year re- 
moved to Norwalk. After his resignation as 
Judge of the Supreme Court, he accepted the 
presidency of the Mad River & Lake Erie Rail- 
road Company, and devoted the next ten j-ears 
to the management of railroads in Ohio. In 
November, 1855, he was appointed counsel and 
resident dii'ector of the Illinois Central Railroad 
Company, a position he held, with his residence 
at Chicago, until March 16, 1859, when he 
resigned and retired to private life. He was a 



^0 



\k. 



224 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



close student of law, science and general litera- 
ture, and was prompt and indefatigable in 
meeting every engagement and discharging 
every duty. On the circuit, he would patronize 
the most retired and orderly hotel within a mile 
or two of the court house, and devote all his 
leisure time to reading and study. He possessed 
in an eminent degree the confidence and esteem 
of the bar and the people. His opinions con- 
tained in the Ohio Supreme Court Reports are 
monuments of his scholarship, integrity and 
abilities. 

In the winter of 18.30-31, Judge Lane was 
succeeded in the Common Pleas Court by David 
Higgins, of Norwalk, who held the office of 
President Judge seven years — a full term. 
His last appearance on the bench in Crawford 
County was at the September term, 1837. He 
was a dignified gentleman, of good abilities and 
intentions, and of fine personal appearance. He 
was, however, rather unfortunate in securing 
the deference to which he was entitled, and in 
comprehending the motives of others, and in 
making his own properly understood. This led 
to frequent unpleasant collisions with members 
of the bar. Upon the whole, his term was a 
stormy one, at the close of which he retired to 
private life. In the winter of 1837-38, Judge 
Higgins was succeeded b}'- Ozias Bowen, of 
Marion, who held the office of President Judge 
for two terms — fourteen years — until the judi- 
cial system under the Constitution of 1802 
was superseded by that of the Constitution of 
187)1. 

Judge Bowen possessed much shrewdness and 
ability, and excelled as a chancellor. He dis- 
charged his duties honestly and faithfully and to 
the general satisfaction of the public and the bar. 
He was born at Augusta. Oneida Co., N. Y., July 
1, 1805, and died at Marion, Ohio, September 2G, 
1871. He studied law with Gregory Powers at 
Canton, Ohio, and was admitted to the bar, at that 
place, September 23, 1828, and soon after com- 
menced practice at Marion. lu 185G, he was, by 



Gov. Chase, appointed a Judge of the State Su- 
preme Court, to fill a vacanc}' caused by the resig- 
nation of Judge C. C. Converse, and, in October 
of the same year, was elected to fill the un- 
expired term. In 18G0, he was one of the Ohio 
Electors for President of the United States. 

From the organization of the" count}' until 
February, 1852, the offices of Associate Judges 
of the Common Pleas Court have been filled by 
the following persons : John Gary, Enoch B. 
Meriman, John B. French, Jacob Smith, Abel 
Gary, Josiah Roliertson, George Poe, Hugh 
Welch, Samuel Knisel}', Andrew Failor, Robert 
W. Musgrave, Robert Lee and James Stewart. 
These were all gentlemen of character and 
standing in the community, and discharged 
their duties well and conscientiously. The 
earlier records and files of the courts are lost. 
Once they were partially destroyed by fire ; at 
a later date, the most that remained were taken 
away in the night b^^ parties against whom in- 
dictments were pending. There are no records 
or files extant of an earlier date than 1831. 
The Common Pleas journal opens with the 
March term, 1834. 

The first resident members of the bar being 
3'oung men, without experience or confidence 
in themselves, the most important business of 
the courts was conducted by older and more 
experienced law3'ers, residing in neighboring 
counties, and accustomed to following the cir- 
cuit, sometimes on foot and sometimes on horse- 
back, with about the reguljirit}- of the Judges. 
Among those of this class whose names appear 
most frequently marked as counsel upon the 
earlier court dockets are Andrew Coffinberr}-, 
James Purdj- and John M. May, of 3Iansfield ; 
Orris Parrish, of Delaware ; Ozias Bowen and 
James H. Godman, of Marion ; and Charles 
L. Boalt, of Norwalk. All of them were 
earnest, active men, and distinguished nisi 
prius law3-ers. 

John II. IMorrison resided at Bucyrus, and 
was engaged in the practice of law at the organ- 




C^'TM^"' ^^ 



^Ji^^^eV 



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HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



227 



ization of the county, in 1826, and was the first 
County Treasurer elected. He was considered 
a brilHant man, but lacliing in the steadiness 
and perseverance necessary for success and 
distinction in his profession. He removed to 
Findlaj", Ohio, in 1837, where he died a few years 
ago. Isaac H. Allen, M. Flick and a Mr. Stan- 
berg located at Bucyrus and practiced law 
between the years 1826 and 1830. Allen died 
here in 1828. The others left the place prior 
to 1830. 

Josiah Scott was born in Washington County, 
Penn., December 1, 1803, and died at Buc^-rus, 
Ohio, June 15, 1879. He graduated with high 
honors at Jefferson College, Pennsylvania, in 
1821, taught a classical school at Richmond, 
Va., and became a tutor at Jefferson College 
and studied law and was admitted to the bar 
in Pennsylvania. He located at Bucyrus and 
commenced the practice of law in 1829. He 
represented Crawford, Marion and Delaware 
Counties in the Ohio Legislature in 1840. In 
1850, he removed to Hamilton, Butler Co., 
Ohio, and continued practice. In 1856, he was 
appointed by Gov. Chase a Judge of the Su- 
preme Court, to fill the vacancy occasioned by 
the resignation of Judge Eanne}', and in 
October of the same year was elected to a full 
term of five 3-ears, and was re-elected in 1861 
and 1866. His services as Judge commenced 
at December term. 1856, and ended February 
9, 1872. He removed to Bucyrus in 1870, and 
at the close of his last term resumed practice. 
In 1876, he was appointed, by Gov. Hayes, 
upon the Supreme Court Commission, a bod^' 
of five members, created in 1875, by Amend- 
atory Section 22, Article 4, of the Constitution 
of Ohio, to dispose of a part of the business 
then on the dockets of the Supreme Court, 
with the same jurisdiction and power in respect 
to such business as the Supreme Court. Upon 
the organization of the Commission, February' 
2, 1876, he was elected, b\' his associates, 
Chief Judge for one year thereafter. He con- 



tinued a member of the Commission until Feb- 
ruar}- 1, 1879, the close of its term. 

His active business life covers a period of 
fifty 3'ears, the greater portion of which was 
spent in this community. Nearly all the wit- 
nesses of his earlier efforts passed away before 
him, leaving a succeeding generation the spec- 
tators of his later and more mature labors. He 
was endowed by nature with a fine presence, a 
genial disposition and sparkling wit, and 
intellectual faculties and powers of anal3'sis of 
•A very high order. He was thoroughly hon- 
est and upright in his dealings and intercourse 
with others ; a Christian gentleman, a scholar, 
excelling special h^ in mathematics and the 
classics ; an eloquent advocate and an able and 
learned lawyer and jurist. No man was ever 
more thoroughly understood and appreciated 
at home, and few, indeed, have been so de- 
serving. 

George Sweney was born near Gettysburg, 
Penn., November 1, 1796, and died at Bucyrus, 
Ohio, October 10, 1877. He graduated at Dick- 
inson College, Penns3'lvania ; studied law and 
was admitted to the bar. About the year 1820, 
he commenced practice at Gett3'sburg and con- 
tinued it for ten years. The Gettysburg bar 
was then distinguished for the abilities and 
brilliance of its members. In 1830, he removed 
to Buc3'rus and continued practice. While 
holding the office of Prosecuting Attorne3' of 
Crawford Count3', in 1838, he was elected a 
member of Congress from the Fourteenth Ohio 
District, and was I'e-elected in 1840. In 1853, 
he removed to Geneseo, 111., but returned to 
Buc3'rus in 1856, and, after serving another 
term as Prosecuting Attorney, retired from the 
bar. He was of fine personal appearance, 
intellectual, dignified, engaging in manners, a 
good public speaker, amiable, honorable and 
upright, and plain and domestic in his habits. 
His cases at bar were well managed, but the 
pi'actice was distasteful to him. He was an 
excellent scholar and close student of science, 



— t" 



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228 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY 



and always preferred the retirement and comforts 
of home, and a life of literary ease, to the 
turmoil and controversies of politics and active 
practice at the bar. 

John M. Armstrong was educated at Nor- 
walk Seminary, read law with Judge James 
Stewart, of Mansfield, was admitted to the bar, 
and located in practice at Bucyrus in 1838. In 
1843, he moved west with the Wyandot In- 
dians, at the junction of the Kaw and Missouri 
Kivers, where the town of Wyandotte, Kan., 
now stands. He died several years afterward, 
at Mansfield, on his way home from a visit at 
Washington on business connected with the af- 
fairs of the Wyandot Indians. Kobert Arm- 
strong, his father, had been taken prisoner b}' 
the Indians, and lived among them and married 
a half-blood Wyandot woman, and acquired a 
a tract of laud at Fort Ball by the treaty of 
1817. John M. Armstrong, the son, was mar- 
ried to a daughter of Rev. Russell Bigelow, a 
distinguished preacher. He had good business 
capacities, and was well educated and accom- 
plished. 

Ebenezer A. Wood removed from Norton, 
Ohio, to Bucyrus, in the spring of 1841, and 
entered upon the practice of law. After re- 
maining about two years, he went to Missouri. 

William Fisher, of Marion County, came to 
BucjTUS in June 1841, and went into practice 
in partnership with Josiah Scott. He returned 
to Marion in a year, and continued practice 
there until his death. 

Lawrence W. Hall came to Bucyrus from 
Cuyahoga County in the spring of 1844 and 
commenced the practice of law. He held the 
ofllce of prosecuting attorney of Crawford 
County, by successive elections, from October, 
1845, to October 1851. At the fall election of 
1851, the first under the present constitution, he 
was elected a Judge of the Common Pleas Court, 
which he held until February, 1857. In 185G, 
he was elected a member of the House of Rep- 
resentatives of the Thirty-fifth Congress, for the 



term closing in March, 1857, and continued 
practice until his death, which occurred at Bu- 
cyrus, January 18, 1863. He was kind and 
genial in disposition, popular in manners, able 
and successful as a practioner, and a model of 
urbanity on the bench, and was more a politi- 
cian and partisan leader than lawyer. The op- 
position to the war of the rebellion, developed 
in this localit}', atti-acted the attention of the 
Government, and, in 1862, Judge Hall was ar- 
rested and nominally held for several weeks a 
political prisoner, at Camp Mansfield, and final- 
ly discharged without further action. In con- 
sequence of ill health, he was on parole, and re- 
quired to report, only as it suited his conven- 
ience. 

Josiah S. Plants was born in Pennsylvania 
in 1820, and died in Buc^a'us, August 23, 1863, 
of wounds received by the accidental discharge 
of a gun. He was educated at Ashland Acad- 
emy, studied law under instruction of Judge 
Josiah Scott, and was admitted to the bar and 
commenced practice at Bucyrus, in 1844. In 
the fall of 1858, he was elected a Judge of the 
Court of Common Pleas for a five years' term, 
commencing in Februar}^, 1859. He was dis- 
tinguished for industry, honesty of purpose, de- 
votion to his friends, fidelity to his clients and 
earnestness and force as a public speaker. His 
career at the bar and on the bench, was such as 
to justify the highest expectations of his friends 
had his life been prolonged. 

Joseph E. Jewett came from Waj'ue County, 
opened a law oflflce at Bucyrus, in 1844, and 
continued in practice until the fall of 1848, 
when he removed to Des Moines, Iowa, where 
he has since died. 

John Clark, from Richland Count}', com- 
menced practice at the bar in Bucyrus, in the 
the spring of 1845. He removed to Ashland in 
1846, and afterward to Iowa City, where he 
died. 

Enoch W. Meriman was born in Bucyrus, 
November 17, 1830, and died at Grafton, W. 



4i 



HISTOIIY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



229 



V 



Va., August 12, 1861. He was admitted 
to the bar in 1853, and continued in practice 
until tlie spring of 1861. He volunteered un- 
der the President's first call for troops, was 
elected First Lieutenant of his company and died 
in camp before the expiration of his enlistment. 
Henry C. Rowse was born in Bucyrus in 
1835, and died at Rockford, 111., October 17, 
1862. He was admitted to the bar and com- 
menced practice at Bucyrus in 1857, and con- 
tinued in business about three years. At the 
time of his death, he held an appointment as 
clerk in the Interior Department at Washing- 
ton. 

Burr Morris was born September 9, 1829, in 
Stark County, and died in November, 1866, at 
Albany, Linn Co., Oreg. He went with his par- 
ents to Hancock County in 1834, and was edu- 
cated in the Common Schools and at Findlay 
Academy. He read law with Henry Brown, of 
Findlay, and graduated at Cincinnati Law 
School in 1855. In 1856, he was admitted to 
the bar and commenced practice at B ucyrus. In 
October, 1861, he was elected Prosecuting At- 
torney of Crawford County, and re-elected in 
1863. In April, 1 864, he resigned and removed 
to Albany, Or., and commenced the prac- 
tice of law. In June, 1866, he was elected 
County Judge of Linn County, and died while 
in office. 

William S. Fitzsiramons was born in Craw- 
ford County March 8, 1841, and died at Bucy- 
rus, July 11, 1870. He read law with D. W. 
Swigart, at Bucyrus, and was admitted to the 
bar March 16, 1868. In March, 1861, he en- 
listed in Company C, Eighth Ohio Volunteer 
Infantry, and went into active service. He was 
in many skirmishes and engagements, including 
the first battle of Winchester, Va., and the bat- 
tle of Antietam, Md. He was severely wounded 
at Antietam, and finally died from the effects 
of his wounds. 

Samuel J. Elliott was admitted to the bar 
and commenced practice at Bucyrus in August, 



1857. In August, 1858, he was appointed by 
the Governor Probate Judge of Crawford 
County to the vacancy occasioned by the resig- 
nation of Patterson S. Marshall, and held the of 
fice until October 18, 1858, when his successor 
was elected and qualified. In 1859, he removed 
to Wapakoneta, where he has since died. 

William ;M. Beer studied law with his brother, 
Judge Beer, and was admitted to the bar about 
1866. He had enlisted as a private in the i 
One Hundred and First Ohio Volunteer Infan- ; 
try, serving during the war, and by regular | 
gradation rising to the rank of Captain. Af- | 
ter graduating in the law, he engaged for a , 
time in the book business, but finally removed i 
to Humboldt, Iowa, where he practiced law, un- 
til his death in 1874. 

Robert M. Kelly was born in Lancaster. 
County, Penn., April 8, 1815, and came to Knox 
County, Ohio, in 1834. He was admitted to 
the bar July 1. 1842, and removed to Bucyrus 
and commenced practice August 1, 1842. In 
1845, he received from President Polk the ap- 
pointment of Register of the Land Office at 
Upper Sandusky, and removed to that place in 
June of that year. He had charge of the sales 
of the lands of the Wyandot Reservation, and 
held the office until its removal from Upper 
Sandusky. In 1852, he was appointed by Gov- 
ernor Wood, the first Probate Judge of Wyan- 
dot County, holding the office from January to 
October of that year. He was elected a Di- 
rector of the Ohio & Indiana Railroad Com- 
pany, in January, 1854, and was its President 
the last year of its separate organization. He 
originated in its Board of Directors the move- 
ment for the consolidation of the three com- 
panies owning the continuous line of railroad 
between Pittsburgli and Chicago, resulting in 
the organization of the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne 
& Chicago Railway Company. He was also, 
for several years, a Director, and Solicitor 
of the latter company. He was a member of 
the Ohio Senate for Crawford, Seneca and Wy- 



±1'. 



230 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



andot Counties, from January 1, 1858, to Jan- 
uary 1, 1860. 

Cyrus Linn removed from Cambridge, Ohio, 
to Bucyrus in 1853, and entered upon the 
practice of law. After continuing in practice 
about three years he returned to Cambridge. 

James W. Smith came to Bucyrus from 
Ashland, in 1842, and after continuing in prac- 
tice at the bar about two j^ears, returned to 
Ashland. 

John D. Sears read law with Judge Josiah 
Scott, at Bucyrus. On his admission to the 
bai- in 1844, he entered into partnership with 
his preceptor, and removed to Upper Sandusky 
in 1845, and continued the practice. He was 
a member of the Constitutional Convention of 
1873, for Wyandot County. 

Abraham Summers, Jr., commenced the 
practice of law at Buc^-rus, in 1850. He was 
elected Prosecuting Attorney of Crawford 
County in 1855, and re-elected in 1857. In 
1860, he was elected Probate Judge of Craw- 
ford County, and re-elected in 1863. He re- 
moved to Hicksville, Ohio. 

I. F. Price commenced the practice of law 
in Bucyrus in November, 1851, and after con- 
tinuing about two 3'ears, removed to Fremont, 
Ohio. 

Conrad W. Butterfield commenced the prac- 
tice of law at Bucyrus, in 1853. In 1860, he 
removed to Lima, Ohio, and returned to Bucy- 
rus in 1863. In 1876, he removed to Madison, 
AVis. He is the author of a " History of Sen- 
eca County, Ohio;" a "History of Col. Craw- 
ford's Expedition against the Indians in 1782 " 
(which has had a wide circulation), and some 
other works. 

Abner M. Jackson was admitted to the bar 
in September, 1854, and commenced practice 
at Bucyrus. He was Auditor of Crawford 
County from March 3, 1851, to March 1, 1855, 
and was elected Prosecuting Attorney of Craw- 
ford County in October, 1859. In 1871, he 
was elected a Judge of the Fourth Subdivision 



of the Third District of the Common Pleas 
Court, composed of Crawford, Hancock, Mar- 
ion, Seneca, Wood and Wj-andot Counties. 
He resigned in 1874, and went into practice at 
Cleveland, Ohio. 

Cyrus Sears was born March 10, 1832, in 
Delaware County, N. Y., and came with his 
fiither's famil3-, in January, 1836, to Crawford 
County, where he remained on a farm until of 
age. He graduated at the Cincinnati Law 
School April, 14, 1856, and, in June of the 
same year, w^as admitted to the bar at LTpper 
Sandusky. He commenced practice at Bucy- 
rus, April 1, 1857, and continued until June 
15, 1859, when he removed to Upper Saudusk}' 
and continued practice. August 12, 1861, he 
was enrolled a private, at Cincinnati, in the 
Eleventh Ohio Independent Battery of Light 
Artillery', and was promoted to Lieutenant 
October 12, 1861. He participated in the siege 
of New Madrid and Island No. 10, and com- 
manded the batter}' during the siege of Cor- 
inth, and also at the battle of luka, where his 
batter}' lost fifty-six men, and he was severely 
wounded. In his official order on this battle. 
Gen. Eosecrans states that "The Eleventh 
Ohio Battery, under Lieut. Sears, was served 
with unequaled bravery, under circumstances 
of danger and exposure, such as rarely, per- 
haps never, have fallen to the lot of a single 
battery during the war." In April, 1863, he 
was appointed Lieutenant Colonel of the 
Eleventh Regiment of Louisiana Volunteers, 
afterward named the Forty-ninth U. S. Colored 
Infantry, and commanded this regiment at the 
battle of Milliken's Bend, June 7, 1863. In a 
letter to his superior officer, dated March 25, 
1866, Col. Van E. Young, commanding the 
post of Vicksburg, says : " Lieut. Col. Sears 
was specially mentioned in official reports of 
the battle of luka, and recommended for pro- 
motion for gallant conduct, by Gens. Hamilton, 
Rosecrans and Grant. He was also conspic- 
uously gallant at the battle of Milliken's Bend, 



-F 



Ml 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUXTY 



231 



commanding his regiment. The present very 
efficient condition of this regiment is largely 
attributable to Lieut. Col. Sears. I trust his 
services may be properly recognized by the 
Government." 

Charles M. Dodson came to Bucyrus from 
Wheeling, Va., in 18G0, and commenced the 
practice of law. In 1862, he returned to Vir- 
ginia. 

Christopher Elliott was admitted to the bar 
at Bucyrus, August 31, 1858, and, after con- 
tinuing in practice for some years, removed to 
Mansfield. 

Matthias Buchman read law with Judge A. 
M. Jackson, and was admitted to the bar in 
1860. He was appointed Prosecuting Attorney 
of Crawford Count}', on the resignation of Burr 
Morris, in April, 186-4, and held the office until 
October, 1865. He now resides in Cleveland, 
Ohio. 

Archibald McGregor came to Buc3'rus from 
Canton, Ohio, in 1858, and commenced the 
practice of law and the publication of the Craw- 
ford County Forum, and continued until April, 
1860, when he returned to Canton. 

J. A. Estill came to Bucyrus from Millers- 
burg, Ohio, and commenced the practice of law, 
in July, 1858, and discontinued practice the 
following 3'ear. He returned to Millersburg. 

John B. Scroggs was admitted to the bar 
June 27, 1861, and commenced practice at 
Buc3'rus. He continued in practice until 
April, 1863, when he removed to Wyandotte, 
Kan. 

Stephen D. Young came to Bucyrus from 
New Haven, Huron Count}', in 1875, and prac- 
ticed law until 1877, when he removed to Nor- 
walk, Ohio. 

Joseph R. Swigart was admitted to the bar 
and commenced practice at Bucyrus in 1859. 
He went into the army in 1861, and served on 
the staff of Gen. ^lilro}', and continued in the 
service until 1864. He removed to Toledo and 
served eight years as a Register in Bankruptcy 



and Collector of Internal Revenue, and is now 
in practice at Bowling Green, Ohio. 

Walter B. Richie was admitted to the bar in 
1874, and commenced practice at Lima, Ohio, 
as junior member in the firm of Ballard, Richie 
& Richie. In October, 1876, he came to Bucy- 
rus, and went into practice as a member of the 
firm of Richie & Eaton. In Ma^', 1879, he re- 
turned to Lima. 

Robert Lee was born April 20, 1805, in But- 
ler Count}-, Penn. In 1823, he removed with 
his father's family to Richland, now a part of 
Crawford County, and located where Leesville 
is now situated. In the earlier part of his life, 
he was engaged in the business of farming, and 
was part owner of a steam flouring-mill, saw- 
mill, carding machine and fulling-mill, and was 
also a merchant. In 1836, he was elected a 
member of the Ohio Legislature for Richland 
County, and was re-elected in 1837. In 1839, 
he was elected a Justice of the Peace, and held 
the office continuous!}' for ten years. He was 
elected by the Legislature an Associate Judge 
of the Court of Common Pleas of Crawford in 
1849, and held the office until February, 1852, 
when it was abolished by the present Constitu- 
tion of the State. In 1853, he was elected State 
Senator for Crawford, Seneca and Wyandot 
Counties, and was chosen President pro tem. of 
the Senate, May 1, 1854, and, as such, was pre- 
siding officer of that body during the illness 
of Lieut. Gov. Myers. On March 3, 1854, 
he was admitted to the bar by the Supreme 
Court of Franklin County, and was for a term 
Mayor of Crestline. In 1869, he was elected 
Probate Judge of Crawford County, and re- 
elected in 1872. He is at present a member of 
the Board of Education of Bucyrus Union 
Schools. He has acquitted himself well and 
ably in every situation in which he has been 
placed, and now, with good health and unim- 
paired mental faculties, is enjoying the respect 
and esteem of his fellow- citizens, and the fruits 
of an active, blameless and well-spent life. 



■^<r 



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232 



HISTORY OF CRAAVFORD COUNTY. 



Wilson C. Lomcrt was udniitted to the bar 
and commenced practice at Bucyrus about the 
3'ear 1S58, and continued nntil 18u2, since 
Avhich time he has been engaged in other 
pursuits. 

John llopley came to Bucyrus in 185G, as 
Sui)erinteudent of the Union Schools. He was 
admitted to the bar in 1858, and commenced 
practice in partnership with A. M. Jackson. 
In 18G2, he visited England on professional 
business. On his return in the fall of the same 
year, he accepted a clerkship in the Treasury 
Department at Washington, requiring service 
in the offlce of Secretary Chase and especial 
attention to the subject of finance. He was 
afterward ti'ansferred to the Currency Bnrean, 
and had charge of the statistical division. In 
1864, he resigned, and engaged in a New York 
Cit}' banking establishment. In 18G6, he was 
appointed Examiner of National Banks for the 
Southern States and Kansas. In September, 
18G7, he purchased an interest in the Bucyrus 
Journal, and became editor. The following 
May, he became sole proprietor of the office. 
He was appointed Postmaster at Bucyrus, in 
August, 1870, and held the place until January, 
1879. His devotion to the interests of his 
paper, makes his return to the practice of law 
a remote possibility. 

The following are the present members of 
the Bucyrus Bar : 

Franklin Adams was admitted to the bar in 
183G, and commenced practice at Bucyrus in 
August, 1837. He was Prosecuting Attorney 
of Crawford County from 1838 to 1845. 

Stephen R. Hai-ris was born in Stark Count}', 
Ohio, May 22, 1824. He was a student of the 
preparatory' department of Washington Col- 
lege, Pennsylvania, in 1842, and of Norwalk 
Seminaiy, in 1844, and finished his collegiate 
education at Western Reserve College in 184G. 
He read law with his uncle, John Harris, at 
Canton, Ohio, and was admitted to the bar in 
1849. In June of that year, he opened a law 



office at Bucyrus, and became a partner in 
business Avith the late Judge Scott, which was 
continued up to the time of the decease of the 
latter, except during the time that Judge Scott 
was on the bench of the Supreme Court, and a 
member of the Supreme Court Commission. 

David W. Swigart was born in Franklin 
County, Penn., December 12, 1824. He came 
to Crawford County in November, 1846, and 
was Deputy Clerk of the courts until April, 
1848. He was then appointed Clerk, and held 
the office until February, 1852. He graduated 
at the Cincinnati Law School, and was admitted 
to the bar in June, 1852, and immediately 
commenced practice at Bucyrus. He served 
in the Quartermaster's Department during the 
war of ISGl, headquarters at Cincinnati, and 
was President of the Atlantic & Lake Erie 
Railway Companj-, from September, 1869, to 
August, 1873. 

[P. S. — Since the foregoing sketch of Mr. 
Swigart was penned, his famil}' and friends 
have been called upon to mourn his sudden 
and untimely death. On the 25th of Novem- 
ber (1880), after having enjoj'ed a period of 
unusually good health, he died very suddenly 
of paralj'sis of the nerve centers, after an ill- 
ness of but a few minutes. — Historian.] 

Jacob Scroggs was born at Canton, Ohio, 
August 11, 1827, of Scotch and German de- 
scent. He came to Bucyrus, with his father's 
family, in 1839 ; attended the common schools 
and worked at the hatter's trade until 1848. 
From that time until 1852, he was engaged as a 
school-teacher and clerk in a store. He studied 
law, and in May, 1854, graduated at the Cincin- 
nati Law School and was admitted to the bar 
by the District Court of Hamilton County, Ohio. 
In 1855, he commenced the practice of law at 
Bucyrus. The following year he was elected 
IMayor, and served in that capacity four years. 
From 18G2 until the close of the war of 
the rebellion, he was Chairman of the Crawford 
County jMilitar}' Committee, and enjo3-ed the con- 






HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



283 



fidence of Govs. Tod and Brough. In 1864, 
he was Presidential Elector for this district, and 
cast his vote for Abraham Lincoln. 

James Clements was admitted to the bar 
August 28, 1854. He was elected Sheriff of 
Crawford County in 1845 and re-elected in 
1847, and held the office of Probate Judge of 
Crawford County from February, 18fi4, to Feb- 
ruary, 1870. 

David C. Cahill was admitted to the bar De- 
cember 20, 1860, and continued in practice at 
Bucyrus until April, 1865. The next two years 
he spent in California and Oregon, returning to 
Bucyrus and resuming practice in June, 18G7. 
In the fall of 1873, he was elected Clerk of the 
Court of Common Pleas of Crawford County, 
and held the position from February, 1874, until 
February, 1880, and then returned to the prac- 
tice of law. 

Ebenezer B. Finley was born at Orville 
Wayne County, Ohio, July 31, 1833, and was 
educated in the common schools. Of his early 
manhood, he spent five years in Illinois and 
Kansas and two years in the Rocky Mountain 
region. In 1859, he located at Bucyrus ; studied 
law with Stephen R. Harris, and was admitted 
to the bar in June, 1861. In the fall of 1861, 
he recruited a militar3' company, was elected 
First Lieutenant, and in October of that year 
went into the service as part of the Sixtj'-fourth 
Regiment Ohio Volunteers, serving in Ken- 
tucky, Tennessee and Mississippi, and was pres- 
ent at the battle of Shiloh. He was disabled 
by an accident and retired from the service in 
September, 1862, and resumed the practice of 
his profession at Bucyrus. In 1876, he was 
elected a member of Congress, and re-elected in 
1878, his last term expiring in March, 1881. 
He is at this time Chairman of the Committee 
on Public Expenditures, and has distinguished 
himself in the House of Representatives by 
speeches on the subjects of the silver bill, the 
equalization of bounties to soldiers, the use of 
United States Marshals at elections, and by his 



committee reports, and especially that upon the 
affairs of Covernment printing. 

Thomas Beer read law with J. C. Tidball, of 
Coshocton, Ohio ; edited the Crawford County 
Forum from April, 1860, to April, 1862, and 
was admitted to the bar and went into practice 
at Bucyrus in 1862. In 1863, he was elected a 
member of the Legislature, and re-elected in 
1865. He represented Crawford County in the 
Constitutional Convention of 1873, in which he 
took a prominent part, and as a member of the 
two most important committees in that body — 
that of the Judiciary and on Municipal Corpo- 
rations — found an ample field for the exercise 
of his sagacity and abilities as a lawj-er. In 
August, 1874, he was appointed by Grov. Allen 
a Judge of the Fourth Subdivision of the 
Third District of the Common Pleas Court, com- 
posed of Crawford, Hancock, Marion, Seneca, 
Wood and Wyandot Counties, to fill a vacancy 
until the next election, occasioned by the resig- 
nation of Judge A. M. Jackson. In October of 
the same year, he was elected by the people to 
the remainder of the term expiring in February, 
1877. In the fall of 1876, he was elected to a 
full term of five years. He has proved a suc- 
cess as a Judge, as well as a lawyer. The 
urbanity of his deportment and the accuracy of 
his opinions command the respect and esteem 
of the public and the bar. 

Anson Wickham was admitted to the bar at 
Kenton, Ohio, September 14, 1875. 

John A. Eaton was born in Crawford County, 
Ohio, November 17, 1853, and was admitted to 
the bar at Columbus, Ohio, October 3, 1876, 
and was a member of the firm of Richie & 
Eaton until May 14, 1879. 

Isaac Cahill read law with Jacob Scroggs, 
and was admitted to the bar April 4, 1877. 

JohnR. Clymerwas born in Franklin County, 
Ohio, January 23, 1834, and was educated at 
Otterbein University, Ohio. In 1835, he gradu- 
ated at Granger's Commercial College. He had 
charge of the High School from 1856 to 1850, 



:i£ 



234 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



and was Clerk of the Court of Common Pleas 
of Crawford Count}', Ohio, from 1860 to 1868, 
and editor and proprietor of the Crawford 
County Forum from 1868 to 1877. He was 
admitted to the bar, at Tiffin, April 9, 1878, and 
commenced practice at Bucyrus. 

Theodore F. Shotwell was admitted to the 
bar and commenced practice at Bucyrus, March, 
1878. 

Daniel W. Lock was educated at Wooster 
University, and was admitted to the bar in 
October, 1879. 

George Keller was admitted to the bar in 
1876. 

The former members of the Galion bar were 
George Crawford, Andrew Poe, M. Virgil Payne, 
Lewis Bartow and W. A. Hall. The present 
members are Abraham Underwood, admitted to 
the bar in 1855. He was Mayor of the city in 
1878, and a Justice of the Peace from 1845 to 
the present time, with the exception of about 
eighteen months. James H. Marshman. We 
have been unable to obtain any data of Mr. 
Marshman's legal life. 

Henry C. Carhart was born in Richland (now 
Ashland) County, August 16, 1827, and was ed- 
ucated in the common schools of the neighbor- 
hood, and at Vermillion Institute, at Hayesville, 
Ohio. He read law with Judges Brinkerhoff & 
Geddes, at Mansfield, Ohio, and was admitted to 
the bar July 12, 1852. His committee of exam- 
ination were Jacob Brinkerhoff, a member of 
Congress, and fifteen years a Judge of the 
Supreme Court of Ohio ; Samuel J. Kirkwood 
late Governor and now United States Senator of 
Iowa, and John Sherman, late United States 
Senator of Ohio, and now Secretary of the 
Treasury. He was in practice a year at Mans- 
field after his admission, and in October, 1853, 
removed to Galion. He was Mayor of Galion 
three years, from April, 1854, and Postmaster 
from May, 1861, until August, 1864. He was 
also a member of the Galion Union School 
Board for two years, from April, 1872, and a 



delegate to the Republican National Conven- 
tion, at Cincinnati, in 1876. 

James W. Coulter was born July 4, 1846, at 
West Bedford, Coshocton County, Ohio. He 
obtained his education at Spring Mountain, 
Coshocton County, and read law with Judge 
Thomas Beer, at Bucyrus, and was admitted to 
the bar August 16, 1865, and immediately there- 
after commenced practice at Galion. In 1869, 
he was elected Prosecuting Attorney of Craw- 
ford County, and was re-elected in 1871. He 
has served as a member of the County Board of 
School Examiners, and of the Board of Educa- 
tion of the Galion Union Schools. 

Seth G. Cummings. He has served as Pros- 
ecuting Attorney of Crawford Count}'' from 
1873 to 1877. 

Jacob Meuser, admitted to the bar about the 
year 1874. He was a member of the Legisla- 
ture from January, 1876, to Januar}', 1880, and 
Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. 

John De Golley was admitted to the bar at 
Chambersburg, Penn., in 1871. He removed 
to Galion in 1874, and commenced practice in 
1876. In 1879, he was elected Corporation At- 
torney, the first to serve under the City Charter. 

George W. Ziegler was admitted to the bar 
in 1876, and elected Prosecuting Attorney of 
Crawford County in 1877, and re-elected in 
1879. 

Alexander F. Anderson was admitted to the 
bar in 1869, and located first at Findlay, then at 
Carey, and removed to Galion in October, 1878. 
Of George W. Johnson we have no data. 

The former members of the bar at Crestline 
were Lemuel R. Moss, from 1852 to 1854; 
James W. Paramore, John W. Jenner, Samuel 
E. Jenner and 0. B. Cruzen. 

The present members are Nathan Jones, ad- 
mitted to the bar at Norwalk, April 13, 1855, 
commenced practice at Crestline in 1856. In 
1866, he was elected Prosecuting Attorney of 
Crawford County and re-elected in 1868. In 
Ma}', 1876, he was elected Grand Master of the 



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HISTORY or CRAWFORD COUXTY. 



235 



Grand Lodge of Independent Order of Odd 
Fellows of Ohio, and in December, 1877, was 
elected a representative to the Grand Lodge of 
the United States. 

Daniel Babst, Jr., was admitted to the bar at 
Columbus in 1871 ; P. W. Poole, admitted at 
Bucyrus, in September, 1865 ; Frederick New- 
man, admitted at Mount Gilead in 1867 ; L. 
C. Hinman, we have no particulars ; G. B. 
Cruzur, admitted at Bucyrus in 1869. 

The following history of the medical profes- 
sion of Crawford County was written by Dr. 
George Keller, of Bucjtus, expressly for this 
work, and will be found of interest to the mem- 
bers of the profession : 

In our effort toward writing up the history of 
the medical profession of Crawford County, we 
necessarily begin about the year 1820, at which 
time the county was very sparsely settled, hav- 
ing few or no doctors and few requiring the 
services of a doctor. 

Nearl}' all of the earliest physicians were im- 
ported from Eastern Ohio, and other Eastern 
States, since it could scarcely be presumed that 
there were, at that time, any parties engaged 
in the study of medicine, preparatory to the 
practice of it. 

It might be proper, under these circumstances, 
to give a brief resume of the condition of the 
profession in those States east of us, in 
order that we may become better acquainted 
with the history of the pioneer doctors of the 
country. 

At and previous to the year before mentioned, 
the greater number of physicians in the east, 
were what is called regulars — those who bled, 
blistered, gave mercury, antimon}", etc., etc., 
secundum artem. Homeopath^^ was scarcely 
known this side of the Atlantic ; Thomsonian- 
ism was in its infancy, and hydropathy, phy- 
siopathy, eclecticism, chrono-thermalism, etc., 
had not been born into the world. 

In the year 1822, the celebrated Dr. Samuel 
Thomson, having already invented a system of 



medicine, had it patented, as the following doc- 
ument will show : 

No. 2866. (Eagle, etc.) Sixth Edition. 

THOMSON'S PATENT. 
this may certify that we have received 0? 
Thomas M. Sargent, 
Twenty Dollars in full for the right of preparing and 
using for himself and family, the medicine and system 
of practice, secured to Samuel Thomson, by letters 
patent from the President of the United States, dated 
January 28, 1823, and that he is thereby constituted a 
member of the Friendly Botanic Society, and is en- 
titled to an enjoyment of all the privileges attached 
to membership therein. 

Dated at Locust Grove, this 27th day of August, 1834. 
Pike, Platt & Co., 
Agents for Samuel Tliomson. 

The fortunate individual who, for the con- 
sideration of $20, became possessor of the 
above document, further agreed " in the 
spirit of mutual interest and honor, not to re- 
veal any part of said information to any per- 
son, except those who purchase the right, to 
the injury of the proprietor, under the penalty 
of forfeiting their word and honor, and all right 
to use the medicine." 

Accompanying the letters patent was a 
24mo. book of 168 pages of texts, and a sup- 
plement of twenty-eight more, which was sup- 
posed to contain all that was necessary to know 
in the departments of anatomy, phj'siologj', 
materia medica, practice, surgery, midwifery 
and chemistr3^ 

While Hippocrates, the "father of medicine," 
wrote many " aphorisms," Thomson had but 
one : " Heat is life, and cold is death;" and as a 
result, all that was necessary in order to treat 
a case was to keep the patient warm — hot in 
fact. This was accomplished mainly hj pepper, 
lobelia and steam. 

Thomson and his confreres, used in particular 
six preparations which were applicable to al- 
most any form of disease, and in any stage of 
it. No. 1, lobelia ; No. 2, cayenne pepper ; No. 
3, bayberry root bark, white pond lily root and 



236 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



inner bark of hemlock ; No. 4, bitters made of 
bitter herb, bayberrj' and poplar bark, one ounce 
of each to a pint of hot water and a half a pint of 
spirit ; No. 5, cough syrup ; No. 6, tincture of 
myrrh and ca^'enne pepper. 

These six preparations, with a steaming, were 
supposed to be competent to cure almost any 
form of disease, curable or incurable. 

The following case, "selected at random," will 
serve to illustrate treatment of rheumatism. The 
Doctor ordered a large iron kettle to be filled 
with water and brought to boiling point. The 
kettle being removed from the fire, the patient 
was divested of most of his clothing, a couple 
of sticks placed across the kettle for him to sit 
on, and a blanket thrown about him to retain 
the steam. Either from lightness of the sticks 
or too great weight of the patient, the sticks gave 
way and the unhapp}^ subject of treatment found 
himself a posteriori at the bottom of the kettle. 
This sudden, excessive, and untimely applica- 
tion of the principle of health — heat — as might 
naturally be inferred, aroused all the evil pas- 
sions of the patient, and the fears of the 
Doctor who beat a precipitate retreat, fol- 
lowed by the victim, and the race was only 
concluded when a fortunate stream of water 
separated the pursuer and pursued. It need 
hardly be remarked that the treatment was a 
success. 

As time progressed other vegetables were 
added to the materia medica, until it became 
much more extensive. These worthies went 
about the country, abusing the " calomel" doc- 
tors, who were killing people, as they said, by 
blisters, bleeding, opium, tartar-emetic, etc. 

Dr. Thomson believed, with the ancient 
philosophers, that there were only four elements, 
fire, air, earth and water, as the following lines, 
taken from one of his poems, will show. 

" My system's founded on the truth, 
Man's Air and Water, Fire and Earth, 
And death is cold, and life is heat, 
These, tempered well, your health's complete." 



The Doctor, of course, condemned nearly all 
the medicines used by the " regulars," especially 
saltpeter, which he saj^s " has the most certain 
and deadlj^ effects upon the human sj'stem of 
any drug that is used as medicine. Being in 
its nature cold, there cannot be any other ef- 
fects produced by it than to increase the power 
of that enemy to heat." 

In our ))oyhood days, we heard a celebrated 
professor of this system boast that he never 
graduated a young man in less than six weeks, 
but even this was seemingly asking too much, 
since the " average " boy of twelve years might 
make himself thoroughly familiar with the sys- 
tem in a few hours. This aged doctor was also 
a preacher, and was thought at times to be 
given somewhat to exaggeration in his state- 
ments. On being talked to on that subject, he 
said he had always been aware of his tendency'' 
to that weakness, and had shed barrels of tears 
on account of it. This class of doctors has be- 
come extinct. 

Another system of medicine in full blast 
forty -five years ago, was the uroscopian or wa- 
ter doctor. These gentlemen did not subject 
the urine to a chemical test or anything 
of that nature, but pretended to diagnose all 
kinds of disease, without seeing the patient — 
requiring only a sample of the water. This 
they shook up smelled — wormed out of the 
messenger all they could, and guessed at the 
remainder. It need hardly be remarked that 
the}' were frequently terribly victimized by 
pretended bearers of " samples." 

The great panacea with many of this school, 
was the celebrated " blood physic," made up of 
juniper berries, epsom salts, senna leaves, etc. 
An ordinary dose of this, pi'operly prepared, 
would nearly fill a gallon pot. Man}- years ago, 
we were attending a patient suflfering from a 
lingering form of fever, and on making a visit 
found a pot full of this mixture ready for ad- 
ministration, it having been prescribed by the 
uroscopian. Two days afterward the poor pa- 



'•C s" 






:\±. 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



237 



tient ceased to require the services of any doc- 
tor, having gone, in the words of the New Jer- 
sey poet, to that phxce, 

" Where few physicians go." 

Tills class of doctors has also become extinct, 
or nearly so. 

In the earl}' settlement of the country, and 
for man}' years afterward, there was a tribe of 
doctors called jjar excellence, the " Indian doc- 
tors." Many persons supposed that the red 
man — the untutored child of nature — because 
he did not know anything else, ought to be, and 
really was, a first-class doctor. 

It was often remarked that while the edu- 
cated physician might be good enough for or- 
dinar}' cases of disease, the obstinate, obscure, 
and reall}' difficult cases could be most success- 
fully managed by the Indian doctor. White 
men who had lived for awhile among the In- 
dians, or had even been chased by one, was 
supposed to have imbibed their peculiar skill, 
and ranked among the first physicians of the 
land. It need scarcely be remarked that the 
Indian knows nothing of disease or remedies 
for it, and that their prescriptions, as a general 
rule, have in them no more medical virtues 
than can be found in a decoction of oat straw. 
The Indian doctor is far from being extinct, as 
the current literature of patent medicine al- 
manacs abundantl}' demonstrates. 

Before concluding this part of our subject, we 
must make mention of a certain kind of " reg- 
ular doctors," who were ver}^ common in the 
early settlement of the countrj-. Many young 
men, thinking they might as well be doctors, 
would spend a few days, weeks or months in 
the office of some physician and then " go out 
West " to practice. Fifty years ago, almost any 
point west of Mansfield was " out West." The 
only requisites in this system of practice, was a 
horse, a few drugs and a respectable amount 
of what the Arkansas doctor called the three 
"I's" — ignorance, impudence and independence. 
During our boyhood, two young men brought 



up in Wayne County, happened to meet in one 
of the western counties of the State. Mutually 
recognizing each other, one of them cried out, 

" For God's sake, H , don't tell on me, for 

I can purge 'em and puke 'em as good as anj'^- 
body." 

Many of them relied largel}' on their experi- 
ence — that is — the}' had taken during their 
lives an occasional dose of pink and senna, cal- 
omel and jalap, castor oil. had been bled and 
blistered and had not forgotten the effects of 
them, or why they had taken them. Happily 
for the people, " out West " has no longer any 
existence, and this kind of doctors are found 
more rarely. Fifty years ago, the country was 
new, people suffered much and often from the 
malarious influences almost universally jjreva- 
lent, and in pain and distress were ready to ac- 
cept the services of any one calling himself 
doctor, without stopping to inquire as to his 
antecedents. 

Some of these doctors began business with a 
self-constituted diploma, resembling very much 
the one which may be found in the comedy of 
Moliere, entitled "Le Malade Imaginaire, or 
the Hypochondriac," which reads thus : 

Ego cum is to boneto 
Venerabile et docto 
Dono tibi et concede, 
Virtutem et puisanciam : 

Medicandi 

Purgandi 

Seignandi 

Percundi 

Taillandi 

Coupandi et 

Occidendi 

Impune per totam terram. 

A liberal translation of this mongrel Latin 
and French would seem to declare that the 
newly fledged doctor is duly empowered to 
dose, purge, bleed, cut and kill with impunity, 
throughout the entire earth. 

When these doctors encountered severe 
forms of disease thev were about as successful 



V 






s 



^ 



238 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



as the celebrated firm of Sangrado and Gil Bias, 
the latter remarking that when a malignant 
form of fever made its appearance in one of the 
cities of Spain, under their treatment it was 
never necessary to visit a patient but once, for 
on the second one he was either dead or mori- 
bund, and that they made more widows and 
orphans in six weeks than were made during 
the siege of Troy. 

One of our early acquaintances who went 
West was called to see a boy who was drunk. 
Not understanding precisely the nature of the 
case, he informed the parents that it was a case 
of Asiatic cholora. 

Thus far we have been showing up the un- 
pleasant and farcical side of the picture — now 
let us turn to a more pleasing one. 

During the times we have been speaking of 
there were numbers of young men in the East 
who obtained as good an education as their re- 
sources permitted, studied medicine two or 
three years in the office of some practitioner, 
and starting from home on horseback, with all 
their worldly" effects, traveled in many in- 
stances hundreds of miles, in order to come 
West for the purpose of really practicing medi- 
cine — meaning faithfully and honestly to re- 
lieve, as far as possible, suffering humanity. 

When time permitted, they read such books 
as they had, procured others as soon as prac- 
ticable, took such periodicals as were within 
reach, and gave their lives to the duties of 
their profession, each da^' endeavoring to learn 
more antl more of its m3'steries. They sacri- 
ficed home, early friendships and associations, 
forsook the comforts of civilization and refine- 
ment and came to an almost howling wilder- 
ness, with all its lack of comforts, for the pur- 
pose of pi'acticing what they believed to be a 
noble and honorable profession, and for all this 
hoping only to secure for themselves future 
homes and an honorable place in society. The 
few surviving pioneers hold these men in grateful 
remembrance, and are ready to accord to them 



their justly deserved measure of praise, and 
thank them for many an act of mercy and 
kindness extended to them in their hours of 
affliction, pain and death. 

With these prefatory remarks, we commence 
our list of the doctors of Crawford County, at 
the same time thanking many of the pro- 
fession and others for the aid they have so 
kindly extended to us in the work. 

Bucijrus. — Dr. Rhodes, most probably the 
first physician of the place, came here in the 
latter part of the year 1822, a few months after 
the village was laid out. He remained but a 
short time, and we have been able to gather but 
little of his history during his stay, and do not 
know what became of him after he left. 
While here, he partially extracted a tooth for 
an aunt of Dr. Squiers, of Sulphur Springs. 
When the tooth was nearly out of the socket, 
he pushed it back in place, remarking that it 
would never ache again — a statement which 
was verified by the after-history of the tooth, 
which remained in situ many years afterward, 
but never ached. We need scarcely remark 
that there were no dentists in those days, and 
when teeth became troublesome, the doctor 
was called upon to extract them. Doctors, for 
this purpose, did not use the various kinds of 
forceps now in use, but an instrument called 
very often a jxuUicon. This operated on the 
principle of the cant-hook, having a j^oint 
(Vappul, or fulcrum, and a hook. The fulcrum 
was placed on the tooth and gum, on the 
inside, usually, while the hook passed over it 
and caught it as low down as possible. B3' a 
simple " turn of the wrist," the tooth came out 
or was broken off — frequently the latter, leav- 
ing the patient in a worse condition than 
before, since the doctor was not usually pro- 
vided with the necessary instruments to remove 
the remaining portion. We are not acquainted 
with the etymolog}- of the name "puUicon," 
but suppose it had reference to the fact that it 
frequently pulled the tooth in a great vai'iety 



«<^ »■ 



?t 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



239 



of directions before pulling it out. No fee was 
paid the doctor for tooth-extracting, the patient 
usuallj' remarking that "it hurt bad enough 
without paying anything for it." A few years 
later some of the doctors occasionally ven- 
tured to charge a " shilling " for such services. 

Dr. McComb (or McCombs) came here in 
1823. He was quite a popular pliysician, and 
had the confidence of the few settlers who were 
then here. He was a man of pleasant address; 
was well calculated to make friends ; had good 
common-sense ; was " well read," as the expres- 
sion goes, and was a man of much experience. 
His usefulness during his latter years was much 
impaired by a too great fondness for strong 
drink. He died, about 1836, at the residence 
of the parents of Dr. Fitzsimmons, about three 
miles southeast of Bucyrus. The immediate 
cause of death was a fall from his horse, death 
ensuing a few hours afterward. His wife also 
died here. 

Dr. Hobbs came here about 1824 or 1825, 
and remamed until about 1832. His wife, in 
1830, taught what was among the first schools 
of the village. Dr. Hobbs, after leaving here, 
went to Indiana ; remained there some time, then 
came back to Mount Vernon, Ohio, at which 
place he died two or three years since, at the age 
of eighty-three or eighty-four years. A number 
of the early physicians of Crawford remained 
but a short time, since the practice of medicine 
in those early days required a great deal of 
physical and moral energy. The country was 
sparsely settled. Instead of roads, there were 
mere trails, almost impassable the greater part 
of the year, on account of mud and water ; 
frequently not even these, but simply paths 
leading from one lonely cabin to another. 
South of town, on the " plains," some of the 
natural grasses attained a height of six or 
eight feet, and one of the earlier physicians 
(Dr. Merriman) informed us that in riding along 
these paths, flanked by the long grass, his 
clothing would be completely wetted through 



by the dews in his nightly rides. Besides, as 
nearly all the settlers were poor and frequently 
sick, the Doctor was not in the habit of getting 
much ready pay, and had, as a matter of 
course, to await the time when his patrons 
would be able to settle their bills — usually a 
long way in the future, and often never. People 
sick nearly all the working months of the year 
were illy prepared to pay doctors' bills. Under 
these discouraging surroundings, the Doctor, as 
far as his physical wants were concerned, fared 
about as badly as his patrons. 

Dr. Pierce came hei'e from the State of New 
York, about the year 1825. He was then a 
widower, with two children, and soon after- 
ward married Miss Mary Carey. In addition 
to practicing medicine, he kept a " tavern," in 
a building across the street from Mrs. Rogers', 
on the lot now occupied by Mr. Christian 
Shonert. He remained here seven or eight 
years, and then " went West." The old settlers 
speak of him as a man of fair attainments 
and a good citizen. 

Dr. W^illis Merriman was born in Cayuga 
County, N. Y., in 1801, and came to Ohio in 
1817, studied medicine in Norwalk, Ohio, in the 
years 1822 and 1823, practiced there for some 
time, coming to Bucyrus in 1827. He con- 
tinued in practice here until the death of his 
first wife in 1834. (Her maiden name was Lois 
Cook, of Mansfield.) Dr. Merriman, in 1835, 
entered into the mercantile business, which he 
followed until 1853. He gave us the following 
anecdote, connected with his early mercantile 
life : In those da3'S, it was customary for mer- 
chants to have on their counters a bottle of 
whisky for the entertainment of all those who 
wished to partake. As some of the Wyandot 
Indians were in the habit of visiting the town, 
especially on Saturdays, he placed on his coun- 
ter, on a certain Saturday morning, a bottle of 
tincture of cayenne pepper, instead of whisky, 
for their especial benefit. Pretty soon a red 
man came in, took a drink, and as soon as he 



w^ 



240 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



was able to speak, slyly I'emarked to the Doc- 
tor — "Leave him be, more Injun outside." 

Dr. Merriman was, for several years, one of 
the Directors of the Ohio & Indiana Railroad 
Corapan}', and its first President. He retired 
from this position January 1, 1855, on the 
consolidation of the railroad companies into 
the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago Rail- 
road, becoming at the same time one of the 
Directors of the new organization, which posi- 
tion he held until 1868. He was also Deputy 
U. S. Collector from 1863 to 1865. 

Dr. Merriman was a man of sterling integ- 
rity, noted for his real goodness of heart, and 
always a gentleman — traits of character which 
won for him the respect and esteem of all. His 
mental powers were vigorous, and his knowl- 
edge varied and extensive. He died in Bucy- 
rus August 30, 1873. 

Dr. Sinclair came here about 1830, and re- 
mained until 1836. He went from here to 
Maumee City, where he did a very successful 
business, pecuniarily and otherwise. He was 
a popular physician, and had the confidence of 
the people generally. 

Dr. Douglas came here in 1 835, and remained 
until October 1850, when he went back to New 
York. He was a man of fine professional and 
literary attainments, and in every sense of the 
word a gentleman. Every act and every 
word of his was well considered, and under no 
circumstances did he ever permit himself to 
be vulgar, or anything approaching thereto. 

Dr. Andrew Hetich was born and brought up 
in Chambersburg, Franklin County,,Penn. ; re- 
ceived a liberal education for those times, 
studied medicine and located in Bucyrus, in 
1835. His wife not liking the place, he re- 
turned to Chaml)orsburg. but finally' came back 
in 1839, resumed practice, which he continued 
until a short time before his death in 1860. 
Dr. Hetich was a gentleman of respectable pro- 
fessional attainments, pleasant and affable in 
his manners, acquainted with nearly every 



person in the communit}^, and generallj' re- 
spected. 

Dr. G. A. Hetich, a cousin of Dr. Andrew 
Hetich, was also born and reared in Chambers- 
burg, Penn. ; came to Ohio in 1835, located in 
Bucyrus, and practiced his profession until his 
death in 1844. Dr. G. A. Hetich, both in a 
literaT'y and professional sense, was a gentle- 
man of more than ordinary' attainments, had 
the confidence of the general public, but almost 
uninterrupted bad health prevented him from 
doing a very large amount of general practice, 
which in those times implied a vast amount 
of physical exertion. Buggies and carriages 
were almost unknown, and nearly impractica- 
ble, on account of the genei'ally new and bad 
state of the roads, consequently the country doc- 
tor was compelled to go on horseback or on foot. 

Dr. A. M. Jones was born in Berkshire 
County, Mass., and came with his parents to 
Ohio in 1817, settling in Lorain County. He 
came to Bucyrus in December, 1835, and prac- 
ticed medicine for ten years ; after which he 
became associated with Samuel Clapper in the 
woolen-mill business, which partnership lasted 
three years, he then selling out to Clapper. 
He has not given anj^ attention to the practice 
of medicine for the past thirty years, having 
turned his attention largely to the real estate 
business, in which he has been remarkably- suc- 
cessful. 

Dr. Boehler (a German) came here in 1837, 
and remained until 1841 or 1842, when he 
went to Tiffin, and some time afterward died 
there. He belonged to the uroscopians, a class 
of doctors which we have already attempted to 
describe. 

Dr. William Geller came here in 1840, and 
remained until 1844, going to Mount Gilead on 
the erection of the new county of Morrow. 
While here, he was elected County Treasurer, 
and soon after went to California. He is well 
spoken of by such of our old citizens as were 
acquainted with him. 



-a) V 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



241 



Dr. Jacob Augenstein read medicine with 
Dr. Boehler, already mentioned, began practicing 
about 1842, and continued in tlie business until 
about 1862. He resides at present in Napoleon, 
Ohio, lie also belonged to the uroscopian or 
water doctor system of practice. 

Dr. Hauck, a compound doctor, made up of 
homeopathy and uroscopy, came here in 1843, 
and remained until his death a few years after. 

Dr. Frederick Swingley was born in Mary- 
land ; came to Ohio, and commenced practice in 
Chesterville, in 1835. He remained at the lat- 
ter place until December, 1844, when he loca- 
ted in Bucyrus, and has been in continuous 
practice since. He served several years as sur- 
geon during the rebellion. During the years, 
especially 1851, 1852, 1853, 1854, we remember 
that Dr. Swingley did quite a large amount of 
surgical practice in and about Buc3'rus. 

Dr. Haas, a German Jew, came here in 1845, 
pretending to be a dentist, and was the first one 
offering himself in that capacity to the people 
of the place. That he was not always a doctor 
we learn from a poem purporting to have been 
written b}^ him, a verse or two of which is as 
follows : 

" A Jew pettier once I vas, 

And pettled round my vares, 
But now a doctorman I pes, 

Vich makes the peoples stares. 
Ven first on Bucyrus I vas vent, 
I pe'est not comed dere long, 
Until I see a pooty cal, 

Vich makes me write dis song." 

The Doctor wore expensive clothing, sported 
considerable jewelry, and had really a magnifi- 
cent set of dental instruments, for those times, 
at least, but which, unfortunately, he did not 
know how to use, and soon left the place. 

Dr. Cochran Fulton was born in Westmore- 
land County, Penn., February 22, ISIO, and 
when quite a young man came with bis pai'ents 
to Ohio. He read medicine in Stark County, 
and came here to engage in practice in 1845. 
Graduated in Eclectic INIedical Institute in Cin- 



cinnati in 1848, and has been engaged in prac- 
tice since. During a period of thirty-five 3'ears' 
practice, he has alwa^^s enjoyed a fair share of 
the public patronage. The drug and book 
store opened by him in 18G1 is the oldest es- 
tablishment of the kind in the town, and prob- 
abl}^ in the county. 

Dr. Robert T. Johnson also came here in 
1845, from Wooster, Wayne Co., Ohio, prac- 
ticed a short time, but soon engaged in the 
drug and book business, which business he still 
carries on. 

Di'. Potter, belonging to the " lobelia, pepper 
and steam " system, came here in 1847, and re- 
mained several years. When questioned as to 
the particular system of medicine which he 
pi'acticed, his answer usually was " Anti-poison, 
if you please." This he repeated so frequently 
that the boys about town dubbed him, "Dr. 
Anti-poison, if 3'ou please." He engaged board- 
ing in town b}' the meal, and when he had a 
patient in the country, usually managed to 
"happen round" about meal-time, and by this 
dodge lived quite economicalh'. We have not 
been able to learn of anything redounding much 
to his reputation in any direction. 

Dr. Robert Sweeny read medicine here, and 
began practicing in 1847. He remained here 
until the spring of 1851, when he went to Ma- 
rion, where he has since resided, and where he 
has always enjoyed the public confidence. 

Dr. Applebaugh came here in 1848, stayed 
three or four years, and then went to Philadel- 
phia, Penn., and engaged in the commission 
business. We have heard that he received 
consignments from parties here, the returns of 
which were not considered very satisfactor}-. 
He is said to have been very fond of fishing, 
etc., and was a good performer on the violin. 

Dr. Samuel Long came here in 1849, and re- 
mained two jears. He was well educated, a 
graduate of the University of Pennsj-lvania, of 
fine literary tastes, and being in easy circum- 
stances did not give much attention to the 



242 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY 



practice of his profession. We have learned 
that daring the rebelHon he held an important 
place in the Medical Department of the arm}', 
at Washington. 

Dr. Barsham, a homeopathist, came here in 
1850, and remained two 5'ears. 

Dr. James Milott came in 1851, and died here 
in 1853. He was an eclectic. 

Dr. Francis Meyer was born in Frankfort, 
German}- ; attended the schools of the city, and 
received his medical education at the universi- 
ties of Tubingen, Heidelberg and Halle. After 
graduation, he passed what might be called the 
State Board of Examinsrs, and served for sev- 
eral years as surgeon in the Schleswig-Holstein 
war. He came here in 1851, and continued in 
the practice of medicine until broken in health, 
about five years ago. Dr. Meyer, receiving a 
classical education in his early life, has, by con- 
stant reading of the best authors, added largel}- 
to his original stock of knowledge, and has al- 
ways had the confidence of a large portion of 
the citizens of Bucyrus and vicinity. Being a 
gentleman of fine literary and artistic tastes, 
his office and rooms have always been the re- 
positor}- of many articles of virtu, rare and 
valuable. 

Dr. W. R. S. Clark came here in 1852, prac- 
ticed until 1857, when he became a partner of Dr. 
Fulton in the drug business. He bought the 
interest of Dr. F. in this business in 1860, and 
carried it on until about 1867, when he sold out 
and removed to Indiana. He served as surgeon 
for several 3'ears during the rebellion. 

Dr. Rogers, an eclectic, came here in 1853, 
and went to Illinois in 1855. 

Dr. M. C. Cuykendall was born in Cayuga 
County, N. Y.; came to Ohio when a 3'oung 
man, read medicine in Pl3'mouth, Ohio, and be- 
gan practicing in Ganges, Ohio, in 1854. He 
came to Bucyrus in 1857, and remained in 
practice until the breaking-out of the rebellion, 
when he entered the militar}^ service as surgeon, 
and before the close of the war reached the posi- 



tion of Medical Director. Since 1865, he has 
devoted his attention largely to the practice of 
surger}', in which department he has the confi- 
dence both of the profession and the public at 
large. He has held for several 3-ears past the 
position of Professor of Gynecology in the Med- 
ical College of Columbus. His failing health, 
caused by disease of the bowels, contracted 
during the term of his military service, has pre- 
vented him to a certain extent from doing much 
active work during the past two or three years. 

The following persons, in addition to those 
already mentioned, are practicing in Bucyrus 
at present : 

Dr. E. P. Penfield, homeopathist, came in 
1861. 

Dr. Fitzsimmons, in 1871. 

Dr. Kissner, 1871. 

Dr. Carson, 1876. 

Dr. Krider, 1877. 

Dr. Chesney, in drug business since 1874. 

Dr. Georgia Merriman, since 1879. 

Dr. Bonar, came present season (1880). 

Dr. Atwood, present season. 

Dr. McNutt, has resided here for past seven 
or eight j'cars. 

Dr. Price, a botanic, located on the Johnson 
farm, seven miles south of Bucyrus, about the 
3'ear 1837 ; remained in the neighborhood about 
fifteen years, and then went to Illinois. 

Oceola. — Dr. J. N. Richie read medicine with 
Dr. Leander Firestone, of Wa3'ne County, Ohio, 
and Dr. Henr3' Houtz, of Canal Fulton, Stark 
County ; graduated at Willoughby Medical Col- 
lege, and commenced the practice of medicine 
at this place in 1847, and has been in active 
practice ever since. He is a gentleman, pleas- 
ant in address, affable at all times and to all 
persons, familiar with the details of his profes- 
sion, energetic in business, and consequentl3' 
obtained and has always retained the confi- 
dence of his man3' patrons. 

During his professional life here, many ph3^- 
sicians, at different times, have located, but 



'"-^. 

~*^ 





I 



jvj< 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY 



345 



soon finding the field unprofitable, sought loca- 
tions elsewhere. In the spring of 1874, he en- 
tered into partnership with Dr. William O. Han- 
by, a 3'oung man of great promise, which part- 
nership was abruptly broken up by the un- 
timely death of the latter in October, 1879. He 
has recentl}' taken as a partner Dr. John Ches- 
ney, son of Dr. Chesney, of Bucyrus. 

Dr. Richie received a kick from a horse, 
about a year since, which caused the loss of 
one eye, and has otherwise so much affected 
his health, that he is scarcel}' able, much of the 
time, to endure the fatigue attendant on a 
country practice. 

Dr. Hahn, now of Three Locusts, began prac- 
ticing here in 1852, but remained only eight 
months, going then to New Winchester, where 
he remained until 1867. 

Dr. Fruth located here in autumn of 1879, 
and still remains. 

This has alwaj'S been a good field for the 
practice of medicine, since that portion of the 
county west of it was settled, many years after 
the other portions, on account of its being part 
of the W^'andot Reservation. 

From this circumstance, malarious diseases 
are still much more prevalent here, than in that 
part of the county east of it. 

^Sulphur iSjiruigs, or Annapolis. — The first phy- 
sician that came to this place, as far as we can 
learn, was a Dr. Kelley. He located here in 
1836 or 1837, but remained only a short time. 

He was succeeded hy Drs. Barnitz. Smith. 
Palmer, Chapman and (rriffith, none of whom 
remained any considerable length of time. 

Dr. Geo. Zeigler located here in 1840, and 
remained until his death in Februar}^, 1872. Dr. 
Zeigler had a good practice during his entire 
professional life. He acquired the habit of 
making long professional rides, for the purpose 
of visiting patients scattered over quite an ex- 
tent of territory, frequently being from home for 
two or three daj's, often sleeping on the floor in 
preference to going to bed. All this told on 



his general health, which was much impaired 
during his latter 3'ears. 

His neighbor, Dr. Squiers, advised him to 
give up his night riding and hard work gener- 
ally, but he replied that he " might as well die at 
his post," and finally did so, being overtaken 
by a severe attack of lung disease, when about 
two miles from home, stopped at the neai'est 
farm-house and remained until death, which oc- 
curred two or three da3-s after. 

Dr. John B. Squiers was born in Wasliington 
County, N. Y., Ma}-, 1818. Came with his par- 
ents to Libertj^ Township, Crawford Count}', 
Ohio, in the autumn of 1822. In 1835. he at- 
tended school at Norwalk, Ohio, one term of 
three months, began the study of medicine with 
Dr. Zeigler in 1845, and commenced practice 
with him in 1848, after having attended a 
course of lectures in Cincinnati, and graduated 
at the latter-named cit}- in 1853. Since that 
time, although much crippled, and frequently 
really unfitted for the laborious duties of a 
country practitioner, he has constantl}- been at 
his post. 

He is emphaticall}' a self-made man. and, al- 
though never receiving the advantages of a lit- 
erary education at any college or other institu- 
tion of learning, has been a diligent student for 
the past fort^'-five years ; has read general lit- 
erature quite extensively, and has always been 
a reader of the serial medical literature of the 
day. As far as we know, he has deservedly the 
entire confidence of the people with whom he 
has been so long associated. 

We have never heard him speak unkindly of 
a brother practitioner, nor have we ever heard 
any one accusing him of the commission of any 
act derogatory to the dignity of the profession. 

About the j-ear 184-, there was in the place, 
for a short time, a doctor usually styling himself 
C. Turley, M. D., of whom we have never heard 
any one speak very kindly. He was thought 
to have in his composition a more than ordi- 
nary amount of impudence, as the following 



246 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



anecdotes will show : When practicing in 
West Liberty, he called an old gentleman 
across the street, as he wished to see him. The 
victim waded the deep mud, in order to reach 
him, when the Doctor wished to know whether 
he could give him change for a dollar bill ! 
When in Sulphur Springs, he sent his boy to Dr. 
Squiers' office with a message that he wished 
to see him. Dr. Squiers left his business and 
repaired to the Doctor's office as hastily as 
possible, and on his arrival was asked whether 
he could lend him an ounce of quinine. On a 
certain occasion, the Doctor went into the old- 
fashioned " bar-room " of the old-fashioned 
" tavern," and at once placed himself between 
a facetious old gentleman and the stove, com- 
pletely' cutting off his supply of heat and dis- 
turbing his range of vision. The old gentle- 
man at once cried out, " Cramps, cramps ! " 
and, raising both legs and throwing forward his 
hands, precipitated the Doctor on the hot stove. 
The latter soon righted himself, but, a second 
attack of convulsions coming on, he was again 
thrown against the stove. The convulsive 
attack then ceasing, the Doctor was permitted 
to make his escape. 

Drs. Zimro and Patterson practiced here 
about 1870, but neither remained long. Dr. M. 
M. Carothes has been located here since 1872. 
Dr. H. S. Bevington has been practicing and 
carrying on the drug business since 1872. 

RicJiville. — Dr. Fairbanks located here in 
1848 and remained until 1858. He was suc- 
ceeded by Dr. Peitzel, who remained until 1863. 
He died in IMissouri a few years ago. He was 
succeeded by Dr. Urias Tupps, who remained 
until his death, in 1873. Dr. Zeigler, son of 
the late Dr. Zeigler, of Sulphur Springs, has 
been here since 1871. 

West Liberty^ or Ldherty Corners. — Dr. Wood 
commenced practicing here about 1843, and 
died of typhoid fever in 1847. He was a 
gentleman of fine attainments, and his death 
was universall}' regretted. 



Dr. Thomas C. Aiken succeeded him, and 
practiced here until the autumn of 1851. The 
writer of this sketch was here from May, 1851, 
to May, I860.* There were several other phy- 
sicians here between 1851 and 1865, but none 
remained any length of time. The place has 
been without a doctor for the past fifteen years. 

De Kalh. — Dr. Carleton came to this place in 
1831 or 1832, and remained for several years. 
In addition to practicing medicine, he sold dry 
goods in a log building standing on the lot 
afterward occupied by David Anderson and 
others, at the junction of the Plj^mouth road 
and the one running north through Vernon 
Township. He is remembered by a number of 
the early settlers, who speak of him as a man 
of considerable ability. 

Dr. R. A. N. Be was born in the State of 
Rhode Island about the year 1 798. He received 
a tolerably liberal education, and graduated at 
one of the medical colleges of Philadelphia. 
He came West about 1830, and at first located 
in Southeastern Indiana, but, not being satis- 
fied with the country, came back to Ohio and 
located at this place in the year 1836. He 
continued to practice here until 1854, when he 
went to Van Wert County, Ohio, and remained 
there about ten years, coming back to De Kalb 
in 1864. In December, 1865, he had an apoplec- 
tic attack, which very considerably impaired 
his mental powers, and he resided with the 
writer from February, 1866, to July, 1867, 
when he visited his brother in Galesburg, 111., 
dying there the following December. Although 
quite eccentric in many particulars, and 
peculiarly reticent in everything pertaining to 
his early life, he was a man of much more than 
ordinary ability and attainments. 

*Dr. Keller, the author of this excellent sketch of the medical 
profession, is too modest to say anyihiiiRof himself, but the his- 
torian deems it due to him that he should have a place with the 
other physicians of the county, and feels it his duty to add this 
notice. He commenced the study of medicine with Dr. Harley. 
In 1816-47, be attended the Cleveland Medical Colleg:e, and, in the 
winter of i8.'J2-.'),3, graduated at Cincinnati. After several years at 
West Liberty, he located in Hucyrus, in the fall of 1861, where, 
with the exception of two years, he has ever since remained, rank- 
ing among the leading physicians of the town. 



-^. 



'W 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



247 



He devoted his time, when not professionally 
engaged, to reading, both professional and oth- 
erwise, and in his office there might always be 
found rare medical works not usually found in 
the office of the country practitioner, with the 
best serial medical and other literature. He 
was a good practitioner, a reliable friend and a 
strictly honest man. The following points con- 
nected with his early history, not known dur- 
ing his life in De Kalb, will explain man}' things 
in his private life, which were regarded, gener- 
ally, as eccentricities. When reading medicine, 
he was thrown from a horse, fracturing his 
skull, and otherwise injuring him, the result of 
which was the impairment of his intellectual 
faculties to a considerable extent and for some 
length of time. While in this state, he was sent 
by his preceptor to visit a patient. The mother 
was highly incensed at the doctor for sending 
a craz}' man (as she expressed herself) to visit 
her daughter, and so informed the young man. 
The Doctor, on hearing himself thus spoken of, 
determined to leave the country at once, go 
West, change his name, and forever cut loose 
from his then friends and relatives, ai'guing 
that if he kept up anj- correspondence with 
them, that his history would soon follow him 
wherever he might go, and destroy his future 
prospects. He accordingl}- went to Indiana, as 
we have stated, changed his name from Roman 
Babcock to Rom A. N. Be, by which name he 
was known until his death. During the long, 
weary years from 1830 to 186G, he never once 
communicated directly or indirectly with 
mother, brothers, sisters, or other relatives — 
completely dead to every friend and associate 
of his youthful da5's. His many surviving 
friends will now understand why he was alwa3'S so 
reticent in reference to his early life and family. 

Dr. R. Cahill, from Wayne County, Ohio, 
practiced here from April, 1846, to xVpril, 1848, 
when he returned to Wayne Count}', afterward 
went to Bluftlon, Allen County, Ohio, at which 
place he died a few years ago. 



Dr. Henry Mack practiced here during the 
summer of 1846 ; also the writer. 

Dr. Thos. A. Mitchell practiced here from 
1850 to 1872 or 1878. 

Dr. H. S. Bevington, now of Sulphur Springs, 
from 1855 to 1861. 

Dr. Benjamin McKee has been practicing 
here for the past seven or eight j-ears. 

LeesviUe. — As far as we have been able to 
learn, Dr. John McKean located at this point in 
the year 1884. The road known as the Colum- 
bus and Sandusky State road had been cut out 
but for a short time, and was. at best, little, 
short of a succession of " corduroys," while a 
large part of the countr}' north and northeast of 
the place was little better than a swamp. Un- 
der these unfavorable circumstances Dr. Mc- 
Kean, to use a familiar expression, " grew up 
with the country," and had no competitor, as far 
as we have been able to learn until 1 847, when 
Dr. Peter Rupp began practicing, and remained 
until 1853 or 1854, when he went to South 
Bend, Ind., where he still resides and is en- 
gaged in the drug business. 

In 1858, Dr. Adrian located here and re- 
mained about a year. We have heard him 
spoken of as a gentleman of considerable abil- 
ity. 

Dr. McNutt practiced here from 1857 to 1859, 
went thence to Caroline, remained there a short 
time, then located in New Washington, at which 
place he remained until the breaking-out of the 
rebellion, when he entered the arm}'. 

Dr. Clutter has been practicing here for past 
seven or eight years. 

Benton, or Poplar. — As far as we have been 
able to learn. Dr. Peitzel was the first physi- 
cian of the place, coming here about 1844 or 
1845, and remaining until 1858, when he went 
to Riehville (see Richville). Dr. Bissel came 
about the same time, but did not remain long. 
Dr. John Atwood practiced here from 1846 to 
1840, going then to Gallon and afterward to 
McCuchenville. 



\hL 



248 



HISTORY OF CKAWFORD COl NTY 



Dr. Yates came here soon after Dr. Atwood, 
and remained three years. 

Dr. D. Alvord came here in 1847 and re- 
mained until 1873, when he removed to Bloom- 
ville, at which place he still resides. Dr. Al- 
vord, soon after his arrival here, engaged in an 
active and laborious practice, which he kept up 
until 1863, when bad health compelled him 
to give up active practice to a very great 
extent. Although entirely unassuming, he is 
a gentleman of marked ability, both in a pro- 
fessional and literary sense, and always had 
the confidence of the people of Benton and 
vicinit}'. 

Dr. Jones, now of Nevada, located here in 
1863, and remained until 1865. 

Dr. Porter came in 1865, and left in 1866, go- 
ing to Michigan. 

Dr. Beiler came here shortly after Dr. Por- 
ter, remained two years, and then went back to 
Europe. 

Dr. Jacob practiced here from 1871 to 1877, 
then went to Bucyrus. 

Dr. Jerome Bland has been here since 1868. 

Dr. Schwan came here in 1877, and still re- 
mains. Dr. Schwan graduated in 1867, practiced 
in Peoria, 111., and afterward in Dubuque, Iowa, 
where he held the position of lecturer on 
Chemistry, Physiology and Hygiene in the 
Zwingle Normal Institute. 

New Washinfftoit. — Dr. Andrews located here 
in 1840, when the village was made up of a 
very few log cabins, but remained only about 
one year. During his short stay he lost two 
children, which apparently disheartened him so 
much that he returned East. 

Dr. Main came here in 1842, and remained 
two 5'ears. 

Dr. Stoutenour came about 1845, and left in 
1851. 

Dr. Wandt succeeded Dr. Stoutenour, but 
after a short time committed suicide. 

Dr. A. B. Heshizer practiced here in 1855 
and 1856. 



Dr. John S. Heshizer located here in 1857 
and still remains. 

Dr. McNutt practiced here from 1860 to 1862. 

Dr. Benner has been here for past two or 
three years. 

Dr. Heinz, a young man, practiced here a 
short time in 1878. 

When we visited this place first, in 1841, it 
did not offer a pleasant or profitable field for • 
the medical profession. There were then a few 
scattered rough log cabins— the roads (?) lead- 
ing to the place did not deserve the name — 
" corduroys" as a general rule — and some of 
these made on a most gigantic scale — logs one 
or two feet in diameter being put across the 
track instead of the ordinary small timbers 
about the size of fence rails. During part of 
the year, there was enough water in the line of 
the road to float even these large logs in some 
places, which rendered the route over them en- 
tirely impracticable except to a person on foot, 
and it required some care on his part to pre- 
vent his slipping off and between these moving, 
rolling logs. South and southeast of the place, 
there was a succession of marshes and swails 
covered with water or ice nearly all the year, 
and during the latter summer months so covered 
with decaying vegetable matter, and the pro- 
verbial green scum, as not to tell well for the 
health of the neighborhood. 

The owners of the lands had but recently pur- 
chased them from the Government ; and, when 
health permitted, had in a few places, scattered 
far and wide through the neighborhood, cleared 
up a small patch of ground, erected a primitive 
cabin, mau}^ of these structures not having an 
ounce of iron or other metal in their composi- 
tion. One end served as a huge fire-place, the 
bare earth constituted the floor, and an open- 
ing, frequentl}' covered by an old quilt, served 
as a door. Malarious diseases were, of course, 
very prevalent ; but the greatest scourge of the 
country was '' sick stomach," or " milk sick- 
ness." This disease was attended with ver}' 






^. 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



249 



distressing s^nnptoms, tlie patient suffering from 
intense burning pain in the stomach, great 
thirst, with incessant nausea, retching, vomiting 
and obstinate constipation, which frequently 
only ceased with his life. Much time has been 
spent in the endeavor to get at tlie origin of this 
poison, but all efforts have as yet proved una- 
vailing. Some persons have been very certain 
that it is of mineral origin, and dissolved in the 
water ; others equally certain that it has its 
existence in some plant. It is usually conceded 
that, when suspected places are cleared up and 
grass growing on them, that the disease is not 
propagated. Young cattle, sheep, hogs, dogs 
and horses become frequent victims. Milch- 
cows never suffer to any extent, the poison 
being thrown off from the system through that 
secretion. Man and animals using the milk 
almost invariably suffered from it. In the 
lower animals, the most marked symptoms were, 
apparently, those of extreme nervous prostra- 
tion. In animals, it was often called " the 
trembles." since they usuall}' exhibited that 
symptom prominently until convalescence or 
death. 

Milk sickness, in its habitat, closely' resem- 
bles the mirage of the desert. You can always 
hear of it in the neighborhood where it exists, 
but never reach the actual place, there being 
few land-owners who will admit its existence on 
their own premises ; but, of course, are satisfied 
that it exists on the lands of some one else. 

George Keller, uncle of the writer, who set- 
tled here very early, was the onl}^ man we ever 
met who admitted that the cause of the disease 
was on his own farm. Since there were no 
pasture-lands in the early times, it became nec- 
essary to have cattle run at large ; but after the 
country became so far improved that pasture 
could be furnished domestic animals, the dis- 
ease has disappeared, or nearly so. The worst 
districts were the northern and central portions 
of Cranberry and Auburn Townships and two 
or tliree points in the northern part of Vernon. 



Crestline. — This place not being regularly- 
laid out until 1850 or 1851, has not a ver}- old 
medical history. 

Dr. W. P. Carnyham located here in 1852, 
and remained until his death — about ten 3-ears 
later. 

Dr. Pope came here in the spring of 1855 
and practiced until about 1870, when he became 
connected with the Franz & Pope Knitting 
Machine Works, a history of which will be 
found in another part of this work. 

Dr. Edwin Borth came here about 1860 and 
remained until his death in 1879. 

Dr. Alex Jenner began practicing here in 
1854, but went to Dayton a few years ago. 

Dr. Young has been practicing here since 
1865. 

Dr. John McKean, formerly of Leesville, has 
been here since 1867. He has been practicing 
medicine longer tlian any other ph^'sician of the 
county. 

Dr. Charles Jenner has been practicing here 
for about ten years. 

The other phj^sicians of the place at present 
are Drs. Gibson, G. A. Emery, James Borth, 
and Bennett, a Homeopathist. 

Dr. C. W. G. Ott has been practicing in New 
Winchester for nearly a year, and Dr. Sheckler 
in North Robinson for past three years. Dr. 
Lea has been practicing for several 3-ears at 
Wingert's Corner, or Broken Sword. 

Gallon. — Since Gallon was a comparatively 
small village until the building of the Cleve- 
land, Columbus & Cincinnati and Bellefontaine 
& Indiana Railroads, we do not have the op- 
portunity of giving the history of as many pio- 
neer ph3sicians here as at some other points in 
the count}'. As far as Ave have been able to 
learn, a Dr. Johnson was among the first physi- 
cians of the place, coming here about 188-. and 
remaining a few years. His wife assisted b}' 
another ladj' of the village were instrumental 
in establishing the first Sunday school. Shortly 
after he came. Dr. Bleymever. now of Delaware, 



1^< 



±! 



250 



HISTORY or CRAWFORD COUNTY 



Ohio, located here, luul in 18 58, sold out to 
John S. Roisinger, who practiced here until his 
death in ISGO. 

Dr. Reisinger was a real practitioner of medi- 
cine — practiced his profession for the sake of 
suffering humanity rather than for the 
money he might obtain for his services. 
During the building of the Cleveland, Colum- 
bus & Cincinnati Railroad, cholera visited this 
portion of the State, and many of the employes 
of the contractors were stricken down with the 
disease. As might be expected, many of these 
men Aveie badly provided with the ordinary 
comforts of a sick room, and lacked proper 
nursing. Under these circumstances, Dr. Reis- 
inger himself supplied these wants as far as he 
could, gave his patients all the attention he 
could, supplied their wants to the extent of his 
ability, and. at their death, dug their graves and 
buried them. In 18GG, he received a telegram 
stating that his son, a student of medicine in 
Cinciimati, had been attacked by cholera. 
Hastening there as rapidly as possible, he was 
himself attacked by the disease and died eight 
hours before his son. Their bodies were brought 
to Gallon and interred in the village cemetery. 

Dr. Reisinger, during a residence of nearly 
thirty 3'ears in this place had deservedly the 
confidence of the community, both as a citizen 
and as a practitioner of medicine. 

Dr. Reisinger was born in York County-, 
Penn., and came to Ohio in the ^^ear 18 — . 

There were several physicians here between 
the years 1840 and 1850, but they generally 
remained but a short time. 

Dr. E. Stieff'el was born in Warburg, Ger- 
man\-, educated at the university of that 
place, and came to the United Statics in 1850. 
He remained in New York until 1 852, and then 
located here. With one or two brief interrup- 
tions, has been practicing here since that time. 

Dr. N. K. Hackedorn was born in Juniata 
County, }*enn., studied medicine there, and 
came to Ohio in 1847, locating for a time in 



Delaware County and Morrow County, com- 
ing to Gallon in 1854, and has been practicing 
here since that time. During nineteen years 
of this time, he was connected with the drug 
trade. 

Dr. McBeth came here in 1857, and left for 
Denver-, Colo., in 1872. 

Dr. H. M. Duff located here in 1858 or 1859, 
and remained until his death in 1876. 

Dr. Frank Duff, died here about four years 
ago. 

Dr. Kell_y has been practicing here since 1868. 

Dr. Campbell, since 1872. 

Dr. Barber (homeopath), since 1864. 

Dr. Coyle, since 1865. 

Dr. Ridgeway, since 1878. 

Dr. J. Will Kelly, a few months. 

Dr. Mcllvaine, about eighteen months. 

Dr. Brown (homeopath), about same time. 

Dr. Griffin,- about six months (Dr. Griffin had 
for several years been located at L3'kens). 

Dr. Chase, four or five months. 

Gallon has always been rather an unhealthy 
place, especially when compared with Bucyrus, 
but certain improvements in a sanitary direc- 
tion, recently made, have added much to the 
healthfulness of the place. 

We might remark, in conclusion, that several 
efforts have been made during the past thirty 
3'ears to organize a county medical societ3', but 
thus far the3' have alwa3's proved decided fail- 
ures. We have learned that an effort in that 
direction is now being put forth, with what re- 
sult the future will determine. 

In conclusion, permit us to remark that we 
have endeavored to ftiirly present a history of 
the early physicians of the county. These 
sketches are, of necessity, l)ridl', since we were, 
in the onset, restricted to a l||iited amount of 
space, and we again thank those physicians 
and others for the aid they have rendered us. 
The diseases of the county were, for the first 
thirt3' or forty years, principall3' malarial. For 
reasons which are obvious to the profession. 



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^ 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



251 



but which we cannot here explain, those forms 
of pulmonary disease like consumption, were 
comparatively rare. With the decrease of 
malarial disease, lung diseases such as we 
have just mentioned, will, no doubt, increase 
in numbers and fatality. Diphtheria, which, 
during the past twenty years, has been preva- 
lent in different portions of the United States 
and elsewhere, has never shown itself to a very 



great extent in the county. Around and in 
Bucyrus, there have not probably been a half- 
dozen cases of the disease in the past seven- 
teen years. As far as I can remember, there 
have been only two seasons attended with 
much dysentery, since year 1854. As regards 
the profession, it is, of course, in a greatly ad- 
vanced state from the days of lobelia, pepper 
and steam. 



RELIGIOUS HISTORY 



CHAPTER V. 

-EARLY PREACHERS -EDUCATIONAL -SCHOOLS, PAST AND PRESENT-THE 
NEWSPAPERS— RAILROADS. 



-7\ 



C^OTEMPORANEOUSLY with the howling 
^ of the wolf and the yelling of the savage 
came the preacher as " one crying in the wil- 
derness," and proclaiming to the scattered pio- 
neer families the " glad tidings of great joy" 
given to the shepherds that blessed morn on 
the plains of Bethlehem. On the wild frontier, 
far beyond the borders of civilization, 

" Where nothing dwelt but beasts of prey, 
Or men as fierce and wild as they," 

the pioneer preacher was found, fulfilling his 
mission of preaching " salvation without money 
and without price." With no companion but 
the faithful horse he rode, and with no guide 
but his knowledge of the cardinal points, he 
traveled over the country, and thus reaching 
the desired settlement, he presented to the as- 
sembled hearers the claims of the Gospel. 
Then, after a night's rest in the humble cabin, 
and partaking of the simple meal, he entered 
upon the day's journey to preach again at a dis- 
tant point at night. It was thus that the circuit 
of hundreds of miles was traveled, month after 
month, by these faithful ministers of Christ, 
and to them do we owe the planting of churches 
and the Christianizing influences seen and felt 
everywhere. 



That holy religion which is at last the only sure 
basis of permanent social or political improve- 
ment, was introduced into Crawford County 
with its first settlers, who were God-fearing 
men. Upon the almost burning embers of the 
war-fire round which some barbarous chief but 
yesterday, as it were, recounted to his listening 
tribe, with horrid exultation, his deeds of hero- 
ism, we, to-day, find temples dedicated to that 
religion which announces •• peace on earth, and 
good will toward men." Yes, all over this land, 
once the home of the red savage, now side by 
side with the schoolhouse, stand those 

" Steeple towers 
And spires, whose silent fingers point to Heaven." 

Among the first preachers in this county, of 
whom we have any reliable account, was an old 
Presbyterian by the name of Matthews, and 
the renowned Methodist evangelist, Kussell 
Bigelow. The following sketch is given of the 
Rev. Mr. Matthews : '' He stopped at Daniel 
Cooper's to stay overnight, and proposed to 
preach to the people of the place that night, if 
they could get together. Mr. Cooper imme- 
diately sent out word, and by early candle-light 
had gathered in some fifteen or twenty men, 
women and children, to hear the glad tidings of 



:^< 



hL 



252 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



salvation from the man of God, as he was the 
first of the kind that had ever been througli on 
that errand." 

This old minister left an appointment four 
weeks hence, and agreed to preach once a 
month during the year for $15. Think of this, 
ye high-salaried, stall-fed pastors, who roll in 
luxury, and " fare sumptuously every da}'. " 
Even this small pittance he traded for dressed 
deer-skins, which he said his good lady could 
use to "face the boys pantaloons before and 
behind," as seems to have been a common cus- 
tom in those days in the backwoods. The 
Methodists formed a circuit, embracing the 
larger part of Crawford County, in 1828, and 
made Gallon a station. Russell Bigelow was 
the preacher. " Preaching." says a writer of 
the time, " was heard for the sake of the Word. 
Denominational prejudices did not then exist, 
and the houses of all the settlers were thrown 
open to Rev. Bigelow." The following de- 
scription by one who knew him, is given of 
this able pioneer missionary : " He was a good 
speaker ; an eloquent man, might}^ in the Scrip- 
tures. He was a ver}^ large, muscular man ; 
had a voice like a lion ; sharp, piercing eyes, that 
when he became excited seemed almost to flash 
fire. He preached a great deal of hell-fire ; was 
a very successful preacher, and an exemplary 
Christian in his deportment. His influence 
with the people was such, that he got many 
namesakes, the old ladies readily believing it 
would have a good influence over their sons to 
be called after such a powerful man as Russell 
Bigelow." 

Rev. Aaron Cary located in Cranberry Town- 
ship as early as 1826, and was a local preacher 
of the Methodist Church. In Vernon Town- 
ship, church societies were organized in 1827. 
The first religious services were held in Whet- 
stone Township, at the settlers cabins as early 
as 1824. Rev. Solomon Mynheer was an early 
Methodist circuit rider in this part of the 
county. The fine grove of maples, which grew 



where now stands the town of Gallon, was once 
a famous camp-meeting ground. Bishop Harris 
of the M. E. Church, and who was born and 
raised in Morrow County, Ohio, was converted 
at a camp-meeting at this place. He is repre- 
sented as having been a very bad boy, and 
that he grew to manhood with little improve- 
ment for the better. He went to this meeting, 
it is said, on purpose to raise a disturbance, but 
the Spirit smote him, and he was converted to 
God. Afterward he became a professor in the 
Ohio Weslej'an University, and is now a Bishop 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 

But we will not dwell further upon the 
churches and pioneer preachers here. In the 
township histories which follow, ample space 
will be given to the subject, and all the par- 
ticulars of interest will be fully written up. 

The schools of the county deserve more than 
a passing notice. To the excellent school sj's- 
tem of our countr}' are we indebted, more than 
to anything else, for our prosperity as a nation. 
No other country on the face of the earth has 
the facilities for educating their people that the 
United States have. As early as 1647, the New 
England colonies made a move looking to the 
establishment of common schools. It was 
enacted by them in that early da}', that " every 
town or district having fifty householders should 
have a common school, and every town or dis- 
trict having 100 families, should have a gram- 
mar school, taught by teachers competent to 
prepare youth for college." A modern writer, 
commenting upon this movement, says : " It 
was the first instance in Christendom, in which 
a civil government took measures to confer 
upon its youth the blessings of education. 
There had been, indeed, parish schools con- 
nected with individual churches, and founda- 
tions for universities, but never before was em- 
bodied in practice a princii)le so comprehensive 
in its nature, and so fruitful in good results as 
that of training a nation of intelligent people 
by educating all its youth." One hundred and 



:W* 



^^ 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



253 



forty years latei', when our forefathers declared, 
in their ordinance of 1787, that knowledge with 
religion and morality " was necessary to the 
good government and happiness of mankind," 
and that " schools and the means of education 
should forever be encouraged," the}' suggested 
the very bulwark of American liberty. 

In the early development of Ohio, there was 
a gi*eat variety of influences in the way of 
general education. The settlements wei^e sparse, 
and moue}' or other means of remunerating 
teachers was scarce, as the pioneers of new 
countries are nearly always poor. There were 
no schoolhouses erected, nor was there any 
public school fund, either State or county. All 
persons, of both sexes, who had physical 
strength enough to labor, were compelled to take 
their part in the work of securing a support — 
the labor of the female being as heaA-y and im- 
portant as that of the men ; and this continued 
so for years. In the last place, both teachers 
and books were extremely scarce. Taking all 
these facts together, it is a great wonder that 
they had any schools whatever. 

But the pioneers of Ohio deserve the highest 
honors for their prompt and energetic efforts in 
the cause of education. Just so soon as the 
settlements would at all justify, schools were 
begun at each one. The teacher or pupil of 
the present da}', comfortaljly situated in their 
pleasant schoolhouses, has no conception of the 
difficulties under which an education was ob- 
tained right here in Ohio sixt}' or seventy 
years ago. It ma^- be of some interest to the 
rising generation to read a description of the 
pioneer schoolhouse. A description of one will 
suffice for all, as there was but one style of 
architecture observed in building them. They 
were erected, not by subscription, but by labor 
given. The neighbors would meet together at 
some point previousl}' agreed upon, and, with 
ax in hand, the work was soon done. Logs 
were cut, sixteen or eighteen feet in length, 
and of these the walls were constructed. Broad 



boards composed the roof, and a rude fire-place 
and clapboard door, a puncheon floor, and the 
cracks filled with " chinks," and these daubed 
over with mud, completed the schoolhouse, with 
the exception of the windows and furniture. 
The window, if anj^, was made by cutting out 
a log the full length of the building, and over 
the opening, in winter, paper saturated with 
grease served to admit the light. Under this 
window, two or three strong pins were driven 
into the log in a slanting direction. On these 
pins a long puncheon was fastened, and this 
was the writing-desk for the whole school. For 
seats, the}^ used benches made from small trees, 
cut in lengths of ten or twelve feet, split open, 
and in the round sides, two large holes were 
bored at each end, and in each a stout pin, fif- 
teen inches long, was driven. These pins formed 
the legs. On the uneven floors, these rude 
benches were hardly ever seen to have more 
than three legs on the floor at one time. And 
the books ! They were quite as primitive as the 
houses. 

The New Testament, when it could be had, 
was the most popular reader, though occa- 
sionall}' a cop}' of the old " English Reader " 
was found, and very rarely, the " Columbian 
Orator " was in a famil}^ Pike's and Smiley 's 
Arithmetics, Webster's Speller was the first 
used, and after awhile the - Elementar}- Spell- 
ier" came in. Grammar was scarcely ever 
taught ; when it was, the text-books used were 
Murray's and Kirkham's Grammars. The 
schools were made by subscription, the terms be- 
ng from $1 to $2.50 per scholar for a term of 
three months, the schools usually being taught in 
midwinter, to give the boys a chance to attend, 
as at that season there was but little work to do 
on the farm, But enough ! Those who know 
onl}' the perfect school s^'stem of the present 
day, with comfortable schoolhouses. elegantly 
furnished and well-lighted and ventilated, can 
form but a slight idea of the sj-stem and its 
limited capacit}- half a century ago. There are 



'k. 



254 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



many, however, still living in Crawford County, 
who can testify to the truthful picture drawn of 
the pioneer schoolhouse. 

Who taught the first school in Crawford 
County, and where and when, are questions not 
easily answered at this time. Schools were 
established, however, as soon as there was a suf- 
ficient number of children in the different com- 
munities to compose schools. The first school 
in the town of Bucyrus, it is said, was taught 
by a man named William Blowers, though 
in what year we could not learn. He charged 
50 cents a mouth for each pupil, and " boarded 
around.'" The house in wiiich he taught was a 
log shanty on the river-bank and near the end of 
Spring street. Thefirst building erected for school 
purposes in Bucyrus was of round logs, of the 
regular pioneer pattern, and stood near the 
present Catholic Church. Some of the early 
teachers in this house were Zalmon llowse, 
Horace Pratt, Sallie Davis and others. The first 
schoolhouse was built in Gralion in 1822, and 
stood near the residence of C. S. Crim, on West 
Main street, and was a log structui'e. David 
Gill was the first teacher in this building. The 
first teacher remembered in Holmes Township 
was John Pretz, who taught in an unoccupied 
cabin in 1829. The first school in Sandusk}- 
Township was taught in a cabin built of round 
logs, in 182G-27, by Miss Jane Hogan. Phares 
Jackson was an earl}' teacher in the county, 
and taught as earh' as 1825. James Dunlap 
taught in 1826, in a house built for the pur- 
pose, 12x1-1 feet in dimension. A schoolhouse 
was built in Whetstone Township in 1828 ; 
Elizabeth Bear taught tlu; first school in it. 
The first school in Chatfield Township was 
taught by Elizabeth Thompson in 1834. Thus, 
we see, schools were formed in every settle- 
ment as soon as the population would justify. 

We append the following statistics, from the 
last report of the Commissioner of Common 
Schools, which will be found of interest to the 
friends of education in the county : 



AMOUNT OF SCHOOL MONEY.S RECEIVED WITHIN THE YEAR. 

Balance ou hand Sept. 1, 1878 $55,388 00 

State tax 14,404 60 

Irreducible school fund 2,426 69 

Local tax for school and schoolhoifse pur- 
poses 51,099 24 

Fines, licenses and other sources 868 81 

Total f 124,179 26 

AMOUNT OF SCHOOL MONEYS EXPENOED WITHIN THE 
YEAR. 

Paid teachers— Primary |38 167 01 

High 2,405 00 

Totnl 140,572 01 

Managing and superintending.... 3,635 00 

Sites and buildings 17,190 43 

Interest on redemption of bonds.. 3,347 07 
Fuel and other contingent ex- 

pen.ses 16,429 44 

Total $81,173 95 

Payments to county $14,386 50 

Received from county 15,267 09 

Excess of Receipts $ 880 59 

Number of youth between 6 and 21 years — 

AVhile males 4,996 

" females 4,726 

Total 9,722 

Colored males 17 

" females 15 

Total 32 

Grand total of enumeration 9,754 

Population of county 25,500 

Per cent of enumeration 38 

Number of townships in county 16 

Number of subdivisions 107 

Number of separate districts 6 

Schoolhouses erected within the year 8 

Cost of same $22,291 00 

AVhole number of schoolhouses 114 

Value of school property $334,20:^) 00 

Teachers employed — 

Primary — Males 116 

Females 9 "> 

Total 211 



^. 



£k_ 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



255 



Separate Jislricts: 



Primary — Males 8 

Females 37 

High — Males 

Females 1 



Total. 



52 



Grand total 263 

Average wages of teachers per month — 

Primary — Males I '8 00 

Females 21 00 

Separate districts: Primary— Males 48 00 

Females 34 00 

High— Males 62 00 

Females '-J ^0 

Pupils enrolled — 

Township : Primary — Males 2,560 

Females 2,094 



Total 

Separate districts : Primary 

High- 



4,654 



Males 1,222 

Females 1,206 

Males 112 

Females 154 



Total. 



Grand total 

Average daily attendance — 

Townships : Primary — Males 1,477 

Females 1,298 



2,694 
7,348 



Total 

Separate districts : Primary 



2,775 



High- 



Males 823 

Females 81 1 

Males 77 

Females 116 



Total 1-827 

Grand total 4,602 

The following is the report of the Auditor of 
the County to the State Commissioner of 
Schools : 

" It affords me pleasure to report an increased 
interest in the schools of Crawford County. It 
seems that every effort is being made through- 
out the county to procure the best talent for 
teachers that can be had. The County Board 
of School Examiners have exercised care in 
the examination of applicants in theory and 
practice, as well as the branches of education. 



"The union schools in Gallon, Crestline and 
Bucyrus are managed by careful and attentive 
school boards, with competent and efficient 
superintendents and a good corps of teachers. 
The schools are rapidly improving. Especially 
is this the case with the Bucyrus Union Schools, 
under the able management of Prof F. M. Ham- 
ilton, who has brought our schools up to a stand- 
ard that will compare favorably with the best 
schools in the State. The Teachers' Institute, 
which is always well attended, is producing an 
influence in promoting the interest and welfare 
of our common school system." 

A few extracts from the annual report of 
Hon. J. J. Burns, the State Commissioner of 
Common Schools, are appropriate, and are 
given for the benefit of those who feel an inter- 
est in the proper education of the rising gene- 
ration. He says : 

" How shall we cause our pupils to make the 
largest possible attainments in these founda- 
tion branches, and also have them, when they 
leave school, thirsting for more knowledge, and 
possessing trained mental faculties, so that they 
may acquire it ; the organ of these faculties to 
be contained in a healthy body, while mind and 
body are under the guidance of correct moral 
principles? To avoid waste of time and labor 
is to be able to better do the work in hand, and 
to apply the savings to something beyond. A 
search for wastage is a highly practical thing, 
and economy here a moral duty. 

" I have often asserted that there is a wast- 
age in having pupils spend time in learning to 
spell hundreds, yes, thousands of words, which 
they never have occasion to use outside of the 
spelling class, while probably the dictionary, 
whicli should be in constant use, rests in pen- 
sive quietness on the teachers desk, if indeed, 
there is one in the room. The meaning of words 
and their pronunciation are of far more moment 
than their spelling. The best text books from 
which to learn these are the reader and diction- 
ary ; the best proofs of progress are correct 






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256 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



oral reading and written compositions. In pen- 
manship, we want more drill in writing from 
dictation, in having the pupils put their 
thoughts or recollections upon paper rapidly 
and neatly. Copying that beautiful line at the 
top of the page with care and patience is a good 
exercise, but some better gymnastic is required 
to fit the writer for hours of real work. In one 
way or another, language rightly claims a large 
share of the attention of the teacher. It is the 
grand characteristic which distinguishes man 
from the other animals, the most direct product 
of his inner consciousness. 

'' The child has begun the study of language 
before his school-life commences. Learning to 
talk seems as natural as learning to laugh or 
cry or pla}'. But so much of knowledge and 
the world is hidden in books, that a key must 
be found to unlock these treasures, and that 
ke^- is reading — the power to translate the writ- 
ten word ; to recognize it as the graphic 
symbol of an idea before in possession, so that 
the ability to reverse the process will follow. 
and printed words become the source of ideas. 
As the pupil masters words and their meanings, 
he is getting into his possession the tools with 
which he may dig in books for further knowl- 
edge, make his own knowledge more useful to 
him as a social being, and secure a body for 
his thoughts, without which incarnation the}' 
are as little subject to control as the weird 
fancies of a dream. The art of silent reading 
deserves more attention in school — pi-actice in 
grasping the meaning of a passage in the 
shortest possible time, and reproducing it with 
pen or tongue. But along with this, in its 
earlier stages, and for a short time preceding it, 
is the oral reading exercise, wherein the reader 
must serve as eyes to the listener, so that the}^ 
ma}', through his voice, see the printed page. 

" The translation of a written sentence into a 
spoken sentence is much more than the mere 
translation, in their right order, of the words of 
the written sentence ; and. to do this well, re- 



quires, besides the names of the written charac- 
ters, culture of voice, training of eye, quicken- 
ing of emotion. To serve as medium through 
which others may know the printed page, 
catching the syllables upon the ear, is not low 
art. To breatlie life into dead words, and send 
them into the depths of the moral and intel- 
lectual natui'e of the hearer, and that with power 
to convince, to arouse, to subdue, greater than 
if the hearer had been his own interpreter, is 
high art indeed. 

***** * * 

" One very good result of increased attention 
to literature in the schools is the marked increase 
in the amount of wholesome reading — history', 
biography, travels, poetry, popular science, and 
the lessened demand for dime novels and other 
low fiction. Few questions are, in their bear- 
ings upon the future of our country, more 
important than this : What are the hoys and 
girls reading? I would not, then, have less 
time spent in our schools upon language, but 
teachers may well look into the subject, and 
see whether that time is spent to the best ad- 
vantage. 

" The public regard arithmetic, par excellence, 
as the practical study. It is the practical 
educator's strong tower, and we have it taught 
in season and out. Measured b}' any definition 
of the practical, as a means either to fit one 
dii'ectly for bread-getting in the common busi- 
ness of life, or as a means of mental culture 
and discipline, a large part of arithmetic, as 
found in our books and taught from them, 
falls short. Instead of inti'oducing at an early 
stage the science of geometry, we fritter away 
valuable time upon annuities and allegations 
and progressions ; and as for interest, one would 
think that mankind in general made a living by 
shaving each other's notes. Children begin early 
to develop the idea of numbers. It concerns 
matter of their daily life. The elemental steps 
of writing and reading numbers naturally fol- 
low, and usualh' are not diflScult of acquire- 






^ g) 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY 



257 



ment. But there is such a gap between the 
conditions needed for the ready learning of tliese 
things, and the more mature judgment and that 
knowledge of business and the world demanded 
in the intelligent solution of ordinarily difficult 
problems in discount and certain other branches 
of applied arithmetic. Back and forth across 
this stretch the boy's mind must swing like a 
pendulum, repelled by what it cannot compre- 
hend and b)' what it has grown tired of He 
marks time when he could so readily oblique 
into some other study and march forward. 
Then, by and by, if these advanced parts of 
arithmetical science are needed, their acquisi- 
tion would be easy. Meanwhile the child may 
give increased attention to literature and be 
learning interesting and profitable lessons about 
this world into which he has come, and in what 
body he came, and how to take care of it. 
While these priceless practical lessons are in 
progress, one can fancy that the arithmetic 
itself would enjoy the rest. 

" In the time which can be saved, also a few 
short steps could be taken in some other 
branches now much neglected. The reason 
for, and the practical mode of doing, many 
things which are to be done in real life by the 
citizen, the man of business, the manager of a 
household, might be taught in the schools. 
Something of the nature of the materials which 
we eat, drink and wear, and economy in the 
buying and using, would be excellent lessons. 
If he is a benefactor of mankind who causes 
two blades of grass to grow where one grew 
before, the language does not furnish a name 
for him or her, who shall cause the laboring 
man to know how to make one dollar produce 
the good results of which he must now expend 
two. No matter whether we regard the school 
as established primaril}- for the good of the 
children, or for the preservation of the State, 
we must admit that the most valuable result of 
all education, is the building of good charac- 
ters. This, to speak definitely, is to instill cor- 



rect principles and train in right habits. Citi- 
zens with these, 'constitute a State.' Men and 
women with these are in possession of what 
best assures rational happiness, the end and 
aim of human life. 

"I am not forgetting that we grade for 'de- 
portment,' and that deportment is a sort of 
outside view of character. But our sight is 
very short, even when we attempt to trace 
actions back to their causes, and we are entirely 
blind to the evil intention which never met its 
opportunit}-, to the fierce but quiet combat 
against wrong impulses, when nothing marks 
the victory but a continued walk in the path of 
right. Yet, in every properl}- conducted school, 
these lessons are being given. The faithful 
teacher is following an unwritten curriculum, 
and training his pupils in truthfulness, honesty, 
obedience to law, neatness, cheerfulness, kind- 
ness, in that divine summing up of active vir- 
tues, the Golden Rule. He is acting lectures 
on these theories, and constantly', b}' his own 
example, pleading at the door of the child's 
moral nature for all that is true, beautiful and 
good. Pure sentiments, generous promptings, 
love for Grod and man, should be the fruits of 
a liberal education. If this child grows into 
this inheritance, he has riches which he can 
keep and yet give away, which he will carr}' 
out of the world, yet leave behind to build his 
noblest monument." 

The newspaper of the present age, is one of 
the most important features in the history of the 
country, and possesses as much interest, and as 
accurately measures the progress of social de- 
velopment, as any other influence that can be 
brought to bear ; perhaps, more. It is the 
faithful chronicler of passing events, which, as 
time rolls on, become historical facts. With- 
out the newspaper, the country would be a 
benighted wilderness. And the county press 
is no weak part of the vast newspaper influence 
of the countr}'. Its power is felt at home, and 
in its own immediate circle it wields a greater 



:£ 



258 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



influence, perhaps, than the great cosmopolitan 
journal does in the country at large. We shall 
devote considerable space in this chapter to 
the press of Crawford Count^^ The histoiy 
which follows, of the Bucyrus press, is b}' Thos. 
P. Hopley, and is compiled in an able manner : 

Tf the county newspaper of 1880 be com- 
pared with those published in Bucyrus from 
thirty to flfty years ago, it will become apparent 
that the press of Crawford County has kept 
pace with the progress of the last half-centur3\ 
Fifty year ago, the Bucyrus editor had, seem- 
ingly, no use for a pen. The scissors were the 
brains of the establishment, and his publication 
each successive WQek was filled with advertise- 
ments and such news items, political articles 
and miscellaneous matter as could be gleaned 
from the exchanges. Occasionally a marriage 
notice was published, or a three or four- line 
announcement that some prominent citizen of 
tiie county was dead. The editor published 
columns of second-hand political news ; but 
never seemed to consider that his readers might 
take an interest in events occurring within their 
own county and neighborhood. After the j-ear 
1840, original political editorials became fre- 
quent ; but the dearth of local news continued 
until several j'ears after 1850. It is doubtful 
if the entire amount of local news published in 
all the Bucyrus papers previous to the year 
1850 exceeded what can be found in either the 
Journal or Forum during any tliree months of 
the year 1880. 

The first printing press brought to Bucj'rus, 
or Crawfoi'd Count}-, was the propert}' of 
William Y. McGill. It was an old Ramage 
press, and about 1820 (Moderwell), he contem- 
plated publisliing a Jackson paper, but after the 
first number appeared the publication was dis- 
continued. McGill must have been a man of 
excellent financial judgment, for he had discre- 
tion enough to foresee that, even in that da^^ 
running a newspaper in Crawford County would 
not be an easy road to financial prosperity, and 



he promptly suspended the new enterprise. He 
continued as a resident of Bucyrus and vicinity 
for many years, occasionally teaching school in 
the village and surrounding countrj'. April 1, 
1833, he acted as election clerk in Lil)erty 
Township ; and, at the same time, his fellow- 
citizens having implicit confidence in his integ- 
rity, elected him to the lucrative office of " Fence 
Viewer." This is the only office received by the 
man wiio introduced the printing press into 
Crawford County. When war was declared 
with Mexico, McGill left for the seat of hostil- 
ities, deeming, no doubt, that the success he 
had failed to obtain by his pen might be gained 
with the sword, but misfortune was still his lot, 
for while on the way home he took sick and 
died at Newport, Ky. It is doubtful if smy 
copies of this first newspaper published in 
Crawford are preserved at the present time. 

The second attempt at journalism was made 
by William Crosby, who obtained possession of 
McGill's press and materials and, about Septem- 
ber 1, 1831, commenced publishing a newspaper 
advocating Democratic principles. He must 
have been more successful than his predeces- 
sor, if the number of issues published be taken 
as proof for the statement. The oldest copy 
known to be in existence is at the Bucyrus Jour- 
nal office, and dated March 9, 1833. Crosby's pa- 
per was then known as the Western Journal and 
Buajrns Advertiser, and was " printed and pulv 
lished on Sandask}- avenue a few doors north 
of the post office." The post office was then 
kept at St. Johns' store where Malice «fe Gloyd's 
establishment is at the present time. This 
issue of March 0, 1833, is No. 80 and in 
Vol. II. If tlie newspaper appeared regularly 
each week for the preceding seventy-nine 
weeks, then it must have been established 
about September 1, 1831, but it is doubtful if 
the publitratiou was issued regularly every Sat- 
urday, and consequently the Western Journal 
might have been started several months pre- 
vious to September, 1831. The only local 



:rv: 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



259 



news contained in No. 80, is two marriage 
notices; the issues being filled with miscella- 
neous reading matter and advertisements, from 
which many historical facts in regard to the 
the early history of Bucyrus can be proved if 
necessary. In those days, mone}' being scarce, 
the publisher notifies his patrons that their 
subscriptions can be paid in " county orders, 
bacon, wheat, sugar and other articles." No. 
80 does not present a fine t^-pographical 
appearance, and in these later days any tenth- 
rate pressman would not take pride in show- 
ing this issue as a specimen of his work- 
manship. It would seem that Crosby's print- 
ing ink ran out and he supplied the deficiency 
by " opening a crock of apple buttei*." The pub- 
lisher continued the paper for about three years ; 
the issue of July 12, 1834, No. 32, of Vol. Ill, 
whole number, 136, being still in existence. 
It was then called the Bucj'rus Journal. Crosby 
sold the printing office to Charles P. West, who 
published for about one year the People s Press, 
which aimed to be neutral in politics. In 1845, 
President Polk appointed Crosby Consul of the 
Port at Talcabuano, Chili, in South America. 
Moderwell sa3'S in regard to Crosby's later his- 
tor}" : " Finding the office was not a ver}- lucra- 
tive one, he resigned and engaged in the whale 
fisher}', which proved to be much more profita- 
ble, and in which he is still engaged. He vis- 
ited Bucyrus in October, 1867." 

David R. Lightner was employed in the 
Peoples Press office before the publication was 
discontinued, and, when West sold the establish- 
ment to Joseph Newell, ari'angements were 
made for a new paper, to be published by New- 
ell & Lightner. Mrs. Newell, however, opposed 
this new move on her husband's part, and, in 
order to " keep peace in the family, " Newell 
turned the enterprise over to John Reeder, and 
gave him ten bushels of wheat for " taking the 
bargain off his hands." Reeder and his son, 
Jonathan, and his nephew, Lightner, then 
starte(>the O/u'o Intelligencer. The first num- 



ber appeared about January 1, 1836, for the 
twenty -first number was issued July 23, and 
the forty-second December 30, 1836. This 
paper was neutral in politics, the issue of July 
23 publishing both Presidential electoral tick- 
ets. The name of the firm was then D. R. 
Lightner & Co. ; but, after fifty-two numbers 
had been published, John Reeder retired and 
his son Jonathan, continued in partnership 
with his cousin Lightner, for several more 
numbers of Volume II. Young Reeder also 
became discouraged and sold his interest to 
John Caldwell. The Ohio Intelligencer was 
then discontinued, and Caldwell & Lightner 
started the Cravford Repuhliean about August 
1, 1837. with Caldwell as editor, and D. R. 
Lightner as publisher. The office was then on 
the corner now occupied by Frank Blickes' 
store. In the eighth number, dated November 
4, 1837, on the first page, and November 28 on 
the third, the proprietors make the following 
announcement : '• The experiment we have 
commenced in publishing a Democratic paper, 
is now in full tide of operation, and with the 
result so far we have no reason to complain. 
In addition to the old list of subscribers, we 
have obtained about one hundred and twenty- 
five new ones, and are daily receiving more. 
We want two hundred more immediatelv, and 
no labor or expense will be spared to make our 
paper interesting. An interesting and impor- 
tant crisis is now approaching in both our 
State and National affairs, with which every 
man in the count}^ should make himself ac- 
quainted, and which we will endeavor to lay 
before our readers faithfully as they transpire." 
This number was issued dui'iug the panic of 
1837, and, money being very scarce, the pro- 
prietor, in order to secure patronage. pul)lished 
on the fourth page, in sale-bill tvpe, the follow- 
ing notice : " Wheat, corn, buckwheat, oats, 
pork, beef, butter and candles will be received 
on subscription at this office." At^er fiftj'-two 
numbers of the Crawford Repuhliean had been 



*C <2 



Tv" 



'^ 



260 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY 



published, Caldwell retired fi-om the firm, and 
Lightner continued the paper another year, or 
rather for another volume of fift3'-tvvo numbers, 
the last appearing about January 1, 1840. The 
Democratic part}- were not satisfied with the 
management of the paper under Lightner, who 
sa3'S that '' some declared I was not a good 
Democrat for publishing a communication from 
Bishop Tuttle, in which the people were ad- 
vised to examine both sides." Lightner was 
not sorry to be relieved, and the office was 
transferred to Cakhvell, and the paper discon- 
tinued for about three months. Mr. Lightner 
was afterward elected Ma3or of Bucyrus in 
April, 1842, and re-elected in 1843. He is at 
present a resident of the town. Caldwell, for 
many years a resident of Crawford Count}-, re- 
moved to California, and was murdered while 
carrying mail. 

In the summer or lall of 1838, a new Whig 
paper, the Bucyrus Democi'at, was established 
by John 8hrenck. Numlier 52, of Volume 
I, was issued October 2, 1839. An exam- 
ination of this issue would prove that if it be 
a specimen of the political newspapers pub- 
lished in 1839, the character of Bucyrus news- 
papers has improved very much during the past 
forty years. It would seem that the sole idea 
for which Shrenck published the Democrat was 
to abuse the Democratic candidate for Prose- 
cuting Attorney. This gentleman was re- 
elected by a larger majority than ever, and is 
still an honored and respected citizen of the i 
town, while the Democrat "yielded up the 
ghost " nearly forty years ago. Shrenck con- 
tinued the paper several years ; No. 47, of Vol. j 
III, was issued May 4, 1842, and it was pub- j 
lished during a political campaign of that year, j 
After a precarious existence of four years, he 
removed the press and materials to Upper San- 
dusky, and from there to Fremont, Ohio, where 
he died a few years afterward. This Bucyrus 
Democrat was the first paper published in the 
county in opposition to the Democratic party, j 



The Democracy of Crawford were anxious to 
have an organ at Bucyrus. and the publishers of 
the Okie Statesman, at Columbus, recommended 
Thomas J. Orr and John White as two printers 
who could conduct a paper to suit the party. 
About April 23, 1840, these young men, having 
obtained possession of the printing material 
formerly owned by Caldwell & Lightner, 
started the Democratic Republican, the fourth 
number of which appeared May 14, 1840. 
White then retired from the establishment ; it 
is generally reported that the partnership ^vas 
dissolved by Orr kicking White out of the office 
for being intoxicated. Considering the present 
partisan meaning attached to the words Demo- 
cratic and Bepublican, it appears strange that, 
in 1840, the organ of Crawford County Democ- 
racy should be named the Democratic Eepnb- 
lican, while the Whig paper, opposed to the De- 
mocracy, should be called the Bucyrus Demo- 
crat. Orr continued in the newspaper business 
at Bucyrus for several years, and was supported 
by the Democratic party. The first volume of 
the Democratic Republican was completed May 
28, 1841 , and, shortly after this, Orr commenced 
issuing the paper very irregularly, for although 
the second volume was started June 4, 1841, it 
had only reached the thirty-eighth number by 
July 23, 1842. The other fourteen numliers 
were possibly issued during the next eight 
months, but on Saturday, April 15, 1843, the 
second number in Volume I, of the Bucyrus 
Republican was published. In the next twelve 
months the paper was generally regularly is- 
sued, the fifty-second number appearing June 
8, 1844. When the Presidential campaign was 
over, the Republican was published so irregu- 
larly that the patrons became disgusted with 
Orr's management, and the Peoples Foruvi, es- 
tablished in the spring of 1845, received the 
patronage of many who had formerly supported 
the Republican. No. 27, of A^ol. II, was issued 
March 22, 1845, and soon after this the paper 
was discontinued. Orr was elected Cl<^rk of 



;r^ 



A- 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY 



268 



the Court in 1851, and re-elected in 1854. In 
1859, he was chosen to represent Seneca, Craw- 
ford and Wyandot Counties in the State Sen- 
ate. During the second session, the war broke 
out. and Orr supported the measures adopted 
b}' the Legislature, for the preservation of the 
Union. For doing this, he was bitterly de- 
nounced by many Democrats, and, when he 
sought a re-nomination at the next primary 
election, received onl}- 782 votes in Crawford 
Count}^, while Judge Lang, of Tiffin, received 
760. Orr afterward removed to Calhoun 
County, Iowa, where he died Jul}' 2, 1874. 

Many leading Democrats in Crawford County 
were not satisfied with Orr's irregularly issued 
publication, and J. K. Knapp, Jr., who had for 
several 3'ears been connected with the Marion 
Mirror^ was induced to establish another Dem- 
ocratic paper at Bucyrus. The first num- 
ber of this, the Peoples Forum, appeared April 
12, 1845, and for more than thirty-five years 
the Forum has been regulaiiy published b}' dif- 
ferent proprietors. Knapps office, for a few 
weeks was opposite the court house, then a few 
doors east, near the Methodist Episcopal 
Church. In April, 1848, the printing material 
was removed to the room over Lauck & Failor's 
store ; April, 1850, to the Anderson Block, now 
the residence of C. K. Ward and George C. 
Gormly ; in the spring of 1855, to the Sims 
House corner. Knapp sold the paper to Mor- 
decai P. Bean, in 1847, and he was proprietor 
for ten years. During the latter part of this 
decade, Philip Dombaugh was associated with 
him, but never owned an interest, although con- 
sidered publisher for scs'eral 3'ears. The}' 
finall}' dissolved business relations April 24, 
1857, and shortly afterward Bean sold the Fo- 
rum, to J. A. Estill, now editor of the Holmes 
County Farmer. The office was removed to 
Quiuby Block April 1, 1859, and, in a few weeks, 
passed into the hands of A. McGregor, present 
editor of the Starh County Democrat, who re- 
mained until April 20, 18G0, and then trans- 



ferred the paper to Thomas Beer, now a Judge 
of the Common Pleas Court. The office was 
removed to Burkhart's Block, now the propert}' 
of J. G. Mader, Jr., January 1, 1862, and April 
25, Henry Barnes and Thomas Coughlin pur- 
chased Beer's interest in the paper. After five 
months, Barnes retired from the partnership, 
but Coughlin continued as proprietor until 
April, 1868. In October, 1867, he was elected 
County Clerk, and re-elected in 1870. Before 
entering upon the duties of this position, he 
sold the office to John E,. Clymer, Clerk for the 
previous seven 3'ears. About this time, the 
office, which had been improved b}' the addition 
of a fine Cincinnati cylinder press and other 
new printing material, was removed from Blair's 
Hall to the second story of No. 8 Quinbj- Block. 
August, 1867, Coughlin emplo3'ed, as associate 
editor of the paper, William Hubbard, who con- 
tinued with the Forum until April, 1869. This 
gentleman was an unusualh' eai'nest and forci- 
ble writer, who had attained, as editor of the 
Logan County Gazette, a national reputation. 
When he retired from the Forum, the partner- 
ship of Hubbard & Coughlin was formed, and 
they liought the Democratic I\^ortJncest. at Na- 
poleon, Ohio, which the gifted Hubbard edited 
until he died, May 11, 1872. J. E. Cljmer con- 
tinued as publisher of the Forum fornine years, 
until April 20, 1877. when he sold the office to 
Maj. J. H. Williston. In February, 1871, an 
engine was purchased, and the paper printed 
by steam. For over twenty-seA'en years, the 
paper was folio inform until, in October, 1871, 
it was changed to a quarto, and subscribers 
who desired it semi- weekly were furnished four 
pages on Tuesday, and four pages on Frida}'. 
This sj'stem was continued until the four-page 
form was resumed November 17. 1876. During 
the nine years Mr. Clymer was publisher, the 
office occupied, at diflerent times, each floor of 
No. 8 Quinby Block. In December, 1878, the 
establishment was removed to the basement of 
the Deal Block, where it has continued since 



264 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



that time. An attempt was made to establish 
a daily Forum during the past year. The first 
number appeared July 12, 1880, but, after con- 
tinuing regularly for four months, the daily 
was discontinued Novembers. In June, 1851, 
the name of the publication was changed from 
the Peoples Forum, to the Crawford County 
Forum. It is well known that Crawford County 
has alwaj^s been strongly Democratic, and dur- 
ing the past thirty-five years the Forum has 
been regarded as the party organ. Its course 
on the many questions at issue before the na- 
tion have met with the hearty approval, and 
the firm stand it has always taken in the inter- 
ests of the party have been enthusiastically in- 
dorsed by the Crawford County Democracy. 

After Shrenck's Bucyrus Democrat had been 
discontinued, the Whigs of Crawford were 
without an organ for nearly ten years. Near 
the close of 1852, subscription papers were cir- 
culated throughout the county, and, as enough 
subscribers were guaranteed to warrant J. A. 
Crevier in publishing a new Whig paper, Janu- 
ary 6, 1853. the first number of the Bucyrus 
Journal was issued. Soon after this, the Re- 
publican party was organized, and the Journal, 
under Crevier, warmly espoused the doctrines 
advocated by its leaders. Since then, the pa- 
per, under different proprietors, has faithfully 
labored in the interests of the Republican 
part}'. With the exception of eleven eight- 
page numbers, printed during the first three 
months of 1856, it has always been folio in 
form. For two years, the office was located 
" at the comer of Main street and Pill alley ; " 
then on Main street, north side of square ; 
May 1, 1856, it was removed to near where 
Ritz & Van Voorhis' restaurant is at the pres- 
ent time ; February 22, 1858, to McCoy's build- 
ing, opposite the court house ; January 1, 1859, 
to the second story of Rowse's new block, 
where the paper was published for seventeen 
years. In the year 1853, a strike occurred 
among the printers at work on the Pittsburgh 



daily papers ; two of them, David R. Locke 
and James C Robinson, started on a Western 
trip. The}' reached Plymouth, Ohio, and were 
induced by citizens to revive the Advert her, 
which they sold in 1855, and, with Rudolph 
Brinkerhofi!', purchased the Mansfield Herald. 
Soon after, Locke sold his interest in this pa- 
per, and March 20, 1856, purchased of Crevier, 
the Bucyrus Journal. For several months his 
brother, D. W. Locke, was associated with him, 
but they dissolved partnership July 15. 
Shortly afterward, Locke prevailed upon his 
former partner to take an interest in the Jour- 
nal, and, in April, 1857, the two friends were 
again united in their business interests. The 
office was improved by the addition of a Rob- 
inson Princeton power press, which was the 
first cylinder press brought to Bucyrus. These 
two enterprising men cordially worked together, 
and advocated in the Journal many new enter- 
prises needed by the community. Among the 
many public and private improvements which 
were the result of their persistent agitation, 
are the gas-works, the cemetery, the many 
shade trees, the well-paved sidewalks, and 
many buildings. In April, 1861, Mr. Robinson 
was appointed Postmaster of Bucyrus, by Pres- 
ident Lincoln, which position he held until re- 
moved, for political reasons, by President John- 
son in 1866. Mr. Locke retired from the Jour- 
nal, November 13, 1861, and purchased the 
Fremont Journal, and afterward an interest in 
the Toledo Daily Blade, with which paper he 
is connected at the present time. While editor 
of the Fremont Journal, he commenced writing 
the noted Naahy Lettem, which obtained for 
him a national reputation. September 2, 1867, 
Mr. Robinson sold his interest in the Journal 
to J. Hopley for $2,000. April 1, 1862, Ralph 
Robinson became associated with his brother 
in publishing the paper, and continued with 
Mr. Hopley until May 20, 1868, when he also 
sold his interest to his partner. After leaving 
the printing otHce, James G. Robinson em- 






HISTORY OF CRAAVFOliD COUNTY 



265 



barked in the drug business with Dr. M. C. 
Cuykendall, and continued at this until he died, 
April 14, 1872. Ralph Robinson removed to 
Iowa, and has since been connected with the 
Fairfield Ledger, Clarinda Herald and Newton 
Journal, of which he is now sole proprietor. 
In October, 1875, a new Cottrell & Babcock 
improved drum cylinder press was added to 
the printing material of the Journal, and 
shortly afterward. December 30, the office was 
removed to the Converse Block, and fitted up 
with steam power. [For many years the pres- 
ent editor of the Journal has been engaged 
collecting files of Bucyrus newspapers, and he 
has secured many copies of publications printed 
in the village during the early settlement of 
this county. All of his files were kindly placed 
at the disposal of the gentlemen engaged on 
this county history, and these papers have 
proved, in many eases, a valuable aid to the 
historian, and furnished many historical facts 
that otherwise w^ould have been over-looked. — 
Historian.] 

Two German papers have been published in 
Bucyrus, during the past three decades. The 
first number of the Craioford Count i/ Demo- 
krat was issued September, 15, 1855, by Mor- 
decai P. Bean, proprietor of the Forum. This 
German paper was continued for several years ; 
a portion of this time it was under the charge 
of Bernhardt Roch, who was killed by the ears 
at Dayton, Ohio, Api'il 10, 1863, and shortly 
afterward the Denwkrat was discontinued. The 
first number of the Deufscher Courier was i)ub- 
lished in Januar3% 1875, by Joseph Killian, 
proprietor of the 3Iansfield Courier. In about 
a year the otHce w'as removed to Mansfield, but 
for some time after this, a Bucyrus edition of 
the paper w'as published. 

The Independent Democrat was started by 
Dr. A. E. Jenner, of Crestline, in February, 
1873. The office was first located in that town; 
the paper was folio in form until Ma}' 14, 1875, 
when it was changed to eight pages, and the 



name to the Crairfnrd Cimntij Democrat. For 
two years it was in charge of A. N. Jenner, son 
of the proprietor, who continued in the office 
until July 15, 1875. Some months previous to 
his retirement, J. E. D. Ward purchased an in- 
terest in the office, and, when young Jenner 
left, continued sole publisher until Charles 
Wright became associated with him in Novem- 
ber, 187(3. About this time the office was re- 
moved to Bucyrus, but. some months previous 
to this change, a Bucyrus edition of the Demo- 
crat had been printed at Crestline. Wright re- 
tired after several weeks" experience, and Frank 
Plants took his place. When Major Williston 
purchased the Forum, in April. 1877. the pub- 
lishers of the Democrat soon found they could 
not successfully compete with him for the pat- 
ronage of the Crawford Count}- Democracy, 
and their paper was discontinued about July 1, 
1877. 

Since the first printing press was brought to 
Bucyrus, several attempts have been made by 
different parties to establish other miscella- 
neous publications. In 1838, William Bobbins 
issued the first number of a semi-monthl}' pub- 
lication called the Buckeye. It was printed at 
the RepnhJican office, and the articles contained 
in it were of a class to amuse rather than in- 
struct ; no efforts were made to publish local 
news. The Buckeye was continued for several 
months ; No. 9. Vol. I, appeared April 27, 
1839, but shortly aftei- this the paper was dis- 
continued. In May, 1855, the first number of 
an agricultural papei", the Crawford County 
Farmer., was printed at the Jourmd office. Rob- 
ert N. Patterson was publisher; J. A. Crevier 
and C. Elliott were editors. It was a monthly 
paper, four pages in size, and •' devoted to agri- 
culture, horticulture, gardening, mechanics and 
domestic industry." but discontinued after sev- 
eral numbers. May 1, 18151, No. 1. of Vol. I, of 
the Millers' Jourutd was published by Raub & 
Butterfield. It was a small four-page luouthly 
"devoted to the interest of millers — terms. 50 



Ml 



266 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



cents per annum. " Although it was issued 
in the interest of the Ingham California Wheat 
Cleaner, it was a bona-tide publication, but the 
second number never appeared. Martin Deal, 
who has the only copies in existence, says this 
was the first milling journal ever printed in the 
United States. In 1867, Henry J. Deal pub- 
lished the first number of the Bucyrus Chronicle, 
a paper for bo3's. The next year the name was 
changed to Bucyrus Budget, and the second 
number appeared, which was followed by several 
others during the next six months. Another 
amateur publication was started January 1, 
18()9, by J. E. Hopley & Co. This little sheet. 
The Acorn, was issued semi-monthly ; after the 
first three months, the senior partner gave his 
brother, Thomas P., an old shot-gun, if he 
would assume the financial responsibility. An 
entire volume of twenty-six numbers was 
published, and then the Acorn was planted but 
never sprouted. In July, 1879, Daniel Kanz- 
leiter issued the first cop}' of the Sunbeam, an 
illustrated sheet printed " semi-occasionall3^" 
The wood-cuts were designed and engraved by 
the publisher, and four copies of the Sunbeam 
appeared before it " ceased to shine for twenty- 
five cents a year." 

The newspaper history of Gralion ranks next 
to that of Bucyrus. The following sketch of 
the Galion press was compiled by Dr. J. C. 
Mcllvaine : The newspaper business com- 
menced early in the history of Gralion, indeed 
before it was possible to secure patronage suf- 
ficient to support it. The frequent changes of 
names, politics and partners, of the first paper 
in Galion, give evidence of the trials and dif- 
ficulties of the enterprise. The early printers 
of Oliiohad an obstacle to the circulation of 
their papers in the matter of postage, that was 
almost fatal to their success. There was a dis- 
count on bank bills, and specie sent by mail in 
small sums, lost enormously. 

If the publisher of a county newspaper re- 
ceived enough for a bare subsistence, it was con- 



sidered suflftcient remuneration for his arduous 
duties. But till within late 3'ears such papers 
have not paid for themselves. While the 
churches and schools molded the character of 
the people in their own peculiar wa}', another 
influence was quietly gaining its sway over the 
masses, widening out the scope of mind. Relig- 
ion and education are the two great powers of 
civilization, refinement and human progress. 
The press, though silent in its admonitions, its 
chronicles and histories of the ever present, 
has made its influence felt throughout the 
world, to an extent unequaled by any other 
power. 

In 1855. the first newspaper was published 
in Galion. The establishment was owned by 
John W. Putnam, who was, for man}' 3'ears, the 
worthy editor of the Ohio Statesman. The of- 
fice was removed by him from Union City, and 
the first numbers were printed in the building 
now owned bj^ James Martin, but at that time 
b}' P. W. Webber, and which stands on Main 
street. Dr. D. Abger became a partner, and the 
name of the paper was changed to the Galion 
Weekly Train. It was independent in politics, 
but the partnership lasted but a short time. 
Dr. Abger removed to Crestline, where he started 
a paper, and J. V. D. Moore, came from Union 
City, and took his place as a partner with Mr. 
Putnam. When the campaign of 1856 opened 
Mr. Moore retired and Jacob Riblet took his 
place. With this change of proprietors, there 
came a change in the political complexion of 
the paper. From Independent it became Dem- 
ocratic, and was re-christened the Galion Di.s- 
trict Democrat. In 1857, Andrew Poe, a former 
citizen of Mansfield, purchased Mr. Riblet's in- 
terest in the paper, and soon after Mr. Putnam 
retired. The business did not pa}' IMr. Poe, and 
soon after it was sold under an execution. In 
the year 1864, it was bought by the Matthias 
brothei's, and edited b}' Peter Schum, who is 
now puljlishing a daily and weekly journal in 
Joplin, Mo., called the Joplin Morning News. It 



:^ 



HISTORr OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



267 



was not long until H. S. Z. Matthias took the 
editorial control, and changed the name of the 
paper to the Gallon Democrat. It was Demo- 
cratic in politics, but was not properly sup- 
ported, and was soon after abandoned, and the 
office changed into a job office until July, 1865. 
At this time, Mr. Matthias commenced publish- 
ing a paper called the Weekly Review, independ- 
ent in politics. In September, 1871, the Mat- 
thias brothers sold out to John C. Covert, of 
the Cleveland Leader, who changed its name 
back to Democrat, but made it Republican in its 
tone. In the fall of 1872, G. W. DeCamp, of 
Mansfield, edited it under the same political 
color, but changed the name back to Gallon 
Revieio, and so continued until it passed into 
the hands of the present proprietors, A. D. 
Rowe and F. E. Coonrod, in July, 1874. These 
gentlemen made it once more Democratic in 
politics, and conducted it in that faith until 
February 1, 1877, when it flopped again, and 
became Republican in sentiment, remaining so 
to the present time (1880). The office is in the 
third storj' of the Sponhauer Block, where they 
have plenty of room and a good office. 

The present editor and owner of the Gallon 
Sun is George T. Ristine. The Sun was es- 
tablished by Mr. Ristine, October 31, 1872, as 
an independent weekly newspaper of twenty- 
eight columns. The success that followed this 
enterprise warranted him in enlarging the paper 
to its present size. The office is located in the 
second story of the Ristine Block, on East Main 
street. In 1875, Mr. Ristine introduced steam 
power into the establishment, making it the 
first steam printing house in Gallon. 

In August, 1876, a campaign paper was es- 
tablished, under the name of the RcpnhUcan 
Free Press. As such it was run for one year 
and seven months. On the 29th of September 
1877, it was purchased by S. G. Cummings & 
Co., which company changed the name of the 
paper to the Gallon Enquirer, and have pub- 
lished it ever since as a Democratic paper. 



Hon. J. G. Meuser is the political editor, and 
H. S. Z. Matthias has charge of the local de- 
partment. The office is a fine one, and is in 
the second story of David Mock3''s new l)lock, 
on South Market street. 

The three weekly sheets of Gallon are fair 
specimens of county newspapers. There is a 
hearty support given to each one, and the sub- 
scription lists are large. Of the three, one is 
Democratic, one Republican and one neutral, or 
independent. Each issue of these papers is 
largel}' sought for by the citizens of the town. 

The Crestline press is of more recent origin 
than either that of Bucyrus or Gallon, and con- 
sequently its history is more brief. The Crest- 
line Advocate is the only paper now published in 
the town. There have been others established, 
however, but after a short career were discon- 
tinued. The newspapers of Crestline will be 
noticed more at length in the chapter devoted 
to that town. 

The perfection of the railroad system of the 
country is one of the grandest achievements of 
modern times. As we contemplate the im- 
provements of railroad construction, and the 
perfection to which the system has beeu I)rought 
in the last quarter of a century, we are ready 
to accept any suggestions or prophecies on the 
subject, though it be to the effect, that in a 
quarter of a century more we will be flying 
through the air as we now fl}' over the country 
at the heels of the iron horse. 

The ideas which led to the invention of rail- 
roads, originated more than two centuries ago. 
In the seventeenth centur}-, roads were con- 
structed in the collieries, in the north of En- 
gland, with wooden rails, upon which carriages 
ran to and from the mines, drawn by horses or 
mules. Later, the tops of these rails were cov- 
ered with plate or bar iron, to render them more 
durable. About the year 1776, flanges were 
addetl to the wheels to keep the wagons from 
running oft' the track. As early as 1704. the 
use of locomotives instead of animals was sug- 



±' 



.-5) 



2G8 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



gested, though we hear of no h^eomotive being 
built until about 180"). Slowly, and by little at 
a time, improvements were made, and roads 
were extended from the mines to the shipping- 
points, and tiien to the chief markets. Steam 
was introduced, and in 1S25, (Jeorge Stephenson 
invented and placed in successful operation an 
engine that drew a train of cars over a wooden 
i-ailway, protected by an iron covering, at the 
rate ot twehe miles an hour. This great 
achievement astonished the Knglish people, who 
prophesied only dire disaster and distress would 
attend the operating of such a monster. 

In 1826, the first railroad in the United 
States was built. This was a " tramway ' from 
the granite quarries of Quincy, Mass., to the 
Neponset lliver, a distance of three miles. A 
second road was laid out in January following, 
from the coal mines of 3Iauch Chunk, Penn., to 
the Lehigh lliver, a distance of nine miles. 
Other similar enterprises followed, among which, 
in 1828, was the Baltimore & Ohio, now one of 
the greatest railroad corporations in the country'. 
It has increased in business and importance 
since the publication of the following statement : 
" The receipts for traveling and transportation 
on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, for the six 
months ending the 31st of August, 1833, ex- 
ceeded $108,000. The receipts during the same 
period last year did not quite amount to $90,- 
000 ; the increase, therefore, was about #18,000, 
being an average of $3,000 per month."' 

From 1830 to 1835, railroads in the East re- 
ceived a consideral)le impulse. Improvements 
of all kinds were being made in them, a speed 
of twenty and thii'ty miles an hour was attained, 
and the benefits of their construction and use 
were becoming more and more apparent. As 
the railroad system developed in the older set- 
tled Eastern States, the Western people caught 
the " Internal Improvement " fever, and, with a 
laudable ambition to give to their own States a 
full share of those advantages accruing to the 
people of the East, voted away millions of 



money for the construction ol" railroads and 
canals. Legislatures responded to the ardent 
j messages of their (Governors in a liberal man- 
i ner. by chartering such a numl)er of roads as 
to literally checker the map of their States. 
They saw nothing but the most prosperous times 
ahead, and the system of financiering that was 
inaugurated well-nigh, in the end, impoverished 
the entire country. 

Ohio stepped to the front of the Western 
States in the old internal improvement system. 
"In January, 1817, " sa^s Howe, -the first res- 
olution relating to a canal connecting the Ohio 
River with Lake Erie was introduced into the 
Legislature. In 1819, the subject was again 
agitated. In 1820, on the recommendation of 
Gov. Brown, an act was passed providing for 
the appointment of three Canal Commission- 
ers, who were to emplo}' a competent engineer 
and assistants for the purpose of surveying 
the route." But, as the canals of the State 
have no especial place in this work, we shall 
not go into details. This brief allusion is 
made merely to illustrate the excitement 
which i)revailed in regard to the system of in- 
ternal improvement. 

There is some question as to the first rail- 
road built in the State of Ohio. Many are of 
the opinion, and with a good show of author- 
ity, that the Cincinnati & Sandusky, originally 
known as the Mad River Railroad, was the first 
road built in the State. Others claim that a 
little road, about fifteen miles in length, ex- 
tending from Toledo into the State of Mich- 
igan, was the first. While still others claim the 
Little Miami as the pioneer railroad. But, 
with these conflicting statements, it is not alto- 
gether an easy matter to definite!}' decide as to 
the priority of the ditterent roads in either 
commencement or completion. A '■ preponder- 
ance of the evidence," legally speaking, hovv- 
evei'. is in favor of a division of the Mad 
River, or Cincinnati & Sandusky, Railroad. 
Other roads followed in rapid succession in dif- 



Tv" 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



269 



ferent parts of the State, and, as the years 
went by. cuhninated in the perfect sj^stem we 
have to-day. 

The first road to intersect Crawford County 
was the Mad River road, above referred to, 
which passes through the northwestern part of 
Wyandot County, then a part of Crawford 
County. In 1851, the Cleveland & Columbus 
Railroad, now known as the Cleveland, Colum- 
bus, Cincinnati & Indianapolis, or " Bee Line," 
Railroad, was built through the eastern part of 
the county. The question of building this 
road was agitated as early as 1835-36. But, 
as railroad-building was then in its infancy, it 
was not until 1851 that the line from Cleve- 
land to Columbus was completed, an event 
that was celebrated b}' a great banquet at 
Cleveland, to which everj'body was invited. 
An effort was made to secure it to Bucyrus, 
but sufficient inducements financially were not 
made to the company, and a route further east 
was chosen. x\ccording to an act of the Leg- 
islature then in force, on a majority vote of the 
electors of any county through which a rail- 
road might pass, the County Commissioners 
were allowed to subscribe to the capital stock. 
In the spring of 1846, a proposition to sub- 
scribe $50,000 to the Cleveland & Columbus 
Railroad was submitted to the people of Craw- 
foi'd County, and defeated by a vote of 1,507 
to 361. In January, 1862, the CleA^eland & 
Columbus road purchased the Springfield, Del- 
aware & Mount Vernon Railroad for $134,000, 
by which more direct connection was made 
with Cincinnati. Some years later, this road 
purchased the Bellefontaine & Indianapolis 
Railroad, which forms the Indianapolis Divi- 
sion of the Bee Line, one of the great railroad 
corporations of the countr^^ 

But the main road of Crawford County is 
the Pittsburgh, Ft. Wayne & Chicago Railroad, 
passing from east to west almost through the 
center of the county. From the most reliable 
facts to be obtained, the historv of this road 



may be thus briefly given : In February, 1848, 
the Legislature of Ohio passed an act incorpo- 
rating the "Ohio & Pennsylvania Railroad 
Company." On the 11th of April of the same 
3'ear, the Legislature of Pennsylvania passed a 
similar act, making the company a corporation 
of that State. The act of incorporation of the 
Ohio Legislature gave the company- power to 
construct a railroad from Mansfield, in Rich- 
land County, eastward by wa}' of Wooster, 
Massillon and Canton, to some point on the 
east line of the State, within the county of 
Columbiana, and thence to the city of Pitts- 
burgh ; and from Mansfield westwardly by wa}' 
of Bucyrus to the west line of the State. The 
work on this road was commenced in Jul}', 
1849, and the entire track was laid and the 
road was opened for travel from Pittsburgh to 
Crestline on the 11th of April, 1853. The 
Board of Directors had determined in 1850 to 
make Crestline the terminus of the Ohio & 
Pennsylvania Railroad. This made further 
action necessary b}' the citizens of Crawford 
County and of the people west in order to se- 
cure a continuation of the line through Buc}'- 
rus westward. The subject was warmly dis- 
cussed for some time, and efforts in this direc- 
tion were finally successful. 

On the 20th of March, 1851, the Ohio Legis- 
lature gi-anted a charter to the "Ohio & In- 
diana Railroad Company," for the purpose of 
making a road from a point on the Cleveland 
& Columbus Railroad, through Bucyrus and 
Upper Sandusky to the west line of the State, 
and thence to Fort Wayne, in Indiana. Liberal 
subscriptions were made to the stock of this 
com pan}' by the citizens of Crawford County, 
and the County Commissioners, after a vote by 
the people, which determined their authorit}' to 
act, took, in the name of the' count}', $100,000 
of the stock. The organization of the com- 
pany was completed at Bucyrus on the 4th of 
July, by electing a board of Directors, which 
met soon after and selected Dr. Willis Merriman 



270 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



President. On the 10th of the same month, 
J. R. Straughn was elected Chief Engineer, 
who at once commenced making the necessary 
surveys for the location of the road. In Sep- 
tember following, the Directors fixed the east- 
ern terminus of the road at Crestline, and in 
January, 1852, awarded the contract to William 
Mitchel & Co., for building the entire road from 
Crestline to Fort Wayne, a distance of 131 
miles, the compan}' to furnish the rails. 

The contractors prosecuted the work with 
energ}', and had it read}' for passing trains over 
the whole road on the 1st of November, 1854; 
the contractors receiving in part payment for 
work, stock in the road. Stock was also paid 
for in wild lands, farms, town lots, right of way 
and farm products ; but little cash was paid 
into the treasury by the stockholders. The 
people in the counties between Fort Wayne and 
Chicago, determined to make a strong effort to 
build the last link in the chain between Phila- 
delphia and Chicago. A convention was called 
at Warsaw, Ind., in September, 1852, for devis- 
ing ways and means for accomplishing the 
object. This meeting was largely attended by 
those interested in the enterprise, and the ob- 
ject in view proved successful ; inasmuch as 
that in 1856, the work was so nearly completed 
on this new line, that, by using a portion 
of the Cincinnati, Peru & Chicago Railroad, 
a continuous Jine was opened on the 10th of 
November, 1856, from Pittsburgh to Chicago. 
On the 1st of August, 1856, the three corpora- 
tions were consolidated under the name and 
title of the - Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago 
Railroad," b}- which name it has ever since 
been known. Such is the history, in brief, of 
this great railroad thoroughfare, one of the 
best roads in the United States. It belongs to 
the Pennsylvania system, and is the direct 
source of its communication with the great 
West. Saj's a local historian of the county : 
"Where was an isolated wilderness is now a 
thriving garden, connected with all parts of 



the continent. Less than a generation ago, the 
necessary supplies of life could be secured only 
by tedious journeys through almost trackless 
forests ; now we take the cars and speed away 
to the best markets in the world in less time 
than the pioneers went forty miles to mill on 
horseback, with a bushel of grain divided be- 
tween the two ends of the sack." 

The Atlantic & Lake Erie Railway, a road 
now known as the Ohio Centi-al, is one in which 
the people of Crawford County have taken an 
active interest from the first inception of the 
enterprise, up to the completion of the road. 
This project was agitated as early as 1868-69, 
and meetings held in the different counties and 
towns through which the road was designed to 
pass. At these meetings, the idea of a railroad 
through the county, running from northwest to 
southeast, was discussed, and in the summer of 
1869, the route from Toledo to Pomero}^ began 
to assume a tangible form. A number of meet- 
ings were held in towns along the proposed 
line, and much enthusiasm manifested for a 
road that had already- been incorporated as the 
Atlantic & Lake Erie Railway. In the fall of 
1869, a survey of the route was commenced, 
and the county papers announced the fact " that 
the work had actually commenced ; that a corps 
of engineers had been emplo^^ed at each end of 
the route ; one corps leading south from Chaun- 
ce}', and the other north from Newark to Toledo, 
and our citizens will know within sixt}^ da3'S, 
weather permitting, where the road will run." 
The Columbus Jimrtxd, in May, 1870, pub- 
lished the following : ■• Our local columns yes- 
terday morning, contained a notice of the letting 
of a contract for the construction of 118 miles 
of the Atlantic & Lake Erie Railway, being so 
much of the line as lies north'of Trimble Town- 
ship, Athens County, and south of Bucyrus, 
Crawford Count}'^, passing through or near 
Millerstown, Oakfield, New Lexington, Reho- 
both and Mount Perry, in Perry County ; New- 
ark, Grreenville, Alexandria, Johnstown and 



RT* 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



271 



Hartford, in Licking County ; Sparta and Mount 
Gilead, in Morrow County, and Bucyrus and 
other points, in Crawford County." A contract 
was made with A. M. Huston & Co. for the 
construction of that part of the road lying be- 
tween the Athens line and Bucyrus. By this 
contract the road was to be finished, and ready 
for trains from Newark to Bucyrus by April 
1873. 

In Februarj', 1872, a contract w\as let to 
Michael Morau and W. V. & A. M. McCracken, 
of Bucyrus, to grade the road from the latter 
place to Toledo. A contract was awarded in 
July of the same j^ear, to B. B. McDonald & 
Co., of Bucyrus. to put iron on two sections of the 
road from Pomeroy north. A contract was 
made about the same time for the bridge across 
the river at Buc3'rus. With varying progress, 
the work on the road moA^ed along through the 
summer and fall. The following extract is 
from a letter written by the President to a gen- 
tleman in Toledo, under date of December 6, 
1872 : " A carefully revised estimate of the 
cost of construction, made with more than one- 
half of the road-bed between Toledo and 
Ferrara, in the ver}- heart of the ' Great Vein ' 
coal-field completed, shows an excess of reliable 
stock subscription, applicable to that portion 
of the work, of more than $200,000 over-esti- 
mated cost. That stock subscriptions have 
not been more rapidly collected, and the work 
vigorously prosecuted during the past summer, 
is the I'esult of a well-considered conclusion, 
arrived at in the earl}- part of the season, that, 
with the prevailing price of iron and equipment, 
the interest of the company would not be sub- 
served thereby. It has now been determined 
by the board, to collect the subscriptions and 
push forward the work as fast as possil)le. 
with a view to its completion the coming sum- 
mer." 

But with all the ftivorable circumstances at- 
tending the enterprise, the first 3^ear or two 
after it was inaugurated, it dragged along 



rather slowly, and in September, 1875, a meet- 
ing was held at Bucvi'us, when the following 
points in the history of the road were brought to 
light : " That the road was in imminent danger ; 
that it had been proposed to sell portions of it, 
and this would virtually sacrifice Wyandot, 
Crawford and other counties ; that this propo- 
sition was defeated in the board, for the pres- 
ent ; that the road was in debt, and that, if 
something was not done in thirty days, the 
project would have to be abandoned." In view 
of this, it was proposed to organize a new com- 
pany to finish the road upon terms similar, 
though not quite so favorable, to those secured 
by the Ohio Construction Company ; that this 
Company be formed by a subscription of $450,- 
000, to be apportioned among the counties 
along the line ; the sum allotted to Crawford 
being $50,000. The terms of the subscription 
were, that it was to be paid in installments of 
ten per cent a month, and no installment pay- 
able until $400,000 of reliable subscriptions 
should be made. 

In March, 1876, the county papers mention 
the fact that two locomotives have been bought 
and arrangements made for the third, for •' our 
new railroad." Fifty miles of the road was to 
be completed and the cars to be running over 
it b}- June. The 1st of September it was an- 
nounced that fifteen cars were being painted 
and finished at the Bucyrus Machine Works, to 
be used for the purpose of delivering rails on 
the road, and that the rails for the division 
from Moxahala to^ew Lexington would all be 
delivered in two weeks. With all these cheer- 
ing prospects, however, it was not until the 
latter part of the summer of 1880 that trains 
ran through Crawford County on this road. 
During the winter of 1879-80. it took a new 
lease of life, after a Rip Van Winkle sleep of a 
couple of years, and during the spring and sum- 
mer was prosecuted to completion. 

In 3Iarch, 1878, the road was sold, and bid 
oflf for $106,668, in trust for certain bond- 



JA 



272 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



holders. A short time previous to its sale, the 
name and title of the road had been changed 
from •• Atlantic & Lake Erie Railway," to the 
" Ohio Central Railroad." This change of 
name was made for the purpose of selling the 
bonds to better advantage than could be done 
under the old name. In the Ohio Central, 
Crawford County has another outlet, which will 
prove of incalculable benetit to the county seat 
and tlie county generally. It gives direct com- 
munication with the vast coal-fields of South- 
eastern Ohio, and with the city of Toledo, one 
of the best markets in the State. 

The Mansfield, Coldwater & Lake Michigan 
Railroad, or, as now known, the '' Northwestern 
Ohio Railwa}'," also passes through a corner of 
Crawford County, but is of no special benefit 
except to the northeastern part of the county. 
The first efforts made toward building the 
Mansfield & Coldwater road were about the 
year 1867. Parties in Toledo, acting in con- 
junction with the citizens of New Washington 
and vicinity, made strong endeavors to engi 
neer the project through, and have the road to 
run directly from Toledo to Crestline, passing 
thi'ough New ^^'ashington and Annapolis. This 
was the original intention of the parties inter- 
ested, and of the two towns, Annapolis and 
New Washington, the one subscribing the larg- 
est amount of stock, was to have the depot. 
Annapolis won the depot b}- the most liberal 
subscription, but the road was not built through 
the town, on account of the indiflference to the 
matter of the citizens of Crestline declining to 
take sufficient interest or stock to obtain it 
through their town. The citizens of New 
Washington then conferred with the interested 
parties in Toledo and Mansfield, and finally suc- 
ceeded in getting the road from Toledo to Mans- 
field, under the name and title of " Mansfield, 
Coldwater & Lake Michigan Railroad." Work 
commenced on the road in the spring of 1872, 
and, b3' October of the same year,enough of the 
track was laid to allow construction trains to 



pass back and forth between Toledo and New 
Washington. On the 1st of May, 1873, regu- 
lar trains first began running over the road. 

In June, 1878, through some financial trouble 
or eml^arrassment, the road passed into the 
control of the Pennsjdvania Company, and its 
name was changed to " Northwestern Ohio 
Railway." It now forms an important division 
of that company. The road merely touches 
the northeastern part of the county, passing 
through two townships, and having two stations 
in the count}', viz.: New Washington, in Cran- 
berry Township, and DeKalb, in Auburn Town- 
ship. There was about $30,000 of stock sub- 
scribed to the road in the two townships 
named above. Shares were $50 each, so as to 
enable any farmer in ordinary' circumstances 
to take a share or two. The amount was made 
up by subscriptions of from one to five shares. 
The road is now completed, and, as stated in 
the beginning of this sketch, is of no particular 
benefit to the county at large, but merely to a 
ver}' small corner of it. 

The Atlantic & Great Western Railway has 
one station in Crawford County, (jralion is the 
headquarters of the third and fourth divisions 
of this road. The Atlantic & Great Western 
was put through the county, or a little corner 
of it, in the summer of 1863, and, in June, 1864, 
the last rail was laid at Dayton, with consider- 
able ceremony. Shortly after its completion, 
the shops of the third and fourth divisions were 
built at Gallon. In 1874, the large brick shops 
were erected, which added greatly to the pros- 
perity of the town. Gallon is also the eastern 
terminus of the Indiana Division of the Cleve- 
land, Columbus, Cincinnati & Indianapolis 
Railroad, and its junction with the main line. 
This requires shops also of this compan}' at Gal- 
ion. These two roads, with their immense 
shops and hundreds of employes, constitute the 
life and vitality of the place. It is estimated 
that at least 65 per cent, of the population of 
Gallon is railroad men and their families. 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



273 



From the foregoing pages, it will be seen that 
Crawford County is well supplied with railroads 
and lacks neither modes of travel or transpor- 



tation, but is in direct and easy communica- 
tion with all the Ijest markets both East and 
West. 



CHAPTER VI. 



THE aGUICULTURAL SVSTIvM -EXTENT OF CLEAll 
GR AINS— M 1 NO R PRO U UCTS— STO( -K-R 

^T^HE gi'eat resource of a country in its earl}' 
-L history, and the true secret of its independ- 
ence in its later j^ears, is found in its agriculture. 
Here are found the elements that make up the 
distinctive characteristics of the national life — 
the secret enginer}^ that carries on the nation to 
its appointed destiny. Upon this the national 
policy is based, and whatever there may be of 
manufactures, of science or of art, finds its alma 
mater in the productive labor of the farmer. No 
historical survey, therefore, can be complete 
that neglects to trace the rise and progress of 
the agricultural system, and to none of the 
great factors of a nation's progress can intelli- 
gent eflbrt be placed to greater advantage than 
when applied to this root of all industries. 

In a recent address to an assembly of busi- 
ness men, one of Ohio's greatest leaders said : 

" You are living illustrations of the first chil- 
dren of the pioneers who planted Ohio. When 
your fathers were born, Ohio was unknown, ex- 
cept as a trackless wilderness, and yet, where 
the smoke from not a dozen white men's cabins 
ascended to the sky in all this territory, now 
three and a quarter millions of happy people, 
prosperous, honorable and successful, are living 
and guiding the destinies of a people as great 
in numbers and Avealth, as all who inhabited 
the thirteen colonies when our fathers won their 
independence. What a spectacle is that ! And 
all this prosperity was won by the simple, plain, 
straightforward process of downright hard work 
— that is what did it — labor first laid out on the 
raw material that (iotl made, and then capital. 



LNGS — STYLE OF CULTIVATION — GRA.SS CROP— 
AISING— AGRICULTURAL S(JCIETIES. 

which is only another name for crystallized labor, 
saved up, protected and saved by the strong 
arm of equal and just and honest law. Now 
this is Ohio." 

In a restricted sense, it might be just as trul}^ 
said, " This is Crawford Count}-." 

Authentic data by which to determine the 
earlier practices of the farmers, and their re- 
sults, are difficult to obtain, and the letters of 
Flint, an English traveler, written from the 
Miami, Scioto and Maumee Valleys in 1818, 
may give, perhaps, as correct a picture of that 
interesting period of agriculture as can be ob- 
tained. He says: "I saw some people threshing 
buckwheat ; they had dug a hollow in a field, 
about twenty feet in diameter, and six or eight 
inches in depth. In this the grain was threshed 
by the tiail, and the straw thrown aside in the 
field to rot. The wheat is cleared of the chaflf 
by two persons fanning it with a sheet, while a 
third lets it fall before the wind. " On his way 
to Chillicothe, he stopped some days at a cabin, 
and writes of his host, a farmer, as follows: 
" He told us that Indian corn sells for 25 
cents per bushel, and that he could procure 
twenty-thousand bushels of it within three 
miles oi" his house. This appeared to be some- 
what surprising, on considering that the cleared 
grounds form onlv small detacheel parcels when 
compared with the intervening woods. Wheat 
sells at 75 cents per bushel. This sort of crop 
is at present more profitable than Indian 
corn, as in most cases it yields more than a 
tiiird part by measure ; it does not require to 



:Ll 



274 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



be cleared of weeds, and is more easily carried 
to market. The predominance of crops of In- 
dian corn is occasioned by the ease with which 
it is disposed of in feeding hogs and other stock, 
and, perhaps in some degree, by prejudice. 
Farming establishments are small. Most cul- 
tivators do everything for themselves, even to 
the fabrication of their agricultural implements. 
Few hire others permanently, it being difficult 
and expensive to keep laborers for an}' great 
length of time. They are not servants, all are 
hired hands. Females are averse to menial 
employments. The daughters of the most 
numerous families continue with their parents. 
There is only one wa}' of removing them. * 
* * The utensils used in agriculture are 
not numerous. The plow is short, clumsy, and 
not calculated to make either deep or neat fur- 
rows ; the harrow is triangular, and is yoked 
with one of its angles forward, that it may be 
less apt to take hold of the stumps of trees in 
its way ; light articles are carried on horseback, 
heavy ones b}' a coarse sledge, by a cart or b}^ 
a wagon. The smaller implements are the ax, 
the pick-ax, and the cradle, scythe — by far the 
most commendable of backwoods appai-atus. 
The lands of Ohio are understood to be more 
fertile than those of Penns3dvania. With good 
culture, from 60 to 100 bushels of maize per 
acre are produced. On an acre of land near 
the mouth of the little Miami, one of the first 
settlers raised the extraordinary quantity of 
114 bushels. The advanced state of population 
in the southern part of the State, has withdrawn 
the most choice tracts of ground from the land 
office ; good lots, however, may still be bought 
from private individuals at a moderate price. 
The higher country, lying nearly equidistant 
from the River Ohio and Lake Erie, is under- 
stood to be healthy, fertile, abounding in springs 
of water, and possessing a good navigation 
downward in wet seasons of the year, by means 
of the Rivers Muskingum, Scioto and Miamis. 
The northern part of the State is described as 



having many large prairies, of a rich quality, 
but unhealthy." This picture, though of gen- 
eral application, presents in vivid colors the 
crude beginnings of sixty ^-ears ago, in Craw- 
ford Count}- , as truly as of the spot where he 
wrote. The experience of every agricultural 
community in the State passed through all these 
stages, but, before even such advancement could 
be noted, there was a work to be done, of which 
the curious Englishman could give but little 
account. 

The first white settlers here found, for the most 
part, a country thickly covered with a heavy 
growth of timber, and the land shielded from 
the piercing rays of the sun by the dense for- 
est foliage, saturated with the moisture which 
the character of the country favored. To erect 
here a home and render the land subject to an 
annual tribute for the sustenance of his family, 
tasked the powers of the pioneer to their ut- 
most. It was an even-handed struggle for 
subsistence, and anything accomplished might 
safely be set down as an improvement. This 
was practically true of the first twenty years 
in the history of a settlement. An average of 
five years were consumed before the frontier 
could be relied upon to furnish a support, and, 
in the meanwhile, the fare supplied by the abun- 
dance of game and wild fruits was eked out 
with economical purchases of corn from the 
older settlements. After erecting a cabin with 
the aid of hospitable neighbors, from five to 
ten acres were felled. It was then " chopped 
over," i. e., the trees cut into suitable lengths 
for rolling into piles for burning. After the 
universal bee for rolling, came the burning, 
which was not the least exacting of the fron- 
tier farmer's labor. When the amount of 
labor performed, and the dearth of labor-sav- 
ing conveniences are considered, it will appear 
that, in accomplishing so much, labor was not 
less effectively applied than now, but in such a 
consideration the methods must not be lost 
sight of On a single claim, this much was 



i) ry 



M'. 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



275 



frequently done in three months, and a small 
crop of corn harvested in the first year, but the 
average results were not so favorable. The 
point to be gained was to get in readiness for 
the " bee " as earl}' as possible, for when the 
"rolling season" began, there was an uninter- 
rupted demand upon the settler for from six to 
eight months in the fields of his neighbors. 
Many were called upon when they could least 
afford the time, but, from the necessities of the 
situation, there was no refusal possible, and, 
large as this demand appears, it will not be 
considered exorbitant when it is remembered 
that neighborhoods covered an area of from 
ten to fifteen miles squai-e. Under such cir- 
cumstances, the prevailing tendency' is to un- 
derrate the value of timber, and to carry the 
work of clearing to the very verge of denud- 
ing the land of this important aid to agricult- 
ure. This tendenc}' has not been so marked 
in Crawford County as in many of the older 
counties of Northern and Northeastern Ohio. 
While the clearing has been carried to the far- 
thest extent consistent with ordinary prudence 
in some parts, there are other parts, especially 
in the western portions of the county, where 
the proportion of timber lauds is considered 
b}' the farmers too large, and the timber is 
marketed very freel}'. xVnother fact which has 
a tendency to bring up the proportion of wood- 
land is found in the prairie districts of the 
county. Here, fort}' j-ears ago, the timber was 
kept back hj the frequent burnings of the 
Indians ; but, since the land has fallen into the 
hands of the whites, this timber has grown to 
a serviceable size, and almost obliterated the dis- 
tinctive characteristics of the plains. Wood is 
still the principal article in use for fuel, selling 
at moderate prices save where the bad roads of 
spring and winter make its delivery moi'C ex- 
pensive than the timber itself Coal found its 
way into the larger villages of the county as 
fuel but comparatively a few 3'ears ago, and is 
even now used as much on account of its con- 



venience as because a cheaper material than 
wood. Its introduction was not marked, per- 
haps, until 1868, and it has not yet found its 
way into the public buildings of the county. 

The prevailing s^'stem of agriculture in Craw- 
ford Count}- ma}' properly be termed that of 
mixed husbandry. Specialties find little favor 
with the farmers. The practice is to cultivate 
the various kinds of grain and grasses, and to 
raise, keep and fatten stock, the latter business 
being the leading pursuit of about one-tenth* of 
the farmers. The mode of cultivating the farm- 
ing lands has not been of the highest. Provided 
with a rich and varied soil, the average farmer 
has not felt the need of studying the principles 
of such branches of learning as relate to agri- 
culture, and has frequently hesitated to receive, 
or rejected, the teachings of science. A few 
persons, however, were found at a comparatively 
early day who brought to the business of farm- 
ing that amount of patient investigation which 
the gi'eatest industry of this country demands. 
Farmers are becoming less and less unwilling 
to learn from others, and the husbandry of the 
county is attaining a commendable thorough- 
ness, and is improving in every respect. 

Owing to the productiveness of the soil, the 
subject of fertilizers has not received the atten- 
tion which it has obtained m many other parts 
of the State. Phosphates and plaster are sel- 
dom used, and many have scarcely exercised 
the customary care in preserving the ordinary 
accumulations of the barnyard, much less to 
add to this store by artificial means. Barn- 
yards are arranged to carry off the drainage of 
the stables, rather than retain it for use on 
lands, and straw and other feeding refuse is left 
to the disposal of stock, without a consideration 
as to the best means of converting it into the 
best medium for restoring the vitality of the 
crop lauds. There are many fields to be found 
in the county that have been cropped with 
wheat or corn for years without renewing or 

* Ai;ricultiiral Koi)ort of 1876. 



^ «) 



\^ 



276 



IILSTORY OF CRAWFORD COLTNTY. 



fertilizing, and others have only been relieved 
by a rotation of grain crops. 'I'his practice has, 
in most cases, borne its legitimate result, and is 
awakening a decided interest among the most 
progressive fai'mers in this vital subject. Ro- 
tation of crops, on a more or less extended 
scale, is now being gradually introduced, corn 
being the first crop planted on sod ground, fol- 
lowed by a second crop of corn, or oats, or flax, 
and then wheat. With the latter crop the ma- 
nure is used, as it is thought it shows largest 
results in this crop, and leaves a better soil for 
the grass which follows. Deep plowing has 
never been popular with the mass of Crawford 
County farmers. Some experiments were made 
with the Michigan double plow, but its great 
draft, with the general lack of appreciation of 
the value of deep plowing, soon caused it to ftill 
into disuse. The objection that the upper soil 
was buried so deep by the iMichigan plow that 
several seasons were required to effect the proper 
mixture of the soils, was remedied by a later 
experiment. This consisted of two plows, be- 
tween which the team was divided. A shallow 
soil-plow* turned over the surface, which was 
followed b}^ a long steel-plow without a turning- 
board. This proved, in many places, a vast 
improvement upon the old plan, furnishing the 
requisite depth without burying the upper soil, 
and loosening the subsoil, thus furnishing a 
natural escape for the excessive moisture, which 
the chai-acter of the hard-pan too often resists, 
allowing it to escape onl}' by evaporation. But 
the prejudice against subsoiling was too firmly 
rooted to allow the experiment to spread, and 
it is now considered impracticable, or even in- 
jurious to the land. Artificial drainage has 
been necessary from the first in many parts of 
the county. In a large portion of the eastern 
part of the county, at an early date, marshes 
occupied almost the whole country, and pioneer 
life was little more than a hopeless struggle 
against the miasma of the air and the miry con- 
dition of the earth. Speaking of the jNIaumee 



Valley, in which this county is situated, Secre- 
tary Klippart says : 

" Every acre, almost, of the entire Northwest 
requires thorougli underdraining, because there 
is nowhere a porous or gravelly subsoil, but, on 
the contrary, I have everywhere found a stiff 
clay subsoil. Even in places where the soil 
was very sandy, the subsoil was an almost im- 
pervious clay. Without thorough underdrain- 
ing, the actual fertility of the soil cannot be 
developed."* 

Surface draining, by county ditcliing, has 
been carried to a considerable extent, the State 
Report of 1876 placing tlie number of public 
ditches at forty, with an aggregate length of 
195 miles. The longest of these ditches extends 
twenty-four miles, and four of them connecting 
with ditches of adjoining counties. Less atten- 
tion has been given to tile training. According 
to the report referred to, there were but two tile 
manufactories in the county at that time. There 
has been a marked increase of interest in this 
subject of late years, however, and many are 
learning the value of tile even in meadow lands. 
The demand has increased, so that the manu- 
factories of these goods are driven to supply 
the demand. The increased value which tliese 
efforts have added to the lands of the county, 
would be difiieult to determine. Low lands 
that were an entire waste are being reclaimed, 
so that there are not more than 300 acres of 
what can be properly called waste land in over 
252,000 acres in the whole county. The land 
thus underdrained produces the finest crops_ 
and, it is claimed, can I)e cultivated much sooner 
after a rain, or from eight to ten days earlier in 
the spring. 

The sulyect of grass lands lias always been 
an important one in Crawford Count}', from the 
fact that a majority of tlie farmers are more or 
less interested in grazing stock, though forming 
a more prominent feature in the soutliern part 
of the count}. In this part of the county, 

* In Uoport of !«"(). 



3nn 



:f^ 



£k_ 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



277 



grain is raised principally for home consump- 
tion, and the system of husbandry, so far as 
any has prevailed, has been directed mainly to 
secure the best results for the grass crop. 
Timothy grass, with a mixture of clover, is 
mainly relied upon for the supply of hay, 
meadows being turned over about once in five 
years. Meadows are generally pastured and 
are turned out frequently as pasture lots, after 
serving in their prime as meadows. Of late, 
some attention is being paid to under-draining 
this class of grass lands, and some attention is 
paid to top-dressing with barnyard manures. 
Orchard and blue-grass, though iutroduced in 
a limited way, have not taken any strong hold 
upon the interests of the farmers. There is 
considerable hesitation manifested in experi- 
menting with blue-grass, as it is claimed by 
many — among them some scientific agricultur- 
ists — that the June grass, poa pratenais, is the 
same thing, modified by the diflTerence of soil 
and climate. Millet and Hungarian grass sup- 
plied a want in the agricultural econom}?^ of 
twenty years ago, but are not now used at all. 
In the matter of clover lands, the prevailing 
policy is to grow it for the seed, which is a cash 
article, and finds a ready sale. For this pur- 
pose, the seed is very sparingly sown, in order 
to secure a large stalk, and a consequent large 
yield of seed. Three bushels is a ver}- large 
yield and two bushels is consideralily larger 
than the average yield. It is generally sowed 
in combination with timothy, for the purpose of 
producing a quality of hay highly esteemed for 
milch cows and sheep. It is largely used as 
pasturage, but the predominant purpose is for 
seed. The acreage turned under has been very 
small in past years, but this short-sighted 
policy is being remedied of late, aud more 
value is being placed upon it as a means of 
renewing exhausted lands. 

In the cultivation of the cereals, the dis- 
tinctive features of the husbandry of Crawford 
County are plainly marked. The aim of the 



early settlers was, obviously, to derive from 
their lands, their only resource, a simple but 
sure subsistence, and, to this end, a system of 
mixed husbandry was a necessit}'. Their 
descendants, hedged about by the results of 
their fathers' experience, and aiming to sell 
their surplus product in such form as would 
take from the land the smallest amount of its 
fertility, have, from the nature of the case, fol- 
lowed in their footsteps. The Maumee Valley, 
while not rivaling the Miami or the Muskingum 
Valleys, as a wheat countr^^ is, nevertheless, 
well adapted to its cultivation. Of this divi- 
sion of the State, Crawford County's average 
for nine years, immediately subsequent to 1849, 
14,781 acres, producing 187,980 bushels, was 
third in the list of counties. This showing 
would, doubtless, have been greatly changed, 
had not so large a proportion of her territory 
been devoted to stock-raising. In 1876, though 
the acreage had increased to 23,281 acres, with 
a product of 232,075 bushels, it had been out- 
stripped by Sandusky Count}', which had in- 
creased from an acreage of some 12,000 to 
over 30,000 acres in 1876, and stood fourth in 
the list. In the report of 1879, Crawford 
Count}^ still retained its position of 1876, with 
a breadth sown of 29,880 acres, and a product 
of 017,786 bushels. In the early culture of 
wheat, a great man}^ discouragements were met- 
The first settlers found the blackbirds an 
almost insuperable oljstacle, and, when rid of 
this pest, found it of so i*ank a gi'owth as to be 
unfit for use, which gained it the name of 
"sick wheat." Later, the weevil destroyed it 
year after year, and, when no particular excep- 
tion could be taken to the season, the crop 
seemed to fail because it was in an uncongenial 
climate. During the period succeeding 1849. 
the yield, it will be observed, was less than 
thirteen bushels. In 1876, the yield was still 
lower, being less than ten bushels to the acre, 
but for the last four 3'ears, the product per acre 
has rapidl}' increased, as it was, in 1878, over 



^ 



278 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY 



twenty bushels per acre. During later years, 
and especially during the past four prosperous 
years, there has been a marked improvement in 
the results of wheat culture. The grain seems 
to have become acclimated ; and farmers, gain- 
ing more confidence in its stability, have sown 
during the present season — fall of 1880 — a 
larger breadth than any year previous. The 
favorite seed in earl}' years, was the old blue- 
stem. This, however, was late in maturing, 
and proved objectionable on that account. This 
was supplanted by the Mediterranean, which 
matured some ten daj^s earlier, and is still cul- 
tivated to a considerable extent. Under con- 
tinued cultivation, it has lost much of its '' rye 
appearance," to which man}' had objections. 
The Fultz wheat was introduced by Dr. George 
Keller, by seed from the Agricultural Depart- 
ment at Washington, about 1872. This is get- 
ting to be a favorite with the farmers, and 
larger quantities are being sowed. Experi- 
ments have been made with the Genesee, white 
Mediterranean and Amber. No particular sys- 
tem has been adopted in the cultivation of this 
grain. At an early date, the practice of plow- 
ing "bare fallows" during the summer, and 
then re-plowing the same, before sowing in 
wheat, was occasionally practiced, but it is 
now resorted to in scarcely a single instance. 
The object seems to be to put no work into the 
cultivation of the grain, that can be possibly 
avoided, and get passable results. There seems 
to exist, also, a feeling among a large class of 
the farmers, that improved methods are an in- 
jury to the soil, and that the old wa}' is the only 
safe way. Corn ground is sometimes used for 
growing wheat, but generally it is sown on oat 
or flax stubble lands. After plowing, manure 
is spread upon the surface ; and, when the seed 
is sown broad-cast, the wheat and manure are 
harrowed in together. When the drill is em- 
ployed, as in a majority of cases, the manure 
is well harrowed in in the first place. The 
practice of sowing wheat upon the same ground 



for several successive years, does not obtain to 
an}' great extent, save where occasionally the 
soil seems well-nigh exhausted. The breadth 
of land sown is quite uniform, with a gradual 
increase from an average of 14,000 acres up to 
1858, to 23,000 in 1876, and some 30,000 acres 
in the present year. The diflflculty experienced 
in commanding anything like a complete file of 
the State Reports, renders anj'thing like a com- 
parative statement impossible, and we shall be 
obliged in this chapter to forego any attempt 
at tabulated statement. The grain is threshed 
in t^e barn or barn^'ard, the straw being piled, 
with little effort at stacking, in the 3'ard adjoin- 
ing. Horse machines were introduced about 
1840, which, with the various improvements, 
held the ground until late years, since when, 
the steam thresher ha^ been the favorite. Trac- 
tion engines are used bonsiderably, as the level 
character of the land is quite suitable to this 
mode of locomotion. 

E.3'e and barle}' are but little cultivated. 
The former is cultivated almost exclusively for 
the straw, which finds a ready sale in limited 
quantities for binding stalks, and, when chopped 
up, as packing for eggs. The average yield of 
the grain is about fifteen bushels per acre. 
Barle}' is occasionall}' raised to some extent 
and, where the soil is fitted for it, proves a 
valuable crop. Its cultivation, however, has 
received very little local encouragement. 
Though there are several brewing establish- 
ments in the county, there is very little local 
demand, as the}' use corn principally in their 
manufactures. The crop for 1878 was 4,658 
bushels from 232 acres — an average of a 
trifle over twenty bushels per acre. This is 
a considerable falling-oft' from the earlier 
years. 

In the early history of the county, buck- 
wheat was sown considerably, as a substitute 
for wheat, but, as the culture of the latter grain 
prospered, the former has become less promi- 
nent, and the acreage has shrunk from an aver- 



■?l; 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



281 



age of 867 acres in 1850-58, to 169 acres in 
187G, and 40 acres in 1878. 

Oats are extensively grown, but find a home 
demand nearly equal to the supply. It is a 
reasonably sure crop, and, though occasionally 
affected by droughts, it. is relied upon with con- 
siderable confidence. Rust has at times proved 
a serious drawback in the earl}' years, but it 
has not been a subject of serious complaint in 
later years. The breadth sown is quite uniform, 
and does not vary materially, save to gradually' 
increase in extent. The crop in 1878, was 617,- 
968 bushels from 17,283 acres, which was an 
average crop for the past five years. 

The corn crop, while not grown to the exclu- 
sion of the others, is one upon which the farm- 
ers most confidentl}' rely, and the land devoted 
to its culture, especially in the southern part of 
the county, is onl}' limited by the necessities of 
the situation. It is far more stable in its yield, 
less liable to disease, and may be slighted in its 
cultivation with greater impunity, than any 
other crop. The soft varieties of seed are gen- 
erally preferred, and are usuall}- planted on sod 
ground, though a second crop off the same field 
is not an uncommon occurrence. It is usuall}' 
well put in, the gi'ound being prepared with 
considerable care, and worked until it " tassels 
out."' The old rule of "going through" the 
field a certain number of times before " laying 
by '" the crop, has long since been abandoned 
by the better farmers. The last plowing, after 
the corn has reached the height of five or six 
feet, is considered the most effective in its cul- 
tivation, but the exigencies of the season often 
prevent the fai-mer's bestowing this crowning 
attention. The majorit}- of the farms in the 
northern part of the county being small and 
worked principally by the owners alone, the 
wheat and clover cutting coming close together, 
frequently obliges the small farmer to slight his 
corn. When, however, the farmer is able to 
hire help, or has boys who can be trusted to do 
the work, the plow is kept going through the 



corn, an expense that is ampl}^ repaid by the 
increased yield. The manner of harvesting the 
crop differs materially in the different sections 
of the county. Among the small farmers of 
the north part of the county, the crop is usu- 
ally cut and husked in the field, and the stalks 
either stacked or hauled to the barn for use 
during the winter. In the other section of the 
county, when lai'ge farms are the rule, and feed- 
ing stock the leading occupation, the crop is 
freq'uenth' not cut or husked at all. The gen- 
eral practice is to husk enough to supply horses 
with feed, and the rest left standing for the cat- 
tle and hogs that are turned in to feed indis- 
criminatel}'. Husking from the standing stalk 
is practiced occasionally, but it is generall}- 
considered wasteful of time and material. The 
Maumee Valle}' for years was greatly retarded 
in its development on account of the lack of 
natural drainage, which converted a vast terri- 
tory into what is generally known as the Black 
Swamp, ard by the Indian reservation, which 
held large tracts of land out of the market. 
Since 1850, however, there has been a rapid ad- 
vance in the cultivation of cereals, and this di- 
vision is rapidly gaining upon the Scioto and 
Miami Valleys, which have so long constituted 
the corn-fields of Ohio. Among the eighteen 
counties that make up this division — the north- 
west part of the State — Crawford stands third 
in her corn product, with an average yield of 
615,370 bushels from 18,943 acres in 1850-58. 
1,159,259 bushels from 29,777 acres in 1876, 
and 1,531,111 bushels from 32,048 acres in 1878. 
But a comparativelv small proportion of this 
is exported, the greater part of the product be- 
ing consumed bv stock fed in all parts of the 
county. Some of the largest results shown In* 
farmers in raising this crop were b}' Linus Ross, 
in 1852, one acre, with a 3'ieldof 126 bushels ; 
by E. Barritt, in 1853, three acres, with an av- 
erage yield of 129.2 bushels per acre ; by S. S. 
Caldwell, in the same year, three acres, with an 
average of 124.25 per acre, and in 1859, b}' Jo- 



282 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



seph Kerr, from one acre, 128 bushels, Abel 
Dewalt, from one acre, 117.29 bushels, and 
Abram Eckart, from one acre, 117 bushels. 

The other crops that occupy or have occupied 
a more or less prominent place among the agri- 
cultural products of the county, are potatoes, 
flax or sorghum. The quality of this soil is 
well adapted to the raising of potatoes, and 
farmers who have given considerable attention 
to the proper cultivation of this highly prized 
and indispensable esculent, have always been 
well rewarded for their labor and painstaking. 
It is a staple vegetable, universally used, always 
commands a fair price, and its general cultiva- 
tion for exportation would undoubtedl}^ prove 
highl}^ remunerative. The fact, however, seems 
to have been overlooked or the obstacles greatly 
exaggerated, and no more are produced than 
are needed for the home supply. The leading 
varieties are the Early Rose, Early Ohio, with 
the Peerless and Peachblow cultivated in con- 
siderable quantities as a winter potato. The 
Triumph is highly prized and cultivated by 
some, while the Prairie Seedling and White 
Peachblow are being cultivated as experiments. 
The Neshannock, Early Climax, Brownell's 
Beauty, Beauty of Hebron, Dunsmore Seedlings, 
are among those that have strong friends among 
the farmers. The average 3neld of this crop is 
good, and is not often seriously affected b}^ 
disease or insects. 

Flax, although grown in this county to some 
extent every year, is subject to violent fluctua- 
tions in the acreage devoted to its culture. It 
is now raised exclusively for the seed, which 
has become an important article of commerce, 
large amounts being purchased annually by the 
warehousemen at the villages of the county. 
It is an exacting crop, and the fiber is only in- 
cidentally valuable, owing to the unsalable con- 
dition in which it has to be sold ; an amount of 
discouragement which is only overbalanced by 
the fact that tlie seed frequently commands a 
high price, and is always a cash article. It is 



not relied upon to any great extent, however, as 
a source of revenue. Some years ago, a flax- 
mill at Galion, made a market for the fiber, but 
the usual fate of these institutions overtook it ; 
it was burned down, and the promise of busi- 
ness did not warrant it^ rebuilding. 

The history of the cultivation of sorghum 
cane in Crawford County, is similar to that of 
most other parts of the State. The first intro- 
duction of this cane in the United States, was by 
D. J. Brown, of the United States Patent Office. 
He procured the seed in France, and left it at 
the Patent Office in November, 1854, whence it 
was distributed through the States of Georgia 
and South Carolina. Here it was thoroughly 
experimented with, and a good sirup manufac- 
tured and exhibited at the fair of the United 
States Agricultural Society in 1857. Experi- 
ments were early made in Crawford, by William 
Cox, of Sandusky Township, but it did not take 
any strong hold in the county until 1862. In 
the early part of this year, the papers of the 
county took up the subject and urged upon the 
farmers the necessit}' of cultivating sorghum to 
suppl}' the deficiency of shipments from the 
South. This advice was quite generally heeded, 
and the first introduction of the seed was re- 
ceived b}' the farmers with great enthusiasm. 
The first seed, perhaps, was brought in about 
1857, and small bags containing about half a 
pint, sold readily for a dollar each. The exper- 
imenters, however, were not over-sanguine, and, 
though the aggregate acreage reached a consid- 
erable extent, the largest amount under culti- 
vation on a single farm, was not more than two 
acres. The requisites for the successful culti- 
vation of this crop, as given by the most 
eminent authority upon the subject, R. G. 
Peters, of Georgia, are "First, appropriate soil : 
a warm, dry soil, and, where it is practicable, 
sandy loams or those of a limy nature ; rich 
upland rolls are better than bottoms ; sandy 
loams with clay subsoil are good ; au}^ soil 
good for winter wheat will do ; the rich, black 



:x: 



A 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY 



283 



corn lands produce as large or larger stalks, 
but the juice is not so rich, nor the flavor of 
the sirup so good. Second, pure seed : Much 
of the cane of this country has become mixed 
with broom corn ; it will not pay to raise such ; 
the pure sorgo and one or two kinds of the im- 
phee will pay. One pound of good seed is enough 
for an acre. Third, proper culture : Plow deep, 
and let tlie ground be stirred afresh just before 
planting, that weeds may not get a start ; the 
largest yield may be had b}' drilling one way ; 
four feet one way by two the other, does very 
well ; most persons plant as they do corn ; 
cover not over half an inch with fine dirt ; don't 
plant until the ground is warm — from the 
15th to the last of May, according to the 
season. Fourth, prepare the seed : Put the seed 
into a vessel, and pour boiling water on it ; 
after about a minute, tui'n it into a basket for 
the water to drain off, and cover it with a wet 
paper, and let it stand for about twenty-four 
hours in a warm place ; this will crack the hull, 
and cause it to start some seven or eight days 
sooner than if started dry, thereby causing it 
to get the start of the weeds and ripen earlier in 
the fall ; stir the ground from the time you can 
see the plant, until three feet high ; about six 
seeds in a hill is the correct quantity'. " The 
experience of the farmers here is summed up in 
an article b}' J. H. Cox, who took an active part 
in this project as follows : " Here comes a man 
with a load of cane, and the question is. how 
much cane did you plant ? ' Well, I planted 
about an eighth or a quai-ter of an acre (as the 
case may be), and after a long time it came up. 
I hadn't the ground in very good order ; and 
when it did come, I thought it was so 
small it wouldn't come to anything, so I 
just run through it a couple of times with 
the shovel plow, and let it go. I did not 
go to see it until after harvest, or until T went 
to cut up my corn, and T found it iuul done 
pretty well after all, considering the chance, so 
I cut it up, and brought it down to get it 



worked.' Here is another : He has done a lit- 
tle like the first, only he sowed buckwheat on 
his cane patch, and harrowed it over, but the 
cane would grow, and he got five gallons of ex- 
cellent molasses. We have made over 150 gal- 
lons of sirup from the cane grown on half an 
acre. * * * ^y^ have in our possession a 
gallon of sirup that we will put up in competi- 
tion with anything that anybody has made, and 
it was made from green cane. * * * My ex- 
pei'ience is. that it will stand more cold than 
corn. * * * It will stand drought better 
than corn, for the reason that the roots grow 
deeper than corn. Wet weather will work out 
its destruction. '* The papers were full of 
discussion of this sort, but with a unanimous 
conclusion in its favor. Mills, both iron and 
wooden, though the former were considered 
preferable, were secured and put into operation, 
and hundreds of gallons of the sirup manufact- 
ured. The first produced in most cases, owing 
to the lack of information on the subject, and 
the carelessness with which its manufiicture was 
conducted, was sony stuff. To the skeptical 
part of the community, this result strength- 
ened the prejudice formed against the under- 
taking and greatly discouraged many of the 
experimenters. Another cause which contrib- 
uted to this result, which is suggested in the 
foregoing quotations, was the exercise of a 
ruinous economy on the part of the majority of 
farmers. Instead of purchasing new seed, and 
sparing no pains to make a fair trial of this 
new crop, the majority of those who planted it 
borrowed seed of their neighbors and allowed 
the work of the farm to seriously interfere with 
the cultivation of the cane. The result was 
that the cane deteriorated in quantity and qual- 
ity, and the whole thing ^vas voted a tailure. A 
few. however, were not so easily discouraged, 
and kept up the experiment until a really fine 
molasses was obtained. Experiments involv- 
ing considerable expense were made to pro- 

*Bucyr>is J./tirn<iJ, Miiich 28, 1SG2. 



-dr. 



^ 



284 



HISTORY OF CRAAVFORD COUNTY. 



duce sugar from this cane, but its manufacture 
was fouud to be so expensive that it had to be 
abandoned. A poor grade of sugar was made 
much cheaper, but it was of no commercial 
value, and but little interest is now manifested 
in the enterprise. Some four or five establish- 
ments do a limited business in this line, and, by 
careful and intelligent handling of the cane 
produce a first-class article, which has attained 
a considerable local reputation. la 1878, some 
seventy acres were planted, and sixty-one 
pounds of sugar and 5,878 gallons of sirup man- 
ufactured. Tobacco has been cultivated to a 
very limited extent, simply for the private use 
of the grower, and it may well be hoped that its 
culture ma}' not be farther extended. It is an 
exacting crop upon the land, and sooner or 
later the exhaustive process will work the 
deterioration of any neighborhood or farming 
district where its culture is a prominent part 
of the farming operations. 

The forests of Crawford County are well sup- 
piled with the sugar-maple, and the people 
have not been slow to utilize them in the way of 
maliiug sugar. It was a practice at an early date 
to make the product of the maple into sugar, 
as in this shape it answered the needs of the 
household to better advantage, and this prac- 
tice continued down until more recent 3'ears, 
when cheaper cane sugar made maple sugar no 
longer a necessity. The product is now about 
equally divided between cake-sugar and sirup, 
the demand, however, considerably exceeding 
the supply. 

A survey of this branch of Crawford County's 
agriculture would hardly be complete without 
some reference to the famous June frost of 
1859, which operated so disastrously all over 
the State. It occurred on a Saturday night. 
On the preceding night it rained, and Satur- 
day morning opened warm and bright as usual ; 
but before evening it grew unaccountably 
chilly, and as night closed in the weather was 
decidedly cold. With this change of temperature 



came a " killing frost " that left scarcely a ves- 
tige of the growing crops alive. Corn was 
about eight or ten inches high, and potatoes had 
reached the growth that made the effect of the 
frost most damaging. All grain was ruined, 
and the people suddenly found themselves 
brought face to face with the prospect of al- 
most starvation. On the following daj', the 
churches in many places were almost deserted. 
The farmers wandered aimlessly about their 
stricken fields, while the villagers thronged the 
countr}' ways, anxious to measure the extent of 
the disaster, which had involved town and 
farm alike. Fortunately, there were some late 
crops that had not come on far enough to be 
hopelessly crippled by the frost, and the less 
fortunate farmers set about repairing the mis- 
fortune so far as possible. The corn and pota- 
toes were replanted, buckwheat was sowed in 
place of wheat, and, thanks to an unusually 
long season, these crops were fairly matured. 
The wheat was a total loss. The straw, if it 
had been cut at once, and well cured would, at 
least, have proved a feed for cattle, but by 
standing a short time the sap which would have 
filled out the ear, exuded upon the stalk and 
rendered it finally unfit for fodder. There was 
a large proportion of soft corn in the fall hun- 
dreds of bushels of which molded and proved 
a complete loss. This blow was severely felt b}- 
the agricultural community, and, through them, 
scarcely less by the whole county in all branches 
of business. 

Fruit culture may be safely said to be yet in 
its infanc}' in Crawford County. The first set- 
tlers, deprived for a time of its use. and realiz- 
ing the great demand in every family for this 
important article of food, earl}'^ set about plant- 
ing orchards. But little care was exercised, in 
the majority of cases, in the selection of varie- 
ties, or in their care of orchards after once well 
set ; and, taking into consideration the value of 
good fruit as a substantial element of food, as a 
valuable agent in preserving and promoting 



^ 



\^ 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



285 



health, and as a luxury which all classes may 
enjoy, this subject has not received the atten- 
tion which its importance merits at the hands 
of the careful agriculturist. The orchard cult- 
ure of apples has only of comparatively late 
years begun to command the serious attention 
of farmers. The old orchards have been pro- 
lific producers, and in favorable seasons, large 
quantities marketed. Before the railroads 
made the markets accessible, large quantities 
of fruit were dried and hauled to market, and 
frequently large quantities were fed to stock. 
This abundance of fruit, and for many provided 
without their thought or effort, has made farm- 
ers careless of the subject, but many are now 
awakening to the fact that, unless something is 
done to renew these orchards, there will be an 
interregnum when there will be a scarcity of 
this fruit in the county. The result of this 
awakening is to be seen in many parts of the 
county in the numerous young orchards coming 
on, and the nurserymen, both at home and 
abroad, are finding this county a profitable field 
for their goods. Among the varieties now found 
here, are the Baldwins, Bellflower, Belmonts, 
Ben' Davis, Fall Pippins, Fall Wines, Rambos, 
Rhode Island Greenings, Roxbury Russets, 
King of Tompkins County, etc. The latter 
variety is a favorite for a large apple, some of 



but late frosts in the spring usually cut off the 
crops, either in the blossom or when the young 
fruit is just formed, or there occurs, every 
few winters, a season of such severity that the 
trees themselves are seriously injured, or de- 
stroyed. Another enemy to the peach-tree I 
here, which works fatal results when not pre- 
vented, is the borer. This is a small, white 
grub which gnaws into the bark just at or a 
little below the top of the ground. They pene- 
trate the bark and work between the inner 
bark and wood, and gnaw out as much of this 
as they wish for food, soiretimes encircling the 
tree completely, and generally working a little 
downward as they progress, but taking gen- 
erally irregular courses. Their presence can 
be detected by examining at the root of the 
tree. If the borer is there, you can notice the 
gum of the tree in small or large quantities at 
this point. They are sometimes numerous, 
say twenty to fifty working at one tree. Some- 
times you may find but one. They are some- 
times as small in diameter as a common pin. 
and from three-eighths to a half-inch long, some- 
times a half-inch through and three-fourths of 
an inch long. The effect upon the peach-tree 
is to lessen its vitality, and, if the borer encir- 
cles it in its ravages, the peach-tree dies, and 
mav die if not fully encircled, as the least in- 



r 



the fVuit measuring fourteen and one-half jury of this portion of the tree tends to kil it. 



"71 



inches in circumference, and at the same time 
retaining its fine fiavor and smooth grain. The 
apple is the hardiest and most reliable of all 
the fruits of this region, and there are probably 
more acres in apple orchards than in all other 
fruits combined. 

Peaches, by reason of the unfavorableness of 
the climate, are, of late years, exceedingly un- 
certain in Crawford County. In the early his- 
tory of the county, this kind of fruit did well, 
but the severe winter of 1856, and the succeed- 
ing year or two killed most of the trees then 
planted, and since then have never been a suc- 
cess. These trees are periodically renewed. 



Another enemy that is as old as the peach-tree 
itself is the plant lice oi- aphides. Their pres- 
ence is indicated by the curling of the leaves. 
This never kills the trees, however, though not 
contributing to their healthful development. 
This curling is observable most after sudden 
changes of temperature, and is explained l)y 
the fact that the aphides seek the under side 
of the leaves as a protection against the sudden 
changes of temperature, where they may be ob- 
served in the middle of a warm sunny day or 
in the early part of a chilly evening. The reme- 
dies suggested for the extermination of the 

*.I. Soulo, in niuvius Joiirn.i', .Inly 4, 1862. 




'i^ 



L>8(; 



IIISTOHY OF CHAWFOUI) COU>,'TY. 



borer arc to use the knife, cutting away the out- 
er hark iVom tlie cliaunel made by the insect, 
ami killino- the insect. Another remed}', which 
is hirgel}' used and found efficacious, is to ap- 
ply boiling water. The amount to be applied 
to a tree varies with its size. For a tree a year 
(till, a quart would be sufficient, while a pailful 
would do no harm to one of full size, as the 
earth would absorb the heat before it would 
penetrate the thick bark so as to injure. The 
best time to appl}- h(<t water is about the 1st of 
June, and, if then neglected, about the 1st of 
September. Dig a narrow basin around the 
tree, as deep and as high as the borers are 
working, fill it with l)oiling water, and a cure is 
effected. Ashes as a preventive, should, Avhen 
the tree is young, be placed in contact with the 
bark in a narrow, deep circle, as a little will 
then answer the purpose. 

The case of cherries of the finer varieties is 
very similar to that of peaches, as the trees are 
somewhat tender and the blossoms are liable to 
be desti'oyed by late frosts. Sweet cherries 
are little grown, on account of these drawbacks 
and the tendenc}' of the fruit to rot at the time 
of ripening. The hardier kinds, such as the 
Early Richmond, the Morellos, and such as the 
Early Ma}^ are reliable and considerably grown 
for private use. Pears are planted in a small 
wa}-, principally in gardens, no extensive pear 
orchards existing in the county. The first 
trees of this sort were seedlings, which, of late 
years, have been entirely supplanted by dwarfs 
or their outgrowth of half-standards. The tend- 
ency to "fire blight," which the pear-tree shows 
in the larger part of the State, has not been so 
marked in this count}' of late years, but confi- 
dence in the stability of this fruit has not been 
so far restored as to increase the planting of 
these trees. The yield is, however, less varia- 
ble than of apples. Failures are not apt to occur, 
it is said, from winter killing of the buds, but 
the trees are so injured by the cold as to die 
the following year of blight. An unusually 



warm fall affects the fruit at times unfavorably, 
causing the late varieties to ript'n too early, and 
to decay before they can be secured. Some of 
the leading varieties found here are the Bart- 
lett, Flemish Beauty, Vicar of Wakefield, Louise 
Bonn de Jersey, Beurre d'Anjou, etc. Plums 
are scarcely grown at all, owing to the preva- 
lence of the curculio insect. Some little inter- 
est was taken in this class of fruit a few 3'ears 
ago and some planting done, but the outcome 
has been the same, and but little attention is 
paid to this kind of fruit in the county. 

In the culture of orchard-fruits in Crawford 
County, the great demand is for more care 
and attention to the trees already planted. 
There is a growing interest in this subject, how- 
ever, which promises good results in the near 
future. New orchards are being planted, the 
best variety of fruit selected and more care 
taken of the growing trees. The most reliable 
apple orchards, however, have fallen into the 
unfortunate habit of bearing full crops every 
alternate year, with scant ones or failures be- 
tween. The effect of these alternations upon 
the grower are disastrous ; the prices are de- 
pressed, and bushels of fruit are left on the 
ground to rot or to be fed to stock, the prices 
not warranting the cost of marketing the sur- 
plus product. This habit, it is thought by emi- 
nent horticulturists, may be remedied by 
patient care and study. Grape culture in the 
interior counties of the State, though securing 
some attention in a small way, has never been 
considered successful. This is particularly 
true in Crawford Couuty. A few winters ago, 
the vines were badly injured, and a fatal rot 
destroys the fruit more or less everj' year, es- 
peciall}' where hot, damp, sultr}- weather occurs 
in July. Another discouragement to grape 
growing here is the nearness of Ottawa and 
Erie Counties, the great grape-producing 
counties of the State. Grapes are shipped from 
points on the lake and sold here at 2 cents per 
pound, which has the effect to discourage any 



r 



^^ 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



287 



attempt at the cultivation of grapes on an ex- 
tended scale. In the matter of small fruits or 
berries, there is a far greater interest mani- 
fested. The important villages of Bucyrus, 
Galion and Crestline furnish a good market for 
all that can be supplied, and quite a number in 
the county devote their attention to furnishing 
berries, though not in quantities to supply the 
demand. 

The persevering, patient care and investiga- 
tion which seemed to be wanting in the culti- 
vation of crops, does not appear to have been 
lacking in the raising of stock. It would seem 
that the earl}^ settlers had a predilection for fine 
stock, and stamped this characteristic upon the 
agriculture of the county. There has been a 
constant effort to improve breeds, until Craw- 
ford County now boasts of as good an average 
in stock as almost any other countj' in the 
State. In this department, the prevailing dis- 
position of the farming community is apparent, 
and no class of the domestic animals is de- 
veloped to the exclusion of the other, unless we 
make an exception in the case of the mule. The 
history of the early horses in Crawford is not 
definitely known, if it can be said to have a his- 
tory. It was some years before horses were 
needed or introduced to any extent. Oxen 
were better suited to the work of clearing, were 
easier kept, and not so liable to accident and 
disease, and these qualifications were all that 
were demanded of the early teams. In later 
years, as the demand for traveling purposes be- 
gan to be felt, horses began to supersede the 
ox, until now one would scarcely meet an ox 
team upon the road in a month's travel thi'ough 
the county. There was nothing to distinguish 
the original stock of horses. Each settler com- 
ing in brought such animals as chance or their 
pecuniary circumstances dictated, and were the 
ordinary stock of the localities from which they 
emigrated. Among the first efforts to improve 
this stock was the impoi'tation of '• Old Blue 
Buck," by David Cummings. This horse was 



raised in Knox County, and was a strongly 
made horse, admirably calculated for farm work. 
At that time, there was no great choice as to 
different strains, this being about the only horse 
offered for breeding purposes. This was the 
class of horse especially desired at that time, 
however, as no demand for speed had been de- 
veloped. About 183U, a small running hoi'se 
called " Backus," was introduced by a Mr. Cone. 
It was an imported animal, and created quite a 
stir among the farmers, but the final outcome 
to his owner put something of a damper on this 
class of horses, though his descendants are yet 
to be found in the country. A match was made 
up between Cone and the owner of a Kentucky 
running horse for a race at Sandusky City. In 
the trial, " Backus " outstripped the Kentucky 
horse, when the owner of the latter grew abusive, 
and, without the slightest provocation, it is said, 
shot Cone dead on the ground. His last words 
to his son was to take the horse home and not 
to run horses any more. His murderer mounted 
his horse and escaped unmolested. The horse 
succeeding " Backus " was " Sir Dudley," an 
animal of admirable qualities, and one that made 
a lasting impression upon the early stock of 
horses. He was brought from the East about 
1837, was of medium size, carried his head well 
up. and was a stylish roadster. His stock was 
remarkable for their great vitality, being es- 
pecially long-lived. In 1840, " Sheik " or " Sher- 
rock," an Arabian horse, was brought here by 
Abram Holmes. He was somewhat advanced 
in years when brought into the county, and 
had faded to a nearly pure white color. He 
was kept here until he was thirt3--one years old, 
and was in active demand most of that time. 
His stock was iron or dappled gray, and ran 
from eleven and a half to twelve hundred in 
weight. They were especiall}' admired as fine 
carriage horses, and commanded a good price 
from dealers for this purpose. This strain, it 
is said, made a marked and valuable addition 
to the stock of the county. " Gray Eagle," an 



*7\< 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



imported horse, brought hei-e from Kentucky, 
again excited the interest of farmers in running 
horses. His pedigree took his line back to the 
imported •' ^Messenger " stock, but he failed to 
create any great amount of enthusiasm. The 
" Messenger " stock was brought to the county 
very earl)'', but little is remembered of them. 
About 1840, or very soon after, the Black Hawk 
Morgan strain was introduced, " Fl3ang Cloud " 
being the favorite representative of this stock 
of horses. Three horses of this stock were 
brought from Rhode Island at the same time, 
the sires of " Long Mane " and " Joe Hooker" 
being the other two, but whose names have 
been forgotten. These horses were fast trotters 
for that time, and " Fljang Cloud " was looked 
upon as a marvel when he could trot a mile in 
2.40. His stock were excellent roadsters, and 
some have shown 2.30 and 2.20 speed. They 
were very much sought after, and his descend- 
ants are still prized by judges of good horses. 
" Bellfounder " was brought into the county 
from Columbus, by James Clements, in 1851. 
This was a medium-sized, dark brown, spirited 
horse, and was ver}' favorably received liy horse- 
men all over the county. He was in the county 
but four or five years, when he was bought by 
the original owners and returned to Columbus. 
His spirit lasted to the very end of his life, and, 
when thirty years old, within a month or two 
of his death, he was handled with great difficulty 
by his groom. The Xorman breed of horses 
was introduced in the eastern part of the county 
several years ago. Henry Krim, interested with 
others, imported several of this breed direct 
from France. These horses are what is strictly 
classified as the Percheron, but are known in 
the books and by dealers as the Percheron- 
Norman. " Nonesuch," " Louis Napoleon," or 
" Old Bob," as he was variouslj' known, was 
the first horse of the kind ever brought west 
of the Alleghany Mountains. He was bought 
by Charles FuUington, and brought to Union 
County in 1851, and some time after became 

<s r- 



the property of Louis Lee, of Delaware, Ohio, 
by whom he was exhibited in this part of the 
State, exciting a considerable interest among 
stockmen in this class of horses. They orig- 
inate in La Perche and Normandy, in France, 
and are noted for their docilit}', excellent 
health, and a hardy, elastic temperament. 
The}^ are possessed of great bone, muscle, ten- 
don and hoof which gives them immense 
strength as draft horses. Their color is a fine 
silver gray, the best adapted to withstand the 
burning rays of the sun in the field or on the 
highway. The horse imported to this county, 
" Pulo," is now owned in Gallon, and is in active 
demand by breeders in the county. These 
horses mature early, command a good price, 
and are always in demand. Indeed, so much 
is this the case that one is scarcely seen in any 
of the farm teams of the county. They in- 
volve too much capital and command cash too 
readily to be used on the farm, and it may 
reasonably be doubted whether there is much 
preference for this class of horses for use on 
the farm here. The average horse of the 
county is estimated to stand fifteen and one- 
half hands high, weigh eleven and a half hun- 
dred weight, and bring $125 when in good 
order for shipping. 

Mules have never been received with favor 
b}^ the general mass of farmers. Their appear- 
ance is not prepossessing, and those conditions 
to which these animals are supposed to be best 
fitted have never existed in the county, and 
the mule, therefore, has never secured a foot- 
hold. This is a good field for buj'ers, and 
Crawford County contributes a considerable 
number of horses each year to the Eastern 
markets. 

The introduction of cattle into the county 
was as early as the coming of the first settler. 
Cows were a necessary part of the pioneer's 
outfit, without which his chances for obtaining 
a reasonably comfortable existence were very 
poor indeed, and few families were without 






HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



289 



them. But, once here, it required all the care 
and diligence of the settler to protect them 
against the ravages of wild beasts and disease. 
The wolves took off the 3-earlings and frequent- 
ly made successful attacks upon cows ; the 
murrain, a little later, took off scores of these 
animals, and journeys of a hundred miles were 
frequently undei'taken to replace the animals 
thus lost. Then the marshes and the rank 
vegetation took their quota, so that, in spite of 
the employment of all the available children of 
the settlement as herders, and the dosing of 
cattle with soot, alum and soft soap, hundreds 
fell victims to the snares of a new country. 
Under such circumstances, the effort was nar- 
rowed down to a struggle to maintain rather 
than improve the breed. Among the early 
settlers of the county were many progressive 
farmers, and, as soon as the pressure of the 
first years in a new country was removed, they 
began to look about for means to improve the 
cattle of their new homes. The southern part 
of the county was then distinctively pi'airie 
land, and stock-raising soon became an impor- 
tant feature of agricultural activity' in that part 
of the county. In 1834, the Ohio Importing 
Company made their first importation of the 
Short-Horn Durhams and exhibited them at 
the State Fair of that year. This set the whole 
farming community of this part of the State 
asfog to irapi'ove their stock, and nothing but 
the Short-Horn Durham was to be thought of 
The first of this breed was probably introduced 
in this county In' 'Robert Kerr, who bought 
some animals of Wilson, in Licking County, 
Ohio. John Monnett also bought, at an earl}' 
date, several head of young thoroughbreds, of 
Michael Sullivan, of Pickawa}' County. John 
Ross, another breeder, brought some of this 
class of cattle from Kentuck}'. The interest, 
however, in thoroughbreds maj^ be said to be 
on the wane. Though bred to a considerable 
extent by a number of farmers in Crawford, 
there is no longer the ready sale at high prices 



that once characterized the business. Another 
feature which perhaps contributed to this re- 
sult was the fact that many of the large farm- 
ers in the southern part of the county began 
breeding the ordinary stock for beef purposes. 
Some of them kept as many as fifty cows sim- 
ply for breeding purposes, and annuall}' sold off 
a large number of bullocks for market pur- 
poses. This feature of cattle-raising has en- 
tirely passed away during the past five years. 
Since the general decline in the price of beef, it 
has been found too expensive to keep a cow 
just for the value of a calf, and it has been 
demonstrated that cattle may be bought for 
feeding purposes much cheaper in the West 
than they can be raised here as a specialty. 
Several fine herds of Short-Horns are found in 
Crawford Count}', the largest of which is proba- 
bly the one owned by Mr. Carlisle. Others 
of more or less importance are owned by Jared 
A. G. Lederer, Horace Eaton, Dexter Bacon, 
J. A. Klink, Jackson Ross, R. B. McCammon 
and E. W. Cooper. The Devon breed was 
represented at the last county ftiir by animals 
owned by J. H. Keller. " This is a strikingly 
distinct breed in form and qualit}', medium in 
size, uniformly red in color, comely in appear- 
ance, and of decided excellence ; the ox for 
labor, as his agile form indicates ; the cow for 
milk, when cultivated for that object, and the 
uniform excellence of their flesh when properly 
fed and matured.'"* The}' can hardly be said 
to have much of a following in this county, 
though generally admired when exhibited. 
The Alderneys are exhibited by Judge Thomas 
Beer and George Donnerworth, Jr. "This 
breed, having a common origin with the Jer- 
seys and Cruernseys. owe their present distinct- 
ive qualities in appearance to their manner of 
breeding, and the tastes and preferences of their 
long-time propagators. In size, they are smaller 
than our native cows, delicate in form, unique 
in shape, diversified in color, and blooded in 
appearance. The prime quality claimed for the 



^ ® T" 



ikn- 



290 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY 



cow is the exceeding yellow color and rich qual- 
ity of her milk, cream and butter, in all which 
she stands without a rival, althongli her quan- 
tity of milk is moderate compared with the 
weight of butter which it yields."* The Ayr- 
shires are also represented in the county, but 
are much less popular than the Alderneys- 
They are a native of Scotland, and in size are 
about equal to our common cattle. The}^ are 
usually red or brown, more or less mixed with 
white ; are shaped more like the Short-Horn 
than an}' others, though lacking their fair con- 
tour and comeliness of appearance. They are 
claimed as a dair}' or milking breed. 

Sheep were introduced into the county as early 
as 1819, but the rank vegetation and the number 
and boldness of the wolves made sheep-raising 
a burden upon the resources of the early set- 
tlers. The earliest were probably brought to 
Sandusky Township, where they soon died 
from eating some poisonous weed. Another 
scourge in the early history of sheep-raising in 
this county was the number of villainous dogs 
that infested the country. These animals 
seemed a necessity to the earliest settlers, and 
there were few families that did not possess 
one or more of them. As the country began 
to be cleared up, and game and wild animals of 
all sorts became scarce, the demand for these 
animals to a large extent ceased, but the sup- 
ply, unfortunately, seemed to be little affected 
by this change. Many of these animals were 
crossed with the common wolf, and soon showed 
the traces of their origin by attacking the few 
flocks that were kept in the new communit}-. 
The damage in this way was a great burden, 
and an indiscriminate slaughter was begun 
against all dogs found running loose. G-en. 
Myers relates that out of a flock of one 
hundred Merino lambs that he brought into 
the county one year, forty were killed or seri- 
ously wounded in a single night. The first 



*Addro.S!i before the National .Agricultural Congress, Philadel- 
phia, 1876, by S. F. Allen. 



attempt at introducing an improved quality of 
sheep was about 1833, when Col. William Rob- 
inson brought in some sixty head of the Wells 
and Dickenson stock, of Washington County, 
Penn. This celebrated stock was derived from 
the Humphrey importation of Spanish Meri- 
nos, but were bred with a view of securing 
fine wool but small fleeces. The habit of the 
best wool-growers of that time was to dip the 
sheep in water, and then let them run on grass 
for a few days. They were then washed, 
sheared, and each fleece wrapped in paper be- 
fore shipping to market. For such wool, the 
producer got 85 cents per pound and a suit of 
broadcloth. Col. Robinson's flock was divided 
up and sold in parcels of eight or ten in vari- 
ous parts of the county. This class of sheep 
prevailed for some years, and were known gen- 
erally as Saxon sheep, though undoubtedly of 
the early Spanish Merino origin. The}' were 
of long, lean carcass, light-limbed, and light, 
fine fleeces. Mr. Lewis sheared a flock of 
400 that averaged only two pounds and four- 
teen ounces of wool per head. Succeeding 
these sheep, came the French Merinos, from 
Vermont. These were larger sheep, with heavy 
fleeces of light-colored wool. These sheep 
were soon found to be ill suited to this locality. 
The Vermont breeders had so forced their 
growth that, when brought out to the West 
and left unsheltered, they at once broke down, 
and many died, proving a serious loss to the 
experimenters. Gen. Samuel Myers was one 
of the earliest to experiment with this breed of 
sheep. He found the yield of wool large, but 
many fleeces remarkably oily. To satisfy him- 
self, he determined to thoroughly wash an 
unusually large fleece. Before washing, it 
weighed twenty-four and one-half pounds, and 
afterward, it weighed just four and a half 
pounds. The sheep from which the fleece was 
taken had l)een carefully housed, and the wool 
was neat and ordinarily clean, and this result 
convinced him that the breed was not a profit- 



*7\7 



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HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



291 



able one to keep. The Spanish Merino, or 
rather the American improvement of the Span- 
ish importation, was introduced here about 
1855. This breed of sheep at once grew into 
favor, and has increased in numbers steadily 
down to the present. Nor is the interest in 
this breed confined to the dealers in thorough- 
bred stock. Crosses with the common stock 
have been made until perhaps one-half of the 
sheep are more or less high grades of Merino. 
The improvements upon tiie native stock are 
plainl}' marked. The sixty or seventy-five 
pound carcass of earl}- years has been in- 
creased to ninet}' and one hundred pounds, and 
fleeces from three to four pounds to those 
weighing from five to six pounds, washed on 
the sheep. A few Cotswolds, Leicester and 
Southdowns have been introduced, and have 
their friends and admirers. They are prized 
particularly for the qualit}- of the mutton and 
the long fiber of their wool. Some crosses 
with the Merino sheep have produced a delaine 
wool which commands a ready sale with good 
prices. 

The early stock of hogs were little less than 
wild animals. Some were brought in by the 
early settlers, but large numbers were found 
in the woods, that had evidently been wild for 
years, and had probably escaped from other 
settlements. This class of stock was consid- 
ered almost as common property, and it was 
considered no great crime to appropriate an}- 
that came to hand, without closely scrutinizing 
its ownei'ship. Subsequently, a system of ear 
marks was adopted, and each owner recorded 
his own particular mark with the Township 
Clerk. Even after this, tlie line of ownership 
was not closely observed. It is said that one 
of the early settlers came to this county owing 
a considerable debt in the Kast, for which he 
had given his notes. One of his creditors, 
anxious to realize on his account, rode out here 
on horseback, to get the payment of his note. 
Of course there was no money here, but, desir- 



ous to satisfy his urgent creditor, the settler 
proposed to pay him in hogs, though not pos- 
sessing a shoat to his name. The time came 
when the hogs were to be collected, and the 
notes having been canceled, they set out to 
drive the hogs to market. They had not passed 
the confines of the county when an unfortunate 
plunge of a dog (which seemed to show method 
in his madness) stampeded the whole drove, 
which, taking to the woods, was irreparably 
lost. 

The woods breed of hogs is now extinct in this 
county, and where it used to take two 3'ears to 
make a two-hundred-pound hog, a three and 
four hundred-pound hog can be made in nine to 
twelve months. The principal breeds are the 
Sufiblk, Chester White, Magies, Poland-China 
and Berkshire. The latter were first introduced 
about 1850, but they were at that time a rough, 
coarse-boned hog, and were soon abandoned. 
A few years later, the Suflblk was introduced. 
They were fine, smooth animals, easily fattened 
at any age, but did not possess sufficient 
strength of limb, and were in every way too 
delicate to meet the wants of this locality-. 
The Chester White succeeded the Suflblks. 
They are a large, white hog, mature earl}' , and 
are considered large eaters. A cross between 
these and the Suflblk has been tried, and the 
result highly prized for market purposes. The 
Magie and Poland-China crosses, and the mod- 
ern Berkshire are taking the lead of late. The 
latter is probably taking the lead, and is fast 
achieving a national reputation, a herd-book be- 
ing issued by an association of breeders, in 
Illinois, in which the pedigree of thorough- 
bred animals of this breed is to be chronicled. 

Dairying is but little known in Crawford 
Count}'. The farmers appreciate the luxury of 
fresh milk and butter, and sell their surplus prod- 
uct in the villages to their less fortunate neigh- 
bors, but an}' organized enterprise for this pur- 
pose has never found a permanent location in the 
county. A year or two ago, a cheese-factory was 



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292 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



started by John Pease, about two miles south of 
Biicyrus, which, it is said, paid the proprietor 
well for his trouble and investment, but was not 
continued a second year. The conditions in the 
southern part of the county seem favorable for 
such an enterprise. A large number of cows 
are kept. It is fine grazing country, and good 
water is generall}^ accessible. The only thing 
that seems to be lacking is the man who has 
sufficient experience in the business and enter- 
prise and capital to push the matter through 
to success. The last report (1878) gives the 
dairy products at 609,354 pounds of butter, 
and 2,831 pounds of cheese. 

A noticeable and favorable feature of the 
agriculture of the county is the moderate size 
of the average farm. In the southern part of 
the county there are several large landholders, 
one person owning some 3,500 acres, but the 
average in the county is put at not over eighty 
acres. These farms are well tilled, the buildings 
well improved, and a general well-to-do air of 
neatness and comfort prevails everywhere 
throughout the farming communit}'. Farming 
implements of the most approved pattern are 
being introduced, and generally b}' the farmers. 
In the matter of markets, Crawford County is 
well provided. Bucyrus in the center, Gallon 
in the southeast corner, and Crestline on the 
eastern side, are points generally easily acces- 
sible to all parts of the county. The Pittsburgh, 
Fort Wayne & Chicago, the Cleveland, Colum- 
bus, Cincinnati & Indianapolis, New York, 
Pennsylvania & Ohio, and the Ohio Central 
Railroads all touch or pass through the coun- 
ty, affording the amplest shipping laeililies for 
all parts of the country. The only drawback 
in this direction is the character of the public 
highways. These are as unreliable as dirt roads 
can be, and the whole farming coramunit}'^ is 
frequently travel-bound for months at a time 
during the inclement season of the year. What 
is more unfortunate there seems to be no prac- 
tical remedy for this state of things. There 



are no considerable gravel deposits and no 
easily accessible quarries of stone that can be 
cheaply applied. The western part of the 
county is undei'laid with limestone, but to what 
extent it is available or practicable for the pur- 
pose of macadamizing the public roads has not 
yet been developed. The village of Gallon is 
this year (1880) making improvements in her 
streets and sidewalks with imported stone, and 
it is hoped by the citizens that a suggestion 
has been made that will be profitably applied to 
the countr}'^ waj^s. 

The first movement toward the organization 
of a county fair was made early in 1848. Dur- 
ing the legislative session of 1832-33, an act 
was passed for the encouragement of agricult- 
ure, through the organization of agricultural 
societies. Under this act, a number of socie- 
ties were organized and fairs held, but, from 
lack of interest, most of them were discontinued 
in a few 3^ears. In 1 846, a new act was passed re- 
viving the old societies and resulting in the or- 
ganization of many new ones. The one in Craw- 
ford County was one of the number of new ones 
that sprang into existence. Among the leading 
spirits in this enterprise were Stephen Kelle}', 
Samuel Colwell, Gen. Samuel Myers, Judge 
Musgrave, George and William Cummings, Will- 
iam Cox and Abel Dewalt. The first officers 
were : Zalmon Rowse, President ; Jacob Mul- 
lenkopf, Vice President ; J. B. Larwill, Secre- 
tary ; and A. Failor, Treasurer. The first fair 
was held in the old court house 3'ard on the 
19th of October, 1848. The exhibition was con- 
fined to some nineteen entries, all of which re- 
ceived awards. Of course there was no such 
thing as a fee for admittance. Indeed, the 
fence was so dilapidated that it had to be patched 
up to keep the sow and pigs, which were one of 
the attractions of the exhibition, from getting 
away. Domestic manufactures were shown in 
the court house, and it is related that the chief 
subject of remark was a certain patchwork 
quilt that had been pieced in Pittsburgh and 



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HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



293 



exhibited here. The ladies of Crawford seemed 
to be unanimous in their disapproval of its gen- 
eral style and execution, and was the chief 
topic of conversation for the time. The follow- 
ing report, taken from the Bucyrus Journal of 
September 20, 1872, was published originally 
in the Peoples Forum of March 24, 1849 : 

M. P. Bean, Esq. — Sir: Will you please insert in 
your paper the following list of premiums awarded by 
the Crawford County Agricultural Society, at the fair 
held October 19, 1848, a notice of which I should have 
sent you some time since, but have been prevented by 
other engagements. 

I was confined by sickness at the time of the fair, 
and, therefore, cannot speak from personal observation; 
but I have understood that the fair was much more nu- 
merously attended than was expected, owing to the bad 
state of the roads, the unfavorableness of the weather, 
and the fact that this was merely an experiment, being 
the first held in the county ; and from the fact that but 
very little interest has heretofore been manifested by 
the farmers and others in relation to aflairs of the so- 
ciety. 

Those who were present state that, although but few 
articles were presented, and in several cases where pre- 
miums were awarded there was no competition, yet that 
there was much spirit manifested by those present, in 
reference to the importance of such exhibitions, and a 
determination to have a much more interesting fair 
next year. J. B. Larwill, Sec'y. 

The following is a list of premiums awarded : 

HORSES. 

To Frederick Wadams, for best blooded stallion.. |5 00 
To David Decker, for second best blooded stallion.. 3 00 

To David Decker, for best two-year-old colt 1 00 

To Zalmon Rowse, for best blooded mare (not 

brood) 3 00 

To John Moderwell, for best gelding 2 00 

CATTLE. 

To Andrew Worling, for best blooded bull 4 00 

To Zalmon Rowse, for best cow 3 00 

To Alfred Magers, for best calf. 2 00 

SHEEP. 

To Samuel Andrews, for best buck 3 00 

To Samuel Andrews, for second best buck 2 00 

To Samuel Andrews, for best lot of ewes 3 00 

SWINE. 

To John Moderwell, for best sow 2 00 



AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS. 

To David P. Norton, fur best wind-mill 3 00 

MANUFACTURED ARTICLES. 

To Samuel Andrews, for best flannel 2 00 

To Jacob Mullenkopf, for best thread 1 00 

To John Sims, for best single harness 2 00 

To William Mallory, for best sample of butter... 2 00 

To William Mallory, for best sample of cheese... 1 00 

FRUIT. 

To J. B. Larwill. for best grapes 1 00 

In the following year, the fair was held on 
the 24th of October, in the court house yard 
again. This year the display was more varied, 
the domestic manufactures and fancy articles 
being shown in the court house. Pens were 
also provided for the stock, of which a part was 
shown on the ground now occupied by the 
Quinby Block. A total premium list of $103 
was advertised. In 1850, another day was 
added, and the exhibition made on the 17th 
and 18th of October. This was then called a 
"cattle show," and was held on six acres of 
ground, at the end of what is now G-alen street, 
which terminated then at Norton's Grove, just 
north of the Monnett House. Stock pens were 
put up here, and opinion is divided as to 
whether the domestic manufactures were ex- 
hibited in a tent or at the court house. '' In 
1851," to quote from the Journal, '-the fair 
was again held for two days, on the 23d and 
24th of October. This 3^ear the fair was re- 
moved to the grounds out near the cemetery, 
owned at the time by Henry Miunich, who gave 
the society the use of the land each year, on 
condition that they would fence it. 

This, the society was unable to do in a single 
year, but fully inclosed it the second year, after 
which, it is to be presumed, the society com- 
menced to charge an admission fee. Floral 
Hall and Domestic Hall were poor buildings at 
best, the former only partial 1}- inclosed, the 
latter consisting merely of a roof covered with 
clapboards and supported by poles, while the 
sides were wholl}^ uninclosed. 






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294 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



Floral Hall, in particular, will be remembered 
as a rough frame, which was annual!}' covered 
with muslin. This, after each fair, was taken 
down and folded aAva}- until the next season. 
The track also at this time .was a little better 
than a circus ring, and was surrounded by 
a rope. In 1857, it was greatly extended and 
approached a half-mile track." In 1859, a 
third day was added to the exhibition, and 
annual fairs maintained until the beginning of 
1862, when the organization was abandoned. 
No more exhibitions were held until 1867. In 
this year, Josiah Koler, D. C. Boyer, Barber 
Robinson, James Robinson, C. S. Grim, William 
Cox, Adam Klink, John Bremen, Maj. E. R. 
Kearsley, James Orr, H. J. Thompson and Lu- 
ther Myers formed a joint-stock company 
called the Crawford County Agricultural Asso- 
ciation. They proposed to issue $7,000 worth 
of stock for the purchase of land and to fit it 
up for the purpose of holding fairs. But $6,100 
worth of stock was disposed of, and, with this, 
nineteen acres of land was bought on the site 
of the present grounds. Two years later, nine 



acres more were purchased, and. in 1871, four 
and a half acres more were added, making a 
total of thirty-two and a half acres. This was 
inclosed with the proper fencing, a Floral Hall, 
Domestic Hall, offices, eating-house, pens for 
stock, and stalls, and a good half-mile con- 
structed at a total cost of about $13,000. A 
natural amphitheater commands the ring, and 
some three acres of it are covered with the 
natural growth of timber. The stock has 
changed hands considerably, and generally at 
from thirty to fifty per cent discount. 

Upon grounds thus provided, the re-organ- 
ized agricultural society held their fifteenth 
annual fair on the 15th, 16th, 17th and 18th 
days of October, 1867. This organization is 
perfectly distinct fi'om the stock company, and 
rent the grounds, paying whatever surplus 
there may be in the treasury after the season 
is closed. The payments have been from $500 
to $800 per annum. Since the re-organization, 
the annual exhibitions have been kept up, and, 
in 1872, continuing five days. It has since 
been reduced to four days. 



WAK UISTOKY— THE REVOLUTION 



CHAPTER VII 

AND 1812— INDIAN AND MKXU'AN 
—AID SOCIETIES. 



WARS— THE EATE REBELLION 



•' And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of w;irs." 

IN the early history of the Ohio Territory, a 
large tract of land was reserved within the 
limits, and designated " United States Military 
Land." This land had been set apart by the 
Federal Grovernment for the purpose of reward- 
ing its soldiei's of the Revolutionary war. 
These old soldiers had spent their best years 
fighting for the independence of their country, 
and peace found them broken down in health, 
and many of them in fortune, so that, when a 
grateful but impoverished Government offered 
them homes in the distant West, they gladl}' 



accepted the offer. This was the means of 
bringing many of these old Revolutionary 
heroes to the Ohio Territory, and to the State 
of Ohio after its admission into the Federal 
Union. These war-worn veterans had often 
faced the British legions on hard-fought fields, 
as well as fought the Indian in his own fashion. 
Hence they felt themselves full}- competent to 
contest with the red man his right to the hiuit- 
ing-grouuds of Ohio. 

It cannot be said that Ohio took part in the 
Revolutionary war. yet many of her early settlers 
took an active part in it, previoush', however, 



M®- 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



295 



to their coming to tlie Territory, as the war was 
over long before a white settlement was made 
in what is now the great State of Ohio. After 
their settlement here, they were often called 
upon to defend their homes and families against 
Indian attacks and incursions, and long famil- 
iarity with savage warfare well fitted them for 
such scenes. But, as the Indian wars and 
Indian history pertaining to Crawford County 
are given more fully in another chapter, we 
merel}' allude to them here by way of preface 
to a chapter that is devoted chiefly to " wars 
and rumors of wars." 

How man}^ of the pioneers of Crawford 
County served in the war of the Revolution, is 
not now known. But, as settlements were made 
here little more than a quarter of a century 
after the close of the war for independence, it 
is altogether probable that a number of these 
old heroes were among the early settlers. It is 
impossible, however, to learn the facts at this 
date; and we will pass to later struggles in 
which the people in this section were more par- 
ticularly interested. 

In the war of 1812, when the British lion 
was again unchained and turned loose upon 
this free country, Crawford County was then 
unformed and unsettled ; it was as yet in 
the Indian country, and near the theater of some 
of the stirring events of 1812-15. After the close 
of this war. a large scope of country was opened 
in this portion of the State to the wliite people, 
who were not slow to take possession. Among 
the first settlers were manj^ soldiers of the last 
war with Great Britain. These, like the Revo- 
lutionary soldiers, found their wa\' here for the 
purpose of obtaining cheap homes for them- 
selves and their children. In another portion 
of this work will be found many biographical 
sketches of these soldiex's of 1812. 

The Mexican war, after the Indian wars 
mentioned elsewhere, was the next call to arms 
of the American people. They liad enjoj-ed a 
long peace and a long season of prosperit3\" 



If " Red Battle," with his " blood-red tresses 
deepening in the sun," had raged to and fro in 
lands beyond the great deep, the " thunder of 
his goings " came to us but as the " dying 
cadence " of the voice of a distant cloud, whose 
lightnings could harm us not. We moved on 
undisturbed until 1846 — the commencement of 
the Mexican war. All readers of American 
histor}' are familiar with the facts which re- 
sulted in a collision between the United States 
and Mexico. Briefly, the causes of the war 
grew out of the admission of Texas into the 
Federal Union. The " Lone Star," as it was 
called, had been a province of ^lexico, but, some 
years previous to its annexation to the United 
States, it had thrown off the rotten yoke of the 
Spaniard. In the battle of San Jacinto, which 
occurred in 1836, the Texans captured Santa 
Anna, then Dictator of Mexico, together with 
the larger part of his army, and succeeded in 
forcing from him an acknowledgment of their 
independence. Mexico, however, refused to 
recognize this treaty, and continued to treat 
Texas and her people as she had previously 
done. From this time forth, petitions were 
frequenth- presented to the United States bj' 
the Texans, praying for admission into the 
Union. There was a strong element in the 
country opposed to the admission of Texas, 
while Mexico constantly declared that such an 
event would be regarded as suflScient cause for 
a declaration of war on her part. In the Presi- 
dential canvass of 18-44, between Clay and 
Polk, the annexation of Texas was one of the 
leading issues before the people, and Mr. Polk, 
whose party favored the admission of Texas, 
being elected, this was taken as a public declar- 
ation on the subject. After this, Congress had 
no hesitancy in granting the petition of Texas, 
and on the 1st of March, 1845, formallv received 
her into the sisterhood of States. Mexico at 
once broke oflf all diplomatic relations with the 
United States, calling home her minister imme- 
diately, which was a clear declaration of war 






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296 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



— and war soon followed. Congress passed an 
act authorizing the President to accept the 
services of 50,000 volunteers, and appropriating 
$10,000,000 for the prosecution of tlie war. 

As the war feeling, like an epidemic, swept 
over the countr}-, the people caught the spirit 
of enthusiasm and their patriotism was aroused 
to the highest pitch of excitement. The old 
State Militia was then in force, requiring the 
enrollment of every able-bodied man between 
the ages of eighteen and fort^'-five 3'ears for 
military duty. In these old militia organi- 
zations, were found the nucleus of the regiments 
called for b}' the President in the coming war. 
A local correspondent, writing to the Forum. 
some years later, thus humorously refers to the 
matter, and the opening of the war : '• I remem- 
ber well, that a meeting of the best men was 
assembled at the court house, then a four- 
cornered, mansard-roofed institution. The pa- 
per Generals, Colonels, Majors, Captains, etc., 
were on hand, and made high-toned and top- 
loftical speeches. Patriotism fairl}^ oozed out 
at the ends of their fingers. They were willing 
to allow their bones to bleach on the plains of 
San Jacinto — provided it loas necessary ! In a 
few brief weeks, the time came for our stalwart 
sons to enroll themselves under that banner 
which floats ' over every land and sea,' to kiss 
a gentle good-bye to home and friends, and be 
off to the wars." 

In the President's call for 50,000 men, Ohio 
was required to furnish three regiments. With 
her charactei'istic patriotism, she filled her quota 
in a few weeks. The troops rendezvoused at 
Cincinnati, and, upon the organization of the 
three regiments, there were nearly troops 
enough left to form another regiment. These 
were furnished transportation to their homes at 
the expense of the (rovernment. The regiments, 
as organized, were oflScered as follows : First 
Regiment — A. M. Mitchell, of Cincinnati, 
Colonel ; John B. Weller, of Butler County, 
Lieutenant Colonel ; T. L. Hamer, of Brown 



County, Major. Second Regiment — Gl. W. 
Morgan, of Knox County, Colonel ; William 
Irvin, of Fairfield, Lieutenant Colonel ; William 
Hall, of Athens, Major. Third Regiment— S. 
R. Curtis, of Wayne County, Colonel ; Gr. W. 
McCook, of Jefferson, Lieutenant Colonel ; and 
J. T. Love, of Morgan, Major. Crawford County 
was well represented in these regiments, as it 
was, also, in the next call, which was known as 
the " Ten Regiments Bill," and made at a later 
day, for the " prosecution of the war." The 
names of those participating in this war, so far 
as wc have been able to obtain them, will be 
found in the biographical department of this 
work. 

To go into the details of the war, and the 
battles fought during its continuation, is but to 
repeat what is familiar to all. Suffice it to say, 
that the entire war was a series of triumphs to 
the American arms — ^triumphs such as rarely 
fall to any nation in a long and sanguinary war. 
From the opening battle of Palo Alto until the 
Stars and Stripes waved in triumph over the 
■' halls of the Montezumas," not one single vic- 
tory was lost b}' the American Arm}-. This is 
glory enough. 

The war of the rabellion next claims our 
attention. We do not design, in this connec- 
tion, to write a history of the war between the 
States, but a history- of Crawford County that 
did not contain its war record, would not be 
considered much of a history. Nothing will be 
of a greater interest to coming generations in 
our country than a true and faithful account of 
the events of those four long and gloomj^ 3'ears. 
It is a duty we owe to the soldiers that took part 
in the bloody struggle, to record and preserve 
the leading facts. Especially do we owe this 
to the long list of the dead, who laid down 
their lives for their country's honor and pres- 
ervation ; we owe it to the maimed and man- 
gled cripples who were lacei'ated and torn l)y 
shot and shell ; and last, but by no means 
least, we owe it to the widows and orphans of 



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HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



299 



the brave soldiers, who, for love of country, for- 
sook home with all its endearments, and whose 
bodies lie rotting in the far distant South. 

The people of Crawford County require no 
facts to remind them of those exciting times, 
or to recall the names of those who served their 
country by fighting the battles of the Union. 
Their names will live in characters as bright and 
imperishable as Austerlitz's sun. Many who 
went from this county to fight for their country 
came back shrined in glory ; many left limbs 
upon the distant battle-fields ; and many still 
bear the marks of the strife that raged at Gettys- 
burg, Shenandoah, Chickamauga, Stone River, 
on the heights of Lookout Mountain, where, in 
the language of Prentice, 

'■ they burst, 



Like spirits of destruction, tlirough the clouds, 
And, 'mid a tliousand hurtling mis?i!es, swept 
Their f'les before them, as tlie whirlwind sweeps 
The strong oaks of the forest." 

But there were many who came not back. 
They fell by the wa^-side, or, from the prison 
and battle-field, crossed over and mingled in the 
ranks of that grand arm}' beyond the river ; 
their memory is held in sacred keeping. And 
there are others, whose S3'stems, poisoned by 
disease, came home to die, and now sleep be- 
side their ancestors in the village church-yard. 
There the violets on their mounds speak in ten- 
der accents of womanlv sweetness, and womanly 
devotion and afl:ection. Their memory, too, is 
immortal. Beautiful as a crown of gold, the 
rays of the sunset lie upon the little hillocks 
above them. Others still, sleep in unknown 
graves in the land of " cotton and cane." But 
the same trees which shelter the sepulchers of 
their foemen. shade their tombs also ; the same 
birds carol their matins to both ; the same flow- 
ers sweeten the air with their fragrance, and the 
same daisies caress the graves of both as the 
breezes toss them into rippling eddies. 

But, while we weave a laurel crown for our 
own dead heroes, let us twine a few sad C3'press 



leaves and wreathe them about the memory of 
those who fell on the other side, and who, though 
arraj'ed against us and their country, were — 
OUR BROTHERS. Tcrrilil}' mistaken as they 
were, we remember hundreds of them over 
whose moldering dust we would gladly plant 
flowers with our own hands. Now that the war 
is long over, and the issues that caused it are 
buried past resurrection, let us extend to those 
upon whom the fortunes of war frowned, the 
hand of charity, and, knowing no " Solid South " 
or " Solid North," again become, what we should 
ever have been, " brothers all." 

The President's first call for troops, in the 
spring of 1861, for three months, was responded 
to with the utmost promptness. That the Union 
was in danger, was sufficient cause, and the 
requisite number of volunteers (75,000) was 
soon furnished. The country, however, was not 
long in discovering that the " breakfast spell." 
as many termed it, was likely to prove more 
than had been anticipated. Another call for 
troops was soon made, and this time for 300,- 
000, to serve for three 3'ears, and was filled al- 
most as prompth' as the first call — quite so, 
perhaps, but, being for a larger number of men 
it took a little more time to fill the quota. 

Under the Presidents first call for troops, a 
company was raised in Crawford Countv, which 
became a part of the Eighth Ohio Infantrv. and 
was mustered into the service for three months. 
It was known as Company C, and was oflScered 
as follows at its organization : F. W. Butter- 
field, Captain ; E. W. Merriman, First Lieuten- 
ant ; and David Lewis. Second Lieutenant. 
Capt. Butterfield served faithfully until the ex- 
piration of the term of service of the regiment, 
when he assisted in raising the One Hundred 
and Ninety second Infantr}-, for one 3'ear's serv- 
ice, and was made its Colonel. This regiment 
he commanded until it was mustered out of the 
service. 

As this was the first compan3- from Crawford 
County, before it left for the front, the bo3's com- 



iti^, 



300 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



posing it were invited to church, and a sermon 
b}' the Pastor preached to them, and many God- 
speeds tendered by the friends of the Union, 
who offered up prayers for their protection and 
preservation. This company served out its three 
3-ears, and perhaps saw as much hard service 
as any troops during the war. A report made 
of Company C, from Falmouth, Va., Dec. 31, 
1862, will show something of its hard service. 
It is as follows : 

Killed in battle 10 

Discharged of wounds received in battle 6 

Wounded and now in hospital 8 

Wounded in battle and now recovered 12 

Died of disease 1 

Sick of disease and now in hospital 9 

Discharged on account of ill health 10 

Deserted 1 

Enlisted in U. S. Cavalry 10 

On duty Dec. 31, 1862— 

Commissioned officers 3 

Non-commissioned officers 8 

Privates 16 

Total fit for duty 27 

Number of miles marched 1,739 

Number of battles fought 17 

Falmouth, Va , December 31, 1862. 

The Eighth Infantry, to which Capt. Butter- 
field's Company C belonged, was originally en- 
listed for three months, as we have stated, 
under the President's call for 75,000 men. It 
was assembled at Camp Taylor, Cleveland, 
where the regiment was organized, and, on the 
2d of May, 1861, sent to Camp Dennison, 
where it at once commenced drill, preparatory 
to going to the field. It soon became apparent 
however, that the soldiers at this camp would 
not be sent to the front, and efforts were at 
once inaugurated to re-enlist the regiment for 
three years. To this proposition. Company C 
heartily responded, as did every company in 
the regiment except Company I, and the regi- 
ment, nine companies strong, was mustered 
into the United States service for three years. 
Company I, however, reconsidered its action, 



and, in the following September, joined the 
regiment at Grafton, Va., the other companies 
having been sworn into the service in June. 
Leaving Camp Dennison for Virginia on the 
9th of July, 1861, the first service of the 
Eighth was along the Baltimore & Ohio Rail- 
road, protecting it from bands of rebels prowl- 
ing in its vicinit3^ On the 24:th of September, 
it participated in an attack on Romney, and 
was again engaged at the same place on the 
24th of October. In January, 1862, the regi- 
ment was in an engagement at Blue Gap, and, 
on the 14th of February, it took part in a 
severe skirmish at Bloomery Gap, where Col. 
Baldwin, his staff, and a part of his command, 
were captured. In March, the division to 
which the Eighth belonged moved to the Shen- 
andoah Valley, where, on the 18th and 19th, 
sharp engagements took place at Cedar Creek 
and Strasburg. In these actions the regiment 
acted as skirmishers, a branch of duty in which 
it established an excellent reputation. 

In the severe battle of Winchester, which 
took place on the 23d of March, the Eighth was 
deployed as skirmishers, both the evening be- 
fore and on the morning of the battle, and lost 
in killed and wounded over one-fourth of the 
number engaged. The companies engaged were 
C, E, D and H, all of which suffered severely. 
During the months of March and April, the 
regiment followed the enemy up the valley, and 
engaged in skirmishes at Woodstock, Mount 
Jackson, Edinburg and New Market. At the 
latter place. Col. Kimball, who had been for 
some time in command of the brigade, received 
his commission as Brigadier General, and be- 
came commander of the brigade to which the 
Eighth belonged. It joined McDowell's corps 
on the 22d of May at Fredericksburg, and, on 
the 25th, was ordered back with its division to 
the valley to confront Stonewall Jackson, who 
had driven hence Gen. Banks. On the 30th> 
Front Royal was recaptured. The Eighth 
skirmished all the way from Rectortown, a dis- 



HISTORY OF CKAWFOKD COUNTY 



301 



tance of eighteen miles, capturing among other 
prisoners the famous Belle Boyd. Shields' 
division was soon after broken up, and, on the 
3d and -Ith of Jul}-, the Eighth was thrown out 
toward the swamps of the Chickahominy, hav- 
ing several severe skirmishes, in which it lost 
a number of men. AVhile the army lay at 
Harrison's Landing, the Eighth was united 
with the Second Corps, French's division and 
Kimball's brigade, with which force it contin- 
ued during the remainder of its service. The 
Second Corps acted as rear guard to the army 
in its retreat until after it crossed the Chicka- 
homin}^ It then proceeded to Alexandria via 
Yorktown and Newport News, arriving on the 
28th of July. On this march, until the troops 
arrived at Chain Bridge, the Eighth was under 
fire but once, and that at Grermantown, a few 
miles north of Fairfax Court House. Soon 
after this, the battles of South Mountain and 
Antietam took place. In the first, the corps to 
which the eighth belonged was not actively en- 
gaged, but crossed the mountain * and skir- 
mished with the enemy at Boonesboro and 
Keedysville, where a heavy artillery duel com- 
menced on the morning of the 16th of Septem- 
ber. In almost the first discharge of the 
enemy's guns, W. W. Farmer, a Color Sergeant 
of the Eighth, was killed. In the battle of 
Antietam, on the following day, the regiment 
particularl}' distinguished itself, cliangiug front 
together with the Fourteenth Indiana, a move- 
ment executed in fine style and at an oppor- 
tune moment, thereby saving the brigade from 
rout, and winning for it the title of the " Gib- 
raltar Brigade" from Gen. Sumner, who com- 
manded the Second Corps. After this battle, 
the regiment moved to Bolivar Heights, then 
to Falmouth, participating in a number of 
skirmishes by the way. 

On tlie 18th of December, at the battle of 
Fredericksburg, the Eighth formed the right 
wing of the forlorn hope, and in the movement 
lost twent}- -eight killed and wounded. The 



army remained in camp here until the 28th of 
April, 1863, when it crossed over the river and 
fought the battle of Chancellorsville, in which 
engagement the Eighth lost two men killed 
and eleven wounded. This was the last battle 
in which the gallant Eighth took part, until that 
of Gettysburg. In this hai'd-fought and brave- 
ly contested fight, it took an honorable part, 
and lost one hundred and two in killed and 
wounded. It followed in the pursuit of Gen. 
Lees army across the Potomac, participating in 
several skirmishes, and moved with the nation- 
al forces to the Rapidan. It was sent to New 
York City in August to quell the riots conse- 
quent upon the draft, after wliich it returned to 
tlie field and joined the arm}' at Culpepper, on 
the 10th of October, where it again fronted 
the enemy. In November, it took part in the 
battle of Robinson's Cross Roads, Locust 
Grove and Mine Run, acting most of the time 
as skirmishers. It, with the troops, crossed 
the Rapidan, Februar}- 6, 1864, and fought the 
battle of Morton's Ford, having several officers 
and men wounded. The campaign of 1864 
opened on the 3d of May, and, in the battles 
which followed, the Eighth bore its accustomed 
part, and was under fire for two days, at one 
time. In these several engagements its loss 
was upward of sixty killed and wounded. In 
the numerous skirmishes from Spottsylvania to 
Petersburg, and in the battles of North Anna, 
Cold Harbor, and in front of Petersburg, it was 
activeh' engaged. 

The term of service of the gallant Eighth 
expired on the 25th of June, and it was relieved 
from duty, being at the time in the trenches 
before Petersburg. With a handful of war- 
worn veterans, comprising but seventy-two 
officers and men fit for dutj-, of the ten compa- 
nies, which had entered it three years before, 
the Eighth started for home. The little band 
was frequently greeted with tokens of respect 
on the way, especially at Zanesville where a 
collation was spread for them. It arrived at 



^1 



'ht 



302 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



Cleveland on the morning of July 3, and was 
cordially- received bv tlie Mayor and Military 
Committee. On the 13th of July, 1864, the 
regiment was paid oft', and formally mustered 
out of the llnited States service. 

The Twent3'-third Ohio Infantry is the next 
regiment in which Crawford County was repre- 
sented by an organized body of men. Compa- 
ny C was raised in and around Gallon, and was 
known originally as the " Gallon Guards.'' 
The}' were, man}' of them, railroad men, were a 
fine-looking bod}', and as good soldiers as went 
from the county during the war. The commis- 
sioned officers were John AV. Skiles, Captain ; 
J. R. McMuUin, First Lieutenant and T. P. 
Harding, Second Lieutenant. Capt. Skiles 
was an old soldier of the Mexican war, and an 
efficient officer. " He was wounded," says the 
Bucyrus Journal, '• at Middletown, Md., which 
resulted in the loss of an arm at the elbow." 
He was promoted to Major of the Eighty- 
eighth Ohio Infantry on the 29th of July, 1863, 
in which capacity he served until the close of 
the war, and was mustered out with the 
regiment. Lieut. MciMullin was originally 
Captain of the old " Mansfield Artillery Com- 
pany," a position he creditably filled. He was 
early promoted to Quartermaster of the Twenty- 
third. Further information of the commis- 
sioned officers of Company C. we have been un- 
able to obtain. 

The Twenty-third was a regiment that turned 
out many gallant officers during the late 
war ; in fact, it was sometimes called " the regi- 
ment of Brigadier Generals." Among its first 
officers, several became noted Generals. Its 
first Colonel, Gen. Rosecrans, became one of 
the ablest Generals of the army. Scammon, 
Hayes (now President) and Stanley Matthews 
were also gallant officers. Several others be- 
came Brigadiers. The regiment was organ- 
ized at Camp Chase in June, 1861. and before 
leaving for the field Col. Rosecrans, its Com- 
mander, was promoted to Brigadier General, 



and Col. Scammon succeeded to the command 
of the Twenty-third. On the 25th of July, 
the regiment was ordered to West Virginia, 
where it arrived on the 27th, and the next day 
proceeded to Weston. For some time after its 
arrival in West Virginia, it operated principally 
against scattered bands of the enemy, being 
divided up into squads. On the 1st of Septem- 
ber, the regiment was united, and moved with 
the main body of Gen. Rosecrans' army, but 
participated in no particular engagement- 
During the winter its time was devoted chiefly 
to discipline and drill. Orders were received 
on the 17th of April, 1862, to quit winter quar- 
ters, and, accordingly, on the 22d the army 
moved in the direction of Princeton, the Twenty- 
third being in the advance. Princeton was 
reached May 1, but until the 8th the time was 
spent mostly in foraging and in slight skirmish- 
ing with the enemy. On the 8th, the Twenty- 
third was attacked by the rebel Gen. Heath, 
with an overwhelming force, and compelled to 
fall back, which it did in good order. During 
this expedition, the regiment suflfered extreme 
hardships, owing to the enemy having cut off 
all sources of supplies. It was ordered to 
Green Meadows on the 13th of July, and on 
the 15th of August orders were received to 
hasten to Camp Piatt, on the Great Kanawha, 
where it arrived on the morning of the 18thj 
having marched one hundred and four miles in 
a little more than three days — a march, claimed 
by its officers to be the fastest on record 
made by any considerable force. The regiment 
embarked for Parkersburg, where it took cars 
for Washington City, from whence it proceeded 
with Gen. McClollan's army to Frederick City. 
It reached IMiddletown, Md., on the 12th, where 
was commenced the battle of South Mountain, 
which culminated in the great battle of Antie- 
tam, on the 17th of September, in both of 
which engagements the Twenty-third took an 
active part. At South Mountain, it was the 
first Infantry engaged, being under command, 



r 



^: 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



:!03 



at the time, of Lieut. Col. Ha3'es. In this en- 
gagement, Col. Hayes, Capt. Skiles (of Company 
C), Lieuts. Hood, Ritter and Smith, were badly 
wounded. Capt. Skiles was shot through the 
elbow and had his arm amputated. Additional 
to these, over one hundred were killed and 
wounded, out of three hundred and fifty who 
went into action. During the entire day, the 
regiment lost nearly two hundred men, of whom 
one-fourth were killed on the field, or after- 
ward died from their wounds. The regimental 
colors were riddled, and the blue field almost 
completely carried away by shells and bullets. 
In the battle of Antietam which followed, the 
Twenty-third fought with the Kanawha Divi- 
sion, and, though for a time fully exposed, es- 
caped without very great loss. It returned 
with the Kanawha Division to West Virginia, 
where it arrived on the 10th of October. After 
considerable marching and counter-marching 
in the Kanawha Valley, the regiment went into 
winter quarters at the falls of the Great Ka- 
nawha. In the early part of 1868, it was ordered 
to Charleston,Va.,when March, April, May, June 
and a part of Jul}- were spent in light duties. 
In the latter part of July, it participated in the 
Morgan raid, and did good service in heading 
off Morgan's band on the line of the Ohio River, 
at Buffington Bar and near Hockingport. It 
then returned to Charleston, Va., where it 
remained inactive until April 29, 1864, when it 
joined Gen. Crook for a raid on the "N'^irginia 
and Tennessee Railroad. This was a long and 
toilsome march over the mountains, but was 
cheerfully pei'formed. On the 9th of May, the 
battle of Cloyd Mountain was fought. In this 
engagement, Capt. Hunter, of Compan}- K, 
and Lieut. Seaman, commanding Company D, 
were killed ; Capt. Rice, Company A, was 
slightly wounded, and Lieut. Abbott, of Com- 
pany I, severely, while a large number of pri- 
vates were killed and wounded. Another en- 
gagement took place next day at New River 
Bridge, in which artillery was mostly used. The 



march was continued for many days, and the 
troops suffered accordingl}'. The Twenty- 
third arrived at Staunton, Va., on the 8th of 
June, where it joined Gen. Hunter's command. 
The three-3'ears term of the regiment expired 
on the 11th of June, when those not re-enlisting 
were sent home, also the old colors, which 
were no longer in a condition for service. The 
troops continued skirmishing in the country, 
and June 11 reached Lexington. Hei'e Gen. 
Hunter did an act unworthy of glory. By his 
order, the Military Academy, Washington Col- 
lege and Gov. Letcher's residence were burned. 
Says Whitelaw Reid : " Good discipline onl^- 
secured the execution of this order, which was 
protested against, formally, by Gens. Crook 
and Averill, and, tacitly, b}' nearly everj- oflScer 
and man of the entire command."' Skirmishing 
and fighting and marching continuously was 
the regular routine for some time, and culmi- 
nated in the retreat of the National forces from 
Lynchburg. The hardships endured may be 
fitly illustrated by the following extract from 
the diary of an officer of the Twenty-third : 
"June 19. — Marched all day, dragging along 
ver}- slowl}'. The men had nothing to eat. the 
trains having been sent in advance. It is al- 
most incredible that men should have been able 
to endure so much, but they never faltered, and 
not a murmur escaped them. Often men would 
drop out silently, exhausted, but not a woi'd of 
complaint was spoken. Shorth' after dark, at 
Liberty, had a brisk little fight with the 
enemy's advance ; reached Buford's Gap about 
10 A. M. of the 20th. Gen. Crook remained 
here with Hayes' Brigade, holding the Gaj) until 
dark, inviting an attack. The army was. how- 
ever, too cautious to tlo more than skirmish. 
After dark we withdrew and marched all night 
to overtake the command in the advance. 
Reached Salem about 9 A. .M. Hunter had 
passed through Salem, and a body of the 
enemy's Cavalry had fallen upon his train and 
captured the gi*eater part of his artillery. 



- \3» 



:ij* 



:\^ 



304 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



About the sumo time Crook was attacked in 
front and rear, and, after a sharp tight, pushed 
through, losing nothing. Heavy skirmishing 
all day, and nothing to eat, and no sleep. 
Continued the march until about 10 P. M., 
when we reached the foot of North Mountain 
and slept. At 4 A. M. next morning (22d)^ 
left in the advance, the first time since the re- 
treat commenced. By a mistake, a march of 
eight miles was made for nothing. Thus we 
toiled on, suffering intensely with exhaustion, 
want of food, clothing, etc. On the 27tli, a 
supply train was met on Big Sewell Mountain. 
Men all crazy. Stopped and ate ; marched and 
ate ; camped about dark, and ate all night. 
Maix'hed 180 miles in the last nine days, fighting 
nearly all the time, and with very little to eat." 
On the 1st of July, the column reached 
Charleston, where it took a rest until tiie 
10th, when the Twenty-third embarked for 
Parkersburg. The command reached Martins- 
burg on the 1-lth, and on the ISth, moved to 
Cabletown, beyond Harper's Ferr^-. Hayes' 
brigade, including the Twent3--third, was sent to 
attack Early's army of 20,000 men in flank. 
The enemy had already whipped the First Di- 
vision, with the whole Sixth Corps to back 
them. After some heavy skirmishing, the 
Twenty-third and Twenty-sixth Ohio were sur- 
rounded b}' two divisions of the enemy's cav- 
alry, but fought their way out and returned to 
camp. In the battle of Winchester, on the 24th 
of July, the National forces were defeated after 
a well-contested fight. The Twenty-third lost 
in the engagement one hundred and fift^'-thi'ee 
men, ten of whom were commissioned officers. 
A series of marches and counter-marches were 
made, and continued until the 14th of August, 
when Duval's brigade had quite a battle with a 
large rebel force. The Twenty-third was in a 
hard fight at Berry ville on the 3d of September, 
which ttwk place after dark, in which it lost 
Capts. Austin and Gillis, both brave and 
gallant officers. The battle of Opequan fol- 



lowed on the 19th, and was one of the most se- 
vere fights of the war. Tlie regiment suffered 
heavily. It also took part in the battle of 
North Mountain on the 20th, suffering but a 
slight loss. The troops now enjoyed a rest un- 
til the 10th of October, whi'u the battle of 
Cedar Creek occurred, in which the Twenty- 
third participated with its accustomed bravery. 
It was to this battle, that Sheridan made his 
famous ride from Winchester, which is thus de- 
scribed by a chronicler of the time : " Suddenly 
there is a dust in the rear, on the Winchester 
pike ; and almost before they are aware, a 
young man in full Major General's uniform, and 
riding furiously a magnificent black horse, lit- 
erally ' flecked with foam,' reins up and springs 
off by Gen. Crook's side. • There is a perfect 
roar as everybody recognized Sheridan ! He 
talks with Crook a little while, cutting away 
at the top of the weeds with his riding-whip. 
Gen. Crook speaks half a dozen sentences that 
sound a gi-eat deal like the crack of the whip ; 
and b}^ that time some of the staflT are up. They 
are soon sent flying in all directions, etc." The 
regiment saw little more hard fighting after this, 
but was engaged mostl}' during the fall of 1864, 
as train guard, and on the 1st of January, 1865, 
proceeded to Cumberland, and on the 12th to 
Grafton. Here it was detailed to protect the 
railroad until the 19th, when it returned to 
Cumberland, and there remained in drill and 
discipline until March 1. After the surrender 
of Gen. Lee, the I'egiment lay in idleness until 
July 26, when the welcome order was received 
to " go home." The Twent^'-third was mus- 
tered out at Cumberland, and took the cars for 
Camp Taylor, near Cleveland, when it was paid 
off' and discharged. 

The Thirty-fourth Infantry drew a company 
from C^rawford Countj'. Company E was from 
this count}', and was organized with the 
following officers : J. W. Shaw, Captain ; F. B. 
Helwig, First Lieutenant, and W. H. Carpenter, 
Second Lieutenant. 



& V 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



305 



Capt. Shaw was promoted to Major, October 
10, 1862, to Lieutenant Colonel, July 18, 1863, 
and was killed July 24, 1864, at the battle of 
Winchester. First Lieut. Helwig was promoted 
to Captain, July 17, 1862, and mustered out 
with regiment. Second Lieut. Carpenter was 
discharged August 1, 1863. Isaac P. Grover 
was promoted to Second Lieutenant, December 
3, 1862, to First Lieutenant, March 2, 1864. 
and to Captain, September 30, 1864. Isaiah 
C. Lindsey was promoted to Second Lieutenant 
March 16, 1864, and as such mustered out. N. 
P. Marvell was promoted to Second Lieutenant, 
September 30, 1864, to First Lieutenant, No- 
vember 26, 1864, and mustered out April 4, 
1865. 

The Thirtj^-fourth Regiment wa^ organized 
at Camp Lucas in July and August, 1861, and 
on the 1st of September it moved to Camp 
Dennison. It was there prepared for the field, 
and adopted as its uniform (a license allowable 
at that earl}' period of the war) a light blue 
Zouave dress. In compliment to their Colonel, 
A. S. Piatt, of Logan County, the name " Piatt 
Zouaves" was adopted. The regiment left 
Camp Dennison for Western Virginia on the 
15th of September, 1861, with full ranks, and 
on the 20th arrived at Camp Enyart, on the 
Kanawha River. Its first battle was fought at 
Chapmansville, on the 25th, where it lost one 
man killed and eight wounded. During the re- 
mainder of autumn and winter, it was kept 
pretty busy in guarding the rear of Gen. Rose- 
crans' arm}'. In March, 1862, it was ordered 
to Gauley Bridge to join Gen. Cox in his dem- 
onstrations on the Virginia & Tennessee 
Railroad. It participated in the battle of 
Princeton on the 17th and 18th of May, losing 
several men, and having Lieuts. Peck and 
Peters wounded, and Capt. 0. P. Evans taken 
prisoner. In August, 1862, Gen. Cox was or- 
dered to join Gen. McClellan, when there were 
but six regiments left to guard the Kanawha 
Valley. The Thirty-fourth and Thirty-seventh 



were attacked at Fayetteville, on the morning 
of September 10, by a rebel force 10,000 strong, 
under Gen. Loring. By the aid of breastworks 
previously constructed, and a few pieces of ar- 
tillery, they were enabled to hold the place un- 
til midnight, when they evacuated it. The 
Thirty -fourth fought for a part of the time in 
an open field against odds, and necessarily lost 
heavily. Of six companies engaged (the other 
four being absent on a scout) the loss was 130, or 
fully one-third engaged. One-half of the offi- 
cers were either killed or wounded. Cutting 
their way out, they fell back to the Kanawha 
River, made a stand at Cotton Mountain the 
next day, and at Charleston on the 1 2th, where 
a severe engagement took place. From this 
point the National forces fell back to Point 
Pleasant, leaving the entire valley in the 
hands of the enemy. Gen. Cox returned, in 
October, with his command, and the valley was 
regained. 

Nothing of moment occurred from this time 
until in May, 1863, when the regiment was sup- 
plied with horses, and became ■' Mounted 
Rifles." An expedition, on the 13th of July, 
consisting of the Thirty-fourth, two companies 
of the First, and seven companies of the Second 
Virginia Cavalry, under command of Col. 
Toland, made a descent on the Virginia & Ten- 
nessee Railroad, and had a severe engagement 
at Wytheville, in which they were victorious, 
but lost heavily. Among the killed of the 
Thirty-fourth was Col. Toland. With his dying 
breath, he requested his horse and sword to be 
sent his mother. Tlie brigade left Camp Piatt 
with nearly one thousand men, marched six 
hundi'ed and fifty-two miles in eleven days, 
traversing some of the highest mountains in 
Western Virginia. Over two hundred and fifty 
horses were captured, together with three hun- 
dred and sixty prisoners, two pieces of artillery, 
and a large amount of commissary stores. 
Upon the fall of Col. Toland, the command de- 
volved on Lieut. Col. Franklin, who attempted 



306 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



a retrograde movement, but found it difficult to 
perform from the great numbers of the enemy 
in the vicinity. For several days the command 
was moving aimlessly in the mountains, desti- 
tute of food for themselves or horses, and con- 
tinuously harassed b}' the rebel cavalry. The 
command finally reached W^'theville considera- 
bly worn out and exhausted. Several short , 
expeditions under Gen. Duffie, who had as- \ 
sumed command of the Kanawha cavalry, 
closed the year's campaign. 

About two-thirds of the Thirty-fourth re-en- | 
listed as veterans in January, 1864. Another i 
expedition in May, against the Virginia & Ten- 
nessee Railroad, was inaugurated, in which the 
Thirty-fourth participated, but without any se- 
vere loss. It left Meadow Bluffs, where it had 
been some time stationed, to join Gen. Hunter 
in the Shenandoah Valley, and at Panther Gap 
Mountain had a slight skirmish. On the 5th 
of June, it reached Goshen, where another slight 
skirmish took place with a body of the enemy's 
cavalry. Staunton was reached on the 8th of 
June, where the regiment joined Gen. Hunter 
in his disastrous raid to Lynchburg. The com- 
mand passed through Brownsburg, Lexington, 
Buckhannon, and, crossing the Blue Ridge at 
the Peaks of Otter, reached the town of Lib- 
erty on the 16th, where another skirmish oc- 
curred. The attack was made on L^-nchburg in 
the afternoon of the 18th, and was partially suc- 
cessful, but a re-enforcement of twenty thou- 
sand men from Richmond, under the rebel Gen. 
Early, so strengthened the town, that the 
national forces found it advisable to fall back. 
The Thirty-fourth suffered severely. The re- 
treat commenced at dark on the evening of the 
19th, the rear being heavily pressed by the 
enemy. A second skirmish took place at Lib- 
erty. At Salem, Gen. Hunter lost most of his 
artillery, but the mounted portion of the Thir- 
ty-fourth, being a few miles in the rear, hurried 
to the scene of action, and, under Lieut. Col. 
Shaw, succeeded in recapturing it. The retreat 



continued, and on the 1st of July, the exhausted, 
ragged and starved troops reached Charleston, 
and were permitted to rest. The constant 
skirmishing, the starved bodies and blistered 
feet of those who took part in it, made " Hun- 
ter's retreat from Lynchburg " an event long to 
be remembered. While lying at Charleston, 
the regiment was dismounted, and its horses 
and equipments turned over to the cavalry. 
On the 10th of July, it embarked for Parkers- 
burg. The regiment was now in the Shenan- 
doah Valley. On the 20th of July a fight oc- 
curred near Winchester, in which the Thirty- 
fourth lost ten men killed and twenty wounded. 
Four days later occurred the fourth battle of 
Winchester, in which Gen. Earl}', taking advan- 
tage of the absence of the Sixth and Nineteenth 
Corps, overwhelmed Gen. Crook ; the latter, 
however, effected a retreat with the loss of only 
a few wagons. In this battle. Gen. Duval's 
Brigade (of which the Thirty-fourth was a part) 
had the honor of bringing up the rear, and the 
Thirty-fourth suffered severely, losing their 
commander, Lieut. Col. Shaw, a cool and de- 
termined soldier and officer. Capt. G. W. Mc- 
Kay was severely wounded, and died at Sandy 
Hook, Md., where he was taken by his com- 
rades. The command of the regiment now de- 
volved on Capt. West, who sustained well his 
reputation as a brave and gallant officer. 

Several months were now spent in skirmish- 
ing, marching and counter-marching, and, on 
the 1st of September, the Thirty-fourth again 
occupied Charleston, where the regimental offi- 
cers were busil}' engaged in making up the nec- 
essary papers for the discharge of the non-vet- 
erans, who, on the morning of the 3d of Sep- 
tember, proceeded to Columbus, Ohio, in charge 
of Capt. West. The Thirty-fourth, during the 
few months previous to this, had been receiving 
new recruits, and now numbered between four 
and five hundred men, present and absent, be- 
sides the non-veterans. The regiment marched 
to Summit Point, where it lay in camp until the 



"TT 






HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



307 



19tli of September, the day on which occurred 
Sheridan's famous battle of Winchester, it be- 
ing the third time the regiment had fought over 
nearly- the same ground. It suffered terribly 
that day, the color-guard having no less than 
six men, in quick succession, killed and wound- 
ed while carr3ang the flag. It was finally 
brought through safely by George Rynals, of 
Company A. On the 22d occurred the battle 
of Fisher's Hill. The loss of the Thirty-fourth 
in these two engagements was sixty-one killed. 
It participated in the battle of Middletown, where, 
it behaved with its accustomed bravery. Its 
loss was two killed, twelve wounded and eight- 
een prisoners, among the latter Lieut. Col. Fui*- 
nej', who escaped at Mount Jackson a few daj's 
thereafter and rejoined his command. On the 
11th of Januar}^, 1865, the Thirty-fourth and a 
part of the Eighth Cavalry were attacked at 
Beverley by the rebel Gen. Rosser. So secret 
was the attack that nearly the entire force was 
captured, though many afterward escaped. The 
survivors fell back to Philippi, and from there 
were ordered to Cumberland, Md., where they 
were consolidated with the Thirty-sixth Ohio. 
This union dates from Februar}' 22, 1865, in 
which the old Thirt^'-fourth lost its identity, the 
new organization being known as the Thirty- 
sixth Ohio Veteran Volunteer Infantry. 

The Forty-ninth Infantry contained a com- 
pany of Crawford County men, viz., Company 
B. It was organized with the following com- 
missioned officers ; Amos Keller, Captain ; A. 
H. Keller, First Lieutenant ; and J. N. Biddle, 
Second Lieutenant. Capt. and Lieut. Keller 
were killed in the battle of Stone River. The 
Bucyrus Journal says; "February 15, 1863, 
the funeral of Capt. Amos Keller and Lieut. A. 
H. Keller took place in Bucyrus, the largest 
ever in the town. They were of Company B, 
of the Forty-ninth Regiment. Both wei"e born 
in the same month, ten years apart, and both 
sleep in the same grave in Oakwood Cemetery. 
Both were wounded at Stone River, December 



31, 18G2. Amos lived thii'ty-six hours, and A. 
H. lived until January 25, 1863." 

This regiment was organized at Tiffin, under 
special authority from the Secretary of War. 
It moved to Camp Dennison on the 10th of Sep- 
tember, 1861, received its equipments on the 
21st, and proceeded to Louisville, Ky., where it 
arrived next day, and reported to Gen. Robert 
Anderson, who had just assumed command at 
that place. It was the first organized regiment 
to enter Kentucky. Its reception was cordial 
in the extreme. A magnificent dinner was given 
them at the Louisville Hotel, and the members 
of the regiment had a good time generally. In 
the evening, it took the cars for Lebanon Junc- 
tion, with orders to report to Gen. Sherman, in 
command at that point. The next morning, it 
crossed Rolling Fork and marched to Elizabeth- 
town, and went into Camp Nevin. When the 
Second Division of the Army of Ohio was or- 
ganized later, the Forty-ninth was assigned to 
the Sixth Brigade, Gen. R. W. Johnson com- 
manding. From the 17th of December to the 
14th of February. 1862, the regiment lay in 
camp, perfecting drill and discipline. It left 
camp for Nashville, where it arrived on the 3d 
of March, and established Camp Andrew John- 
son. On the 16th, it moved with Buell's army 
to join Grant's forces at Pittsburg Landing, 
where it arrived on the morning of the 6th of 
April, and went into battle with its brigade. 
During the battle, it twice performed the haz- 
ardous movement of changing front under 
fire. In the succeeding operations against Cor- 
inth, the Forty-ninth took part, having a sharp 
fight at Bridge's Creek, and at other points on 
the way, entering Corinth on the 30th of May. 
It participated in the great race of Bragg and 
Buell to Louisville, K}-., arriving at the latter 
place on the 29th of September. Resting but 
a few da^'s, it resumed the march in pursuit of 
the enemy. Though not in the battle of Perry- 
ville, yet it was engaged in skirmishing all the 
wav from Louisville to Crab Orchard. It 



308 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



marcliod from Crab Orchard to Bowling Green, 
and then to Nashville. On the 2()th of Decem- 
ber, Gen. Rosecrans, then commanding the Army 
of the Cumberland, commenced his movement 
against Murlreesboro. In these operations the 
Forty-ninth took an active part and suffered se- 
verely. When the great battle opened, the en- 
tire field and staff of the Forty-ninth were pres- 
ent ; at its close, the regiment was in command 
of the Junior Captain, S. F. Gray. It was in 
this battle that Capt. and Lieut. Keller, of Com- 
pany B, were wounded, from which both after- 
ward died. By the capture of Gen. Willich, 
Col. Gibson, of the Forty-ninth, succeeded to 
the command of the brigade ; Lieut. Col. Drake 
was killed while bravel}' cheering on his men ; 
Maj. T^orter was wounded, and all the Senior 
Captains either killed or wounded. June 24, 
1863. the regiment moved from Murfreesboro 
and had a severe engagement at Liberty Gap, 
where it lost several men. July 1, it reached 
Tullahoma and went into camp. The Fort}^- 
ninth, in the battle of Chickamauga, under com- 
mand of Maj. Gray, did some hard fighting and 
suffered severe loss. In the second day's fight, 
it is claimed that the Fortj'^-ninth, in connection 
with Goodspeed's battery, the Fifteenth Ohio 
and other troops, saved Thomas' Corps from 
being utterly swept from the field. When the 
National forces withdrew at night, the Forty- 
ninth, with its brigade, was the last to retire. 
On the 24th of November, it took part in the 
fight at Mission Ridge, and was among the first 
to plant its colors upon the summit. Soon after 
this, it moved with Granger's corps to the re- 
lief of Burnside, at Knoxville. This was one 
of the hardest campaigns of the war, and, in 
the midst of it, the gallant Forty-ninth, almost 
to a man, re-enlisted, and then came home to 
Ohio on a furlough, where it was received with 
great honor. 

The regiment, at the expiration of its fur- 
lough, reported at the headquarters of the 
Fourth Corps at Cleveland, Tenn., where the 



National forces were then concentrating and 
i*e-organizing for the Atlanta campaign. In 
this arduous campaign, the history of the regi- 
ment was that of the Fourth Army Corps. It 
took part in the engagements of Dalton, lle- 
saca, Dallas, Kenesaw Mountain, Chattahoo- 
chie River and Atlanta, exhibiting in every 
emergenc}' its qualities of courage and disci- 
pline, and suffering severely in the loss of men 
killed and wounded. When the arm}' was di- 
vided and Sherman commenced his march to 
the Sea, the Forty-ninth remained with the Army 
of the Cumberland, under Gen. Thomas, and 
participated in all the skirmishes, and the bat- 
tles of Franklin and Nashville. Before Nash- 
ville, on the 15th and 16th of December, 1864, 
it took part in several brilliant charges made by 
the Fourth Army Corps, and suffered severely 
in killed and wounded. After the pursuit of 
Hood's army ceased, it returned and went into 
camp at Huntsville, Ala., and remained there 
until the middle of March, 1865. On the 15th 
of June, it was sent to Texas. Four months it 
endured the hard service of that section, and 
was mustered out of the service at Victoria on 
the 30th of November, 1865. 

The following statistics will show something 
of the hard service of the Forty-ninth: "The 
whole number of names upon its rolls is one 
thousand five hundred and fifty-two ; eight of- 
ficers were killed in battle, and twent}' wounded, 
six mortall}'. Of the privates, one hundi*ed and 
twenty-seven were killed in battle, seventy-one 
were mortally wounded, one hundred and sixty- 
five died from hardships or disease, and seven 
perished in rebel prisons at Andersonville and 
Danville. Six hundred and sixteen were dis- 
charged on account of wounds or other disabil- 
ity. Five survive with the loss of an arm, and 
two with the loss of a leg. The men of the reg- 
iment suffered nine hundred and forty-two gun- 
shot wounds. 

The Sixty-fourth Infantry comes next in the 
calendar, and drew from Crawford County Com- 



V 



HISTOEY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY 



309 



panj H, and furnished, also, recruits to Company 
K. Company H was organized with E. B. Finley, 
Captain ; William Starr, of Crestline, First Lieu- 
tenant, and Pinknc}^ Lewis, Second Lieutenant. 
Of other commissioned officers of either Com- 
pany H, or Company K, we have been unable 
to learn anything definite or of special impor- 
tance. 

This regiment was organized at Mansfield, 
November 9, 1861, and was a part of what was 
known as the " Sherman Brigade." About the 
middle of December, it moved to Cincinnati, 
thence to Louisville, K}". December 26, it pro- 
ceeded to Bardstown, Ky., and was there bri- 
gaded, after which it moved to Hall's Gap. After 
the battle of Mill Springs, it was ordered to 
Bowling Green, where it joined the national 
forces, and then proceeded to Nashville, Tenn. 
It remained at Nashville but a few days, when 
it was ordered to Pittsburg Landing, but did 
not arrive on the battle-field until 11 o'clock of 
the 7th of April, and then the bruut of the 
great battle was bver. One Company of the 
regiment, however (Company A, Capt. Mcll- 
vaine) succeeded in getting into action. 

The Sixtj'-fourth participated in the siege of 
Corinth, and afterward was sent to luka, Tus- 
cumbia, Decatur, Huntsville and Stevenson. 
Here it erected Fort Harker, in honor of its 
brave Brigade Commander. About the 1st of 
August, 1862, it moved with its brigade to 
Nashville, and from there with the national 
forces pushed on after Gen. Bragg to Louis- 
ville. The regiment remained at Louisville 
about ten days, when it marched toward Perrj'- 
ville, and had the mortification of witnessing 
that battle without permission to help their 
hard-pressed comrades. Following the enemy 
beyond Wild Cat, the national forces then re- 
turned, and proceeded to Nashville, and went 
into camp three miles from the city. The next 
battle in which the Sixty-fourth participated was 
that of Stone River. Li this battle, it did 
some hard fighting, and of about three hun- 



di-ed engaged, it lost seventy -five killed and 
wounded. A t Mu rfreesboro and the fighting and 
skirmishing incident thereto the Sixty-fourth 
bore its part. In the battle of Chickamauga 
(19th and 20th of September) it lost in killed 
wounded and missing over one hundred men. 
Falling back to Chattanooga, it was mostly em- 
ployed on picket duty until the movement of 
the national forces, under Hooker. It took 
part in the battle of Mission Ridge, and lost 
Capt. King, killed, and several men. In Jan- 
uary, 1864, about three-fourths of the regiment 
re-enlisted, and was sent home on furlough for 
thirty days. They were warmly received at 
Mansfield, and given a grand supper. At the 
expiration of its furlough, the regiment left for 
the front, arriving at Chattanooga on the 1st of 
April. The movements commenced now against 
Atlanta, and at the battle of Rock}' Face Ridge, 
Col. Alexander Mcllvaine then in command of 
the Sixty-fourth, and Lieut. Thomas H. Ehlers, 
with nineteen men were killed and sixt^'-five were 
wounded. At Resaca, on the 14th of June, 
the regiment lost several men killed and 
wounded, and on the 18th, at Muddy Creek, it 
again participated, but with slight loss. Dur- 
ing the whole campaign, it was almost con- 
stantl}' engaged in skirmishing, and, at the bat- 
tle of Peach-Tree Creek, on the 20th of July, 
Among its loss, was Sergt. Marion Trage, of 
Company H., who was shot through the head. 
From the date its brigade and division moved 
in front of Atlanta, until the 26th of x\ugust, 
the Sixty-fourth was almost hourly under fire. 
At Jonesboro, on the 3d of September, and at 
Lovejoy Station, on the 6th, it was engaged with 
but slight loss. 

After the fall of Atlanta, it went into camp 
there, until dispatched with the Fourth Army 
Corps in pursuit of Hood to Chattanooga ; 
while there, it received four hundred new re- 
cruits from Ohio. It now went on a recon- 
naissance in pursuit of Hood to Alpine, Ga., 
after which it returned to Chattanooga. At the 



(S w^ 



310 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



battle of Spring PTill, the regiment was engaged, 
but its loss was slight. From that place, it 
proeeeded to Franklin, and took part in that 
battle, with a very severe loss, in killed, wounded 
and missing. This was the last struggle in this 
part of the country. The Sixty -fourth was sent 
to New Orleans, in June, where it remained 
three months, and was then sent to Victoria, 
Tex. Here, it performed garrison duty until 
December 3, 1865, when it was mustered out of 
the service and sent home. 

The Eighty-sixth Infantry also drew a com- 
pan}- from this county, together with some of 
its field officers, of whom W. C. Lemert was 
Major, and afterward, when the regiment was 
re-organized, was its Colonel. Company K was 
officered as follows : E. C. Moderwell, Captain ; 
Samuel Sraalley, First Lieutenant, and Horace 
Potter, Second Lieutenant ; J. M. McCracken 
was Orderly Sergeant ; J. B. Scroggs, Sergeant 
Major ; B. F. Lauck, Quartermaster's Sergeant, 
and H. V. Potter, Regimental Postmaster. 

The Eight3^-sixth was a three months' regi- 
ment, raised under the President's call for 
sevent}"-five thousand men, in May, 1862. 
There were two organizations, numbered as the 
Eighty-sixth Infantry, the one for three months ; 
the other for twenty-four months. The first, or 
three months' regiment, left Camp Chase for 
Western Virginia, on the 16th of June, 1862, 
and operated in that section of the country 
during its term of service. It was engaged 
mostly at Clarksburg and Parkersburg, in 
skirmishing with prowling bands of rebels, and 
in garrison duty. After its thrc^e months had 
expired, it returned to Camp Delaware, where 
it was paid off and discharged. 

The rebels, however, still manifesting a pur- 
pose to invade the northern border States, some 
of the old officers conceived the idea of re-or- 
ganizing the Eighty-sixth for six months. 
Maj. Lemert, of Bucyrus, received permission 
from Gov. Tod, and completed the organization 
of the regiment at Camp Cleveland, becoming 



its Colonel. About the time the regiment was 
completel}' organized, the rebel G-en. Morgan 
was making his raid through Indiana and Ohio, 
and by orders of Gov. Tod, the Eighty-sixth 
was ordered to join in his pursuit, and, accord- 
ingly, it participated in that short but intensely 
lively campaign. After the capture of Mor- 
gan, the regiment returned to Camp Tod, and 
on the 8th of August, 1863, was ordered to 
Camp Nelson, Kentucky, there to join in an 
expedition against Cumberland Gap. After 
the capture of the Gap, the Eighty-sixth re- 
mained as a part of the garrison, until its term 
of service expired. On the 16th of January, 
1864, it started for home, arriving at Cleveland 
on the 26th, and on the 10th of February, it was 
mustered out of the United States service. 

The One Hundred and First Infantry con- 
tained two companies from Crawford County, 
viz., Companies C and E. The first was or- 
ganized with the following officers : B. B. Mc- 
Donald, Captain ; Isaac Anderson, First Lieu- 
tenant, and J. B. Biddle, Second Lieutenant. 
Capt. McDonald was promoted to Major Decem- 
ber 26, 1863, and to Lieutenant Colonel Feb- 
ruary 18, 1864, in which position he was mus- 
tered out with the regiment. Lieut. Anderson 
resigned January 2, 1863, on account of disa- 
bility ; Second Lieut. Biddle was killed Decem- 
ber 31, 1862. W. N. Beer was promoted from 
Sergeant Major to First Lieutenant on the 2d 
of January, 1863, and to Captain March 19, 

1864, and, as such, mustered out with the regi- 
ment. J. M. Roberts was promoted to Second 
Lieutenant for braver}' at the battle of Murfrees- 
boro, Decembei", 31, 1862 ; to First Lieutenant 
March 19, 1864, and to Captain February 10, 

1865, and was transferred to Company K. 

The almost romantic story of the capture of 
Capt. McDonald and a number of his com- 
rades and the Captain's escape from Libby 
Prison is well-known to the people of Crawford 
County. He was captured September 20, 1863, 
during the Chattanooga campaign, and re- 



— ® 



rr 



ii.: 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



311 



mained in that " Black Hole of Calcutta," 
Libby Prison, until the spring of 1864, when 
he, with a few fellow-officers, escaped b}' tun- 
neling underneath the prison-walls. There is 
in possession of his family, a large photograph 
of Libby Prison, in which his own quarters, 
while a prisoner within its somber walls, is 
marked. His daughters in Bucj'rus have care- 
fully preserved, as a relic, the chisel which he 
used in tunneling out of prison. It is a relic 
they highh' prize as the instrument which 
assisted their father, a gallant officer, to libert}-. 

Company E was organized with the follow- 
ing commissioned officers : William C. Par- 
sons, Captain ; Lyman Parcher, First Lieuten- 
ant, and Robert D. Lord, Second Lieutenant. 
Capt. Parsons died November 15, 1862 ; Lieut. 
Parcher was promoted to Captain, November 
15, 1862; and resigned February 26, 1863. 
Second Lieut. Lord was promoted to First 
Lieutenant, November 15, 1862 ; to Captain, 
Februar}- 26, 1863, and was honorabl}' dis- 
charged August 12, 1863. Samuel S. Blowers 
was promoted to Second Lieutenant, and re- 
signed January' 9, 1864. Of other promotions 
and commissioned officers in Compan}^ E, we 
have been unable to learn anything definite. 

The One Hundred and First was one of that 
series of patriotic regiments raised in the dark 
days of 1862, when the national cause seemed 
to be drifting into final defeat. It was organ- 
ized and mustered into the service at Monroe- 
ville, on the 30th day of August, 1862. On 
the 4th of September, it was hurried off to 
Cincinnati, though scarcely read}- for field-serv- 
ice, and thence to Covington, to assist in repel- 
ling a threatened attack of Gen. Kirby Smith. 
September 24, it proceeded to Louisville, Ky., 
and was incorporated into Gen. Buells army, 
then Ij'iug at that place, after its forced march 
after Gen. Bragg. It was placed in the brigade 
commanded bj' Gen. Carlin, and in the division 
of Gen. Robert B. Mitchell. October 1, it 
marched with the national forces in pursuit of 



Gen. Bragg, and took part in the battle of Per- 
ryville, on the 8th of October. This was the 
initial battle of the One Hundred and First, 
and it bore itself bravel}' during the entire en- 
gagement, meriting and receiving the praises 
of both its brigade and division commanders, 
and losing several men. It followed in pursuit 
of the Rebels, and, at Lancaster, K}^, had a 
pretty severe skirmish with their rear-guard. 
Its march was continued through Crab Orchard, 
Danville, Lebanon and Bowling Green, and 
thence to Nashville, Tenn. At Nashville, Gen. 
Jeff C. Davis took command of the division, 
and on the 26th of December it marched with 
the army of the Cumberland, under Gen. Rose- 
crans. On the same evening, a force of the 
enemy was met by the Second Brigade, of Gen. 
Davis' division, of which the One Hundred and 
First was a part, and a severe skirmish took 
place. During the engagement, the One Hun- 
dred and First carried the crest of a hill under 
a heav}' fire, and captured two bronze field- 
pieces. The regiment, being a new one, be- 
haved like veterans, particularly signalizing 
itself. One of the guns captured had on it 
the word "Shiloh," and belonged to Georgia 
troops. On the 30th of December, the brigade 
to which the One Hundred and First belonged, 
was the first to arrive on the battle-field of 
Stone River. It engaged the enemy's outposts 
that evening, and drove them in with quite a 
severe skirmish. The regiment lay down on 
its arms at night, to dream of home, and man}' 
to sleep their last. With its brigade it stood 
firm, and was the first troops to receive the 
shock of battle, which came at daylight on the 
memorable 31st of December. During the en- 
tire fight, the One Hundred and First continued 
in the hottest, taking up six different positions 
and stubboinil}' maintaining them during the 
da}'. Col. Stern and Lieut. Col. Wooster were 
both killed on the front line of the army, and 
both died leading on their men to deeds of 
daring. The regiment continued in the front 



k 



312 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



of the battle until its close, and lost sev^en offi- 
cers and two hundred and twelve men killed 
and wounded. During tlie remainder of the 
winter, the One Hundred and First was enga<>ed 
on expeditions around Murfreesboro, suffering- 
very much from fatigue and exposure. Says a 
publication of that day : " It was no uncommon 
tiling to see as many as fifty men of the regi- 
ment marching without shoes on their feet, and 
so ragged as to excite both the sj'mpathies and 
risibilities of their companions. This march- 
ing up and down the country — the purposes of 
utility of which were oftentimes wholly un- 
known — lasted until April 1863, when the regi- 
ment was allowed to go into camp at Murfrees- 
boro for rest, and for the purpose of perfecting 
its drill." 

The Tullahoma campaign was inaugurated 
the 24th of June, and the One Hundred and 
First moved with that portion of the army which 
operated at Liberty- Gap. Here they were en- 
gaged with the enemy for two days, and lost a 
number of men. It followed the fortunes of 
the army up to Chattanooga, and at the close of 
that campaign was with Gen. Davis' division at 
Winchester, Tenn. It marched on the Chatta- 
nooga campaign, August 17, and crossed the 
Tennessee River at Caperton's Ferry. From 
there it marched over Sand and Lookout 
Mountain, to near Alpine, Ga.; counter-mai'ch- 
ing, it recrossed Lookout Mountain to the field 
of Chickamauga, where it engaged in that bat- 
tle on the 19th and 20th of August, displaying 
great coolness and gallantry. During the sec- 
ond day's battle, the One Hundred and First re- 
took a National battery from the enemy, fighting 
over the guns with clubbed muskets. At Chat- 
tanooga, the army was re-organized, and the 
One Hundred and First Ohio became a part 
of the First Brigade, First Division, of the 
Fourth Army Corps, and on the 28th of Octo- 
ber this f)rigade marched to Bridgeport, Ala., 
where it remained in camp until January 16, 
1864, and then marched to Ooltewali, Tenn. 



May 3, it moved with its brigade on tin; At- 
lanta campaign, and bore its part in all the 
hard fighting, until the fall of Atlanta changed 
the tiieater of war to another section. Its loss 
was heavy in the several battles and skirmishes 
of that arduous campaign. It marched from 
Atlanta to Pulaski, Tenn., and from there to 
Nashville. At the battle of Franklin, the One 
Hundred and First was ordered to retake an 
angle in the works held by the enemy. This it 
succeeded in doing, and held them until 10 
o'clock P. M., although the enemy was within 
bayonet reach. 

In the battle of Nashville, on the 15th and 
16th of December, the One Hundred and First 
participated in the assault upon the enemy's 
works. After the battle and rout of Hood, it 
followed in pursuit as far as Lexington, Ala., 
and then marched to Huntsville, where it went 
into camp. It remained here until June 12, 
1865, when with other regiments it was mus- 
tered out of the service. It at once started for 
home, and at Cleveland, Ohio, was paid off and 
discharged. The following, from the Bucyrus 
Journal of June 24, 1865, is a fitting finale 
to the history of this gallant regiment : " The 
One Hundred and First regiment has been mus- 
tei'ed out, and the members belonging to this 
count}' arrived at home during the past week. 
This regiment was recruited in Erie, Huron, 
Seneca, Wyandot and Crawford Counties, and 
left for the front on the 4th of September, 1862, 
nine hundred and eighty strong, under command 
of Col. Leaiider Stern, a prominent citizen of 
Tiffin. He fell at the battle of Murfreesboro, 
December 31, 1862. The following is the pres- 
ent roster of the regiment : Colonel, I. M. 
Kirby ; Lieutenant Colonel, B. B. McDonald ; 
Major, J. M. Latimer ; Chaplain, Rev. E. M. 
Cravath ; Adjutant, James L. Neff; Surgeon, 
T. M. Cook ; Assistant Surgeon, H. H. Russell ; 
Quartermaster, 0. J. Benham. Company A — 
Lieutenant, B. F. Bryant. Company B — ^Cap- 
tain, J. C. Butler ; Lieutenant, Charles Mor- 



r 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



313 



foot. Company C — Captain, D. Smith ; Lieu- 
tenant, J. R. Homer. Company D — Captain, 
J. M. Latimer. Company E — -Lieutenant, J. 
M. Williamson. Company F — Captain, G. W. 
Hale. Company Gr — Captain, J. P. Fleming ; 
Lieutenant, J. F. Webster, Company H — 
Captain, W. N. Beer. Company I — Lieutenant, 
J. C. Smith. Compau}' K — -Captain, James M. 
Roberts ; Lieutenant, W. R. Davis. Col. Kirby 
is a Brevet Brigadier Greneral. He went into the 
field as Captain of Company F, and has won his 
star by brave deeds, and wears his well-earned 
honors with becoming dignity. The regiment 
is under command of Lieut. Col. McDonald, and 
returns with two hundred and thirty-five men 
and twenty officers. The record of the One 
Hundred and First has been a glorious one, 
having participated in every important battle 
from Perr^^ville to Atlanta, and always in the 
hottest of the fight. It took a very active 
part in saving the day at the bloody battle of 
Franklin." 

The One Hundred and Twenty-third Infan- 
try was represented by a company from Craw- 
ford County, together with quite a number of 
scattering recruits in other companies of the 
same regiment. When orders w^ere received 
to raise this regiment, this count}^ obtained per- 
mission to recruit three of the ten companies. 
But one full company, however (Company H), 
was raised and mustered into the One Hundred 
and Twenty third. This companv was officered 
as follows : John Newman, Captain ; David S. 
Caldwell, First Lieutenant, and H. S. Beving- 
ton. Second Lieutenant. Capt. Newman re- 
signed February 3, 1863. Lieut. Caldwell was 
promoted to Captain February 3, 1863, and 
honorably discharged July 24, 1864. Lieut. 
Bevington was promoted to First Lieutenant 
February 3, 1863, to Captain January 6, 1865, 
and honorably discharged February 1, 1865. 
William A. Williams was promoted from Or- 
derly Sergeant to Second Lieutenant February 3, 
1863, and honorably discharged July 29, 1864. 



This regiment was organized at Monroeville, 
in Huron County, and mustered into the United 
States service for three years. This process 
was completed on the 16th of October, 1862, 
and on the same day the regiment proceeded to 
Zanesville, and from thence to Marietta. From 
Marietta it proceeded direct to Clarksburg) 
Va., where it arrived on the 20th, and on the 
27th, left for Buckhannon. The fall and winter 
were spent in continual marching and counter- 
marching, until January 10, 1863, when it pro- 
ceeded to Romuey, where it arrived on the 12th. 
Here six weeks were spent in scouting and 
guarding the line of the Baltimore & Ohio Rail- 
road. On the 1st of March the regiment was 
sent to Winchester, and made several raids up 
the Shenandoah Valley. On the evening of 
June 13, the One Hundred and Twenty-third 
with its brigade, had an engagement with Gen. 
Early's corps, in which it lost nearly one hun- 
dred men killed and wounded. On the 14th 
the national forces were driven into their forti- 
fications and hardl}' pressed by overwhelming 
numbers of the enemy. It was finally decided 
to evacuate the place, and the troops marched 
out of the works in silence, at 2 o'clock in the 
morning, leaving the heavy artillery in position, 
but spiked. On the ^lartinsburg road the 
enem}' was found in a strong position, and, in 
attempting to cut its wa}- through, the One 
Hundred and Twentj'-third lost fifty men killed 
and wounded. During this time, Col. Ely, of 
the Eighteenth Connecticut, who was tempora- 
rily in command of the brigade, without appar- 
ent cause, surrendered to the enemy ; the whole 
brigade, except Company D, of the One Hun- 
dred and Twenty-third, were made prisoners of 
war and sent to Richmond, where the officers 
of the One Hundred and Twent3'-third remained 
in Libby Prison about eleven months. Capt 
D. S. Caldwell and Lieut. William D. Williams 
made their escape. Maj. Kellogg, who was 
woiuided and made his escape at Winchester, 
collected the straafijlers of the remment at Mar- 



y\', 



[Jl 



314 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



tinsburg, where the paroled men, after exchange, 
joined him, about the 1st of September, 1863. 
At this place the regiment was newly armed 
and equipped, but, being deficient in officers, it 
was engaged mainl}' in provost and picket dut}', 
until March 1, 1864, when it was distributed 
as guards along the line of the Baltimore & 
Ohio Railroad, between Harper's Feny and 
Monocacy Junction. 

The regiment was collected about the 1st of 
April, at Martiusburg, and from thence moved 
to Winchester. Under command of Gen. Sigel, 
it made a raid up the valley, and, after a sharp 
fight on the loth of May, at New Market, in 
which the One Hundred and Twenty-third lost 
seventy men in killed and wounded, Gen. Sigel 
was forced to fall back to Cedar Creek. In a 
short time he was superseded by Gen. Hunter, 
who made preparations at once for the memora- 
ble Lynchburg raid. This ill-fated expedition 
has alreadv been described in the history of 
some of the other regiments representing Craw- 
ford County. The history of the One Hundred 
and Twenty-third, in the expedition, was the 
history of those already given. Hard marching, 
almost constant skirmishing, exposure and 
fatigue were some of its hardships, with loss of 
a number of men killed, wounded and missing. 
On the last of June, the worn-out and famished 
troops reached Gaule}' Bridge, where supplies 
were met and distributed to the starving troops. 
For two months, the troops were marching from 
one place to another, scouting and foraging, 
and finally reached ^lartinsburg again, where 
the}' had a brief rest. From Martinsburg they 
proceeded to Harper's Ferr}-, and moved on to 
Loudoun A'^ alley, east of the Blue Ridge, for the 
purpose of intercepting ICarl^^'s retreat to the 
Shenandoah Valley. After numerous defeats 
and losses, the command of the national army, 
in the valley, was given to Gen. Sheridan, who 
soon changed the aspect of aflfairs. The rebels 
were defeated at Berryville and at Winchester, 
in both of which engagements the One Hundred 



and Twenty-third participated. Its loss was 
five officers and about fifty men. After these 
operations the national troops remained at 
Cedar Creek until the 19th of October, watching 
the enem}^ and building fortifications. These 
fortifications were destined to fall into the hands 
of the enem3^ The battle followed in which 
Sheridan made his famous ride from ''Win- 
chester, twenty miles awa3^" The One Hundred 
and Twenty-third bore an active part in it and 
lost several men. After this battle the One 
Hundred and Twenty-third was engaged for 
one month guarding the Harper's Ferr}' & 
Winchester Railroad, after which it was 
attached to the Twenty-fourth Army Corps 
(Gen. Ords), in the department then com- 
manded by Gen. Butler. It arrived at Deep 
Bottom on the 27th of December, 1864, where 
it la}^ until the 25th of March, 1865, at which 
time it broke camp and moved to the Chicka- 
hominy. On the 30th of March, an advance 
was made on the rebel works, and skirmishing 
continued until the morning of the 2d of April, 
when the rebel works were carried. The One 
Hundred and Twenty-third, during this time, 
was three days on the skirmish line without 
relief, and their provisions had to be carried to 
them by the Regimental Quartei'master. The 
loss of the regiment was quite severe while on 
this long skirmish. On the 3d of April, the 
whole national army marched in pursuit of 
Gen. Lee, toward Danville. The One Hundred 
and Twenty-third was sent with other troops to 
burn High Bridge, and was unexpectedly sur- 
rounded by Gen. Lee's cavahy, and the entire 
force captured, and carried along, as prisoners 
of war, to Appomattox Court House, where the 
rebel army some time afterward surrendered, 
an event that virtually closed the war. Soon 
after this, the regiment proceeded to Annapolis, 
]Md., and from thence went home to Camp 
Chase, where, on the 12th of June, it was mus- 
tered out of the United States service. 

The One Hundred and Thirty-sixth Infantry, 




(^yvt^]-rfe> 




clTJ^ .^^^^^ ^,^^^ 



HISTORY or CRAWFORD COUNTY 



317 



for one hundred days' service, had two Com- 
panies from Crawford Count}'. This one hun- 
dred days' service was designated " National 
Guard " service. The two companies of the 
One Hundred and Thirtj'-sixth, were Com- 
panies A and C. The first was officered as fol- 
lows : Samuel Smalley, Captain ; (jreorge W. 
Myers, First Lieutenant, and James W. Fulker- 
son. Second Lieutenant. Compan^^ C was 
oflScered — W. A. Mitchell, Captain ; Ira M. 
Cory, First Lieutenant, and E. Paul, Second 
Lieutenant. The regiment reported at Camp 
Chase May 12, 1804 ; was mustered, uniformed, 
armed, equipped, and shipped to Washington 
Cit}-. It remained on garrison duty in and 
around Washington during its entire term of 
service, which expired August 20, 1864, when 
it was mustered out and discharged. 

The One Hundred and Seventy-ninth Infan- 
try drew a company from Crawford Count}', 
Compau}' B, which was mustered into the serv- 
ice with the following commissioned officers : 
Lyman Parcher, Captain ; Thomas A. Patter- 
son, First Lieutenant, and Isaac Z. Bryant, 
Second Lieutenant. These officers were all 
mustered out with the regiment at the close of 
its term of service. 

The One Hundred and SeA'entj'-ninth was 
organized for one j'ear's service, and was mus- 
tered in at Camp Chase on the 28th of Sep- 
tember, 1864. It was ordered to Xashville, 
Tenn., when it was assigned to the Second 
Brigade, Fourth Division, Twentieth Army 
Corps. It was present at the battle of Nash- 
ville, but was onlj' partly engaged. The regi- 
ment remained on duty at Nashville until June 
18, 1865, when, its services being no longer 
needed, it was sent home to Columbus, paid ofl', 
and discharged on the 27th of June. When mus- 
tered out, its rolls bore the names of 38 officers 
and 698 men. 

This comprises the infantry regiments that 
drew anything like an organized body of men 
from the county. There were, however, a great 



many other regiments, in which the county was 
represented by scattering recruits. The Forty- 
fifth, Fifty-fourth, Fifty-fifth, Sixty-fifth, and 
several others, contained more or less men from 
Crawford County. Also several batteries and 
Cavalry regiments contained representatives. 

The Twelfth Cavalry, perhaps, was more 
strongh' represented than an}' other organiza- 
tion. Company A of this regiment contained 
many Crawford County men. Capt. E. C. 
Moderwell and Lieut. D. A. Newell, of Com- 
pany A, were also of this county. Capt. Mod- 
erwell, was promoted to Major, and in that po- 
sition was mustered out with the regiment. 
Lieut. Newell was promoted from Second to 
First Lieutenant November 24, 1863, and was 
honorably discharged May 20, 1865. 

The Twelfth Cavalry was recruited in the 
fall of 1863 and contained men from nearly 
every county in the State. It was organized 
at Camp Ta3'lor, near Cleveland, when it was 
mustered into the service on the 24th of No- 
vember, 1863, and, while a portion of it re- 
mained on dut}' at Johnson's Island during the 
winter, the remainder was equipped and mount- 
ed at Camp Dennison, and on the 29th of 
November, left for Louisville, and from thence 
was ordered to Lexington and Mount Sterling. 
It served principally in Kentucky until Feb- 
ruar}', 1865, when it was ordered to Nashville. 
From thence it moved to Murfreesboro, and 
then to KnoxA-ille. It accompanied Gen. Stone- 
man in his raid into North Carolina. It par- 
ticipated in the capture of Jefterson Davis 
and of Gens. Bi'agg and Wheeler. The Twelfth 
remained on dut}' in Tennessee and Alabama 
until the 14th of November. 1865, when it was 
mustered out at Nashville, and sent home to 
Columbus, paid oft' and discharged. 

The Third and Tenth Cavalry regiments also 
contained men from Crawford County, but just 
how many we were unable to ascertain. Capt. 
E. R. Brink was from this county. He entered 
the re<2:iment as First Lieutenant at its orarani- 



:r^ 



>^ 



318 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



zation, was promoted to Captain, and resigned 
Ma}' 9, 1865. Of other representatives in the 
Third Cavalry, we have no definite informa- 
tion. 

In compiling the war histor}- of the county, 
we have drawn pretty freely on Whitelaw Reid's 
history of '• Ohio in the War." As it is claimed 
to be not whoU}' without errors, we have taken 
pains to consult members of the different regi- 
ments, so ftir as practicable, and have them 
compare it with their own I'ecoUections. By 
this means we have been enabled to detect and 
correct some errors that existed, and think that, 
as now given, the historj'^ of the regiments in 
which Crawford County was represented is sub- 
stantially correct. There may be omissions of 
regiments that should have mention, but, if so, 
it is not our fault. We have used the greatest 
exertions to obtain full information of the 
county's military history, but, in many cases 
have found the facilities for obtaining informa- 
tion meager. 

The count}' was twice drafted, but neither 
time for a very large number of men. The first 
took place the last of September, 1862, and was 
for the following numbers of men, by town- 
ships : Polk, 69 ; Jackson, 102 ; Whetstone, 
45 ; Chatfield, 59 ; Sandusky, 33 ; Cranberry, 
42 ; Texas. 2 ; Vernon, 30 ; Lykens, 40 ; Lib- 
ert}'. 56 ; Auburn, 22 ; Holmes, 55 ; Bucyrus, 
22 ; Dallas, 0. The latter, it will be seen, had 
filled its quota and was not drafted, and it is 
said to be the only township in the county that 
had no draft during the war. There was some 
trouble at the time in regard to the draft, as to 
forcing the recruits thus obtained into the serv- 
ice. Some of the drafted men resisted, and, 
backed by a numerous party in the county op- 
posed to the war, there were, for a time, indica- 
tions and strong fears of a riot. It was by 
great exertions on the part of the lovers of 
peace and good order that a collision was pre- 
vented and serious consequences avoided. As 
it was, there were a few little scenes occurred 



that did not redound to the credit of all parties 
concerned. 

Another draft took place on the 1 6th of May, 
1864, for a smaller number of men than the 
previous one. It was as follows, by townships: 
Bucyrus, 16 ; Auburn, 9 ; Holmes, 11; Texas, 
2 ; Chatfield, 2 ; Cranberry, 1 ; Todd, 23 ; Polk, 
24 ; Liberty, 8 ; Jackson, 5. These, however, 
we believe, were mostly filled up by voluntary 
enlistment before the day set for the drafted 
men to report at headquarters. 

Poets and painters have, by common accord, 
agreed to represent the angel of pity and sym- 
pathy in a female form — a tribute that is in no 
wise unmerited. From the earliest periods of 
the world's history, the kindest feelings of 
women have been excited by the woes of suffer- 
ing humanity, and her warmest sympathies 
aroused in alleviating trouble and aflfliction, and 
in the exercise of her kind and generous minis- 
trations. The most notable instance on record 
of woman's love and affection occurred over 
eighteen hundred years ago, at the home of 
Martha and Mary, at Bethany, and at the sepul- 
cher at the foot of Mount Calvary. And from 
that day to this, like an angel of mercy, woman 
has ever been found in the midst of woe and 
misery and suffering and sorrow. In sickness, 
there is no hand like hers to smooth the pil- 
low, moisten the fevered lips, and wipe the cold, 
damp dews of agony from the throbbing brow. 
This angelic spirit of the sex was beautifully 
exemplified during the late war. How many 
thousands of noble-hearted women left all the 
comforts and luxuries of home, and, braving 
the dangers of field and hospital, spent those 
four long, gloomy years in administering to the 
wants of suffering soldiers ! They went forth 
to the post of duty, expressing the conviction 
that, if they fell, their loss would not be felt. 
Heroic but mistaken souls ! The world sus- 
tains its heaviest loss when such spirits fall. 
But all the good accomplished during the war 
by female hands was not due alone to those 



\ 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



319 



who went forth to nurse and take care of the 
sick and wounded. Those who remained be- 
hind performed a work for good, the half of 
which has not yet been told, and which can 
scarcely be realized by the outside world. 

The Soldiers' Ladies' Aid Society was an or- 
ganization of broad and liberal beneficence, and 
one to which man}- a poor and wounded soldier 
was indebted for his A^ery life. The following 
extract is from a soldier's letter, published in 
the Bucyi'us Journal in an earl}' period of the 
war, and illustrates the good work of these 
societies. " It was about 5 o'clock in the aft- 
ernoon when I arrived in the hospital. Soon 
after m}' entrance I was stripped and bathed 
in a large tub of tepid water, shown to bed, and 
a nice clean white shirt and a pair of drawers 
were given me. I soon encased my tired limbs 
in my new wardrobe, and while doing so, m}' 
e5'es caught sight of the words, ' From the 
Woman's Aid Society,' stamped in black ink on 
each garment. I lay down, pulled the blanket 
over my head and thought of ray situation. 
Here I am in a hospital, prostrated with disease, 
worn out in body and mind, over eight hundred 
miles from any spot I can call home. jNIy own 
mother and sister long since dead ; but the no- 
ble-hearted women of the North — those angels of 
merc}- — are supplying the place of mother and 
sister, not only to me, but to thousands of suf- 
fering soldiers from every State. Presently I 
felt two large tears coursing down m}' cheeks, 
and running into my mustache, followed by 
myriads of others dropping on the sheet under 
m}- chin, forming innumerable little salt-water 
pools. When well I am a strong man, and 
it requires some sudden and deep grief to 
bring me to tears ; but tears of gratitude flowed 
from me that evening, as freely as drops of rain 
from an April cloud ; and, like a spoiled child 
I cried m3'self to sleep.' This is but one in- 
stance of the good accomplished by these soci- 
eties, originated and maintained b}' the noble 
ladies of the land. A soldiers' aid society was 



one of the earliest organizations inaugurated in 
the State, for the benefit of the sick and wounded 
in camp and hospital. This organization 
found a ready response among the ladies of 
Crawford County. A society, auxiliary to that 
of the State, was formed in Bucyrus, with 
branches in the different townships, which was 
instrumental in accomplishing a great and no- 
ble work. 

The first organization of the society in Buc}'- 
rus took place on the 14th of October, 1861. 
Mrs. Dr. Merriman was elected President ; Mrs. 
William Bowse, Secretary, and Mrs. Howbert, 
Treasurer. Lai'ge donations were made to the 
society, and 10 cents constituted the fee for 
membership. For some time the society met 
regularly in Quinby Block, but eventually be- 
come lukewarm, then dropped off into a Rip 
Van Winkle nap, from which it was aroused in 
the fall of 1862. It was re-organized and Mrs. 
J. Scroggs was elected President, and Mrs. 
Howbert, Secretary. But it seems to have be- 
come dormant again in a short time, in which 
state it remained until June, 1863. when it was 
re-organized a second time, and Mrs. I. C. 
Kingsley elected President ; Mrs. R. T. John- 
ston, Vice President ; Mrs. J. G. Robinson, 
Secretary, and ilrs. H. M. Rowse, Treasurer. 
Under this last organization, it continued in 
operation until the close of the war, and the 
return of the troops, no longer required its 
good work. The great number of boxes of 
clothing for the well and dainties and sweet- 
meats for the sick, sent off by the society and 
its township branches, made glad the heart of 
man}- a brave and gallant soldier. 

During the progress of the war, a mo\eraent 
was set on foot, having for its object the erec- 
tion of a monument to the memory of the sol- 
diers of Crawford County, who had fallen, or 
might f\\ll. in battle. In January, 1863. a prop- 
osition was made by the members of Oakwood 
Cemetery to donate a lot, valued at 612,"), pro- 
vided the citizens of the countv would subscribe 



^W 



K 



±'. 



320 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



a sufficient amount ($2,0()U) to erect a suitable 
monument. An organization, or association, 
was formed, known as tlie " Crawford County, 
Ohio, Monumental Association ; by-laws and a 
constitution were adopted, and officers elected. 
For a time, great interest was manifested, and 



the strongest hopes were entertained of an early 
accomplishment of the laudable undertaking. 
But the zeal of those entrusted with the work 
died out, and the count3''s soldier dead still 
sleep with no other monument than that raised 
by their brave deeds in defense of their country. 



CHAPTER YIII.* 

BUCYRUS TOWNSHIP— TOrOGRArHICAI^SOME OF THE EARLY DRAWBACKS— SETTLEMENT- 
GAME AND riONEER SPORTS— THE NORTON FAMILY— TOWNSHIP ORGANI- 
ZATION—SCHOOLS, CHURCHES, ETC. 



-WILD 



BUCYRUS TOWxNSHIP is situated in the 
southwestern part of Crawford County. 
It is bounded on the north by Holmes Town- 
ship, on the east by Whetstone, on the south 
by Dallas, and on the west b}^ Dallas and Todd. 
Bucyrus Township was known in the original 
Government surve}' as Township 3, of Range 
16. At the present time, this division is of 
regular legal size, six miles square, consisting 
of thirty-six full sections or square miles, but, 
when first organized, it was considered a frac- 
tional township, for the reason that about one- 
third of the present territor}- was then a part 
of tlie W3^audot Indian reservation. The town- 
ship was named after the village located during 
the spring of 1822, in the northeastern corner. 
Two small streams form the water-course of this 
division of Crawford Count3% the Sandusky 
River, and the head-waters of one branch of 
the Scioto. The Sandusky enters the towmship 
at the northeastern corner, and winds along for 
nearly ten miles toward the southwest, until it 
leaves Bucyrus Township two miles north of 
the southwestern corner. The Scioto is formed 
by several rivulets, which drain the farms just 
south of Bucyrus corporation. For many 
miles this stream is a mere brook, which is fre- 
quently dry during the summer time. The 
general course of the Scioto is also toward the 

*Contributcd by Thomas I*. Hoiilcy. 



southwest, while flowing in Bucj-rus Township, 
and winds along nearlj' parallel with the San- 
dusky River, and some two miles southeast ; 
consequently the water-shed between the St. 
Lawrence Basin and the Mississippi Yalle}' ex- 
tends across Buc^'rus Township from northeast 
to southwest. There are several buildings locat- 
ed on this water-shed, of which it is asserted the 
rain falling on one roof assists in forming the 
broad Mississippi, while that descending upon 
tiie other finds its way into Lake Erie. 

The land in Buc^'rus Township is generally 
ver}- level, but near the Sandusky River it is 
more irregular, and the line of small blufts 
along this small stream are sometimes called 
hills by the inhabitants. The soil is ver}' fer- 
tile and w'ell adapted to farming, which is the 
principal occupation of the inhabitants, not 
residents of the town. However, man^^ of the 
farmers on the plains derive most of their in- 
come by raising cattle. When the country was 
first settled, these plains were covered with tall, 
rank grass of luxuriant growth, and numerous 
swamps abounded. Many old settlers assert 
that these plains were, fift}' 3'ears ago, so low 
and wet during tlie greater portion of the year 
as to render them unfit for farming. Most of 
the township was originall}- covered b}' a forest 
of very heavy timber, which almost entirely 
prevented the sun's rays from reaching the 



^< 



HISTORY OF CRAWFOED COUNTY. 



321 



ground ; this, in connection with the formation 
of the country and the nature of the soil, nec- 
essarily made very muddy roads, even with 
the little travel then passing on them. The 
general dampness of the country at that time 
produced fever and ague, which were also great 
drawbacks to I'apid improvement. The total 
change in the appearance of the country to one 
who can look back half a century, seems almost 
miraculous, and, could one of the early residents 
return, after an absence of fifty years, he would 
find it difficult to recognize a single familiar 
landmark or half a dozen familiar faces. 

Most of the pioneers wei'e men of small 
means ; their stock of cash being generally ex- 
hausted upon paying the Grovernment price for 
eighty, or, at most, one hundred and sixty acres 
of land. The distance from grist-mills and 
other settlements, where necessary supplies 
could be obtained, was about the most serious 
difficult}' with which they had to contend. For 
several years, nearl}- all the flour used had to 
be brought from the mills, on IMohican Creek, 
and its tributaries in Richland County, thirty 
or forty miles distant. The earliest practice of 
the settlers was to make a trip in an ox-wagon, 
and in the vicinity of these mills purchase a 
small quantity of wheat ; then have it ground, 
and carr}^ the flour back to Bucyrus Township, 
the " voyage " consuming at times from a week 
to ten days. Many became discouraged at the 
hardships they had to. encounter, and returned 
to their former homes in the East. Others 
would have followed their example could the}- 
have raised the wherewith to take them there. 
This state of afiairs, however, did not last long, 
most of the settlers becoming entirely satisfied 
after a few years' residence, the improvements 
of the early country each year making it more 
tolerable to live in, and giving inereaseil prom- 
ise of its future prosperity. 

Samuel Norton, the first settler of Bucyrus 
Township, was born within one mile of Con- 
gress Spring, near Saratoga, N. Y., March 3, 



1780. His father was of Scotch descent, and, 
many years previous to the birth of Samuel, 
had emigrated from Scotland and settled in 
Connecticut. Samuel Norton was manned, Jan- 
uar}- 1, 1804, to Miss Mary Bucklin, who was 
born in Coventry, Kent Co., R. I., October 31, 
1785. The Bucklins were of English descent, 
and Mary Bucklin's parents moved from Rhode 
Island to Little Falls, N. Y., when she was 
about six 3-ears of age, and some twelve 3'ears 
afterward to what is now Susquehanna County, 
Penn., where she was married to Samuel Nor- 
ton. The young couple settled near Elk Hill, 
then in Luzerne but now in Susquehanna 
County. This district is situated in the mount- 
ain regions of that State ; the land is poor, 
and even at that time the country was ver}- 
wild. It is said that at one time, while Norton 
was still a resident of Elk Hill, he shot a pan- 
ther which measured eleven feet and three 
inches. These wild beasts have nexev been 
seen in Crawford County since it was first set- 
tled b}- white men, and, although the first 
settlers of Bucyrus ToAvnship emigrated to a 
newer countrv, thev did not, in some respects, 
find a wilder one. Norton was dissatisfied with 
this wild, rocky Pennsylvania land, and, after re- 
siding there with his wife for over fifteen 3'cars, 
determined to seek a more congenial country. 
He took the Western fever and finally decided 
that his destination should be the land ob- 
tained by the New Purchase. His wife was op- 
posed to this movement of the Norton tamily, 
and refused to go unless her brother Albijence 
Bucklin would go along. Norton finally suc- 
ceeded in inducing Bucklin to accompany him 
with his famih'. liy pi'omising him fift}' acres of 
land. 

Very late in the spring of 1810. the pioneers 
left their home in Penns3-lvania. and. atter jour- 
ne^'ing about 000 miles in a big •• schooner" 
wagon, reached the present site of Bucyrus some 
time in October, 1819. The part}- consisted of 
the following eighteen persons — Samuel Norton 



'W 



'la 



322 



IIISTOKy OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



and his wife. .Mary Norton, tlicir tliroe diiugh- 
ters, Louisa (now Mrs. H. Ourton, of Todd 
Township), Catharine (now Mrs. J. Shull, of Bu- 
cyrus), and Elizabeth (now Mrs. A. M. Jones, 
of IJueyrus). their tliree sons, Heuselhier, War- 
ren (now a resident of Missouri) and Waldo 
Norton ; Ali)ijenee Bncklin and wife, their six 
c'liiiih-en — Kstlier, Cynthia. Austris, Klizabeth, 
Ahnechi and l*itt ; also Polly, an adopted 
daughter of the Bueklins, and Seth Holmes. 
The latter was a Captain of teamsters during 
the war of 1812, and he always reported that 
the diyision he was in, which was commanded 
by Col. Morrison, passed oyer the land 
upon which Bucyrus is now located, and 
encamped for the night near where the 
Bucyrus Machine Works now stand. Holmes 
directed Norton and Bucklin to this sec- 
tion of the State, but, before they had finally 
determined upon a permanent location, the two 
families were left for a few days at the Harding 
settlement, near what is now the cit}- of (lalion, 
and the three men yisited different portions of 
the New Purchase. Of the eighteen members 
of this first settlement, seyen are still aliye — 
Mrs. H. Garton, of Todd Township ; Mrs. J. 
Shull and Mrs. A. M. Jones, of Bucyrus ; War- 
ren Norton, of Kirksyille, Adair Co., Mo; Esther 
and Cynthia, two of Bucklin's daughters, and 
Polly, the adopted child. The three latter are 
residents of Western States. 

After reaching their destination, the two fam- 
ilies liyed for three days in an Indian wigwam, 
which stood near the present site of the court 
house, and, during this brief period, the three 
men constructed a more durable residence. This 
first rude home was built of small round logs 
and erected upon the bluff of the Sandusky 
River, near the site now occupied by the resi- 
dence of Mr. Christian Shonert. The two fam- 
ilies moyed into this log cabin, and, shortly 
afterward, another was constructed near where 
Thomas Hall's barn is at the present time, and 
this was the first home of the Bucklin famil}-. 



When these settlers constructed their first cabin, 
the nearest white neighbors were eight miles 
off, on the banks of the Olentangy, and that 
settlement consisted only of a few squatters, 
who were generally as nomadic in habit as they 
were transient in location. It is reported, how- 
eyer, that, at this time, Daniel McMichael and 
family, who afterward occupied eighty acres 
north of Bucj'rus, were residents of this same 
settlement on the Olentang}'. In October, 1819, 
there was not a single white man within what 
are now the limits of Crawford County, north 
and west of Norton's, but a few white families 
lived at Tjanochtee, then in Crawford, but now 
Wyandot County. The Norton family occupied 
their first log-cabin home during one winter and 
until July, 1820. In this cabin was born, on 
February 11, 1819, Sophronia Norton (now 
Mrs. M. M. Johnson, of Chicago), who was the 
first white child born on what is now the town 
of Bucyrus, or probably the first in the present 
limits of Crawford Count}-. When a new sur- 
voy of the land occupied by these first settlers 
had been made, it was discovered that Norton's 
cabin (on the site of the present Shonert resi- 
dence) was just north of his land, and so he 
built another log cabin on the site now occu- 
pied by Mr. W. H. Drought's residence. This 
cabin was modeled after an improved style of 
ai'chitecture ; it was known in those days as a 
" double cabin " house, and had " stick chim- 
neys," or, chimnej-s with a foundation of stone, 
and then built of sticks and plastered with mud. 
In this cabin, it is related by some of the in- 
mates who are still living, the bark from bass- 
wood-trees was used for bed-cord, which was 
woven like chair-bottoms ; but the family had 
plenty to eat, and were happy. At one time, 
the}' had a barrel and a half of strained honey 
in the house, obtained from the wild bees of the 
woods. 

The phj'sical privations which many of these 
early families suffered, and the straits to which 
they were sometimes reduced, are hard to real- 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



323 



ize by citizens who, in the present day, have all 
the necessities, many of the conveniences and 
comforts, and a few of the luxuries, of life. In 
those days, many domestic articles designed for 
daily use about the household and farm were 
ver}' rude and unhandy. Those early pioneer 
settlers could not always visit the market when 
they needed useful implements, and, conse- 
quently, they pressed into service much mate- 
rial obtained from Nature's great storehouse. 
The fires, if permitted to go out, were relighted 
with punk and flint. Window-panes were made 
of oiled paper. When the Nortons arrived, in 
1819, the nearest flouring-mills were at Lexing- 
ton, Richland Co., and the Herron Mills, near 
Fredericksburg. The man or boy who visited 
these mills walked the entire distance and led 
a horse loaded with two or three sacks of wheat. 
Sometimes there were many waiting, and some 
customers could not secure a grist for two or 
three days. These mills were run by water- 
power, and when the season was dry they were 
compelled to grind by hand. When the Norton 
family could not visit these mills, the}' secured 
flour and meal by pounding the wheat or corn 
in a mortar, with a wooden pestle. The mortar 
used was a log, hollowed out by burning a hole 
with fire until the cavity was large enough to 
hold half a bushel of grain. The meal was 
sifted with sieves of three different sizes, and 
three grades of flour were obtained. The finest 
was baked into bread ; the coarsest was boiled, 
and it sometimes required a whole day over the 
fire to soften it. When the wheat flour was all 
gone, the family subsisted on food prepared 
from corn meal, but frequently there was none 
of this in the cabin, and the mother of a family, 
busy with other household duties, was expected 
to provide a supper without even flour, corn 
meal, vegetables or meat. The father is away 
at work and will shortly appear, tii'ed and hun- 
gry. The pioneer women were full of resources ; 
they had an instrument they called a grater, 
made by taking one side of an old tin bucket. 



punching small holes close together all over 
it, and, nailing it on a board in such a manner 
that the middle is curved upward two or three 
inches from the board. Meal could be made 
by industriously rubbing ears of corn along its 
surface : and this must be done till sufficient 
meal is obtained to furnish food for supper, and 
breakfast next morning. The mother, then, 
having nothing in the house for supper, says to 
her children : '• Here. Louisa, you and Warren 
take this basket and go out to the corn-patch 
and bring in enough corn to grate for supper 
and breakfast." When the children return, the 
grater is taken down, and, after considerable 
hard labor, the meal was provided. If the corn 
meal was mixed and baked in a Dutch oven, it 
was called " pone ; " if baked on a board, near 
or over the fire, it was called "Johnny cake ; " 
and if it was made into round balls and baked 
in the oven, they then called these balls '• corn 
dodgers." A very common way was to boil the 
meal into mush and eat it with milk. But some- 
times flour and corn meal could not be either 
pounded with a pestle or grated with their rude 
instrument, for the reason that no grains of this 
description were in the cabin, and the Nortons 
could not secure of their few neighbors either 
grain, flour or meal. It is reported by Norton's 
daughters that they frequently lived for weeks 
without bread, during which time the family 
subsisted upon hone}^, pork, potatoes, and game 
from the woods. Wild turkeys were frequently 
shot ; they were cooked on a hook in the fire- 
place, with a pan underneath to catch the drip- 
pings, and these were poured over the suspended 
carcass with a spoon. The forests wei-e for 
many years fiUl of smaller game, upon which a 
meal could be made when other expedients 
failed. One winter, Mr. Norton killed five deer 
near the present site of T. C. Hall's barn. A 
deer-lick was situated near the river in this vi- 
cinity, and, when these animals visited this lick, 
they fell victims to the unerring shot of the 
first pioneer settler. Deer continued plenty in 



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324 



HISTORY OF CRAWJX)HD COUNTY. 



the vicinity of Bucn-rus until after 1830. In 
consequence of tlie industr}- of many swarms 
of bees, Crawford, at an early day, was literally 
a land abounding with honey, if not milk. 
The Indians, depending on nature to provide 
food, never wasted Avhat they found in the for- 
est, and, in obtaining honey, never secured at 
one time more than they wished to supply their 
temporal wants. Norton found, in one day, 
twenty-three bee-trees, and the honey secured 
from the woods was always a rich treat to the 
children, and more especially when the family 
larder was not filled with those articles which, 
at this da}', ever}- family considers a necessity. 
Norton also secured his first swarm of bees 
from the wild bees found in the woods. 

The hardships suffered by the Norton 
family were not only in consequence of a 
scarcit}' of food. It was necessary for the 
family to be clothed, and in 1820, Mose 
Emrich could not close out regardless of 
cost his entire stock of winter clothing to 
the few settlers of Crawford County. Sixty 
years ago, the county was without a clothing 
store, shoe store, dry-goods store or millinery 
establishment. Then the Norton family had 
to provide their own clothing and not only that 
but also make the cloth before the garment 
could be cut and sewed ; nor was this all, for 
they frequently were compelled to spin the yarn 
with which they wove this cloth. The Nortons 
brought from Penns3'lvania both looms and 
spinning-wheels ; in those early days every 
young lady was taught to spin, and many 
added weaving to their skill as industrious and ' 
expert house-keepers ; mothers frequently were 
expected to cook, wash, scrub, bake, sew, spin 
and weave for a large family of small children 
without any assistance. Mrs. Norton's elder 
children were valuable aid in providing cloth- 
ing for their younger brothers and sisters. After 
the girls learned the art of spinning, they were 
made to finish so much each day. Mrs. Jones 
reports that, in order to encourage her, Mr. 



Norton cut the legs of the wheel and made it 
more convenient ; thtit she soon acquired great 
skill and became an expert. At first she was 
quite proud of her handiwork, but soon found, 
to her sorrow, they appreciated the skill of the 
best spinner in the Norton family, for they in- 
creased her '• stint " or task, and she had then 
less time for play. She relates that in her 
youthful da3-s she frequently regretted ever 
learning how to spin because it was such tedi- 
ous work. Shoi'tly after Mr. Norton settled in 
Crawford County, he visited the Quaker settle- 
ment near Mount Gilead, and procured ten 
pounds of wool ; this aided for some time in 
providing linsej'-woolsey for winter garments. 
Flax was procured before many months, 
and linen garments were made for summer wear. 
Norton finally purchased forty sheep from set- 
tlers in Marion County, and brought these val- 
uable domestic animals to his pioneer home, 
but in a few weeks they were all devoured by 
wolves. For many years, the settlers were not 
able to keep sheep in consequence of these 
same mutton-loving beasts. The earl}' settlers 
were not fond of these ravenous animals ; their 
howling and yelping made many a night hide- 
ous, ami for this and many other reasons it was 
soon decided that in order to civilize the county 
the wolves should be exterminated. A bounty 
was paid by the State for the scalp of each 
wolf, not that these scalps were valuable, but 
because each new scalp secured furnished addi- 
tional proof that the mutton-ci'op of the future 
looked more promising. The latest statistics 
prove that Crawford County has at the present 
time over fifty thousand sheep, but then, for 
over forty years, the County Commissioners for 
satisfactory reasons have stopped purchasing 
wolf-scalps. The only bears killed in Crawford 
since the Norton family removed to the town- 
ship were an old she-bear and two cubs that 
wandered into Whetstone Township some forty- 
five years ago from their former haunts in what 
is now Morrow County. The weather during 



^ 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



325 



the winter of 1819-20 was veiy mild, and Nor- 
ton sowed his first crop in February, 1820 ; 
which yielded a bountiful harvest. Norton 
said in after years he never had a finer crop 
than the first one raised upon the soil of Bu- 
cyrus Township. In order to provide his 
family with shoes, Mr. Norton started a private 
tannery and for several years tanned all the 
leather necessary for family use ; it was also 
necessary for him to manufacture home-made 
shoes, and consequently he was the first tanner 
and shoemaker that settled in the count}- ; 
when other men arrived, however, who were 
skillful at these trades, he retired from busi- 
ness and patronized them. Norton brought 
the seed, from which his first fruit trees were 
raised, from his old home in Pennsylvania. 

Within a few days after the Norton family 
arrived at their new home, they were visited 
by a band of Indians from the Wyandot Reser- 
vation, near Upper Sandusk3^ These savage 
neighbors were always peaceable, and never 
committed any acts of depredation upon the 
person of any of the early settlers. They 
sometimes visited Norton's cabin when the 
men were absent, and at such times took great 
pleasure in frightening the unprotected in- 
mates. At first, Mrs. Norton could not con- 
ceal her terror during these visits. The smaller 
children would gather around her skirts for 
protection, but the appearance of the good 
lady was not encouraging to her elder children, 
who were as much frightened as their mother. 
The savages always enjoyed these scenes, and, 
when they discovered the eflfect their ver}' 
presence inspired, they gave vent to their feel- 
ings by numerous whoops and yells, which 
conduct on their part was not calculated to 
assure the frightened family that they were 
onh' the innocent victims for the harmless sav- 
age amusement which their unwelcome visitors 
were having. The Sandusky River was navi- 
gable for Indian canoes only at high water, but 
it is reported that numerous Indian trails trav- 



ersed the woods, which were being constantly 
used by the red man. These primitive high- 
ways were genei-ally worn deep into the soil, 
for the reason that in traveling the savages 
walked single file, and each member of the 
band stepped in the spot his predecessor's foot 
had been. One of these trails crossed over the 
site now occupied by the Bucyrus Machine 
Works, and during a fine day the Norton chil- 
dren were playing " hide and go seek " in this 
vicinity ; one young lady concealed herself be- 
hind a log, and, while in this position, a com- 
pany of the savages came along the trail. 
Charley Elliott, an Indian well known to many 
early settlers, was with this band at the time. 
When the natives saw the child, they raised a 
whoop, which caused the little girl suddenly to 
feel that the play for the time being might be 
postponed, and she made haste to vacate her 
place of concealment. The children all ran 
screaming toward home, and the savages, 
noticing the effect caused by their sudden ap- 
pearance, gave vent to their' satisfaction by 
numerous whoops, yells and grunts, which 
caused the children to make still better time 
in their endeavors to reach the cabin, although 
the delighted natives did not attempt to follow 
the frightened innocents. The spring after 
Mr. Norton's family removed to their new 
home, the Indians appeared in force at their 
sugar-camp, which was then situated on and 
near the present site of the public square. 
Man}' maple-trees were in this vicinity, and it 
had been the custom of these natives to visit 
this localit}' each spring for the purpose of 
boiling the maple sap down into sugar. At 
such times, they brought large brass kettles, 
which were furnished them among other sup- 
plies which they received each year from the 
Government, in accordance with the stipula- 
tions of a previous treaty. Most of these Wy- 
andot Indians were great beggai's. Each year, 
the United States distributed among this tribe 
a certain amount of goods, consisting of food. 



^ 



326 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



clothing, and also raanj' valuable utensils, 
wliieli latter articles were furnished in order to 
induce the natives to adopt civilized customs. 
These annual supplies destroyed what little in- 
dustry the tribe might have cultivated for 
several c(uituries, for it made them dependent 
upon the generosity of others ; and, naturally, 
if any additional articles wei'e needed by them, 
they endeavored to secure these also from the 
whites by plaintive appeals. If their efforts 
proved fruitless, they sometimes brought dried 
venison, which they endeavored to trade to the 
settlers for pork, and they frequently appeared 
with bark baskets filled with cranberries, which 
they desired to trade for bread and pork. The 
Indians considered all the game in the forests 
their propert}', and, when they found the coun- 
try was being rapidly settled b}' the whites, 
they frequentl}' came into the neighborhood to 
hunt, in order that the game would not fall 
into the hands of white settlers. 

When the lands of the New Purchase were 
offered for sale by the Government, Mr. Norton 
visited the land office at Delaware and entered 
four hundred acres, upon two hundred and forty 
of which the principal part of Bucyrus now 
stands. This tract of two hundred and forty 
acres extended from a line running along Perry 
street on the north, to a line along the Middle- 
town road on the south, and from the section 
line a short distance west of Spring street on 
the west to a parallel line three-fourths of a 
mile east, or one-fourth of a mile west of the 
Whetstone Township line. It is reported by 
Mr. Norton's daughters that a party of Quakers 
desired this same land, and, when Mr. Noi'ton 
visited the Government land office to secure 
his certificate, these Quakers tried to deceive 
him, endeavoring to persuade him that the 
lands Ik; was about to enter, did not correspond 
with the tract he desired, but they were not 
successful. Mr. Norton gave Bucklin fifty 
acres off from the east of this two hundred and 
forty for coming West with him, and after a few 



years Bucklin sold it to Mr. Harris Garton, 
son-in-law of Mr. Norton, and moved with his 
family to Michigan. The town of Bucyrus was 
surveyed on another fifty acres of Mr. Norton's 
land during the early part of 1822, and shortly 
after this Mr. Norton returned to Lakeville, 
Livingston Co., N. Y., and brought out to Bucy- 
rus, his mother-in-law, Mrs. Elizabeth Bucklin 
and her daughter Elizabeth. Mrs. Bucklin was 
an educated lady, and had practiced medicine 
for fort}' years in Rhode Island. When she 
reached this new country she did not wish to 
continue her practice, but the settlers, when ill, 
would send for her, and, as it was hard to re- 
fuse, she had an extensive reputation, if not a 
lucrative business. But the effect of a change 
at her time of life was not beneficial, and, sev- 
eral years after she arrived in the new country, 
she took sick and died. Her daughter Eliza- 
beth married Louis Stephenson, a hatter, who 
worked at his trade for some years in Bucyrus. 
The Norton family lived in their double-cabin 
house until 1823, when another residence was 
erected on what is now a vacant corner between 
the ]Main Street Mills and Perry street. This 
new building was an improvement on the 
round-log double-cabin house ; it was two 
stories high ; was built of hewn logs and occu- 
pied by the family for about eight 3-ears, until 
the}' removed to the lirick house now occupied 
by the Main Street Mills ; this building was 
erected in 1831, and used as a private residence 
about four years, but in December, 1835, he 
started a hotel in this block, at which time he 
gave a grand opening that was attended by 
many old settlers. Col. Kilbourne was present 
and amused the company with many favorite 
songs. Mr. Norton, as landlord, entertained 
man} prominent public men who visited the 
village, among whom was Gen. Harrison, when 
he passed through the place during the cam- 
paign of 1840. Samuel Norton was an Old 
School Baptist, and in the early days of the 
town, Elder Pharez Jackson, from near Gallon, 



3<T: 



5) 



r^ 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



327 



visited Bucyrus once a montli and preached at 
Mr. Norton's liome. Mr. Jackson also preaclied 
at the houses of Joseph S. Morris, southeast 
of Bucyrus, and James Scott's cabin. Elder 
Kaufman also occasionally held services at Mr. 
Norton's residence. Samuel Norton died April 
18, 1856, in the seventy-seventh year of his 
age. From an obituary notice published in 
the Bucyrus Journal^ the following extract is 
taken: "The death of Mr. Norton has left a 
vacancy among our citizens, as well as in his 
family, which cannot be filled. Being the first 
settler, he was justly entitled to the name of 
the 'Father of Bucyrus.' In the autumn of 
1819, when the countr}' around was in a state 
of nature, and the dark glens of the forest re 
echoed the hoarse bowlings of the wild beasts 
and the dread war-whoop of the Indians, this 
hardy pioneer left his quiet home in Pennsyl- 
vania to seek his fortune in the West. Attracted 
by the beauty of the surrounding country, he 
erected a tent of poles, in which he spent the 
winter. His life for many years afterward was 
but a series of severe toil and exposure, which 
none but the most hardy and persevering could 
endure. For fifty years, he was an exemplary 
member of the Baptist Church, and, through all 
the vicissitudes of his pioneer life, his spirits 
were kept buo3'ant by the hope of a future re- 
ward in the mansions of eternal glory. A large 
concourse of citizens attended his funeral, and 
all expressed their regret for their much- 
esteemed citizen, and sympathy- for his afflicted 
relatives." His wife, Mary Norton, lived three 
years after her husband's death, and finally 
passed away, April 29, 1859, and was laid be- 
side her companion of fift^'-two )'ears of wedded 
life, in the gravevard northwest of Bucyrus. 

Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Norton were the par- 
ents of twelve children, eight sons and four 
daughters, viz. : Rensellaer, Louisa, Manford, 
Warren, Waldo, Catharine, Elizabeth, Sophi-o- 
nia, Harris P., Charles, Jetferson and William 
B. Many of these became the parents of large 



families, and the descendants of the first settler 
are very numerous. 

Although the families of Messrs. Norton and 
Bucklin were the first settlers of Buc3-rus Town- 
ship, they did not remain very long alone. The 
next spring, a man by the name of Sears came 
and squatted on the land which lies just west of 
Oakwood Cemetery. Mr. Norton's daughters 
relate that " One Sunday morning we were 
awakened by the crowing of several roosters in 
the soutiiwest, and our ears were saluted by the 
welcome I'ing of another pioneer's ax, which 
sounds seemed to us, who had so often listened 
to the barking and howling of wolves, the 
sweetest music.'' The lonely pioneers were 
glad to have neighbors, and the Sears family 
were visited by Mr. and Mrs. Norton early in 
the morning, and were assisted in the first task 
of building a log cabin ; until this building was 
erected, the family slept in their wagon. The 
Sears family did not like the new country, and, 
after remaining a short time, removed to another 
locality. But other settlers arrived who did 
remain, and befoi'e many months the neighbors 
were David Beadle and his sons Mishael and 
David, Daniel McMichael and Joseph Young, 
and these were followed l\y numerous other 
families. Col. Kilbourne, in his " Song of Bu- 
cyrus," says : 

" First Norton and the Beadles came 

With friends, an enterprising band ; 
Young and McMichael, men of fame, 
Soon joined the others, hand in hand." 

The Beadles were the second settlers to pur- 
chase land in Bucyrus Township. They lo- 
cated, about the spring of 1820, upon the 
eighty acres west of Norton's land. Previous 
to this they were residents of the Quaker set- 
tlement near Mount Gilead ; it is reported by 
some that they were natives of New York State. 
The family consisted of David Beadle and his 
two sons, Mishael and David ; also his son-in- 
law, John Ensley, who married Ann Beadle. It 
is reported bj- Mr. Norton's daughters •' that at 



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328 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



first Misliael Beadle occupied the north forty of 
their first eighty-acre tract, and lived in a cabin 
which stood on the lot now owned by Mr. Silas 
Bowers, on West Mansfield street. David 
Beadle and his son David, aged about seven- 
teen, occupied the south forty acres, and resided 
in a cabin situated a short distance southwest 
of the present end of Warren street. The Bea- 
dles did not remain in CrawfordTounty, but, 
several years after the}' came into possession of 
this land, sold out to Samuel Myers and moved 
West." During the brief period these families 
resided in Crawford County, they occupied sev- 
eral different log cabins. Mrs. Rogers reports 
that at one time Mishael resided over the 
river a little south of where Joe Heniy lives at 
the present time ; old David Beadle then lived 
in the cabin formerly occupied by his son 
Mishael, and John Ensley over the river near 
Mishael. During the summer of 1822, Daniel, 
the little son of Mishael Beadle, died ; this is 
the first death of which any satisfactory proof 
can be obtained that occurred in Bucyrus Town- 
ship. The little fellow was buried on Norton's 
land ; the exact site of this first burying-ground 
is the lot now owned by Hiram Fisher, at the cor- 
ner of Walnut street and the Middletown Road. 
During the winter of 1822-2.3, Clarinda Beadle 
married a man some seven years older than 
herself ; David Beadle was also married shortly 
after this, but did not live with his wife very 
long. Mishael Beadle also entered the Pettitt 
place now owned by Lorin Converse, which he 
resided on for several years, and John Ensley 
afterward located east of this on what was aft- 
erward known as the Minich estate. The entire 
Beadle family was of a restless, roving disposi- 
tion ; they spent considerable time hunting, 
and disliked hard labor. Samuel Myers, who 
purchased from them the eighty aci-es they 
first entered, at S6 per acre, reports that only 
eight or ten acres of the land had been cleared, 
notwithstanding it had been owned by the Bea- 
dle familj' for some six or eight years. The 



Beadles claimed to be Quakers, and the old 
man adopted the dress and language of this 
sect, but was never an honor to the Friends. 
It is related that he visited Zanesville for the 
purpose of buying a plow ; the store-keeper did 
not wish to sell plows on credit so far from 
home, but Beadle talked so honestly' that the 
plow-dealer finally consented. When the old 
fellow returned to Bucyrus, he made his boasts 
that his broad-brimmed hat had secured a fine 
plow ; he never paid for this agricultural imple- 
ment, and several years after he moved West, 
the Zanesville merchant visited Bucyrus for the 
purpose of collecting this bad debt ; as he 
never succeeded, it is likely he never, after this 
expei'ience with Beadle, trusted a Quaker who 
lived IGO miles from Zanesville. 

The Young family, who, according to Kil- 
bourne's song, " soon joined the others hand in 
hand," first settled in Section 5, Whetstone 
Township, on the farm now owned b}' William 
Holmes, in the Stewart neighborhood. The 
Young family, however, were large land-holders 
in Bucyrus Township at an early day. It is 
reported that the old gentleman, William Young, 
gave each of his children 160 acres of land ; 
that George Black, who settled in Buc3'rus at 
an earl}' day, and married a Miss Young, re- 
ceived for his portion the fourth section, upon 
which the Sinn Mill is now situated. Previous 
to transferring this to Black, however, Mr. Young 
built a flouriug-mill at this point ; for some 
time it was a horse mill, and customers could 
not secure a grist without they took their own 
horses, and were sometimes compelled to wait 
many hours before their turn arrived. The tax 
duplicate of 1830 proves that Greorge Young 
owned this fourth section at that time, and 
John and Jacob Young eacli had 160 acres 
southwest of George Young's farm ; they were 
all residents of the township at that time, and a 
few of the present citizens of Crawford County 
are descended from the Young family. 

Daniel McMichael settled in Crawford County 



>y 



2> 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



329 



with his family about the year 1819. When 
Samuel Norton explored different portions. of 
the county during the early fall of that year, 
the McMichaels were living near the Olentang}-, 
some eight miles from the present site of Bucy- 
rus. The McMichaels then moved into what is 
now Libert}' Township, and were the first set- 
tlers in that division of Crawford County. Mr. 
McMichael resided in Liberty for some two 
3'ears, during which time he erected the first 
grist-mill built in Crawford. He then removed 
to the vicinity of^Bucyrus and put up a log- 
house on the site now occupied bj' Hon. E. B. 
Finley's residence. He purchased from the 
Government the eighty acres upon which his 
cabin was erected ; also eighty acres east of 
Norton's land, and the eighty acres south of the 
Middletown road and east of Walnut street. 
For a few months he engaged in distilling 
whisky, the location of this establishment being 
the present site of the Bucyrus Gas Works. 
After residing north of Bucyrus for some two 
years he died, about the year 1825. McMichael 
was of Scotch-L'ish descent, and it is reported 
he was a member of the Presb3'terian Church. 
Mrs. Mary, or Polly McMichael, as she was 
usually called, lived man}' years after her first 
husband's death. December 9,1832, she was mar- 
ried by Rev. John C. Havens to John Shults. 
but she did not live a happ}- life with Shults, 
and they separated after several jeavs. Two 
incidents are related of Aunt Polly ; it is said 
by some of her grandchildren, that about the 
year 1825, she rode on horseback to Pennsyl- 
vania, her former home, the sole companion be- 
ing her youngest son Allen, then about six 
years of age. She then prevailed upon her 
mother, an aged widow lad}', to accompany her 
to the new settlement. The old lad}- rode on 
one horse, and Aunt Poll}^ occupied another 
with her child, and also a feather bed strapped 
on the horse behind her. It is also reported 
by Mr. Norton's daughter, that, when Gen. Har- 
rison was in Buc3'rus during the j'ear 18-10, 



Aunt Polly, then an old lady, visited him and 
reminded the General how she had cooked a 
meal for him some years previous. She told 
the General that he consented to hold her son 
David while she prepared the meal. The Gen- 
eral recognized her and admitted the occur- 
rence. This incident is reported to have oc- 
curred at the fort in Mansfield ; but it, like the 
fort, was situated at some point in Pennsylvania. 
Daniel McMichael and Aunt Poll}' were the 
parents of the following seven children : David, 
Matthew, William, Martha, Mary, Daniel and 
Allen. 

During the year 1821, Zalmon Rowse re- 
moved to Crawford County with his family 
and settled in Whetstone Township, but he be- 
came identified with the public business of the 
citizens at a very early day, and moved his 
family to Bucyrus Township. Mr. Rowse was 
a man well fitted for public trusts, and the citi- 
zens appreciated his natural abilities by elect- 
ing him to many important positions. He was 
one of the first Justices of the Peace in Bu- 
cyrus Township, and served in this capacity for 
nearly twenty years. Li 1825, he was commis- 
sioned Lieutenant Colonel of the Fourth Regi- 
ment of Ohio Militia. During the latter 
part of 1825 and until Crawford County was 
organized in 1826. Col. Rowse served as one of 
the Commissioners of Marion County. When 
the new county was formed, Mr. Beardsley was 
appointed Clerk, but shortly afterward he re- 
signed, and Col. Rowse was his successor. He 
served the people faithfully in this position for 
many years ; at this time the recording of deeds 
and mortgages was part of the duties of Mr. 
Rowse, and the fine records prepared by him, 
which are on file at the Court House, are to 
this day a lasting proof that the confidence 
which the citizens frequently reposed in him 
was never misplaced, and it is not surprising 
that for the public interests he was re-elected 
many terms to the various positions he occu- 
pied. In 1826, Col. Rowse was one of the 



'.jL 



330 



HISTORY or CRAWFORD COUNTY 



charter members of the Cohimbus and Sandus- 
ky Turnpike ; he assisted also in 1846, when 
the Bucyrus Lodge of Freemasons was organ- 
ized, of which society he was also a charter 
member. He purchased from the Government 
the farm now owned by Col. William Monnett, 
southeast of town, and erected upon it the 
brick residence now occupied by the owner. 
Col. Kowse also erected, in 1831, the American 
Hotel, situated on the northwest corner of 
Main and Warren streets. In early life, he was 
addicted to the excessive use of liquor ; this 
vice was then a more general custom among 
the leading citizens of the county than at the 
present time. Many humorous incidents are 
related by early settlers in regard to the pranks 
played by Col. Howse and his boon companion. 
Col. Scott, when these fun-loving men started 
out to have a " good time." About the 
year 1835. they both reformed under the 
preaching of the late Rev. L. Gr. Grurley, D. D. 
Col. Rowse united with the M. E. Church, and 
Col. Scott with the Presbyterian ; during the 
remainder of their lives, both men were ex- 
emplary citizens and ornaments to the churches 
with which they were connected. Col. Rowse 
died August 15, 1854, having been a resident 
of Bucyrus Township over thirty j-ears, during 
which time no one citizen had a greater influ- 
ence than he in shaping the early interests of 
Crawford County. The year after Col. Rowse 
removed to this county, his brother, Heraan 
Rowse, settled in Whetstone Township, and 
shortly afterward purchased from the Govern- 
ment eighty acres on the pike one mile south 
of Bucyrus ; he continued a resident until 
about the year 1831, when he was killed while 
assisting at a barn-raising just southwest of 
the village. Seth Holmes, who came with the 
Nortons in 1819, was an old bachelor, and, after 
living in the town for several years, died, pre- 
vious U) 1827. His brother Truman was also 
an early settler, who moved to Bucyrus Town- 
ship with his family. Truman had four sons 



— Lyman, Harry, Klisha and Zalmon ; some of 
these removed to Holmes Township, which re- 
ceived its name from this family. Truman 
Holmes' daughter married Rensellaer Norton. 
Elisha. Thaddeus, David and John Kent were 
early residents of the township. Elisha en- 
tered the eighty acres immediately north of 
Bucklin's land ; this farm is now owned by 
James Kerr, of Pennsylvania, formerly a resi- 
dent of Bucyrus Township. Able Car}-, also 
an early settler, was a man full of oddities. 
He put up the first grist-mill erected in the 
township as early as 1821. 

Lewis Cary was another early settler of 
Buc^'rus Township, who i-eached the present 
site of the city with his wife and family, con- 
sisting of six sons and three, daughters, during 
the spring of 1822. Cary was born in New 
Jerse}^, near Morristown, October 19, 1783 ; he 
was earl}' apprenticed to a tanner, and, having 
learned the trade and also attained his majority, 
he removed to Smithfield, Jetferson Co., Ohio, 
where he established himself in business and 
married Miss Rachael Kirk, of that place. 
Their nine children were Susan, Abel, William, 
Aaron, Edmond. Isabel, Sarah, George and 
Benjamin. All of these grew to maturit}' ; but 
at the present time only one, Isabel, now Mrs. 
Alex. Caldwell, Sr.. is a I'esident of Crawford 
County. The Cary family removed from Jef- 
ferson County in " schooner wagons." and, when 
they arrived at Bucyrus, moved into an old 
building until a log cabin could be erected ; 
this first home occupied one of the lots upon 
which Christian Shonert's residence is at the 
present time. Cary put up the first hewed-log 
house, with a shingle roof and grooved floor, 
that was built in Bucyrus ; all the other cabins 
were made of round logs with a puncheon floor. 
Car}' visited the grist-mill in Knox County, 
for flour, and often the suppl}- of food in the 
house was so limited th.at an allowance was 
made for each child of their large family. A 
few months after reaching Bucyrus, Cary 



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HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



331 



started the first tannery established in Craw- 
ford County, and for nearly sixt}- yeai's the 
tanning business has been conducted at this 
same location. It is now owned by Messrs. 
Shonert & Haller. Gary provided vats by sink- 
ing some large troughs in the ground, and it 
was necessary for him to pound his bark, as he 
had no facility for grinding it. His work was 
traded to other settlers for home-spun cloth, 
and he tanned some leather for the Indians, 
which they made into moccasins. He was, 
also, a good shoemaker, and the Indians were 
great admirers of the work he produced ; for, 
when they discovered that many of his shoes 
" squeaked," the}' were very anxious to secure 
a pair of this kind, always asking him to make 
for them " a shoe that talked." Car}- was a 
member of the society of Friends, and pos- 
sessed the good-will of all the Indians ; other 
settlers were troubled by these natives, occa- 
sionally, but the savages never molested anj' 
property belonging to their Quaker friend. It 
is related, by Mrs. Alex. Caldwell, that Susie 
Williams, an Indian squaw who carried wood 
to burn Col. Crawford some fort}' years pre- 
vious, was frequently in the village, and related 
her personal knowledge of this sad traged}' to 
many early settlers ; Cary purchased from the 
Government the 160 acres comprising the 
northeast quarter of Section 2 ; most of this 
land is now owned b}- Joseph Henry. About 
the 3'ear 1823, James Monroe appointed Cary 
first Postmaster of the village of Bucyrus. He 
served in this capacit}' during the administra- 
tion of John Quincy Adams, and was removed 
by President Jackson for political reasons 
Cary continued the tannery until about the 
year 1839, wiien he transferred the establish- 
ment to his son Aaron. Mr. Cary died Jan- 
uar}' 9, 186G, at Defiance, Ohio ; his wife, 
Rachael, died soon after the}' moved to Craw- 
ford County, about the year 1825, and was 
buried on her husband's land ; the grave is in 
Henry's apple orchard and is marked by a 



tombstone, bearing only the words " Rachael 
Cary." This Henry farm was occupied by the 
Carys for many years. A short time after 
Lewis Cary removed to Crawford County, his 
brother Aaron settled in Bucyrus. He was a 
saddler and harness- maker, but did not reside 
in the village many years. His cabin and shop 
was near Lewis Cary's tannery ; his daughter, 
Sarah, taught school in the upper part of the 
building. 

Amos Clark entered the eighty acres lying 
south of Norton's land, and west of Main street. 
He resided near where John Keil does at the 
present time ; after the year 1 830 he sold his land 
and removed West. It is reported he afterward 
went deranged on account of Millerism. In 
1830, he also owned thirty -eight acres north of 
town, and donated a small portion of this for 
the old burying-ground which is situated on 
the Tiffin road. The family of General Samuel 
Myers removed to Bucyrus in 1826. During 
the early days, he owned several valuable pieces 
of land ; he purchased of the Beadles their 
tract just west of Norton's, and also another 
farm, which now lies in the southern part of 
Bucyrus corporation. Mr. Myers received a 
General's commission in the Ohio Militia ; he 
has always taken an active part in public af- 
fairs, and held many positions of honor and 
trust during the past fifty years. The ShroU 
family were also very early settlers. In 1830, 
George Shroll owned 1 36 acres, upon a portion 
of which Oakland Cemetery was afterward laid 
out. John Shroll owned 140 acres just west of 
his brother's land. George was an EUler in the 
early Lutheran Church. About July 1, 1835, 
he had occasion to go to Sandusky City, at 
which place at that time cholera was raging. 
After finishing his business he returned home, 
and in a very short time was taken down with 
cholera and died ; his brother Daniel, a Deacon 
of the same congregation, having nursed him 
during his sickness, was shortly afterward 
prostrated by the same disease and died also. 



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332 



H18T0RY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



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The Lutheran Church met on July 12, 1835, 
and, after showing clue respect to their memory, 
elected successors to fill the vacancy caused by 
their sad death. 

For man}' years after all the land had been 
entered in the vicinity of Bucyrus, the country 
south and west of town remained unsettled, and 
it was not until several years after 1830, that 
the gi'eater portion of these farms were owned 
by actual residents of the township. Much of 
the lands on the plains were low and wet, and 
many citizens, in that earl}- day, labored under 
the impression that, because timber was scarce 
in this section of the country, there would be 
great danger of freezing to death in the winter 
for want of fuel ; that is, if an}- one were fool- 
ish enough to settle on these timberless plains, 
which are. at the present time, considered among 
the finest agricultural lands in the State. It is 
reported, bj' many, that fift}- years ago a con- 
siderable portion of these plains were swamp 
lands, and, in exploring this eountr}- on horse- 
back, settlers would be compelled to ride in 
mud and water which reached to the saddle- 
girths. Some of the earl}- purchasers of the 
lands in Southern Bucyrus Township, were 
speculators, who bought at $1.25 per acre and 
held on to the property until they secured a 
much higher price. Among these capitalists was 
a man by the name of Henry W. Delavan who 
was possibly the largest non-resident land-owner 
of Crawford County at an early day. Previous to 
1825, he entered at the Government Office many 
valuable tracts of land lying in Ci'awford County. 
In 1830, he owned, in Bucyrus Township, all 
of Section 26 ; the east half of Section 35, and 
the west half, northeast quarter, and half of 
southeast fourth of Section 25 ; total 1,520 acres, 
lie also owned 958 acres in Liberty Township. 

Among the early residents of the country 
south of Bucyrus, were the ^Marquis family. 
William A'ance Marquis was raised near Win- 
chester, A'a., and removed to Washington 
County, Penn., where he married Miss Mary 



Park, whose father was killed by the Indians. 
In 1801, he emigrated to Belmont County, Ohio, 
where he resided until 1829. Several years 
previous to this, he visited Crawfoi'd County 
and purchased several tracts of land, expecting 
to remove to this section of the State. The 
family reached Bucyrus November 12, 1829. 
and settled on the Plains three miles south of 
town, and at this time only two families lived 
between them and the village. John Marquis, 
son-in-law of William Vance Marquis, settled 
in Bucyrus Township, dui'ing the spring of 
1828, on the farm near where David Marshal 
lives at the present time. Mr. William V. Mar- 
quis was an early member of the Presbyterian 
Church at Bucyrus, and an Elder for several 
years. He died in 1834, and Benjamin Beall's 
father bought the homestead from the Marquis 
heirs. Mr. and Mrs. INIarquis were the parents 
of the following ten children, four boys and 
six girls : Ann, Margaret, Joseph, David, 
Mary, Susannah, Ruth, William Park, Cynthia 
and George. Joseph and David are now resi- 
dents of Logan County, William Park of Seneca 
County, and George of Florida. Ruth Mar- 
quis married James McCracken, Esq., who was 
for nearly half a century one of the prominent 
citizens of Bucyrus Township. 

Over fifty years ago, scA^eral members of the 
Monnett family purchased land in Bucyrus 
Township ; previous to 1830, Isaac, William, 
Thomas and Osborne were residents. Isaac 
Monnett owned several farms on the Plains in 
1830. Col. William Monnett is a resident of 
Bucyrus at the present time ; the other three 
are all dead. Rev. Jeremiah Monnett removed 
to Crawford County in 1835, and purchased 
the land then occupied by John Barney, whose 
daughter married Dr. St. Clair. Mr. Barney's 
house occupied the site upon which Rev. 
Thomas Monnett's barn is now located. This 
hewn-log cabin was the home of Rev. Jeremiah 
Monnett's family until a more satisfactory resi- 
dence was erected east of the pike road. 




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HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY 



335 



Abraham Monnett, Esq., Rev. T. J. Monnett 
and Mrs. Mary Royce, residents of the town- 
ship at the present time, are children of Rev. 
Jeremiah Monnett. A man by the name of 
Dinwiddie settled on the farm some two miles 
south of Bucyrus, previous to 1830, and died 
a few years afterward. His only child married 
Lockwood Campbell and removed with her hus- 
band to Wood County. There were also sev- 
eral families of negroes settled on a section of 
land some two miles south of town, now known 
as the "Nigger Woods." They were formerly 
slaves and had been emancipated by their mas- 
ter, who resided in Virginia. It is reported by 
some that they formerly belonged to John Ran- 
dolph, who liberated and provided for all his 
slaves on his death-bed. However, as early as 
1828, these negroes were sent to Crawford 
County, and given land to farm ; but, under the 
black laws of Ohio in force at that time, they 
were required by the Overseers of the poor to 
give bonds in the penal sum of $500 each for 
their good behavior, and that they would not 
become a township charge. Being unable to 
comply, a portion of them were placed in a 
cart and sent back to the Ohio River. Others 
left of their own accord, and but one family 
remained on the land. This was Old Solomon, 
who continued a resident of the township for 
some time ; and, when the old fellow died, his 
widow got married again. Among those who 
paid tax in 1830, on real estate located in Bucy- 
rus Township, were the following persons : 
Thomas Adams, John Black, John Bowman, 
Isaac Fickle, Joshua Lewis, John Miller, Joseph 
S. Merris, Joseph Pearce, Jane Stephenson and 
Gottlieb John Schultz. These citizens were all 
residents of the township during 1830 ; the 
land they owned at that time, which had been 
purchased from the Government by early set- 
tlers previous to 1825, was located as follows ; 
Thomas Adams, forty-eight acres, three miles 
west of Bucyrus, now owned by C. Wiseman ; 
John Black, the eighty acres south of town. 



now owned by Henry Flock ; John Bowman, 
eighty acres southwest of Bucyrus, now the 
property of William Magee ; Isaac Fickle, one 
hundred and sixty acres one-fourth mile west of 
Bowman's, now owned by William ShroU; 
Joshua Lewis, eighty acres south of Fickle's, 
now owned by G. Eckert ; John Miller, eighty 
acres northwest of Bucyrus, now owned by F. 
R. Bittikoffer; Joseph S. Merris, the eighty 
acres south of the present fair ground, now 
owned by C. Morfoot, and the heirs of Jacob 
Greenich ; Joseph Pearce, the eighty acres just 
west of John Miller's land; Gottleib John 
Schultz eighty acres just south of Miller's, now 
owned by A. Yost and others ; Jane Stephen- 
sou, one hundred and sixty acres two miles 
west of Bucyrus, now owned by Messrs. L. W. 
Buck and P. A. Beard, also the quarter-section 
now owned by William Caldwell. There were 
also, in 1830, some thirty other settlers, not 
previously mentioned, then living in Bucyrus 
Township, who paid tax on personal property ; 
many of these were also land-owners, but their 
real estate, if not in the village, was purchased 
from the Government after 1825. These early 
settlers were : John Bowman, Jr., John Bil- 
lups, Adam Bair, Thomas Bennett, Richard W. 
Cahill, J. Coulter, Isaac Ditty, D. and I. Din- 
widdie, Nicholas Failor, William and Joshua 
Foreacre, William Fraley. Jacob Forney, Jesse 
Goodell, Jonas Gilson, Peter Hesser, Sr., George 
Hesser, William Hughey, Sr., and son Williatn, 
Lewis Heinlen, John Kent, Christopher Noacre, 
George Oumiller, George Sinn, Daniel Seal, 
David Tipton, George Welsh, Frederick Wis- 
man and others. For nearly twenty years 
after 1820, only two-thirds of the land in Bucy- 
rus Township had been offered for sale by the 
Government. The eastern boundary line of 
the Wyandot Indian reservation was within 
three miles of Bucyrus village, and, conse- 
quently, extended into the township over two 
miles on the western side. About 1836, how- 
ever, the Indians sold to the Government a 



336 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



strip seven miles wide from the east end of 
their reserve. The hind in this strip was sold 
by the Government at public sale in Marion. 
This tract included the land about the present 
town of Osceola ; a considerable portion of this 
was purchased b^- a company, and Osceola 
laid out. An attempt was made by this com- 
pany to have the count}' seat removed from 
Bucyrus to Osceola, and lots were sold in the 
little village with the expectation that it would 
soon be a larger town than Bucyrus ; this 
speculation, however, was spoiled by the crea- 
tion of Wyandot County, with the county seat 
at Upper Sandusky. In 1830, eighty-two per- 
sons paid tax on personal property in Bucyrus 
Township, and the population of this division 
was about seven hundred. By the U. S. Cen- 
sus taken, each decade since then, the popula- 
tion of the township, including Bucyrus cor- 
poration, was as follows: 1840, 1,654; 1850, 
2,315; 1860,3,543; 1870.4,184; 1880,5,086. 
The number of inhabitants in the township 
outside the village, was as follows : 1830 about 
200; 1840, 950; 1850, about 1,200; 1860, 
1,336; 1870, 1,118; 1880, 1,238. 

The citizens of Bucyrus Township were or- 
ganized with a special civil government at an 
early date. Zalmon Rowse was the first Jus- 
tice of the Peace, and he undoubtedly received 
his first commission during the spring of 1823, 
as his second one was dated April 15, 1826, 
and at that time he had already been serving 
as Justice for two years. The jurisdiction of 
Col. Rowse extended over both Whetstone and 
Liberty Townships ; and it is doubtful if two 
Justices were elected for this territory until 
Enoch B. Merriman was chosen, in April, 1 824. 
Merriman soon resigned the office, and his suc- 
ces.sor was elected October 12, 1824. The first 
strife for office that occurred in the township, 
of which we have any positive proof, took place 
at this election. The result was as follows : To- 
tal number of votes cast, 49 ; of these, Conrad 
Roth had 26, Michael Beedle, 22, and Con- 



rad Roades, 1 . Calculating five citizens to each 
voter, the population at that time was about 
250. Zalmon Rowse, the first Justice, served 
nearh' twenty years. Roth served three years, 
and was succeeded, in September, 1827, by Ed- 
ward Billups, and in April, 1828, by James 
McCracken, who served for six years. Mc- 
Cracken was also elected to the same position 
in 1836, and again in April, 1845. Since 1834, 
the following additional persons have been 
commissioned for this office in Bucyrus Town- 
ship : From 1834 to 1840— William Earley, 
Peter Worst, James C. Steen ; from 1840 to 
1850 — Steen (for second term), David Holm, S. 
S. Caldwell, Jacob Howenstein, Jonas Stough, 
James Marshall : 1850 to 1860 — Howenstein 
(for second and third terms), Stough (for second 
and third terms), John B3'ers, John Smith, 
Christopher Elliot ; 1860 to 1870— Elliot (for 
second term), C. D. Ward, William M. Scroggs, 
Wilson Stewart, George Donnenwirth, Samuel 
S. Caldwell ; 1870 to 1880— James M. Van 
Voorhis, Caldwell (for second term), John C. 
Jackson, Chapman D. Ward and Allen Camp- 
bell. Messrs. Ward and Campbell are the pres- 
ent incumbents ; Campbell's first term will ex- 
pire in April, 1881, and Ward's second term in 
October, 1881. Impartial justice has generally 
been dispensed to those who, during the past 
fifty years, have brought cases before these 
township courts. Many amusing cases have 
been tried, and strange verdicts have some- 
times been rendered ; but these Justices were all 
fallible and ma}^ have made mistakes. Their 
motives were, it is to be hoped, pure, and if any 
unjust rulings were made b}' them, these were 
undoubtedly errors of the head and not of the 
heart. Albijence Bucklin and Elisha Kent 
were, in an early day, disputants before Squire 
Rowse. The verdict was in Kent's favor, and 
of course Bucklin was dissatisfied and very 
angry. The defeated contestant then poured 
out upon his opponent the vial of wrath he had 
treasured up, and scolded, abused and cursed 



-?p 



■jv 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



337 



him in a shameful manner. Having exhausted 
upon Kent all the words found in the latest vo- 
cabulary of profanity and vulgarit}', Bucklin 
appeai'ed satisfied with the result, and calmed 
his excited feelings. Squire Peter Worst, one 
of the early Justices, was a tailor by trade, and 
generally heard the cases while sitting cross- 
legged on his office bench, seldom pausing in 
the work upon which he was occupied. It is 
reported that one day a case was brought be- 
fore him, and he continued sewing while the 
plaintiff's side was being argued, after which he 
quit work for a moment, grabbed his docket, 
made several entries upon it, and continued his 
task. The counsel for the defendant was anx- 
ious to make a plea, and, growing impatient, 
asked, " Doesn't the Court wish to hear any ev- 
idence on the other side ? " " Oh, yes," replied 
the Squire, " you can talk just as long as you 
please, but I have decided the case in favor of 
the plaintiff" It is unuecessarj'^ to write of the 
details in this case, but the remark was charac- 
teristic of 3Ir. Worst, who was one of the earl}' 
settlers of Bueyrus Township. He was born 
in Cumberland County, Penn., November 6, 
1802, and died at his residence, on the lot now 
occujDied b}^ W. P. Rowland's new home, May 
20, 1873. Woi'st was early apprenticed to learn 
tailoring, and, May 29, 1828, married Miss Han- 
nah iNI. El}-. They were the parents of six chil- 
dren ; three sons and one daughter are still liv- 
ing. Shortly after marriage, the young coui^le 
started West, and reached Bueyrus several 
months afterward, having walked all the wa}- 
from Harrisburg, Penn. During the journe3\ 
the}^ stopped in several towns, in which, for a 
few da3's. Worst worked at his trade. Mr. 
Worst was a resident of the county for nearly 
forty-five years, and held various township and 
corporation offices during this period. He was 
a citizen of strongly marked character, peculiar 
and quaint, fond of harmless fun, and ever 
ready with an original remark or an innocent 
jest, but never with any unkindncss or sting in 



his cheerful mirth. In such high estimation 
was his character held that he was the standing 
administrator appointed to settle estates, and 
recognized by all as the best person for impor- 
tant trusts of this kind. There have been few 
persons in Crawford who have settled so many 
estates as " Old Peter Worst." It is reported 
that Judge Lawrence Hall, during his life, ex- 
claimed, " When I die, I want Peter Worst to 
settle my estate ! "' rounding the remark off with 
a characteristic oath to give it emphasis. When 
the gifted Judge died, several years after, his 
wishes were regarded. In his seventeenth jear, 
Mr. Worst experienced religion and united with 
the Metliodist Episcopal Church. He led an ex- 
emplary life and, it is said, occasionall}- asserted 
that he had never attended a theater, circus, or 
an}' immoral entertainment, had never played 
cards or witnessed persons dancing. He deemed 
such amusements frivolous and sinful. The 
next morning after President Lincoln was as- 
sassinated, Mr. Worst was hastening to town 
with his head thrust downward. While near 
^lain street bridge, he met a friend, who told 
him the sad news. He stopped, asked some 
questions in regard to the trageily. and. when 
he was told the murder was committed in Ford's 
Theater, exclaimed, " He had no business to be 
there — had no business to be there ! "' and con- 
tinued his quick walk in the same peculiar man- 
ner. Although a strong Republican and an ar- 
dent admirer of President Lincoln, Mr. AVorst 
would not, with his religious ideas, excuse the 
President for being in what he considered an 
improper and sinful place. 

Bueyrus Township was not regularly organ- 
ized with the various township officers until 
about two years after the first Justice of the 
Peace was elected. The proceedings of the 
Commissioners of Marion County for Decem- 
ber 7, 1824, contain tlie following entry : '' On 
application of citizens of surveyed fractional 
Township 8, of Range 1C», an order was issued 
to organize the original fractional Township I), 



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338 



HISTORY Oi^ CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



of Range IG." It is not known who the first 
township officers were ; if any records were 
kept previous to the year 1833, they have all 
been destroyed. Col. Zalmon Rowse was pos- 
sibly the first Clerk, for, in those days of 
limited school privileges, few men could write 
a good hand, and the Colonel, being one of the 
few, was frequentl}- chosen to occup3' positions 
in which his fine penmanship was called into 
service. When Judge Scott settled in Bncyrus, 
the citizens then secured another excellent pen- 
man upon whom the}' could depend, and he was 
elected Township Clerk in 1832. He started a 
new record book, and the township is indebted 
to him for a model record, which has been a 
guide for his successors. The business trans- 
acted by the Trustees in those da3's was not ex- 
tensive, and the following detail of the proceed- 
ing at the first annual meeting on recoi'd is 
given, in order to show the character of the 
early public business : "March 4, 1833 — The 
Annual Meeting of the Trustees was, this day, 
held at the court house in Bucyrus. Present, a 
full board. Settled with Samuel Myers, Super- 
visor of Road District No. 1, and find fourteen 
days and a half of road labor unperformed 
within his district. Settled with William Ear- 
ley, Supervisor of the Third District, and find 
the labor charged to his district to be per- 
formed. Settled with James Coulter and John 
Marquis, Supervisors District No. 4, and find 
the labor charged to their districts to be per- 
formed, and issued an order in favor of James 
Coulter for 75 cents, and also one in favor of 
John Marquis, for $1, for their services as Su- 
pervisors of said district. Settled with George 
Hesser, Supervisor of the Fifth Road District, 
and find the labor charged to his district all 
performed. Also settled with Abraham Hahn, 
Treasurer of Bucyrus Township, and find in 
the treasury one note of hand against John 
Stalcy and Jacob Staley for $14.56, payable 
March 12, 1833 ; one note against James Coul- 
ter and Henry St. John, for 75 cents, and one 



note against Joseph S. Merris and Z. Rowse for 
$5.31, due June 1, 1833 ; and $3.15 cash — mak- 
ing a total of $23.77. Issued an order in 
favor of said Hahn for $1.48, for the percentage 
on monej's by him collected during the year 
1832. Issued an order in favor of William 
Earley for 75 cents, for services as Supervisor 
during the last year. Also one in favor of 
James McLean, for advertising the township 
election in the spring of 1831, and notifying 
the officers of their election, for $1.55. Also 
issued one in favor of John S. George for $3, 
for services as Trustee. One in favor of Hemy 
Minich for $1.50 for similar services. One in 
favor of Nicholas Failor for $1.50, for services 
as Trustee. One in favor of Josiah Scott for 
$2.25, for services as Clerk of the township, 
and one in favor of R. W. Musgrave and Com- 
pany for 75 cents, for a blank book for the use of 
the township, and thereupon adjourned. Attest : 
J. Scott, Township Clerk." These proceed- 
ings prove that fifty years ago the township 
officers must have served for the good of the 
public. They could hardly be accused of 
" stealing " by rival candidates (if any) when 
the treasur}' contained onl}' $23.77, and of that 
amount all but $3.15 consisted of notes. Con- 
sidering the Treasurer received onl}' $1.48 for 
his trouble, it is not strange that at the next 
election no person was chosen to this lucrative 
(?) office. The first election for township of- 
ficers of which an}- record has been preserved, 
was held April 1, 1833, at the court house. 
The following persons were chosen : Trustees — 
Nicholas Failor, John Magers and John Mc- 
Cullough ; Clerk — Josiah Scott ; Constable — Ja- 
cob Hinnen ; Overseers of the Poor — John Nim- 
mon and Fiuoch B. Merriman ; Fence Viewers 
— George Shaffer, John Cronebaugh and Lewis 
Cary ; Road Supervisors — First District, Sam- 
uel Myers ; Second District, John Barnej^ ; Third 
District, Emanuel Deardorff; Fourth District, 
George Welsh ; Fifth District, George Hesser. 
No Treasurer was elected, and only one Con- 



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^yjtn.'i-y i^'/-'-' ^CcrT^ 



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HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



*% 



stable was chosen ; the Trustees appointed 
Abraham Hahn for the former position, and 
also James McLean as an additional Consta- 
ble. In those, early days, township offices 
were generally chosen regardless of the views 
held by them on national and State politics, 
and men of both political parties were elected. 
The political character of the township dur- 
ing the past thirty-two years can be deter- 
mined by the votes cast for the different Presi- 
dential candidates during that period, and the 
result of each national political contest was 
as follows : 1848— Cass, Democrat, 207 ; Tay- 
lor, Whig, 214 ; Van Bureu, Free-Soil, 14. 1852 
—Pierce, Democrat, 282 ; Scott, Whig, 212 ; 
Hale, Free-Soil, 7. 1856— Majority for Fre- 
mont, Republican, 95. 1860— Douglas, Demo- 
crat, 320 ; Lincoln, Republican, 419 ; Brecken- 
ridge. Democrat, 46 ; Bell, Unionist, 5. 1864 
—Majority for McClellan, 93. 1868— Seymour, 
Democrat, 535 ; Grant, Republican, 361. 1872 
—Greeley, Liberal, Republican and Democrat, 
572 ; Grant, Republican, 394. 1876— Tilden, 
Democrat, 683 ; Hayes, Republican, 375 ; Green 
Clay Smith, Prohibition, 8. 1880— Winfield 
Scott Hancock, Democrat, 728 ; James A. Gar- 
field, Republican, 476 : Neil Dow, Prohibition, 
11. 

The first settlers of Bucyrus Township, and 
this section of Crawford County generally, 
reached their new homes by following the 
route of the old army road which entered the 
Township just north of the point where the 
Pittsburgh, Fort Wnynae & Chicago Railroad 
crosses the line between Bucyrus and Whet- 
stone Townships. It is said that this rough 
military road was made by Gen. Crooks, who 
marched through this section, with his army, 
in 1813, en route for Fort Meigs. This "old 
army road" could be clearly distinguished for 
many years after Crawford County was first 
settled. In the year 1822, a county road was 
established " from the southeast corner of Sec- 
tion 13, now a part of Sandusky Township, to 



(T"" 




Bucyrus ; total length nine miles and two hun- 
dred and seventy-six rods. John Marshall was 
the Surveyor, and Marshal Beadle, Joseph 
Young and David Palmer were Viewers." This 
is the road in Southern Liberty Township, south 
of the Sandusky River, and is, possibly, the first 
surveyed and located from the eastern part of 
Crawford County to Bucyrus Township ; for 
several years, however, this highway was in an 
unfinished condition. In the same year, 1822, 
a State road was located from Norton, in Dela- 
ware County, to Sandusky City, in Huron 
County ; this extended through Bucyrus 
Township, along what was afterward known 
as the Columbus and Sandusky pike, but the 
first road was never finished. James Kilbourne 
was the Surveyor, and Solomon Smith and 
Luther Coe were the Commissioners. June 8, 
1824, the Commissioners of Marion County 
established another road, "beginning at the 
east end of Crawford County, at the crossing of 
the road leading from Wooster to Upper San- 
dusky, on the line of said county, thence on 
the nearest and best ground to Bucyrus, making 
Daniel ^McMichael's mill a point. Joseph 
Young and Abel Cary were Viewers." This 
road was iiorth of the Sandusky River, in Lib- 
erty Township, and much of the route has 
since been abandoned. The same day this road 
was located, the Commissioners authorized an- 
other '' from a point on the Marion and ITpper 
Sandusky road, near David Tiptons. thence on 
the nearest and best route to Bucyrus. making 
Benjamin Salmon's peach orchard, Benjamin 
Fickles farm and David Bryant's, points on 
said road. Lewis Cary, Daniel Fickle and 
Samuel Norton were Viewers." This extended 
through Bucyrus Township, from southwest to 
northeast, and was near the present location of 
the Little Sandusky road. During the year 
1824, what is now known as the Bucyrus and 
Mansfield road was located ; Amos Earl Amos 
Utley and James Perfect were Viewers, and 
i John Cassaday was the Surveyor. The next 



±.': 



•.iL 



340 



HISTORY OF CEAWFORI) COUNTY 



year, 182."). the road from jMarysville to iMurion 
and Buc^Tus. was laid out and, shovtl}' after- 
ward, cut througli the country. Tlic most 
important road, located through the Township 
at an early day, was the Columbus & San- 
dusky Turnpike. In 1820, an act was passed 
by the Legislature, incorporating seven gentle- 
men, of Franklin County, Judge P]. B. Merriman 
and Col. Zalmon Rowse, of Bucyrus Town- 
ship, and seventeen others, named in the act 
and residing along the proposed line of the 
road, and their associates, by the name of the 
Columbus & Sandusky Turnpike Company. 
The capital stock was $100,000, and 
divided into shares of $100 each. The Com- 
pany was governed b}' nine Directors. The 
Charter, granted b^^ the Legislature, was ac- 
cepted by the companj', and in 1827 Congress 
granted 32.000 acres of land to the State of 
Ohio, in trust for the use of said company, to 
aid in constructing this important highway- 
Shortly afterward, the incorporators met in the 
brick schoolhouse at Bucyrus, and completed 
the organization of the company. Col. Kil- 
bourne was appointed Surveyor, and Orange 
Johnson was one of the Locating Commis- 
sioners and the principal agent while the I'oad 
was under the control of the company. Some 
seven years wei'e required to complete this 
turni)ike ; it was finished in 1834, and was 
lOG miles in length from Columbus to Sandus- 
ky City. The average cost was a little more 
than $700 per mile. It was a splendid road 
when dry. but. being onl}' a clay or mud pike, 
in the spring or wet season of theyear, it was, 
in some places, almost impassable, and at times 
citizens were very indignant when toll was 
demanded by the gate-keeper. Some rough 
travelers, occasionally, threw down the toll-gates 
and drove through without paying. It is 
reported that one rough customer became so 
enraged because toll was demanded, that he 
hitched the gate behind his wagon and dragged 
it several miles. The funds derived bv toll 



were only sufficient to pay the gate-keepers, 
and the dividends to stockholders were few and 
far between. The road was permitted to run 
down, and, finally, in 1843, the Legislature 
repealed the act incorporating the company ; 
the corporation was not satisfied, and a case 
was brought before the General Assembly at 
each successive session, until 1850, when the 
Senate passed a bill authorizing the company 
to bring suit against the State ; but this act 
was lost in the House, and the matter was 
dropped. An act incorporating the road from 
Bucyrus to Upper Sandusky was passed March 
3, 1834. and the road from Bucyrus to Oalion 
was laid out July 18, 1834. 

Most of those citizens who have died in 
Bucyrus Township during the past sixty years 
were buried in the graveyards now within the 
limits of Bucju'us corporation ; however, several 
cemeteries have been established in the country 
during this period. The ShroU burying ground, 
located about one mile southwest of Oakland 
Cemetery was started about 1830. Several 
years afterward a man by the name of Hesser, 
who resided in the southern part of the town- 
ship, was buried on his farm, which he purchased 
from the Government. No stone was placed 
over the grave to mark the spot, and the site 
has since been plowed over ; the land is now 
owned by Jonathan Carmean. Some forty 
years ago, Wooster Racy, a former proprietor 
of the farm now owned by G. H. Stewart, buried 
his wife and child on this land. The largest 
cemeterj^ in Bucyrus Township, outside the 
city limits, is at Monnett Chapel. This bury- 
ing-ground \v;is established at the same time the 
church was erected. The first interment was 
Margaret Slagle, wife of Michael Slagle, who 
died August 22, 1841, aged twenty-five years. 
The next was Simeon, son of Samuel Slagle, 
who died July 19, 1814. The graveyard at 
Mount Zion Church was started about the year 
1868, a short time after the old Wilson School- 
house had been purchased for church purposes. 



-.^ 



^ 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



341 



The children of many early settlers of Bucyrus 
Township had very little school instruction ; 
especially was this the case of those whose 
parents occupied land outside the village of 
Bucyrus. When the Marquis family settled on 
their farm three miles south of the town, in 
November, 1829, there were no schoolhouses in 
the southern portion of Bucyrus Township. 
Thomas Shawke asserts that when he moved to 
Bucyrus, in 1832, none had been erected be- 
tween Bucyrus and the Marion County line. 
This dearth of school buildings for the farmers' 
children continued for several years after 1830, 
but in a few neighborhoods small private 
schools were occasionally held. The first build- 
ing devoted to educational purposes which was 
put up outside the village was located very 
near it, at the western end of Warren street. It 
was built of logs about the year 1833, and is 
now used as a woodshed on the same lot. Pre- 
vious to 1834, there were but four school dis- 
tricts in the township ; March 12, of that year, 
the Trustees formed District 5, from Sections 25, 
26. 35 and 36 (this is the same territory now 
embraced in the Wright District). Three years 
later, on June 5, 1838, it was re-divided and 
eight districts were formed ; four occupied the 
territory now embraced by Bucyrus Special 
District, the boundary lines being Sandusky 
avenue and Mansfield street ; these four were 
Districts 1, 6, 7 and 8. District 2 was imme- 
diately south of these four, and two miles 
square ; District 5 was the same as in March, 
1834; District 3, comprised all of the town- 
ship south of the river, west of 2 and 5, and east 
of the Indian reservation ; this district was over 
four miles long, and nearly two miles wide. 
District 4 .was north of the river. In Octo- 
ber, 1838, an enumeration of the school chil- 
dren in these districts was taken, with the fol- 
lowing result : First, 82 ; Second, 70 ; Third, 
72 ; Fourth, 31 ; Fifth, 41 ; Sixth, 51 ; Seventh, 
107; Eighth, 75; total, 529. The otficers of 
the township during 1838, appointed three di- 



rectors for each district, but many of these 
men refused to be qualified, and the attempt to 
perfect the educational organization for the 
township was iuetfectual. The next years the 
districts were changed, and many who were ap- 
pointed as directors consented to serve. At 
an election held April 6, 1835, sixty -two votes 
were cast in favor of selling Section 16 land, 
and only one vote in opposition. The total 
amount of school funds for the difi'erent dis- 
tricts in 1840 was $1,419.63. In most of these 
districts the first schools were held in vacant 
log cabins which were pressed into the service 
for educational purposes. In what is now the 
Wright District, a special building was not 
erected until after 1840, but for several years 
previous to that schools were conducted. iMisses 
Susan Bovee and Harriet Huntley taught in this 
district in a vacant log cabin which stood south 
of the present residence of Bruce Monnett, as 
early as the year 1 836 ; Eliza Chapman, and 
Mr. Canaf, who had only one leg, taught pre- 
vious to 1840, in the old log church, which oc- 
cupied the present site of Rev. T. J. Monnett's 
barn ; at this time there were, possibly, more 
children in the district than at the present 

day. 

The householders of what is now the Beall 
District, No. 5, met at the cabin of David Dinwid- 
dle, March 22, 1834, and resolved to erect a 
schoolhouse on the southwest corner of Silas 
Sweeney's land. This building was not erected 
for several years, and then it was placed on An- 
drew Kerr's farm, now owned by Benjamin 
Beall. Among the first teachers of this district 
were Casper Rowse, Harriet Robinson, Abra- 
ham Myers, Sarah Butler and others. The first 
rude log school buildings of these country dis- 
tricts were replaced by fine frame houses, and 
these in turn are now being torn down and fine 
brick edifices erected. Six brick buildings 
have already been erected in the country dis- 
tricts of Bucyrus Township, viz.: In District 
No. 8, during 1876 ; in No. 5, during 1877 ; in 



>i\<r 



^, It 



342 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



Nos. 1 and 3 during 1878 ; in No. 6 during 1879 
and in No. 4, during 1880. 

Tlie first public religious services conducted 
in Bucyrus Township were held at the village 
and immediate vicinity, which place has been 
for nearly six decades the center of most of the 
moral and religious movements inaugurated in 
Crawford County. For many years after the 
township was settled, no attempts were made to 
organize into a separate congregation the re- 
ligious element of the country south of town, 
and it was not until Rev. Jeremiah Monnett 
moved into that section of the county that ef- 
forts were made to establish regular religious 
services for the settlers on the Plains. At the 
present time, thirteen congregations of the va- 
rious religious sects ai*e established in Buc^^'us 
Township on a permanent basis ; ten of these 
societies have houses of worship in the corpo- 
ration, and the other three congregations have 
erected churches in the country. These three 
churches ai-e the Monnett Chapel, situated 
some four miles south of Buc3'rus, the Scioto 
Chapel, located near the Marion road, about six 
miles southwest of the city, and the Mount 
Zion Church, one mile west of the Little San- 
dusk}' road, and five miles southwest of Bucy- 
rus. 

The Monnett Chapel was erected by the M. 
E. congregation of the Plains during the year 
1840. The early church history of the southern 
part of Bucyrus Township is similar to that of all 
other earl}- ecclesiastical efforts in the pioneer 
days, having its rise in log-cabin prayer meet- 
ings. The first of these humble meetings were 
held at the home of Isaac Monnett, Sr., then a 
resident of Section 36. During the year 1836, 
Rev. Jeremiah Monnett erected the homestead 
now standing opposite the palatial country- 
seat of the Rev. Thomas J. Monnett. The 
cabin from which he moved, on the west side 
of the Columbus and Sandusky Pike, was im- 
mediately dedicated for school and church pur- 
poses. For nearly twenty years this congre- 



gation was on the Bucyrus Circuit and under 
the charge of ministers who preached in Bucy- 
rus. Under the preaching and religious reviv- 
al work of Rev. John Ilazzard, the number of 
worshipers increased to such an extent that the 
congregation discussed the propriety of build- 
ing a country chapel, and the necessar}- pre- 
liminary arrangements were taken. The work, 
however, was dela3'ed until the spring of 1840, 
at which date the present neat church edifice 
was erected. The building is situated a short 
distance east of the Columbus and Sandusky 
Turnpike, and four and one-half miles south of 
Bucyrus. The men who contributed the funds 
raised for building the church were : Rev. 
Samuel P. Shaw, Ely Shaw, Charles W. Shaw, 
Rev. Jeremiah Monnett, Osboi-ne Monnett, 
Abraham Monnett, Sr., William Monnett, 
Thomas Monnett, Sr., John Monnett, Sr., 
Jeremiah Morris, David Sayler, J. W. Shaw 
and John Monnett, Jr. The ground upon 
which the church was erected, and the plat of 
the cemetery, was donated by Rev. Jeremiah 
Monnett, in honor of whose Christian eflforts in 
the community, and his liberal support of all 
church work, the Trustees unanimously decided 
the church should be christened " Monnett 
Chapel." At the close of the pastoi'al labors 
of Revs. Stephen Fant and George Moore, who 
were appointed to the Bucyrus Circuit in Sep- 
tember, 1853, the Bucyrus M. E. Church was 
made a special station, and •' Monnett Chapel " 
was incorporated in Caledonia Circuit of Gallon 
District. Since this time the following ap- 
pointments have been made for Caledonia Cir- 
cuit, the pastorate of each successive appoint- 
ment commencing after fall conference, held in 
September: 1854 to 1856— Rev. Amos Wil- 
son; 1857 to 1859 — Revs. William Boggs and 
Richard Lawrence ; 1859 to 1861 — Revs. 
Thomas J. Monnett and Stephen Fant ; 1861 
to 1863— Revs. W. S. Paul and Benjamin Her- 
bert; 1863 to 1865— Revs. Reuben D. Oldfield 
andD. D. S. Reagh ; 1865 to 1866— Rev. Reu- 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



343 



ben D. Oldfield, with a supply ; 1866 to 1868— 
Revs. John Graham and Stephen Fant ; 1868 
to 1871— Rev. Daniel Conant ; 1871 to 1873— 
Revs. B. F. Bell and E. A. Berry ; 1873 to 1874 
—Rev. W. D. Culison ; 1874 to 1877— Rev. 
Stephen Fant ; 1877 to 1879— Rev. Newell J. 
Close ; 1879 to 1880— Rev. G. E. Scott ; 1880 
—Rev. T. J. Gard. During the past twenty- 
three years the following persons have been ap- 
pointed Presiding Elders of the District : 1857 
—Rev. Henry E. Pilcher ; 1859— Rev. T. H. 
Wilson ; 1863— Rev. L. B. Gurley ; 1865— Rev. 
A. H. Harmont ; 1868— Rev. H. Whitman ; 
1872— Rev. John Whitworth ; 1876— Rev. 
Samuel Mower. The congregation at the pres- 
ent time numbers thirty-six members, with 
preaching every alternate Sabbath. The chuich 
was first dedicated by Rev. Adam Poe, during 
the winter of 1840-41 ; during the pastorate of 
Rev. D. M. Conant, the edifice was repaired, 
greatly improved, and re-opened with dedica- 
tory services, conducted by Rev. A. Nelson, D. 

D. The Sabbath school at Monnett Chapel is 
at the present time under the efficient manage- 
ment of Mrs. T. J. Monnett, formerly principal 
of the Bucyrus High School, and much effective 
instruction is being impressed upon the minds 
of the children of the neighborhood, and the 
school ranks among the first in Crawford 
County. 

Scioto Chapel was also erected by citizens 
belonging to the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
during the year 1874. At that time, Messrs. 

E. B. and M. J. Monnett and their wives 
were the only members of the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church in that vicinity. Two business 
meetings were held in May, 1874. at the resi- 
dence of E. B. Monnett, and it was decided to 
erect a church building. Subscription papers 
were circulated, and E. B. Monnett, F. A. Har- 
vey and G. H. Welsh appointed a building com- 
mittee. The contract was let to Christian Wal- 
ters, of Bucyrus, and the building was com- 
pleted by October, 1874. The entire cost was 



about $2,000. The dedicatory sermon was de- 
livered by Elder Wilson, of Kenton, Ohio. 
The first members of this congregation were E. 
B. Monnett and wife, M. J. Monnett and wife, 
Isaac Shearer and wife, J. P. Beall, his wife and 
their two daughters, Oliver Monnett and wife, 
Benjamin Shearer and wife, E. Monnett and 
wife, G. H. Welsh and wife, Bishop Scott and 
wife. Rev. Stephen Fant was the first Pastor ; 
ne was succeeded in 1876 by Rev. Newell J. 
Close, and in 1878 by Rev. G. E. Scott. Scioto 
Chapel is now a part of Claridon Circuit, and 
the congregation has increased in membership 
since it was organized, notwithstanding many 
members have removed from the neighborhood. 
The present United Brethren in Christ con- 
gregation, at the Mount Zion Church, is the out- 
growth of religious instruction implanted in the 
neighborhood some twenty-five years ago, by 
ministers of this denomination. Among the 
early ministers who preached to those who 
formed this society were Rev. Downey and E. 
Berry. Services were held in the schoolhouses 
of the neighborhood for many years previous to 
the time at which the present church building 
was erected. The churchyard, comprising 
some two acres of ground, was originally pur- 
chased from John Newell, and a vacant school- 
house removed to this lot ; for several years, 
this building was used as a cooper-shop. About 
the year 1868, the United Brethren congregation 
purchased the house and lot, and it served as a 
meeting-house for some two years. The present 
church edifice was erected about the year 1871, 
at a cost of some $1,300. Daniel Parcher was 
the contractor and Rev. David Hart was Pas- 
tor when the church was dedicated. Since 
that time, the following persons have been his 
successors : Rev. Levi Moore, Isaac Ley, W. 
A. Keesy, A. J. Klingle and N. F. Long. Since 
the church was built, it has been opened for 
preaching every other Sunday, and each alter- 
nate Sabbath the class leaders conduct services. 
At the present time. 100 persons are subject to 



y\~- 



^k^ 



344 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



the discipline of the church, and the following 
members are Trustees : Leonard Starner, Na- 
thaniel Eckert, J. M. Gunder, John Harmon and 
Charles Sharrock. The Sunday sciiool in con- 
nection with this church has been established 
for some twenty years ; during the decade just 
past, it has received considerable aid and en- 
couragement from gentlemen connected with 
the Crawford County Sabbath School Union. 
Among those who have had chax-ge of the school 
in late years are Messrs. J. S. Cook, Andrew 
MeP^lwain, Leonard Starner and others. The 
Superintendent at the present time is Christian 
P. Shoffstall, and the average attendance is 
about fifty -five. 

Bucyrus Grange, No. 705 of the Patrons of 
Husbandry, was organized March 17, 1874, at 



the residence of Daniel Boyer, in Whetstone 
Township. The first officers chosen were as 
follows : Master, D. C. Boyer ; Overseer, J. 
H. Beard ; Lecturer, G. H. Wright ; Steward, 
J. P. Beall ; Assistant Steward, Charles W. 
McCracken ; Chaplain, J. P. Boyer ; Treasurer, 
Abraham Frost ; Secretary, W. T. Minich ; 
Gatekeeper, William George ; Ceres, Mrs. M. 
E. Wright ; Pomona, Mrs. C. A. Beard ; Flora, 
Mrs. E. Harvey ; Stewardess, Mrs. M. A. 
Minich. The Society occupied the rooms of 
the Young Men's Christian Association, in 
Birk's Block for some three 3'ears, and then re- 
moved to their present quarters at the east end 
of the second stor^' of the Fisher Brothers" 
Block. About fifty persons are connected with 
this Grange at the present time. 



CHAPTER IX.* 

CITV OF lUCVRUS— LAYING-OUT A TOWN— ORIGINAL I'LAT— EARLV Bill, DINGS— BU81NESS- 
DEPARTM ENT— H ENEVOLENT 0R( \A N 1 Z ATIONS, ET( \ 



-Fl RE 



THE only village ever located in Bucyrus 
Township, was the city from which the 
township received its name. Before Samuel Nor- 
ton had resided on his land many months, there 
appeared at his cabin a prominent surveyor 
who desired to locate a town upon Mr. Norton's 
land. This man was Col. James Kilbourne, 
who for a score of years, had wielded consid- 
erable influence upon the religious and political 
interests of the State. Col. Kilbourne was 
born in New Britain, Conn., October 9, 1770. 
Until the age of fifteen he worked on his 
father's farm, and during this time received 
but few opportunities for improA^ing his mind. 
He was married, November 8. 1789, to Lucy 
Fitch, daughter of the celebrated John Fitch, 
of Philadelphia, the inventor and builder of 
the first steamboat in the world. Early in life, 

* Contributed by Thomas P. Hopley. 



he became a member of the Protestant J]pisco- 
pal Church, and was ordained about the year 
1800. In the spring of 1802, he started on his 
first expedition to Ohio, traveling over one 
thousand miles of the distance on foot, and, 
after a careful survey of the country, he fixed 
upon a desirable location and returned home. 
In the spring of 1803, he again started for the 
West on horseback, followed by a millwright, 
blacksmith, nine other laborers and a famil}^ 
in two wagons. At Pittsburgh, he purchased 
mill-stones, iron and other supplies, which he 
sent down the Ohio to the mouth of the Scioto 
River, and from thence they were taken in a keel- 
boat to the first New Purchase, now Worthing- 
ton. May 5, 1803, he cut the first tree felled 
on the Purchase for the purpose of civilization. 
The party proceeded to clear land, put in seed 
for crops and also erected a blacksmith-shop 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



and twelve cabins. They laid out a town and 
built a dam across the Scioto River. Mr. Kil- 
bourne tlien returned to Connecticut and con- 
ducted his own and ten other families to the 
Purchase. The entire colony then numbered 
one hundred persons. A church was organ- 
ized with Mr. Kilbourne as Rector. He visited 



Colonel, and was prevailed upon to accept. In 
the tall of 181-1, he was again placed in nomi- 
nation for Congress, and was elected by a large 
vote. At the end of his second term, he de- 
clined a re-nomination ; during his public life 
at Washington City, he advocated the donation 
of land to actual settlers, and was the first per- 



ized with Mr. Kilbourne as Rector. Me visirea u. ^ ^^.^^ ^^^ ^^^p^^^ 

the neighboring settlements and other parts of ^^";; P;^^^^^^^^^^ At the commencement 



the State, preaching and orgamzmg societies, 
many of which became and remained perma- 
nent Episcopal Churches. His fellow-citizens 
becran to urge upon him the importance of his 
taking the lead in their civil affairs, and, havmg 
procured the establishment of a Western dio 



many years afterward. At the commencement 
of the war of 1812, by solicitation of his 
friends and members of the United States Gov- 
ernment, he engaged in the manufacture of 
woolen goods for clothing the army. He con- 
tinued in this enterprise until 1820, and met 



procured the establishmeot ot a " e«»™ -"; ^^^^^,^, ,,„i„ ,„,, ,t ^e age of fifty, with 

cese by the general convention ot the Piote wit ^ ^^ ^^^^^^ ^^^^^^ 



ant Episcopal Church, he retired from the mm 
istry in 1804. Upon the organization of the 



a large family to support, he found himself 
without means. With his customary energy 



istry in 1804. Upon the organization oi we w....w his surveying aspirations 

StaL eovern.»ent of OMo. he was apponUe., a an sp. h^e .oK^u^, h. su.^y ^„^ ^^^^ ^^^^ 



Civil magistrate and an officer of militia for 
the Northwestern frontier. In the spring of 
1805, he explored the south shore of Lake Erie, 
and selected the site of Sandusky City. About 
this time, he received the appointment of United 
States Surveyor of a large portion of the pub- 
lic lands. In 180C, he was appointed one of 
the first Trustees of the Ohio College at Athens. 
In 1808, he was elected one of three Commis- 
sioners to locate the seat of Miami University, 
and during this year he married Cynthia 
Goodale. His first wife died soon after he re- 
moved to Ohio. About this time, he was 
elected Major of the Frontier Regiment, and 



a-ain and went into the wood ; for more than 
twenty years, he was much of the time engaged 
in this calling, and, by his untiring energy, and 
zeal, he again acquired a good degree ot com- 
petency. In 1823, he was elected to the Ohio 
Legislature, and served with distinction in that 
body Soon after this, he was appointed by 
the Governor to select the lands granted by 
Congress for the Ohio Canal. In 1838-39, he 
was a-ain a member of the General Assembly, 
and w°as the presiding officer at the great State 
Convention, which assembled July 4, 1839, at 
Columbus, for the purpose of laying the corner- 
stone of the capitol. He was also President of 



elected Major of the Frontier Regiment, anu — ^ f^ Convention, which was held 

subsequently was promoted to the colonel, , ^^^^^^^ ^^^ ,,,,,,g ,,e campaign of 



but this last office he declined, resigning, also, 
his former commission. 

On the organization of Worthington College, 
in 1812, he was elected President of the cor- 
poration. During the same year, he was ap- 



February 22, 1840. During the campaign of 
that year, Col. Kilbourne declined all public 
office, except that of Assessor of real and per- 
sonal property for Franklin County, the duties 
of which he performed until 1845, when he re- 

. . . . • 1 i'. - .^«•^;^'ll i->nHlip. 



poraLiuii. L/iiiiiig ^..v. ^ - ,, - AUhoncrh retired from active public 

pointed by President M-1i-n a Comm.ss.one. s.gnec A'thon^ r^ ne^^^^ ^_^ ^^^^^^ 

to settle the boundary between the p»b he lands hte, he lelt . ^ .^^ 

and the Great Virginia ---^t-,. — ^^:^^-l^^^^ l^ ,„ndred\dd.«ses on 

ately after this service was completed he was delneiecl ^^^_ ^ 

r: sit:r«astrr ;; :zz \ r ar pn.. k .» died . worthmgton, 



346 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



Ohio, April 9, 1850, in the eightieth year of his 
age. 

When Col. Kilbourne first appeared in the 
neighborhood for the purpose of persuading 
Norton into having a town surveyed upon his 
form, he did not take kindly to the idea, stating 
that he had at last secured a piece of ground 
which suited him, and did not wish to have it 
cut up by a town plat. Some of his neighbors, 
however, were anxious for a town to be located 
in the vicinity of their farms, and urged Nor- 
ton to consent to Kilbourne's proposition. The 
location was a very suitable one ; a direct line 
from Columbus, the State capital, to Sandusky 
City, the nearest point on Lake Erie, would 
pass within a few miles of Norton's land, and, 
even at that time, many citizens of the State 
were talking of a State road to connect these 
two cities. The tide of emigration was setting 
in toward the " New Purchase ; " many were set- 
tling in Crawford County, and, consequently 
the prospects for a thriving village at this point 
were very flattering. After some hesitation, 
Mr. Norton consented to make the venture, and 
a few years proved it to be a very wise and for- 
tunate decision on his part. At first, arrange- 
ments were made for laying out the plat of a 
town upon one hundred acres ; before this was 
completed, however, the contract was changed 
by mutual agreement, and the original town 
plat consisted of but fifty acres. The following 
is a copy of the agreement between Messrs. 
Norton and Kilbourne : 

To All Whom it May Concern: Know ye, that James 
Kilbourne, of Worthington, in the county of Franklin 
and State of Ohio, and Samuel Norton, of the county 
of Crawford and State aforesaid, have agreed, and do 
agree as follows, viz.: The said .James Kilbourne agrees 
to lay off a town for said Norton, on the southwest 
quarter of the first section of the third township south, 
and sixteenth range, of the public lands of the United 
States, the west line of which shall be forty-four rods 
east from the west line of said quarter, and parallel 
thereto, and shall extetid thence east one hundred rods, 
being bounded north and south by the quarter lines, so 



as to contain one hundred acres in said town plat of 
inlots, outlets and reserves. In laying off and estab- 
lishing said town, the said Kilbourne shall do, or cause 
to be done at his own proper expense, the following 
particulars, viz.: He shall make, or cause to be made, 
the preparatory survey and notes; project and make 
the plat ; survey the town ; cause the plat to be re- 
corded ; advertise, and attend the first public sale of 
lots; draw all the writings for that sale; advertise the 
applications for such State and county roads as the pro- 
prietors shall, within one year from this date, agree to 
be necessary, leading to and from said town ; draw pe- 
titions for said roads, circulate them for signers; pre- 
sent them to proper authorities, and attend the com- 
missioners and viewers who may be appointed thereon, 
to assist in selecting proper routes for said roads ; and, 
when the town shall be surveyed as aforesaid, the said 
Norton, his heirs or assigns, as principal proprietors, 
shall first choose and reserve one lot ; the said Kil- 
bourne, as projector, surveyor and minor proprietor, 
his heirs or assigns, shall next choose and reserve one 
lot; and the remainder of the town shall be the joint 
property of the said Norton and Kilbourne, their heirs 
and assigns, forever, in the proportion of three-fourths 
to the said Norton, and one-fourth to the said Kilbourne ; 
Provided, however, that the said Norton may reserve 
twelve rods in width of the west side of said town 
plat, as the same shall be platted, surveyed and re- 
corded as above, to his own proper use and disposal ; 
for which the said Kilbourne shall receive and hold, 
throughout the other parts of the town plat, in addition 
to his fourth part thereof, an interest and right equal in 
quantity to one fourth part of said twelve-rod reserva- 
tion; so that the said Kilbourne's interest in the eighty- 
eight acres cast of said twelve-rod reserve shall be as 
twenty-five is to eighty-eight, or, twenty-five acres in 
the whole; and the saiii Samuel Norton doth agree to 
appropriate the said tract for a town plat, to be laid off 
by said Kilbourne as above written, and upon the terms 
aforesaid ; and, so soon as the said Kilbourne shall have 
completed, all and singular, the obligations on his part, 
so far as that the town is ready for the public sale as 
aforesaid, the said Norton shall makeaud deliver to the 
said Kilbourne, iiis heirs or assigns, a good and suffi- 
cient warrantee deed of the said one-fourth part of the 
town plat aforesaid, provided he shall so soon receive the 
patent from the President for the tract of which the 
said town plat will be a part ; and, if the patent should 
not be so soon received, then and in that case the deed 
shall be made and delivered so soon as the said patent 
shall be received as aforesaid. In witness whereof, we 



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HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY 



347 



have hereunto ^et our hands and seals, at Crawford 
County, this fourth day of October, Anno Domini one 
thousand eight hundred and twenty-one. 

In presence of James Kilbourne [seal]. 

Seth Holmes, Jr., | Samuel Norton [seal]. 

BiRON Kilbourne. j 

The plat of the within described town, now named 
Bucyrus, is so changed to the west in laying off by mu- 
tual agreement as to leave but twenty-four, instead of 
forty-four, rods between said plat and the sectional 
line; and the reserve of Samuel Norton is extended on 
the plat to twenty-four, instead of twelve rods; there 
will, of course, remain but seventy-six, instead of 
eighty-eight, rods, or acres, of said plat east of Samuel 
Norton's reserve, of which seventy rods, containing 
seventy-six acres, James Kilbourne shall receive his 
proportion of the town, in amount twenty-five acres, 
instead of the eighty-eight acres, as within contracted. 
Said Norton shall have to his own use all the mill priv- 
ileges, with no other consideration than that of the 
contents of the ground contained therein, toward his 
part of the outlots of the plat ; and the ground bought of 
Mr. Holmes, if retained, shall be laid off into lots by 
said Kilbourne and added to the town, on the same prin- 
ciples and proportions of mutual advantage as the hun- 
dred acres contained in the foregoing contract. 

December 15, 1821. Samuel Norton. 

James Kilbourne. 

The foregoing contract is this day so changed by mu- 
tual consent that the part of the town of Bucyrus 
which is laid upon the lands of Samuel Norton is con- 
fined to such limits as to contain only the numbered in- 
lots, outlots and public grounds, with the avenue, 
streets and alleys, containing fifty acres, more or less ; 
and the projector and surveyor of the town, James Kil- 
bourne, his heirs and assigns, shall have and receive 
the one equal half part thereof, instead of the one- 
fourth part of the hundred acres, as previously stipu- 
lated in this contract. Witness our hands and seals, 
at said Bucyrus, this 12th day of February, 1822. 

Samuel Norton [seal]. 

James Kilbourne [seal]. 

The above contract occupies three pages of 
a sheet of foolscap. On the fourth page is in- 
dorsed the following language : " The within 
article of agreement, with the two modifications 
of the original contract herein contained, being 
complied with by the parties, is fully canceled 



and of no further effect. Bucj'rus, April 22, 
1830. Samuel Norton, James Kilbourne." 

The original town plat, as surve^^ed by Kil- 
bourne, included, also, a portion of the land 
lying north of what is now Perry street and 
south of the river. This land, at that time, be- 
longed to Abel and Lewis Gary, Seth Holmes 
and Daniel McMichael. The date of the origi- 
nal town plat by the records in the Recorder's 
office at Delaware, is February 11, 1822. The 
land embraced in it, is at the present day 
within the following limits : It is bounded on 
the north by the Sandusky River ; on the east 
by a line drawn from a point on the Sandusky 
River, nearly due south to the center of the 
Middletown road ; this line would pass along 
the west side of the woolen mills lot at the 
east end of Perry street, and down the alle}' 
which lies just east of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, D. W. Swigart's residence, the Lutheran 
Churchj'ard and the residence of Daniel Van 
Voorhis ; it would, also, pass just east of the lots 
now occupied by John Howald's carriage-shop, 
and Hiram Fisher's residence; the southern 
boundary line extends from the point where the 
eastern line intersects the center of the Middle - 
town road, due west to the allej' which is pa- 
rallel with Main street and just west of it. The 
western boundarj^ line extends nearly due 
north along this alley until the southeast corner 
of Lot 176 (now occupied b}^ the residence o^ 
Daniel Picking), thence west to the center of 
Poplar street, then north to the center of Ren- 
sellaer street, then west until the end of said 
street, then north to the southeast corner of 
Lot 157 (now occupied by the residence of 
M. Emrich), then west to the southwest corner 
of Lot 163 (now occupied by Dr. A. C. McNutt), 
then north across Mansfield street to the north- 
west corner of Lot 16-1 (now occupied by W. T. 
McDonald), then east across Spring and Poplar 
streets to the alley just west of Main, and then 
north along this alley to the river. This origi- 
nal town plat contained 176 lots ; eleven streets 



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348 



HISTORY OF CRAAVFORD COUNTY. 



were laid out. also two alleys and the public 
square. Five of these streets were named after 
various members of Samuel Norton's family. 
viz : Mary street, after his wife ; Rensellaer, 
Warren and Charles streets, after three of his 
sons ; Perry street, after his first grandson, 
Perry Garton. Mansfield street was so called 
because the road to Mansfield originally started 
from the eastern end of the street ; Walnut and 
Poplar streets were so named because trees of 
these varieties were found along their borders ; 
Spring street receives its name from a spring at 
the northern end, near the river ; Main street 
was the principal avenue of the village ; it was 
afterward called Sandusk}' avenue, because the 
State road from Columbus to Sandusky City 
extended over this street ; Galen street was 
possibly named after some member of the Nor- 
ton family. These eleven streets are, with the 
following exceptions, each sixty-six feet wide : 
Main is 82^ feet, and Warren 57f feet ; West 
alley extended north and south just west of 
Main street, and East alley was parallel to the 
same avenue and just east of it. The new 
town was chi'istened Bucyrus, by Col. Kil- 
bourne. There has been much speculation in 
regard to the origin of this word, and man\ 
persons have wondered why the town received 
this name. The word is so classical in sound 
that it is not surprising its meaning should not 
be universally understood unless its true origin 
is known. Doubtless many a classical scholar 
has examined his Latin dictionary and Greek 
lexicon to obtain a satisfactoiy derivation of 
the word, and during the past sixty years many 
plausible theories have been advanced. An ex- 
amination of the original contract between 
Messrs. Norton and Kilbourne will prove that 
the town was named Bucyrus l)etween the time 
the agreement was made (October 4, 1821), 
and the date it was first altered (December 15, 
1821) ; it also proves that the name of the 
town was spelled in the first legal papers of 
the village, as at the present time. Of all the 



theories advanced in regard to the origin of this 
word Bucyrus, only two refer to Col. Kilbourne 
US authority, and, as it is beyond a doubt that 
this gentleman created and then adopted this 
name, these theories are both given. It is 
claimed by both authorities that Kill)Ourne 
desired to have a name for this town different 
from that of any burg ever inhabited b}' man 
since the world was created. He succeeded. 
The daughters of Samuel Norton, the original 
proprietor of the land, assert that one of Kil- 
bourne's favorite historical characters was 
Cyrus, the Persian General who conquered the 
Cit}^ of Babylon, and that the town was named 
by the Colonel in honor of this distinguished 
soldier. The country in the vicinity of the 
town was very beautiful at an early day, and 
the name C^tus being rather short (possil)ly 
too much so to suit the meter of his early 
songs), Kilbourne prefixed to the celebrated 
Persians name the syllable " bu," the sound of 
the first part of the word beautiful, and the old 
surveyor declared that the name should always 
mean "beautiful Cyrus." This theory is a very 
plausible one, and will be satisfactory to many 
citizens whose knowledge of the classics is even 
more limited than some who have prepared his- 
torical sketches for this work. But there ai-e 
those who solemnly assert that a classical 
scholar would smile at the formation of a word 
in this manner ; these persons declare that, as 
Col. Kilbourne was a very highly educated 
man, he would never attempt to coin a word in 
defiance of the rules laid down by Noah Web- 
ster and other distinguished men of letters who 
preceded him. The other authority', however, 
is also based upon Col. Kilbourne's statement- 
F. Adams, Esq.. of Bucyrus, who was well 
acquainted with the old surveyor, says that 
Mr. Kilbourne told him in after years that it 
was his desire the town should have a name of 
its own. and be the only town of that name — 
that the African town " Busiris" (in ancient 
Eg3'pt, near the River Nile) pleased his fancy, 



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HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY 



349 



and he changed it into Bucyrus as a good 
sounding name. These two statements are 
both from responsible and reliable sources ; it 
may be the dut}^ of an unbiased historian to 
draw conclusions from these facts presented, 
and endeavor to settle the disputed point, but 
in this case we will not undertake the task but 
will refer the matter to the patrons of this 
work. However, this name Buc3'rus did not 
suit some of the early settlers in the village, 
who were ill-natured enough to object to the 
Colonel's ideas about a queer name ; it has 
frequently been, in later years, a stumbling 
block to many non-residents, who invai-iabl}'' 
mispronounce the word. But these early 
residents who objected to the name are nearly 
all dead, and those who fail to speak the word 
like a native of the city are not firm believers 
in the future destiny of the place, and conse- 
quentl}^ should not be consulted in regard to 
the name ; undoubtedly all of the present in- 
habitants are satisfied, and many are proud of 
the name Bucyrus. 

The town having been named and sui-veyed 
by Kilbourne, durhig the winter and early 
spring of 1822. a public sale of lots was adver- 
tised and held. By this time, quite a small set- 
tlement had moved into the vicinity, and some 
of these persons were occupying lots which 
they contemplated purchasing after all the 
necessary surveys had been perfected. Mod- 
erwell writes, in regard to this early sale : " The 
lots brought from $30 to $45 each ; and those 
disposed of at this sale were all on Sandusky 
avenue and Walnut street, and but few south 
of the pul)lic square. Besides Samuel Norton, 
there were living here at that time Lewis and 
Abel Gary, Lewis Stephenson. Robert Moore, 
J. S. George, George P. Schultz. Samuel Roth, 
Harris Garton, Harry Smith, Russell Peck, E. 
B. and Charles Merriman, and a few others.'' 
This first public sale of lots was attended by 
many of the settlers from the surrounding 
country, and several farmers bought town lots 



during the earl}- j'ears of the village. One 
feature of this first public gathering of citizens 
to Bucyrus was the rendering by Col. Kilbourne 
of his " Song of Bucyrus," which ballad the 
author composed expressly for the occasion. 
The following is a copy of these verses as pub- 
lished in the Buc3'rus Journal of March 24, 
1853 : 

15UCTRUS SONG. 

Ye men of spirit, ardent souls, 

Whose hearts are firm and hands are strong, 
Whom generous enterprise controls, 

Attend! and truth shall guide my song. 
I'll tell you how Bucyrus, now 

Just rising, like the star of morn, 
Surrounded stands by fertile lands, 

On clear Sandusky's rural bourn. 

In these wide regions, known to fame, 

Which freedom proudly calls her own ; 
Where free-born men the heathen tame. 

And spurning kings — despise a throne. 
No lands more blest, in all the West, 

Are seen whichever way you turn, 
Than those ai'ound Bucyrus, found 

On clear Sandusky's rural bourn. 

The river valley, rich and green, 

Far as the power of sight extends, 
Presents a splendid rural scene, 

Which not the distant landscape ends. 
The bordering plain spreads like the main, 

Where native fruits its sides adorn, 
And nearly join the margin line 

Along Sandusky's rural bourn. 

First, Norton and the Beadle4 came, 

With friends (an enterprising band); 
Young and McMichael, men of fame, 

Soon joined the others, hand in hand ; 
By various plans t' improve the lands, 

They early rise with every morn. 
Near where the town Bucyrus stands, 

All on Sandusky's rural bourn, 

There teams of oxen move with pride. 

Obedient to their driver's word ; 
There the strong yeomen firmly guide 

The ploughs which cleave and turn the sward, 
The dale around, with herds abound, 

The fields luxuriant are with corn. 
Near where the town Bucyrus stands. 

All on Sandusky's rural bourn. 



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850 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY 



Rich meadows there, extending far, 

By nature for the scythe prepared, 
And boundless pasture everywhere, 

Is free for all and ev'ry herd. 
The deep'ning mold, some hundred fold, 

Rewards with flax and wheat and corn. 
Those who with toil excite the soil, 

Along Sandusky's rural bourn. 

In seasons mild their forests wild, 

Through hills and valleys widely spread, 
The streamlets glide from ev'ry side. 

Concent' ring to their common bed ; 
Thence, fed by springs which nature brings, 

O'erhung by plum-tree, elm and thorn, 
Winds on the stream, with dazzling gleam, 

Along Sandusky's rural bourn. 

When gath'ring vapors dim the sky. 

And clouds condensed, their treasures pour ; 
When show'rs descend, and lightnings rend 

The heavens above, and thunders roar ; 
When growing rills the valley fills ; 

When gentle brooks to rivers turn ; 
Then moves with pride, the swelling tide. 

Along Sandusky's rural bourn. 

There youths and maids along the glades. 

Are often seen in walks around, 
Where flowers in prime, in vernal time. 

And where, in Autumn, fruits are found. 
With manly face, with dimpling grace. 

Give, and receive kind words in turn — 
In roseite bowers, where fragrant flowers, 

O'erspread Sandusky's rural bourn. 

Then, here, my friend, your search may end, 

For here's a country to your mind, 
And here's a town your hopes may crown. 

As those who try it soon shall find. 
Here fountains flow, mild zephyrs blow. 

While health and pleasure smile each morn. 
From all, around Bucyrus found. 

On fair Sandusky's rural bourn. 

Many times in after years when Col. Kil- 
bourne visited Bac3a'us. he sang this and other 
songs to admiring crowds. He was a great fa- 
vorite among the sturdy pioneer settlers, who 
esteemed him for his many social qualities ; and, 
when the knowledge that the Colonel was at 
the village spread throughout the neighborhood, 
many would assemble at Bucyrus to enjoy the 



rich season of fun which the old survej'or al- 
ways planned and directed when he appeared. 
He had a few old cronies, who were seldom ab- 
sent when the Colonel was willing to make a 
" night of it " with his boon companions. 
Brandy and eggnog were Kilbourne's favorite 
beverages, and these special friends of his never 
refused to indulge when stray glasses contain- 
ing liquids of this description were thrust into 
their hands ; consequently, when Kil bourne 
planned a good social time at the public house 
with a few friends, these old fellows were always 
willing and anxious to assist in disposing of 
the various liquors furnished by the Colonel's 
hospitality. In those days, when whisky was 
supposed to be a necessity in every household, 
nearly all indulged in strong drink, and for a 
man to be under the influence of liquor was 
not so serious as it is supposed to be at the 
present time. Even ministers did not object to 
an occasional glass, and many were regular 
drinkers ; some of these were frequently un- 
able to preach in consequence of indulging 
their appetites too freel}' in liquids that intoxi- 
cate. But in the earl}' da3's of the village, 
when ordained ministers appeared at irregular 
intervals, some of the settlers, learning that 
Kilbourne had formerl}' been an Episcopal Rec- 
tor, requested him to conduct religious services. 
It is reported that the Colonel consented in 
order that Buc3-rus would obtain some credit 
for being a moral and religious village, and ar- 
rangements were made for him to preach on a 
certain Sabbath. The night previous, however, 
he assembled with his usual companions at 
the public house, and until after midnight the 
jolly crowd had a fine time. Manj' songs were 
proposed and sung b}' the Colonel ; the bar- 
tender's till received numerous contributions, 
and much of his liquid-ware had been disposed 
of; conscquontl}', when they adjourned, many 
were much the worse for liquor. But the Rev- 
ei'end Colonel appeared next day ready for the 
religious exercises, and, in consequence of his 



^W 



•5S. 





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'Il 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



353 



early experience as Rector, he conducted a very 
satisfactor}' meeting ; the effect of the previous 
night did not prevent him from preaching an 
excellent sermon. Not so, however, with some 
of his companions who took i)art in the revel- 
ries at the public house ; one of these mis- 
guided men, having learned that Kilbourne was 
to officiate at another meeting, seemed to con- 
sider this a continuation of the " good time " 
started the night previous, and made haste to 
assemble with the religious portion of the com- 
munity. The poor fellow was too far gone to 
notice the difference in the assembly, but he 
heard the familiar voice of Kilbourne asking 
some one to propose a hymn for the occasion, 
and the erring man, not knowing the horrid 
mistake he was making, commenced one of 
those drinking songs so familiar to his memor}^ 
The incident related above is reported to have 
taken place ; some of the early settlers do not 
remember the circumstance, but acknowledge 
that, considering the drinking customs of earlj- 
Bucyrus society, the story is a very plausible 
one. 

When the original town plat was sui'veyed, 
Norton, the first settler, lived just west of the 
propped town, on the lot now occupied b}- W. 
H. Drought's residence. Bucklin resided east, 
near the present site of T. C. Hall's barn ; the 
Beadles and Joe Ensley also lived west of the 
new town plat. The first cabin built on this 
land was by Norton, in 1819, on what is now 
C. H. Shonert's lot ; when Abel Gary removed 
to Bucyrus Township, it is possible he occupied 
this first cabin. The second residence con- 
structed on the town plat was by Lewis Stephen- 
son, on the southeast corner of Perry and Wal- 
nut streets. Among the early residents of the 
village were the following persons : Dr. Joseph 
McComb came in the fall of 1822, and resided 
on the second lot south of the corner of Marj' 
and Main streets ; he died many 3'ears after- 
ward at Fitzsimmons' tavern, in Whetstone 
Township, from the effects of excessive drink- 



ing. George P. Shultz was a resident of the 
village in the spring of 1822 ; he built a house 
of " rotten " logs on the river bank, at the north 
end of Walnut street, about 1823. He was the 
first " Dutchman " who moved to Bucju'us. For 
several years, Shultz kept a boarding-house ; he 
had an adopted daughter who married Harry 
Miller, an early cabinet-maker of the village. 
Dr. J. T. Hobbs came as early as 1825. and 
purchased the lot now occupied b}' (xeorge 
Shaeffer ; Hobbs afterward removed to Michi- 
gan. Harry Smith built a cabin, in 1823, on 
the lot now owned by G. K. Zeigler, at the 
southwest corner of Perry and Walnut streets. 
William Reeves built a log-house, in 1823. on 
the lot now occupied b}' the Shaeffer Block. 
Adam Bair, called the ■•black bear," or '• cuff 
bear," came from Columbus in 1823 ; it was al- 
ways reported that he had been an inmate in 
the Ohio Penitentiar}-. having been sent there 
from Wayne Count}', Ohio, for coining counter- 
feit mone}'. Adam Bair. called the -good 
bear," and a cousin of the former, moved to Bu- 
c^'rus about 1825 ; this family of Bairs built 
the old brick schoolhouse, which was torn down 
in 1868. Harris Garton moved to Bucyrus in 
1822 ; he was born iii New Jersey, across the 
river from Philadelphia, and his father removed 
to Mansfield in 1818. Garton married Louisa, 
oldest daughter of Samuel Norton, in 1824. He 
bought out Albigence Bucklin's fifty acres 
about 1827, and in 1833 removed to what is now 
Wyandot Count}' ; after remaining there three 
years, he returned to Bucyrus, and shoilly aft- 
erward settled in Chatfield Township. Garton 
removed to his present home in South Todd 
Township in 1853. Ebenezer Dowd. a young 
^ man and a tailor by trade, settled in Bucyrus 
I during 1826, and purchased a lot just south of 
I the southwest corner of Main and Galen streets. 
He resided in the village a few years, and then 
went West. Harry Burns followed the Nortons 
from Elk Hill, Penn. ; he married one of James 
Scott's daughters. Burns was an excellent shot 



:hL 



354 



HISTOEY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



with the rifle, but very laz}^ and only resided in 
the new town about five years. Mrs. Cloe Yost re- 
moved to Bucj'rus with her husband and family 
in the fall of 1828. John Moderwell settled in 
the town, in 1827, with Aunt Betsy ; they lived 
on the southwest corner of l^erry and Walnut 
streets. Moderwell was a cabinet-maker and 
millwright. He continued a resident of the 
place for nearly fifty years, during which time 
he held many positions of honor and trust, to 
which he was chosen by the citizens. George 
Lauck removed to the town about 1826, and 
shortly afterward purchased the northwest cor- 
ner of Marj' and Main streets, at which stand 
he conducted an inn for many years ; he after- 
ward purchased Garton's land, east of town, 
which was known in later days as the Lauck 
homestead. Hugh McCracken and old Bailey 
came in 1826, and in April of that year Hugh 
was commissioned first Sheriff of Crawford 
County. James McCracken settled in the vil- 
lage shortly afterward, and, previous to 1830, 
lived on the lot now occupied by George Ma- 
der's block ; his sister, the Widow Phillips, and 
her two daughters, Samantha and Susan (now 
Mrs. E. R. Kearsley), resided in the same house. 
A small log house, situated on this same lot, 
was used for school purposes, and Sallie Davis 
taught school in it as early as 1829. Gen. Sam- 
uel M3'ers, who came in 1826, purchased the 
lot immediately south of the one now occupied 
by Blicke's store, and Andrew Failor, several 
months previous to this, bought Lot 20, imme- 
diately south of Myers' property. Thomas 
Johnson, a cabinet-maker, came about the year 
1826, and desired to follow his trade, but he 
could not secure seasoned lumber for material. 
He removed to Dallas Township, of which lo- 
cality he was a resident for man}- years. Judge 
John Nimmons removed from Wooster to Bu- 
cjTus in 1827, and opened a store ; his brother- 
in-law, K. W. Cahill, came with him and clerked 
in this establishment. John Deardorff settled 
in the village at an early day, and, when he died, 



Abner Rowse married his widow. Old Tommy 
Alsoph appeared in the village as earl}' as the 
year 1824. He was of English birth, and the 
son of wealthy pai'ents, who placed him in 
charge of George Cortall and other English 
colonists, who visited America about the year 
1819, for the purpose of engaging in the manu- 
facture of silk near Athens, Ohio. Their en- 
terprise proved a failure, and many returned to 
the old countr3\ Alsoph, however, wandered 
up toward the New Purchase, and finally made 
his home in Crawford, where he resided for 
nearly forty years. He obtained, in after years, 
a regular quarterly' allowance from his relatives, 
amounting to about $400. Each quarter, after 
receiving these funds, he expended them with a 
lavish hand, and in a few days was without 
money. But he possessed a fine education, 
and occasionally taught schools in the village 
and surrounding country. Alsoph was ad- 
dicted to the excessive use of intoxicating liq- 
uors, and became a regular sot. He boarded 
with several families throughout the countr}', 
and was generally treated in a shameful manner. 
One old Methodist minister named Camp, who 
boarded him for a time, abused him terribly ; oc- 
casionally he kept Alsoph (ihained with a log 
chain. The people, generally, who consented 
to harbor him, tried on various pretexts to 
secure his quarterly allowance, and when they 
succeeded, cared very little how he fared until 
the next draft appeai'ed from the old country. 
Alsoph was slightly demented, or he never 
would have suffered the various impositions to 
which he was subjected. He was a great poli- 
tician, a fluent speaker, but very vacillating, and 
frequently changed from one party to another. 
Alsoph was finally placed by his relatives in 
the charge of Mr. J. Hopley ; he was reformed 
to a great extent, and taken back to England 
in 1862. 

The lots sold by Norton and Kilbourne 
alwaj'S brought fair prices. It is stated in 
some pioneer sketches that the lot upon which 



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HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY 



355 



Quinby Block is now situated, and also all the 
land between this block and the railroad, was 
originally sold for $5 in gold. Norton paid 
the Government about that amount for it, but 
sold the lots located upon this land for much 
more. The lot upon which the aforesaid block 
is now located was sold to Lewis Stephenson for 
$42. By November 28, 1826, forty-two lots in 
the village had been disposed of, and the fol- 
lowing parties were then owners : 

T . Price. 

Lot. (S.- -V A 

No. 10, Charles Merriman *-^0 0) 

No. 12, Hugh McCracken and French & Bowers 40 00 

No. 13, Robert More '^f' f*^' 

No. 14, E. B. Merriman 40 00 

No. 15, James McClure '^^ 00 

No. 16, Dr. I. T. Hobbs 30 00 

No. 17, John Miller 50 00 

No. 19, J. S. Hughes' heirs 40 00 

No. 20, Andrew Failor 45 00 

No. 21, Henry Miller 40 00 

No. 23, Dr. .Joseph McComb 40 00 

No. 25, Hawkins Thompson (of Chillicothe) 30 00 

No. 26, Nehemiah Squires 25 00 

I No. 27, James Houston 40 00 

I No. 28, Tatrick Height's heirs 40 00 

No. 29, John Deardorff's heirs 50 00 

No. 30, H. & L. Holmes 40 00 

No. 31, Ebenezer Dowd GO 00 

No. 32, John Hurh 40 00 

No. 33, Edward Billups 40 00 

No. 34, Harris Pratt 40 00 

No. 35, Henry St. John 45 00 

No. 36, Lewis Stephenson 42 00 

No. 38, Kirklan & Clap.> 50 00 

No. 40, James Marshal 40 00 

No. 43, Jacob Drake 40 00 

No. 44, John McClure 40 00 

No .52, Harris Garton (given by Norton) 1 00 

No. 53, Russel Peck 

No. 54, John Miller 

No. 64, Nathan Merriman 
No. 65, Nathan Merriman 
No. 06, E B. Merriman... 



25 00 

40 00 

40 00 

40 00 

40 00 

No. G9, Harris Garton (given by Norton) 1 00 

No. 79, Ebenezer Uowd 40 00 

No. 91, Joy Sperry 50 00 

No. 93, Rensellaer Norton (given by Norton) 1 00 

No. 94, Elihu DowJ '^^ ^^^^ 

An outlet, Hugh Long 



25 00 



In addition to these, the proprietors had do- 
nated to the citizens of the county and village 
the following land : Lot No. 86, for school 
purposes, valued at $50 ; Lot No. 90, for the 
court house, valued at $200 ; Lot No. 88, for 
jail, valued at $50. 

Much of the land embraced in the original 
town plat was low and wet, as was also the coun- 
try in the immediate vicinity. This general 
dampness caused considerable sickness, and 
the early inhabitants suffered much from the 
ague. James Nail, of Sandusky Township, in 
his early recollections published in the Fnrum 
during 1874, gives the following description of 
early Bucyrus life : " At this time. 1824, I 
went to Bucyrus and engaged mill-stones of a 
Mr. Bucklin, who was making them there 
out of a kind of ' nigger-head ' stones. After 
he finished them he gave me notice, and I went 
after them with a wagon and two yoke of cattle. 
I remained overnight with Bucklin, and as I 
could get no inclosure or stable, I let the oxen 
graze on the plain. In the morning when I 
went for them, they had started homeward, and 
it was about 10 A. M. when I found and brought 
them back to town. In the street, I met a man 
(Mr. Harry Smith). He asked me if I had 
breakfasted that day. I said no. He then said: 
' Nearly every person in town has got the ague; 
go with me and take your breakfast.' He 
further remarked, ' I am the only man in this 
town that has any pork ; you must fill your 
stomach with pork ; then keep your mouth shut 
and breathe through your nose, or you will have 
ti shake of ague before you leave town.' After 
breakfast, my mill-stones were loaded, and I 
hauled them home." A few of the early in- 
habitants suflTei-ed additional privations in con- 
sequence of poverty. One case of privation 
has been graphically described by Mrs. Lucy 
Jlogers, who says : •■ My husband took sick 
on one occasion, and was bed-fast. He could 
neither eat nor drink a part of the time. 3Iean- 
while our scanty store of food was consumed 



:^. 



^ 



356 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY 



until not a particle was left in the house for 
our subsistence. The last crust was gone. Mj' 
prayer to God was that all of us, my 
3'oung babe, iny lu'l[)loss husband and my starv- 
ing; self mioiit all die together before the sun 
should set. That night was one of sleepless 
agon}'. Next morning. T went through an In- 
dian trail, unfit as T was to go through the tall 
wet grass, which was then as high as a man's 
head. to William Langdon's, near Young's grist- 
mill, and, between sobs, told my pitiful story 
to him, and begged for some flour to keep my 
little family from starving to death. He did 
not know me and refused, but his wife — God 
bless her — spoke up and said ' You shall not 
starve if it takes all there is in the house.' Her 
husband relented and weighed me out nineteen 
pounds of flour, and then, blessing them for 
their charity, I returned home through the tall 
grass with the 'bird of hope' again singing in 
m}' bosom. How sweet the short-cake, without 
butter, meat or anything else, tasted that da}'. 
In the afternoon Aunt Lois Kent, learning of 
our destitution, brought us a pan of meal. I 
got some milk of Mrs. Shultz, and then made 
some mush. Believe me, the tears of joy and 
sorrow rained down my cheeks when this meal 
was eaten. I then told Louisa Norton, who 
afterward married Harris Garton, how terribly 
we were distressed by want and hunger. She 
went home and told her father, Samuel Norton, 
who said : ' This will not do, these folks have 
come to a new countiy, and they must be 
helped. They shall not starve in Bucyrus.' So 
every evening he sent us new milk fresh from 
the cow, and, as we needed it, a ham of meat. 
One day he sent Louisa over to us with a 
dressed pig. I never had a present that did 
me so much good. In a few weeks my hus- 
band recovered, and then we fared better." 
But very few of the early citizens were reduced 
to such extremes, although most families were 
many times without the necessaries of life. 
The citizens of early Bucyrus had their gala 



days when the farmers visited the village with 
their families to have a good time. Fourth of 
July was celebrated with even more patriotic 
fervor than at the present time. On that day, 
every lady who had brought a silk dress or fine 
article of wearing apparel from her former East- 
ern home, put it on, no matter how old the gar- 
ment was, and the nation's anniversary was 
generally celebrated by the fairer sex with a 
general display of all the old styles adopted 
for several generations previous. Many men 
took their enjoyment in a liquid shape, and the 
inns of the village were well patronized ; the 
large quantity disposed of by the l)ar-tenders 
assisted in creating an enthusiastic population. 
On one occasion at an early day, an English- 
man, named Martin, made the Fourth of July 
oration. He was a very smart man, and in 
glowing language fired the patriotic hearts of 
all true Americans by a vivid description of the 
tyrannies inflicted by Old England upon the 
colonies, and of the wonderful results which 
followed "On Bunker's crest, on Concord's 
field and Saratoga's plain." But the greatest 
features of the year were "Training Day" in 
the spring, and "General Muster" in the fall. 
The first muster held in Crawford County took 
place about the year 1 824, at the Scioto bridge, 
and for over twenty years the militia laM'S were 
enforced with more or less strictness, until 
they were finally repealed by the Legislature 
Many humorous incidents are related of these 
poorly drilled companies, and of the ineflficient 
officers. At one general muster after 1830, the 
militia commanded by Gen. Samuel Myers 
were drilled upon the plains just south of Bucy- 
rus. The force marched and re-marched to 
please their officers ; the men wheeled in vari- 
ous directions at the same time, as their own 
pleasure or fancy directed ; after much ma- 
neuvering, they were marched toward town. 
While on the road, the enemy appeared, a soli- 
tary man in a wagon, driving two horses. It is 
said he was just returning from Sandusky City, 



) "V 



^; 



'.I 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUXTY. 



357 



where he had sold a load of wheat ; he felt 
proud, and despised the troops massed directly 
in the road he wished to occupy. " Turn out," 
commanded the General, and this order was 
reiterated by numerous similar remarks by the 
brave men occupying all gi'ades in the force. 
But the haughty civilian would not '' turn out.'' 
The General spoke to one of his Colonels, the 
late Judge Scott, and this officer rode forward 
to insist that the command should be obe,yed. 
The old fellow still refused, when the Colonel 
unsheathed his sword and waved it in close 
proximity to the heads of those faithful beasts 
drawing the wagon, supposing the war-like 
weapon would have some effect. And so it did, 
for the Colonel's unsteady hand permitted the 
sword to approach so near to these horses' heads, 
that one ear suffered, and it lay on the ground, a 
proof that the instrument was sharp. The old fel- 
low then turned out, but was ver}'^ indignant ; he 
returned to Bucyrus and demanded satisfaction. 
The Colonel was a general favorite in the vil- 
lage, and, when the man sought legal advice on 
the subject, he found the universal opinion to 
be " You have no recourse ; the county, for the 
day, was under military rule ; you should have 
turned out." At another time, Capt. George 
Shaeffer desired to drill his compan}- in the 
court house yard. Court was in session, and 
the confusion outside disturbed the proceed- 
ings. The Judge did not consider the militia 
supreme that day, and ordered the Sheriff to 
preserve order. This officer, John Moderwelb 
endeavored to carry out the wishes of the 
court, and ordered Shaeffer to keep quiet. The 
Captain disregarded this order, and the Sheriff 
made. an attempt to arrest the valiant officer ; 
the men clustered around their commander, 
who foolishly shouted out the order '' fire." 
One gun loaded with a l)lank cartridge went off 
in close proximity to Sheriff Moderwell's hantl, 
and the civil officer was slightly wounded. 
Occasionally, when the men turneil out to drill 
on muster days, the}' appeared in fantastic uni- 



forms, and these grotesque companies became 
so frequent in some counties that the}' had 
considerable influence in hastening the repeal 
of the old militia laws. One of these fantastic 
companies was organized by James Steen, John 
Caldwell, "Jake" Yost and others, after the 
year 18-40, which was possibly the last note- 
worthy incident connected with the early mili- 
tia raustei'S of Crawford County. The -Jake ' 
Yost of this fantastic company was a notorious 
character in the village at an early day. He 
was a cousin of the gentlemen bearing this name 
who are now citizens of Bucyrus. Mr. Yost 
was a shoemaker b}^ trade ; He mai'ried William 
Crosby's sister, a j'oung lady with very red 
hair ; Mi'. Yost possessed a very quarrelsome 
disposition, and when drunk, abused his wife 
and family in a shameful manner. One time 
he got into a dispute with a man named 3Ioffit, 
cousin of Philip Moffit, of Buc3'rus; the fuss 
was about a dog, and wound up with a fight. 
During the fracas, Moffit bit a piece off Yost's 
nose, and the latter was disfigured for life. 
Mr. Yost afterwanl moveil to Iowa. joincMl the 
church and lived an exemplary life. 

The first business enterprise established in 
the place was Abel Cary's mill for grinding 
grain, which was erected on the river just west 
of the north end ol Main street; this building 
was put up as earl}- as 1822, and a dam con- 
structed across the river at this point, but the 
machinery and mill were afterward removed to 
the old site of McLeans Flouring-mill. at the 
north end of Walnut street, where it was de- 
stroyed by fire some years afterward ; James 
Kelly, the proprietor at that time, then erected 
another mill on the same site in 1844. which re- 
mained twenty-six ^ears ; during the greater 
portion of this period, it was the property of 
James .McLean. This mill was destroyed by 
fire Saturday nigiit, April 0, 1870. It is im- 
possible to collect and describe, after si^ many 
years iuive elapsed, all the early business es- 
tablishments of the village, Init amonu" those 



y\: 



-s> 

i 






S58 



inSTOKY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



who were in business at Bucyrus during those 
early 3'ears of the village were the following 
persons : Joe Urapstead made the first chair 
in the town; Lewis Stephenson was a hatter in 
1821 ; Lewis Gary started the first public tan- 
ner}' in 1822 ; he continued this business until 
1839, when he transferred the establishment to 
his son Aaron, who conducted the business un- 
til he sold out to Richard Plummer. about 
1855 ; Christian Shonert learned the trade un- 
der Aaron Gary, and purchased the tannerj^ of 
Plummer about 1856. Aaron Gary was a sad- 
dler and harness-maker as earl}' as 1823. Rus- 
sell Peck was a blacksmith near the present site 
of the American House as early as 1823. 
Bowcn burnt the first brick near the present 
schoolhouse lot to erect a brick l)lacksmitli- 
shop for himself; the building occupied the 
present site of the Blair and Picking Blocks. 
McMichael and Rogers ran a distillery located 
near the river in 1823. John Moderwell was a 
cabinet-maker as early as 1827, and Hany 
Miller also followed this same trade at an earl}' 
day. David Holm ran a tanner}- near the pres- 
ent site of G. G. Malic's residence in 1831, and 
at the same time Henry Minich had a tan- 
yard on the opposite side of the road. Brick 
yards were started at an early day near the site 
of A. W. Diller's present residence, J. R. Miller's 
butcher shop, and G. G. Malic's residence. 
William Bratton was a hatter during 1826, and 
had a shop in a round-log cabin which stood on 
the lot now occupied by Quinby Block. Elias 
Slagle was a proprietor of the old Gary mill at 
an early day. He was also interested in a pot- 
tery near this mill site at an early day, and 
after 1830 ran an oil-mill with a large circular 
tramp-wheel on the same lot. Jourdan Jones 
ran a wagon shop east of Rogers' tavern after 
1830. Jesse Quaintance put up a mill on the 
river bank, southwest of the village, after 
1830. In these early days, when many of 
the settlers spun their own yarn and wove their 
own cloth, several carding mills were estab- 



lished in the county. Among those started in 
Bucyrus are the following : Jourdan Jones ran 
a carding machine by tramp wheel-power near 
the present site of Vollrath's Flouring Mill, and 
sold his establishment to Lautenheiser, who put 
in a steam engine. Old man Kirk also ran a 
carding mill at an early day. Samuel Clapper 
induced Dr. A. M. Jones to establish him in 
this business, and Jones bought out Kirk, and 
the business was conducted by these men for 
several years just west of the southwest corner 
of Wiiflnut and Perry streets. In the spring of 
18J:3, Dr. Jones visited Sandusky City and pur- 
chased a steam engine, and for some time they 
run their carding machine with this engine, both 
night and day, in consequence of the lai'ge 
amount of their business, and in the spring of 
1844, Jones & Clapper bought a double ma- 
chine. Dr. Jones asserts that this steam en- 
gine purchased by him was the second one 
brought into Crawford County, the first engine 
being the one used at the old flouriug-mill run 
by James Kelly. 

The first store opened in the village was 
started on the lot just south of the gas works, 
by E. B. Merriman, who was known also as 
" Judge " and " Bishop " Merriman. Moder- 
well says, in regard to the early stores of the 
village : " Judge E. B. Merriman had the monop- 
oly, for some time, of exchanging goods with 
the red and white people for deer skins, furs, 
beeswax, honey, ginseng, cranberries and other 
articles, but he finally divided the trade with S. 
Bailey, from Pittsburgh, who soon concluded 
that the country was too new for a man so re- 
cently from the Emerald Isle, and he sold out to 
French & Bowers and rcturuinl to Pittsburgh, 
and they to Judge John Nimmons. About this 
time, additions had been made, and continued 
to be made, to the trade, in the persons of 
Henry St. John, Coleman & Kerns, Caldwell & 
McFarlan, D. S. Norton & Co., Martin Ban- 
Jones & Butler, B. Meeker, O. & D. Williams,' 
James Quinby, Babcock & Ranney, Smith & 



;rv* 



HISTORY OF CKAWFORD COUNTY. 



359 



Moderwell, J. A. Gormly, Musgrave & Merri- 
man, John Beaver, Nj'e & Majors, Quinby & 
Grant, Phillips & x\nderson, Henry Converse, 
Loring Converse, and others." The first store, 
started in the village by Merriman as early as 
1823, was not an extensive establishment. 
James Nail relates the following incident in re- 
gard to it : '-I now remember that the first 
goods I bought in a store at Bucyrus were from 
Bishop Merriman. As I was getting a few ar- 
ticles, a Mr. Peter Clinger took his pencil and 
paper and commenced writing. Merriman 
asked him what he was doing. He said he was 
taking an invoice of his goods, and that the 
amount of his stock was $37.41. Merriman 
said he was not far out of the way." These 
early stores could not sell a large amount of 
goods, for the few inhabitants in the village and 
vicinity were very poor, and, considering the 
great distance from the Eastern market and the 
poor facilities for transportation, the traffic in 
produce with the settlers was necessarily limit- 
ed. Moderwell sa^'s : '• For the first ten years 
after the settlement of the countr}', it ma}' be 
truly said of the inhabitants that thej' were 
poor ; having but little to sell, and no market 
for that little except what supplied the wants 
of new-comers." The few hogs and cattle 
raised had to be driven to the East on foot, and 
sold there at bareh- living prices. One steer or 
cow would now bring about as much as four 
did at that time, and other products were 
equally low. A price current at that time would 
have given about the following quotations : 
Wheat, per bushel, 40 to 50 cents ; corn, 15 to 
25 cents ; oats, 12 to 18 cents ; potatoes, 12 to 
25 cents ; cranberries, 50 cents ; hone}-, per 
gallon, 50 cents ; pork, per pound, 1^ to 2 cents ; 
butter, 5 to 6 cents ; maple sugar, 5 to (5 cents. 
After the New York Canal was completed, the 
Bucyrus merchants offered the settlers better 
prices for what was raised in the country, and 
they were also able to sell them store goods on 
more reasonable terms ; consequently, the set- 



tlers were in much better circumstances. Mer- 
riman purchased some hogs at an earh^ day, 
and it is reported that some of these animals 
were so wild from running loose in the woods 
that they had to be trained before thej^ could 
be driven East, and then it generally took the 
whole town to start the drove. E. B. Merri- 
man, the first store-keeper of Bucyrus, was 
elected one of the County Commissioners when 
Marion County was organized, and was ap- 
pointed, February 4, 1825, one of the Associate 
Judges for the Common Pleas Court for the 
same county. He afterward held the same of- 
fice in the new countj^ of Crawford. The loca- 
tion occupied by some of these earh^ mercan- 
tile establishments of the village was as fol- 
lows : Martin Barr occupied the lot north of 
the northeast corner of Main and Galen ; Ben- 
jamin Meeker kept store on Emrich's corner ; 
Henry St. John, on the Kaler coi'ner ; John 
Nimmon, in the fall of 1827, built the frame 
store which was torn down when the Fisher 
Block was erected on the same corner ; Babcock 
& lianney, near John M^ers' present site, north 
of the railroad ; the}- afterward built and occu- 
pied the brick storeroom which was torn down 
when the Bowman Block was erected ; Musgrave 
& Merriman occupied the present site of John- 
son & Son's drug store ; Daniel & Owen Will- 
iams, on the Rowse Block corner. Among the 
best customers of the early merchants and other 
business men of the village were the Indians, 
who came from the W3'andot Reservation to buj- 
articles in the village. The names of some of 
these warriors were Walpole, Hicks, Summon- 
dewat, Gra^'-Eyes, Sandstone, Barnett. Between- 
the-Logs, Sirehus, Jocco, Curly-Head, Big Tur- 
tle, Johnu3--Cake, Lewis Coon, Tom Enos, Char- 
ley Elliott and others. 

Sixty years ago, the occasional traveler pass- 
ing through this section of country, generall}- 
found when he needed entertainment for the 
night that the " latch-string" of the rude log 
cabins always •■ hung out." it was rare that a 



*7[i 



:i; 



:1^ 



;{60 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY 



man was turned awaj' to seek lodging farther 
on his journey. The first regular inn kept in 
the village of Bueyrus was started by Abel 
Car}'. It was a rude log cabin with a ver}' low 
door, and occupied the lot at the northwest 
corner of Perry and Main streets. Gary did 
not continue at this business ver}- long. Some 
two years afterward, Robert More built a public 
house on the lot now owned by Mrs. Lucy 
Rogers. More opened the first public bar or 
saloon started in the village ; his daughter 
married Hugh McCracken. Squire S. Roth; 
generally pronounced Rhoades, by the early 
settlers, then opened an inn near Gary's old 
stand, and in a few months transferred the busi- 
ness to Dr. Pearce who was a regular physician 
and also pulled teeth for those early settlers, if 
they requiretl the services of a dentist. Ichabod 
Rogers bouglit out Robert More's inn, and 
after several years built the present residence 
of Mrs. Lucy Rogers on the northeastern cor- 
ner of Main and Perry streets. Many interest- 
ing incidents are related in regard to the busi- 
ness conducted at this stand. The Government 
did not permit the white settlers to sell the 
Indians any intoxicating drinks, but the laws 
on this subject were evaded ; the Indians 
always called for " Sandusky water." When 
the red man was under the influence of this 
" Sandusky water," he was just as reckless in 
his manners as many white settlers who became 
intoxicated with the same liquor which was 
sold to them as whisky. An Indian once stole 
a black silk handkerchief from Mrs. Rogers, 
and then went up street, and, before returning, 
threw it over into a lot. Mrs. Rogers suspected 
him and concealed his gun ; she then snatched 
the knife he carried in his belt, and, taking a 
large raw-hide, gave him a severe thrashing. 
The Indians were sometimes without money ; 
they then brought venison and cranberries 
which they wished to exchange for " Sandusky 
water," flour and other articles. Mrs. Rogers 
relates that at one time she had fifty bushels of 



cranberries in the house. Sometimes the 
Indians brought their silver trinkets and 
exchanged them for the articles they wished to 
purchase. One brave warrior appeai*ed late 
one evening and ordered supper ; he was verj* 
badly intoxicated, but asked a blessing before 
he commenced his repast. Ver}^ many noisy 
times were experienced in this old building by 
the proprietors with drunken Indians. It was 
necessary that the brave warriors should receive 
threshings occasionally to make them quiet 
and orderl}'. When in a fight with an Indian, 
if he said " woah," it was an acknowledgment 
on his part that he had been vanquished, and 
the brave was then ready to quit. But many 
white settlers also had very noisy times at the 
Rogers bar. It is related of one early promi- 
nent settler, that his favorite amusement when 
intoxicated was to hire some person to haul 
him in a wheelbarrow from one saloon to an- 
other. Mrs. Rogers states '• that the hotel 
business in Bueyrus was always profitable in 
those early days, in consequence of so many 
persons visiting the village to enter land at the 
land office ; that she has frequently admitted 
travelers at midnight who had joui'neyed all 
day to reach the village at nightfall." Among 
those who also conducted taverns or inns at an 
early day were Capt. Miller, Mr. Funk, Greorge 
Lauck, Abraham Hahn, Abraham Holm, Mr. 
Golrick, Samuel Norton, Jacob Poundstone, 
W. W. Miller, Samuel Picking and others. 
The sites occupied by some of these parties 
were as follows : Lauck's tavern was inaugu- 
rated in 1826, at the present site of Henry 
Willer's residence, on the northwest corner of 
Main and Mary streets. Abraham Hahn built 
the present Sims House and kept hotel there 
in 1830. Samuel Norton erected his building 
as a private residence, but opened it as a hotel 
in 1836. W. W. Miller occupied the present 
Western House stand, and in the year 1840 
dug the famous sulphur pump well. Samuel 
Picking kept the " Spread Eagle" House north 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



361 



of the Square, and afterward at Hahn's old 
stand. 

During the first winter Samuel Norton was 
a resident of Crawford County , his family was 
increased by the appearance of the first native 
white inhabitant of Bucyrus Township, and pos- 
sibly the first within the present limits of Craw- 
ford County ; this new citizen was Sophronia 
Norton (now Mrs. M. M. Johnson, of Chicago), 
who was born February 11, 1820. Among 
those born in the village at an early da}' were 
Jane Rogers, in 1822 ; Harris P. Norton, Au- 
gust 9, 1822 ; and Lucy Ann Stephenson, a 
short time afterward. It is reported, the first 
couple married in the village were Mary Inman 
and Samuel Carl. The young lad}' posted the 
required notice, or banns, to a tree, but some 
one tore it down. At one early marriage, it is 
asserted of the Squire who performed the cere- 
mony, that he was so intoxicated he did not 
know what to say, as he had forgotten the usual 
form of speech ; but a schoolmaster was pres- 
ent who did know, and he told the Justice, who 
repeated the w^ords over after the schoolmaster. 
The first death in the village was little Daniel, 
a four-year-old son of Mishael Beadle, who died 
about September 1, 1822, and was buried on 
the lot now occupied by Hiram Fisher s resi- 
dence, at the corner of Walnut street and 
the Middletown road. Several other persons 
were interred on this lot at an early day, 
among whom were the child of a Mr. Kel- 
logg, John DeardorflT, and his daughter, aged 
some four or five years. But this first spot 
used as a burying-ground was not afterward 
held sacred to the raemor}- of these departed 
ones ; the lot was plowed over and buildings 
erected upon it. Some twenty years ago, in 
digging a cellar drain, the collins of two chil- 
dren were uncovered, which event created con- 
siderable excitement in the neighborhood at 
that time. When Mrs. Lewis Car}' died, she 
was buried on her husband's land ; the site of 
her grave is now in Joseph Henry's apple or- 



chard. Several others were interred on this 
piece of ground, among whom were John 
Rodgers, Daniel McMichael, Mrs. Kirk, Eliza- 
beth Bucklin, Lewis Cary's old colored servant 
and others. The graveyard on the opposite 
side of the Tifl3n road was established about 
the year 1828, upon land donated by Amos 
Clark. It is i-eported that Samuel Yost, the 
little son of Abraham Yost, was the first person 
interred. The Lutheran graveyard, called also 
the " Southern Graveyard," was established 
about 1830, and it is said Henry Myers, son of 
Abraham Myers, was the first person buried in 
this piece of sacred ground. These two ceme- 
teries were the only public graveyards started 
in the village, until Oakwood Cemetery was laid 
out. in the year 1859. The land was purchased 
of Watson Moderwell, in the fall of 1858, by 
gentlemen who afterward formed the Oakwood 
Cemetery Association, which society was or- 
ganized Tuesday evening, March 8, 1859, with 
the following officers : President, Greorge Quin- 
by ; Secretary, Gerard Reynolds ; Treasurer, 
C. W. Fisher ; Trustees, A. M. Jones, John A 
Gormly, R. T. Johnson, Hiram Fenner and J. 
H. Keller. B. F. Hathaway was the engineer 
who formed the plan of the grounds, and laid 
off the walks and drives in the spring of 1859- 
The cemetery was dedicated with appropriate 
exercises June 22, 1859. The first interment, 
however, was made over six months previous, 
and was Lillie Ann Craig, daughter of J. A. 
and S. S. Craig, who died November 19, 1858, 
aged five years nine months and five days. 

One of the first, and probably the most im- 
portant, public improvements which enlisted 
the attention of the early citizens of Bucyrus, 
was the Columbus & Sandusky Turnpike road. 
This great highway of trade and travel was of 
untold benefit to the town, and did much in 
securing settlers for the county. The citizens, 
from the time the building of this road was de- 
termined upon, took active measures to have 
it pass through Bucyrus. It required consid- 



362 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



erable etfort to raise the amount of stock the 
company expected each count}' to take. Some 
of the citizens subscribed, and paid for more 
stock than all their real estate would have sold 
for in cash. As an evidence of the importance 
attached to the enterprise, one item may be 
given : At a meeting held for the purpose of 
getting stock taken, Abel Gary remarked, " If 
we succeed in getting the road, we may yel see 
a daily line of stages through Bucyrus.' In 
less than ten years from that time, two dail}' 
lines, and frequently one or two extra coaches 
each da}- passed through the village. This 
highway was originally built as a toll-road, and 
the United States Government gave the State 
of Ohio, in trust for the corporation that built 
it, a large grant of land, the onl}^ stipulation be- 
ing that in case of war the Government troops 
had the right to use the road. The first stage 
line was started in 1827, before the road was 
fairl}' .under headway. For some years, the 
turnpike was the great thoroughfare of the 
State, from the river to the lake, and was the 
principal road to the market, at Sandusky City, 
for the counties of Delaware, Union and Ma- 
rion. Seventy-five wagons, loaded with wheat, 
were counted passing through town in one day, 
over forty 3-ears ago. All of these would of 
course return, and the constant traffic incident 
to so much transportation created business, and 
was an active stimulus toward developing the 
town. 

The early settlers of Buc3a'us and this sec- 
tion of Crawford were for several years without 
convenient post-office accommodations, and it 
was necessary for them to receive their mail 
through the Delaware office. Mrs. Lucy 
Rogers asserts that for a year after she removed 
to the village (in 1822) with her husband, their 
horse was frequentl}^ loaned to persons who 
wished to visit Delaware for the purpose of se- 
curing the mail for this neighborhood. In the 
year 1823, an office was established at Bucyrus. 
The first mail route thi'ough the villaije was a 



weekly mail from Marion to Sandusky City, 
and it was carried on horseback. Occasion- 
all}^ in the winter when the ground was not 
frozen sufficient to bear a horse, the mail-car- 
rier would leave his beast at Bucyrus, and 
make the rest of the trip to Sandusky Cit}^ and 
back on foot. Lewis Cary was the first Post- 
master ; he kept the office at his tannery shop, 
on the lot now occupied b}' Messrs. Shonert & 
Haller. In those days, the rate of postage was 
25 cents each letter, and the postal business 
transacted by Mr. Cary was not extensive, not- 
withstanding most of the settlers in Crawford 
County received their letters at the Bucyrus 
Post Office. Until 1826, only four offices were 
established in the territor}' then embraced in 
Crawford County ; these were Bucyrus, Little 
Sandusky, Tymochtee and Upper Sandusky, 
the latter three being in that part of Crawford 
which is now Wyandot County. The settlers 
of Liberty Township received their mail at 
Bucyrus until several years after 1840. Cary 
continued as Postmaster until the administra- 
tion of President Jackson, when Henry St. 
John, a merchant, was appointed. This was the 
first practical illustration in Crawford County 
of the political war-crj^, " To the victors belong 
the spoils." Since this time, whenever the polit- 
ical character of the White House was changed, 
Bucyrus has received a new Postmaster. St. 
John kept the office from 1829 to 1837, at his 
store on the corner now occupied by Malic & 
Gloyd, and was succeeded by John Forbes, a 
harness-maker. The office was removed to 
Forbes' shop, near the present site of the Raiser 
Block. The following list of mails, taken from 
the Crawford Republican of November 4, 1837, 
is an interesting relic of the postal business 
over forty years ago : 

The Mails. — The following i.s a list of the Mails to 
this place, the hour of their arrival and departure: 
The Tiffin Mail leaves Bucyrus every Friday morning 
at 7 o'clock A. M., and arrives at this oflBce on Saturday 
at 5 P. M. The Mount Vernon Mail departs every 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



363 



Friday at 6 A. M., and arrives on Saturday at 7 P. M. 
The Fredericktown Mail arrives at this office every 
Wednesday by 6 P. M., and departs on Thursday at 5 
P. M. The Perrysburg Mail leaves this office every 
Monday by 5 A. M., and arrives here on Thursdays at 6 
P. M. The Kenton Mail arrives every Wednesday by 
12 M., and departs the same day at 1 P. M. The New 
Haven Mail arrives every Tuesday by 12 M., and de- 
parts at 1 P. M. of same day. The Eastern Mail 
through Mansfield to Pittsburgh, arrives at this office 
every other day by 6 P. M., and departs the following 
morning by 4 A. M., closes at 8 P. M. The Northern 
Mail from Sandusky City arrives at this office every 
other day between 1 and 4 P. M. (closes at 1), and de- 
parts in 20 minutes for Columbus. The Great Southern 
Mail arrives every other day (same day of the North- 
ern) between 9 P. M., and 12 M., and departs in about 
30 minutes for Sandusky City (closes at 8 P. M.). 

John Forbes, P. M. 
Post Office Bucyrus, August -30, 1837. 

The salary paid Forbes in 1840 was $293.47, 
and the net proceeds of tlie office for the Gov- 
ernment were $417,54. Since 1840, the follow- 
ing persons have held the office ; James Mc- 
Cracken from 1841 to 1845, near the present site 
of Mader's Block ; Alex Widman. same place 
for some eighteen months ; R. T. Johnston, for 
about thirty months, at H. H. Moderwell's pres- 
ent stand ; Heniy Converse from 1849 to 1853, 
in the frame building located on the present site 
of Miller's block ; Alex Ruhl,from 1853 to 1857, 
near the present site of Picking's Block, and 
then at the northwestern part of public square ; 
C. D. Ward, from 1857 to 1861, at Ruhl's last 
room ; J. (Jr. Robinson from 1861 to Novem- 
ber 1, 1866, in the western part of Rowse's 
Block ; Isaac Br^^ant, from November 1866, to 
about April 1, 1867, at same room ; W. C. 
Lemert from April 1867 to about September 1, 
1867, at same room ; James P. Rader, from Sep- 
tember, 1867, to August 7, 1870, first in Rowse's 
Block, and then opposite Court House ; J. Hop 
ley, from August 7, 1870, to February 1, 1879, 
opposite court house ; C. W. Fisher, present 
incumbent, from February 1, 1879. at same 
room. 



The first house erected on the present site of 
Bucyrus was the first round-log cabin of Nor- 
ton's ; the second was Bucklin's home, which 
was followed shortly afterward by the habita- 
tions of the Beadle family. When Lewis Gary 
came in the spring of 1822, he built the first 
hewn-log cabin with shingled roof and grooved 
floor. The Journal, of December 13, 1861, con- 
tains the following item : " A friend who de- 
lights in antiquarian researches informs us that 
the first frame building in town was erected in 
the year 1823. It stood ou the lot now occu- 
pied b}' George Raiser's building ; then it was 
removed to the west end of Mansfield street and 
from there to the lot of A. M. Jackson (corner 
Middletown and Gallon roads), where, disguised 
by a new roof and weather-boarding, it makes a 
ver}' fine looking stable.'' If this be true, it 
still remains on this lot, and is now used as a 
wood-shed. Moderwell says : '' The first frame 
building erected in the towu was about fifteen 
feet square and stood on the ground now occu- 
pied b}' Mr. G. Jahns property, north of the 
railroad. The first brick on the lot where 
Blair's and Picking's blocks now stand.'" This 
building was used as a blacksmith-shop, and 
shortly after it was erected the little brick 
schoolhouse was built on the present Monnett 
House lot. These first buildings were followed 
in a few years by more substantial structures. 
Among the earl}' buildings erected, many of 
which remain at the present time, are the fol- 
lowing : Henry St. John built the Kaler corner 
in 1828 ; this same building has since been 
remodeled and improved. Gilmore built the 
old brick on the northeast corner of Main and 
Warren streets previous to 1830, and the Ore- 
gon House, one square south,was erected shortly 
afterward. Hahn built the Sims House in 1830, 
but this block was enlarged and improved in 
18."J9. Norton erected the Main street 3Iills 
Block in 1831, anil the same j-ear Col. Zalmon 
Rowse put up the American House building on 
the northwestcorner of Main and Warren streets. 



f 



364 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



Dr. Willis Merriman erected the two-story frame 
north of Shaeff'er's block, about 1833. Thomas 
Shawke put up the Trimble House on the south- 
east corner of Mansfield and Walnut streets in 
1836. The Drackert House, on Main street, 
south of the Square, was built by Jacob Bright 
for Mrs. Martha I. Hetich, about the year 1838, 
and used by her as a private residence for many 
years. Merrimans brick corner was erected by 
Robert Johnson for Dr. Willis Merriman dur- 
ing the 3^ear 18^0. J. P. Bowman's former 
residence, now owned by the Grormlys, was 
built shortl}' afterward. The buildings now 
occupied b}^ the Crawford County Bank, R. I. 
Johnson & Son's drug store and Correll's shoe 
store, were put up after the big fire of August 
30, 1848 ; the Anderson Block, now the resi- 
dence of Messrs. Ward and George Gormly, 
previous to 1850, and the brick now occupied 
b}^ Scott & Adams, after 1850. Among the 
more imposing structures of later years are : 
The Raiser Block, north of the railroad, in 1857 ; 
Stoll's planing mills, in the fall of 1858 ; Wool- 
en Mills building, on East Perr3' street, in 1858 
and 1859 ; Rowse's Block in 1858 ; Ritz, now 
Gorml}', Block in 1859; Bowman Block in 1861 ; 
Picking's Block in 1861 ; Burkhart's Block, 
now one-half of Mader's. about 1861, and the 
north half by Mader, about 1870; Blair's Block, 
commenced in 1864, finished in 1865 ; Birk's 
Block, about 1872 ; the Converse and Weber 
Blocks in 1873 ; Jerry Niman's Block, rear in 
1873, front in 1874 ; Fisher Block in 1876 ; 
Picking Block, now occupied by Al Lewis, in 
1877; Deal Block in 1878; Miller Block in 
1877 ; the largest block ever erected in Bucy- 
rus commenced by George Quinby in 1858 and 
completed in 1859, the five eastern business 
rooms being finished in the former year, and 
the three western rooms in the latter. The 
Journal^ of January 14, 1860, said of this build- 
ing : " It is the largest and best block on the 
line of the railroad between Pittsburgh and Chi- 
cago ; having a frontage on the square of 166 



feet. It is now occupied by the following firms : 
Room on the corner b}- Exchange Bank ; No. 
2, Hall & Juilliard, dry goods ; No. 3, Graham 
& Tranger, dry goods ; No. 4, Fulton & Clark, 
drugs ; No. 5, Zwisler & Howbert, dry goods ; 
No. 6, Jones & Co., stoves and tinware ; No. 7, 
Cuykendall & Weber, groceries ; No. 8, Potter 
& Craig, hardware." 

Within a short time after Bucja'us was laid 
out, Norton and Kilbourne interested them- 
selves in making their new town a county seat. 
The village was then located in the southeast- 
ern corner of the territory named Crawford 
County, and, in 'those daj's, stood in great dan- 
ger of having a successful rival for county-seat 
honors. Crawford County was then unorgan- 
ized, and the inhabitants were temporarily 
attached to Delaware County for judicial pur- 
poses. Possibl}" the first attempt made to 
secure the county seat at Bucyrus was in the 
fall of 1823. when the citizens were active in 
securing the formation of a new county, to be 
styled Bucyrus. The proprietor of the land 
was ver}^ anxious that the proposed scheme 
should be successful, and he made the follow- 
ing agreement with a committee of citizens : 

To all whom it may concern : Know ye that I, Sam- 
uel Norton, of Bucyrus, in Crawford County and 
State of Ohio, have agreed, and do agree, as this in- 
strument witnesseth, that, in case the county of Bucy- 
rus should be established by law at the approaching 
sessioTi of the Legislature, for which petitions will be 
presented, and the seat of justice of said county per- 
manently established in the town of Bucyrus, then, 
and in that case, I will give, and, by a warranty deed 
free and clear of all incumbi-ances, convey unto such 
agent or agents as may be appointed to the trust, for 
the use of said new county in defi-aying the expenses 
of erecting a court house and otiices in said town of 
Bucyrus, one equal third part in number and value of 
all the numbered inlots and outlots of said town, or 
that may be numbered within the present year, wliich 
remain to me as original proprietor thereof; that is to 
say, one-third of all the lots numbered on the recorded 
plat of said town, or that may be numbered as afore- 
said, excepting those which have been bargained and 



\ 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



365 



sold, or that may be sold to individuals, by deeds or 
title bonds prior to the acceptance of this offer, and 
excepting also the fractional parts of said town origi- 
nally belonging to Abel Gary and Daniel McMichael. 
On a plat of said town accompanying this obligation 
are distinctly marked the lots by their numbers and 
situations composing the said third part intended to be 
given for the public uses aforesaid, and the foregoing 
agreement and the just fulfillment thereof I bind 
myself, my heirs, executors and administrators, firmly 
by these prebents. In witness whereof, I have here- 
unto set my liand and seal at said Bucyrus this 20th 
day of November, 1823. Samuel Norton. 

In presence of A. I. Shover. 

This project to secure a county named Bucy- 
rus was not successful, but, December 15, 1823, 
the General Assembly of Ohio passed an act 
organizing Marion County, and, for two years, 
from April, 1824, to April, 1826, the southern 
portion of Crawford was attached to Marion. 
The population in the vicinity of Bucyrus 
increased rapidly, and, after considerable agita- 
tion and petitioning, the Legislature, on Janu- 
ary 81, 1826, passed another act, organizing 
Crawford Count}', which " authorized the Com- 
missioners elected in accordance with the third 
section of the act " to " meet on the first Mon- 
day in May next, at the town of Bucyrus, and 
then and there determine at what place in said 
county of Crawford the judicial courts shall 
be held till the permanent seat of justice shall 
be established in said county." This duty of 
these commissioners, to be elected in April, 
1826, was the great issue discussed at the first 
election for county offices. The people in the 
southern part of the county were in favor of 
Bucyrus as the county seat, and those living in 
the western part insisted upon its being located 
at a town called Crawford, laid out b}' Joseph 
Newell, on the Broken Sword Creek, in Holmes 
Township. The friends of Bucyrus were suc- 
cessful, and Thomas McClure, John Magers 
and George Poe, their candidates, were suc- 
cessful, and the county seat was temporarilv 
established in the village. The first court was 



held in Lewis Car3''s front room, and, after the 
brick schoolhouse was erected, occupied tem- 
porary* quarters in that building. For several 
years, the new county was without a court 
house. In the meantime, the Auditor, Clerk 
of the Court and Recorder occupied quarters 
in the north end of BuC3'rus. A man named 
Fleck was convicted foj* some crime, and, about 
the year 1831, his friends set fire to the build- 
ings in which the records were kept, and the 
earl)' papers of the new count}- were all de- 
stroyed. The county seat was not permanent- 
ly located at Bucyrus until 1830, when the 
Legislature appointed a commission, consisting 
of Judge Williams, of Delaware ; R. S. Dick- 
enson, of Fremont, and J. S. Glassgo, of 
Holmes County, to visit Crawford County and 
decide the troublesome question. The report 
made by these gentlemen was favorable to 
Bucyrus, and this was accepted by the Legisla- 
ture. Samuel Norton then donated a large 
number of town lots, and other citizens made 
liberal contributions for the erection of public 
buildings. The first jail was erected about 
the year 1827, on the site now occupied by 
the Monnett House, which lot was donated by 
Samuel Norton. Zalmon Rowse was the con- 
tractor, and the building was made of squared 
timber, and contained two apartments. This 
jail was destroyed by fire, and when the next 
one was built it occupied the lot immediately 
south. The present jail was erected in 1859. 
The first court house was commenced and fin- 
ished in 1832. Col. Kilbourne was the archi- 
tect, and Nicholas Cronebaugh, Abraham Holm, 
Sr., and William Early were contractors. While 
this building was being erected, a serious acci- 
dent occurred, which resulted in the death of 
Eli Cronebaugh and a Mr. Seigler. The present 
court house was commenced in 1855, by Will- 
iam Miller, J. Jennings and David Auld, con- 
tractors. The building was finished by April 
30, 1857, at which time a "court house warm- 
ing " was held. 



■^ 



366 



HISTORY OF CRAWB^ORD COLTXTY. 



The town of Bucj'rus was incorporated b}' 
the Legishiture February 21, 1833. It is not 
certain who the first Ma3'or of the town was, as 
the records have all been destroyed, but it is 
generally supposed to be James IMcCraclcen. 
Since the year 1837, however, the following 
persons have been elected to this office : 1837, 
John Moderwell; 1840, Peter Worst; 1841, 
Nicholas Failor; 1842 and 1843, David R. 
Lightner ; 1844 and 1845, James Marshal; 
184(), James McCracken ; 1847 and 1 848, James 
H.Hutchinson; 1850 and 1851, William M. 
Scroggs, who resigned in November, 1851, and 
Stephen 11. Harris was elected to fill the va- 
cancy ; Mr. Harris Avas also re-elected in 1852 
and 1854. In 1853, George P. Seal was chosen ; 
1855, 1856, 1857, Jacob Scroggs; 1858, S. J. 
Elliott, who resigned in November, and Jacob 
Scroggs was appointed by the council, and re- 
elected in 1859 ; in 1860, Henry C. Rowse ; 
1861, S. R. Harris; 1862, William M. Scroggs; 
1863 and 1864, E. B. Finley ; 1865, C. D. Ward ; 
1866 and 1867, Wilson Stewart; 1868 and 
1869, George Donnenwirth, Sr. ; 1870, William 
M. Reid was elected, but counted out, and 
Donnenwirth sworn in (Gen. Samuel Myers, 
C. G. Malic and William Rowland, three mem- 
bers of the Council elected at the same time 
denounced the proceeding, refused to serve and 
resigned. The case was tried and carried before 
the Supreme Court of Ohio, who decided in 
favor of Reid, when the term of office had 
nearly expired); 1872 and 1874, James Van 
Voorhis; 1876 and 1878. Chapman D.Ward; 
1880, Allen Campbell, the present incumbent. 
The population of the village since 1830, was 
as follows: 1830, 500 estimated; 1840, 704; 
1850, 1,100 estimated ; 1860, by United States 
census, 2,207; 1870, by census, 3,066 ; 1880, 
bj^ census, 3,848. 

Among the many interesting historical events 
which have occurred in Bucyrus was the dis- 
covery, by Abraham Hahn, of the perfect skele- 
ton of a mastodon, durins; the vear 1838. Mr. 



Hahn, having erected a saw-mill just north of 
the site now occupied by G. W. Hull's barn, on 
West Warren street, conceived the idea of con- 
structing a mill-race which would furnish suffi- 
cient water-power to run the establishment, and 
this water-course was finished by a considera- 
ble outlay of time and money. The source of 
this race was the swamps in Col. Zalmon 
Rowse's fields, now owned by William Monnett, 
and the line it followed to the mill would have, 
at the present time, about the following route : 
It crossed the Gallon Road near the southwest- 
ern corner of the fair ground ; then extended 
nearly due north along the east side of the 
Ohio Central, making a slight bend, and pass- 
ing east of the roundhouse and machine 
shops ; then nearly due west to S. R. Harris' 
land ; then northwest through the northeastern 
corner of the schoolhouse 3'ard, and, after con- 
tinuing in the same direction for a short dis- 
tance, changed to nearl}' due west, crossing 
Walnut street, near Dr. Cuykendall's office, 
Main street, near Mrs. Thomas Johnson's, and 
Poplar street, near the German Lutheran 
Church. While making the excavations for 
this mill-race, the skeleton was found in the 
swamp just east of the present site of the Ohio 
Central shops. This land for many years 
afterward was A-ery low and swampy ; a consid- 
erable portion in this immediate vicinity was 
covered by Mr. Hahn's mill-pond. A full ac- 
count of this discovery was printed in the 
Crawford Rrpnhh'ca)) extra, of August 14, 1838, 
and reprinted in the Fnnnn, Januar}' 9, 1880, 
from which the following is taken : 

BnrYRtis, August 14, 1838. 
Mr. Abraham Tlalin, wliile engaged with his work 
hands in excavating a mill-race, about thiee-fonrths of 
a mile east of Bucyru=', on yesterday, at the distance of 
from five to seven feet below the surface of the ground, 
discovered the skeleton of a mastodon, in a reclined 
position. The history of this genus of anim.als is in- 
volved in mystery. No tradition or human record fur- 
nishes evidences of its existence at any period. But 
that it once lived and walked upon the earlli, the prince 



ll£ 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY 



367 



of the quadruped kingdom, is abundantly proven by 
the numerous and almost entire specimens of its or- 
ganic remains, that have been discovered in various 
parts of North America; and which have excited the 
wonder and astonishment of the naturalist and anti- 
quarian. From the peculiar structure, and the im- 
mense size of its bones, it must have been an animal 
far exceeding in size and strength any species of the 
quadruped races now in existence. The place where 
this skeleton was found is very near the dividing 
ridge between the northern and southern waters of the 
State, in a wet, spongy soil. Tlie bones, so far as dis- 
covered, are in a fine state of preservation. The upper 
jaw and skull bones are perfect in all their parts, as 
formed by nature. The under jaw was accidentally 
divided in removing it from the earth. ' This is the 
only instance in which the skull of the mastodon has 
been found in a state of preservation; and it furnishes 
the only specimen from which correct ideas can be ob- 
tained respecting that massive, and singularly shaped 
organ. 

Some idea may be formed of the rank this monster 
held among the beasts of the forest, when clothed 
with skin and flesh, and nerved with life, from the 
following dimensions of some portions of it, which 
have been rescued from oblivion: 

THE SKULL .•VND UPPER JAW. 

Horizontal length ?)rt inches. 

Length following curvature of skull 42^^ " 

Breadth across the eyes 26J " 

Breadth at back of hea^ 25^ " 

A^'ertical height 22 " 

Height occipital bone 16 " 

Diameter of both nostrils 11^ " 

Diameter of each measuring the other way.. 5 " 

Diameter of tusk sockets -5^ to 6 " 

Depth of tusk sockets 22 " 

Diameter of eye sockets 6 " 

Weight of skull and upper jaw IGO pounds. 

THE UNDER JAW. 

Horizontal length following outside curva- 
ture 81 J inches. 

Height to junction with upper jaw 1(1^ " 

Weight 60 pounds. 

Front molars H\ inches apart. 

Back " .5f 

Length back molar 7.' inches. 

Breadth back molar 4 " 

Length front molar 4^ " 



FEMUR OR THIGH BONE. 

Length X7 inches. 

Largest circumference 80 ■' 

Smallest circumference 15^ " 

TIBI.i ^LAKGEST BONE BETWEEN THIGH .A.ND HOOF), 

Len gt h 22 J inch es. 

Largest circumference 24^ " 

Smallest circumference 11 " 

FIBULA (smaller BONE BETWEEN THIGH AND HOOF). 

Length 20J inches. 

Largest circumference 12^ " 

Smallest circumference 4.} " 

HUMERUS (BONE FROM SHOULDER TO KNEE). 

Length 30 inches. 

Largest circumference 34.^ " 

Smallest circumference 14| " 

RIB. 

Length outer curve 43i " 

Smallest circumference b\ " 

The following is a design of the skeleton of 
this monster, as drawn by the description gi\en 
above, and engraved by Daniel Kanzleiter, of 
Bucyrus : 

1/ Mm 



Halin soon found the enterprise in which he 
had become involved would not be a financial 
success, and after several ^ears the business 
was abandoned. When the town was extended 
and improved toward the southeast, the mill- 
pond was drained and the water-course gradu- 
ally filled up with earth, but during the past 
twent}' years, in making excavations for sewers 




368 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY 



and cellars, the remains of this race have fre- 
quently been found. At first, Mr. Ilahn exhib- 
ited the bones of this mastodon, but finally 
sold them, and the proceeds derived from the 
sale served to repa}- him for the immense finan- 
cial outlay he had made in building the race. 
He died at Mount Gilead, Ohio, January 19, 
1 867, and in his obituary notice the following 
was published in regard to the latter history of 
the skeleton : " He afterward sold the skeleton 
to a man in Columbus for $1,800, and it was 
again resold to a Cincinnati man for i^2,800 ; 
was afterward taken to New York and put in 
Barnum's Museum, and probably consumed b}' 
the fire there a few years since." 

For manj- j'ears the village was without an}- 
regularly organized fire department, and the 
only protection in case of fire was the volun- 
teer bucket-brigade temporarily^ formed at each 
successive conflagration. The propriet}^ of 
organizing a regular fire company was dis- 
cussed during the summer of 18-18, and Friday 
evening, August 4, a large and respectable 
meeting of citizens assembled at the court 
house for this purpose ; J. H. Hutchinson was 
Chairman, and J. Scroggs, Secretary. J. E. 
Jewett, N. C. McFarland and J. Simms were 
appointed to prepare a constitution, and the 
meeting adjourned until August 11, 1848, at 
which time, or shortly afterward, the organiza- 
tion of the company was perfected. J. E. 
Jewett was Captain of the organization. 
Within a short time the members had a fine 
opportunity to show their mettle, for at raid- 
night on October 26, Howenstein & Sheckler's 
caV)inet-shop was discovered to be on fire, and, 
before the conflagration was quenched, several 
other buildings in the immediate vicinit}- were 
destroyed. The People s Fonmi, published the 
nextday, said : " Much credit is due the firemen 
and other citizens for their exertions to stop the 
progress of the flames." The first fire engine 
purchased, " Rescue No. 1," was of a very rude 
design. It was necessary to pour the water 



into the engine with buckets ; then shut down 
the lid of the tank, and the liquid was forced 
into the hose b}- turning a crank. For nearly 
ten 3'ears this was the only fire engine used in 
the community. In March, 1858, the Town 
Council purchased the present " Water Cloud," 
at a cost of $1,282.50, and the fire department 
was re-organized. The officers of " Water 
Cloud No. 2," were F. W. Butterfleld, Foreman ; 
D. M. Lindsay, Assistant Foreman ; M. Buch- 
man. Secretary', and John Gr. Birk, Treasurer. 
D. Shanks was Foreman of Mazeppa Hose 
Company. The first engine, " Rescue No. 1," was 
placed in charge of a junior company- composed 
of many young men residing in the village, 
who elected Gains C. Worst as their Foreman, 
and for several years " Let 'er Rip No. 1," ably 
managed b}- these 3-oung men, performed effi- 
cient work when needed. Possibly the first 
Chief Engineer of the Fire Department was E. 
R. Kearsley, who occupied that position July 2, 
1859. The Buckeye Hook and Ladder Com- 
pany was first organized during 1859 with the 
following oflftcers : Foreman, A. E. Walker ; 
First Assistant, G. B. Terwileger ; Second 
Assistant, D. R. Locke (now proprietor of the 
Toledo Blade) ; Secretary, J. W. Keller ; and 
Treasurer, P. E. Bush. During the winter of 
1859-60, the Town Council erected the pres- 
ent engine house ; it was to be " 32x40 feet, 
two stories high, with a ball above fitted up for 
the use of the fire companies and Town Coun- 
cil." This building was dedicated Monday 
evening, April 30, 1860, with appropriate exer- 
cises. In July, 1869, the Steam Fire Engine 
was purchased by the Council from Sibley & 
Co., of Seneca Falls, N. Y. The price 
paid for the engine was $5,100, and an addition, 
$2,400, was given for brakes, seats, two hose 
carts and 1,000 feet of rubber hose. The 
engine was received in Buc\'rus, Tuesday 
September 7, and the next daj- threw water the 
following distances : With 1,000 feet of hose 
and 1^-iuch nozzle, 147 feet; with 1,000 feet 



;r>' 




CPlAAci/lrt/ili- ivytyti 



-5 



I 



\^^ — 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



ill 



of hose an(t 1-inch nozzle, 181 feet ; with 
100 feet of hose and 1-inch nozzle, 236 feet. 
The engine weighs 3,600 pounds and will dis- 
charge from 400 to 450 gallons of water per 
minute. The first officers elected for the 
Steamer Fire Engine Compan}-, were : Foreman, 
B. F. Lauck ; Engineer, Wilson Stewart ; As- 
sistant Engineer and Fireman, William P. 
Rowland ; Foreman Hose Compan}-, John 
Couts ; Secretary, M. Fulton ; Treasurer, J. G. 
Birk. 

During the fi-ill of 1859. a company was 
formed, composed of many public-spirited bus- 
iness men of Bucyrus. for the purpose of build- 
ing and operating the Bucyrus Gas Works. 
The stockholders met at C. Elliott's office, Tues- 
day evening, November 22, and elected George 
Quinby, S. R. Harris, Horace Rowse, J. J. Soc- 
man and J. H. Keller, Trustees, until the works 
were completed. The Trustees perfected the 
organization of the company by electing Hor- 
ace Rowse President ; S. R. Harris, Secretary ; 
and George Quinby, Treasurer. The building 
was commenced during the fall of 1859, and 
completed in 1860, by B. B. McDonald & Co. 
After many anno3ing delays, the works were 
started, and the town was first lighted by gas 
Tuesday evening, October 23, 1860. The Bu- 
cyrus Journal, during that year, published the 
following description of the works : " The 
buildings are 32x68 feet in size, slate-roofed, 
and are well and substantially built. The gas- 
ometer contains 9,000 cubic feet. There are 
two benches of retorts, capable of generating 
20,000 cubic feet of gas per day, with extra 
benches to provide against accidents." Satur- 
day evening, November 3, the stockholders 
elected the following Directors to conduct the 
business : Horace Rowse, George Quinby, John 
Keller, John H. Hofraan and B. B. McDonald ; 
Rowse was then re-elected President, and J. H. 
Hofman, Secretary. The stock was finally pur- 
chased b}^ a few members, and Messrs. Quinby 
and McDonald became owners of the works. 



They sold out to Monnett, Frazer & Co., about 
January 1, 1873, and the establishment is now 
owned by J. G. Frazer and Rev. T. J. Monnett. 
While Bucyrus can scarcely be called a man- 
ufacturing city, 3'et there are several institu- 
tions located within its limits that make some 
pretensions toward manufacturing, and deserve 
some mention as such. Prominent among these 
are the Eagle Machine Works. These works 
have grown out of an establishment of ver}'^ 
limited dimensions, which was started here 
more than twenty-five 3-ears ago. At the be- 
ginning, the work was done mostly liy hand, in 
a small shop which it occupied, and, as a man- 
ufacturing enterprise, amounted to but little. 
The following, from an article upon the subject 
of " Manufactories in Bucyrus," published in 
the Forum, of Februar}- 10, 1872, does justice 
to the Eagle Machine Works : " Messrs. Frey 
& Sheckler, two of the present partners, be- 
came workmen in the establishment, remaining 
in that capacity- until 1862, when the\' bought 
the concern, the former proprietors changing 
places with them. In 1867, the entire works 
were destroyed by fire, but, in 1868, the present 
firm — which, besides Frey and Sheckler, com- 
prises G. Quinb}- — was formed, and the works 
were rebuilt upon a much larger scale, and fur- 
nished throughout with the best of machiner}- 
and conveniences. The works are of brick, 
the machine-shop being 75x55 feet, and twcw 
stories ; the foundry', 35x50, besides cupola, 
and a Avareroom (frame) neai-l}- 160 feel in 
length." Since this article was penned, other 
buildings have been put up, and the works have 
now altogether six buildings, viz.: Foundry. , 
machine-shops, blacksmith-shops, engine-house, 
coke and sand house, office and pattern room, 
etc. Eighteen hands are emploved regularlv, 
and engines, horse-powers, saw-mills, brick ma- 
chines, together with a general foundry busi- 
ness, are some of the kinds of work turned out 
by the establishment. Of late 3'ears, the " Ea- 
gle Portable Enoine " has been made bv these 



•^ 



372 



HISTORY or CKAWFORB COUNTY. 



works. Their brick machines ai'e the best 
made — capable of making 15,000 brick per 
day, and are in use all over the country, even 
as far west as W^'oming and Indian Territories. 
The firm changed in 1875, Mr. Sheckler retir- 
ing ; and, in 1877, William Hoover purchased 
an interest, but Sheckler again became inter- 
ested, and the firm is now Frey, Sheckler & 
Hoover. All three of the partners are energetic 
business men, who believe that what is worth 
doing, is worth doing well, and the business, 
under their management, has become a promi- 
nent one, and is of a character that reflects 
credit upon the city and upon themselves. 

The Bucyrus Machine Works were started 
originally b}- William Burkhart, James Throupe 
and J. Moultrop about 1861. In the spring 
and summer of that year they put up a shop 
40x60 feet, two stories high, on East Mansfield 
street. These works at one time were quite an 
enterprise and did a large business, but of late 
years have retrograded somewhat, and at the 
present time do not amount to much. They 
commenced work in a little blacksmith shop, 
and made a few " Excelsior " Machines, when 
Mr. Burkhart invented the " Bucyrus Machine." 
The old company continued in operation until 
the 1st of January, 1869, when its assets were 
transferred to a stock company, of which B. B. 
McDanald was Superintendent, and W. T. Mc- 
Donald, Treasuz'er, with a capital stock of $100,- 
000. A portion of the works were destroj^ed by 
fire, in May, following this change, resulting in a 
loss of about $21 ,000. They were rebuilt with- 
out any unnecessary delay, and comprise at pres- 
ent several excellent buildings ; the main build- 
ing is of brick 200x40 feet, and three stories 
high ; blacksmith-shop 55x30, and foundry 40x- 
60 feet. At one time the works gave employ- 
ment to a force of near 100 men, and manufact- 
ured as high as 700 machines in one year. The 
larger part of their trade was West, mostly in 
Missouri, Iowa and Kansas, the people of those 
sections showing a preference for the Buc3'rus 



Machine. Some idea of the good to the city, 
and the magnitude of the works when in the 
zenith of their glory, ma}' be drawn from the 
fact that as much as $25,000 were disbursed to 
their employes in one year, and in the con- 
struction of machines 200 tons of pig metal 
were used. Preparations were made at one 
time for the building of railway cars, and a 
switch was built from the works to the railroad. 
The company finally began to decline, and 
eventually passed into the hands of J M. Bid- 
die. In a few j^ears, it made another assignment, 
and was then purchased by A. Monnett & Co., 
who, after operating it for a time, leased it to 
Stucke}' & Diller, who are at present operat- 
ing it. But the establishment has not been 
manufacturing the Bucyrus Machine for some 
time, and is not doing the business it did a few 
years ago. 

The Franz & Pope Knitting Machine Com- 
pany is destined to become as familiar through- 
out the country as the Wheeler & Wilson, 
Howe, Singer, and others of that kind now. In 
1868, William Franz and Dr. W. Pope com- 
menced the inventing of a knitting machine for 
both domestic and manufacturing purposes. 
They succeeded and obtained a patent, and have 
patented eight improvements since, and bought 
six others, making fourteen improvements and 
patents now owned by them, until their ma- 
chine is almost perfect. The Forum, in 1872, 
said : "In 1870, a company was formed here 
called the Bucyrus Knitting Machine Company, 
which commenced operations, but was dis- 
banded in 1871, and the present joint-stock 
company was formed." This company was 
composed of Dr. William Pope, Dr. C. Fulton, 
James Clements, John Franz, Thomas Beer, 
George Quinby, George Dounenwirth and Will- 
iam Franz. Of this company, George Quinby 
was President ; William Franz, Secretary, and 
Dr. W. Pope, General Agent. Says the Forum : 
" Last year 1,500 machines were made — this 
year the number will reach 2,500 ; the ice is 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



373 



really just being broken, and the demand in 
the future will be enormous. The variety of 
work it is capable of producing is wonderful, 
being adapted to all manner of crotcheting — 
making tidies or afghans, as well as common 
hosiery. It knits a stocking, heel and toe com- 
plete, without taking it off' the hooks, in seven 
minutes, with but little hand finishing required." 
In 1878, a Hosiery Department was added to 
the establishment, in which some thirty young 
ladies are employed constantly. The following 
are the present officers : Dr. William Pope, 
President ; James Clements, Secretary ; William 
McCutcheon, Treasurer and Book-keeper ; John 
R. Perrot, Foreman, a position he has held since 
the formation of the present company. The 
works are doing a good business, and have ma- 
chines in Germany, England, Japan, and other 
foreign countries, in addition to the sales in 
our own country. The Forum, in its sketch of 
this enterprise, from which we have already 
quoted, draws this fanciful and prophetic pic- 
ture of its future : " The readers of the Forum 
will have no difficult}- in recalling to mind 
a familiar picture — a pleasant room made 
doubly pleasant by a genial fire on the hearth 
At hand is a corner sacred to 'Grandma,' and 
here she sits, hour after hour, knitting, knitting, 
weaving into common-place stockings a thou- 
sand pleasant memories of the past or visions of 
the future — this is her favorite employment. 
Gaze upon it while you ma}', reader, for soon 
grandmas occupation, like Othello's, will be 
gone. In place of the loved old lady, whose 
eye is fast growing dim, and whose hands trem- 
ble with age, will be seen a younger generation 
— in place of the bright needles that ' click ' and 
glisten as the stocking is slowly fashioned, will 
be a little machine labeled 'Franz & Pope's Pa- 
tent ' — the good wife or daughter seats herself, 
hastily turns a crank for a few minutes, and, 
presto ! here is a complete stocking. " Finally 
the Franz & Pope Knitting Machine Company 
will find their time fully employed in the fu- 



ture, and it is no difficult matter to predict a 
continuation of the present prosperit}- of this 
valuable industry. 

The Bucyrus Plow Works was originall}- es- 
tablished b}' A. Shunk, Sr., more than twenty 
years ago. His capital was limited ; the busi- 
ness was somewhat of an experiment, and was 
of small proportions, emjiloying but four men 
and doing the work all b}- hand-power. As the 
years went by, the business was increased, com- 
pelling the introduction of steam-power and 
magnificent buildings, occupying a large space ; 
a wood shop, 30x50 feet, brick, two stories high ; 
smith shop 50x18 feet ; grinding room, 25 feet 
square ; lumber room of the same dimensions ; 
engine room 20x20 feet, and foundry 40x60 
feet. Persistent energy has worked these 
changes and improvements. The works have 
a capacity of 1,000 plows per year, of nine differ- 
ent varieties. The sale of these plows is chiefly 
in Ohio and the Western States, and so rapidly 
has their fame spread that every plow is sold 
before it leaves the shop, and even advance or- 
ders can scarceh' be filled, the demand for them 
is so great. In May, 1870, a firm was formed^ 
consisting of A. Shunk, Jr., F. R. and X. T., all 
brothers. Several changes have taken place, 
and the firm now is A. Shunk, Sr., alone. He, 
as we have said, was the originator of the es- 
tablishment, and still supervises the work. He 
is a man of genius, makes his patterns himself, 
and a plow, also, that has no superior in the 
market. 

One of the large and enterpi-ising establish- 
ments of Bucyrus is the {)laning-mill of the 
VoUrath Brothers. Gottlieb Vollrath came to 
the town in 1S49, and, in 1855, he started a 
planing-mill under the firm of G. Vollrath & 
Co., the firm comyrising Mr. Vollrath and two 
sons — Albert and Charles. In 18(57. William, 
another son, bought out his lather, and the 
firm became, as now, ^'ollrath Brothers, com- 
prising Albert, Charles and William. In 1868, 
their present brick building was erected, three 



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374 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY 



stories, 78x45 feet, besides tlie engine and boiler 
room, whicli is also of brick, and is 19x54 feet. 
In its arrangement, a view was had to conven- 
ience, the best possible macliinery was obtained, 
and every preparation made for conducting 
business upon a large scale. Now, an average 
of from fifteen to twenty men is employed, and 
large quantities of sash, doors, blinds, mold- 
ings, etc., and also a general planing-mill busi- 
ness is done. In addition to this, a large 
business is carried on in dressed and undressed 
lumber, their yards and mill occupying over an 
acre of ground. All of the brothers are prac- 
tical business men, and pay strict attention to 
the business. 

The Bucyrus Flouring Mill Company is also 
an enterprise of the Yollrath Brothers. In 
1870, they fitted up a part of their planing-mill 
building, and commenced this line of business. 
In 1872, it was bought by F. A. Vollrath, a 
brother to those engaged in the planing-mill 
who has run it ever since. It is provided with 
three runs ofbuhrs — two for wheat and one for 
corn. It is supplied with a separate engine from 
that of the planing-mill, and is a first-class in- 
stitution in every respect. Mr. Vollrath is well 
known in town and county, and his pleasant 
face is familiar to all. 

The Buckeye State Wood Works was estab- 
lished in 1866, b}^ A. M. Jones & Company. 
Their line of manufacturing is confined prin- 
cipally to the making of spokes, hubs and bent 
work. The grounds embrace an area of an acre 
and a half, the buildings being — main work- 
shop, 100x40 feet ; engine-room, 50x20 feet ; 
warehouses, 22x156 and 18x40 feet. The orig- 
inal members of firm were A. M. Jones, W. C. 
Lennert. Lyman Parcher and John Jones. 
Nicholas Keel was afterward admitted, and, 
shortly after, John Jones and Lyman Parcher 
sold out to the other three partners, and the 
firm is still A. M. Jones & Co. The busi- 
ness has proved a success, and gives employ- 
ment to a large number of hands continually, 



the average being about thirty, requiring an an- 
nual disl)ursement of over $30,000 for wages 
and other expenses. The business was at first 
an experiment, but, under careful management, 
has grown volumious, and is one of the most 
important manufacturing interests of the town. 

The Donnenwirth Brewery ranks among the 
large manufacturing establishments of Bucyrus. 
It was originally established in 1858, by Henry 
Anthony. In the following spring G. Dounen- 
wirth, Jr., became a partner, and in the fall the 
firm became Gr. Donnenwirth & Son, his father 
taking an interest in the business with him. A 
large business is done in manufacturing - der 
lager," consuming yearly thousands of pounds 
of hops and thousands of bushels of barley in 
the manufacture of this drink that does not in- 
ebriate. We have the word of a good old 
Grerman, who said, when asked if lager would 
make a man drunk, that he had often drank as 
many as sixty or seventy glasses a daj^ with- 
out becoming intoxicated, but if a man was to 
make a hog of himself, he didn't know what the 
effect might be. We don't either. 

The Sandusky- Valley Mills were built in 

1860, by S. A. Bowers and J. W. Delancy near 
the site of the Deardorff steam saw-mill. In 

1861, Mr. Delancy retired, and Bowers con- 
tinued in the business until 1872, when he sold 
out to C. T. Miller. Mr. Miller failed shortly 
after, when Mr. Bowers took them back, and 
lately Mr. Delancy has again taken an interest in 
them, and the old firm of Bowers «&; Delanc}' are 
now operating them. Their building is 40x50 
feet and three stories high, containing three 
run of buhrs and ample steam-power, furnished 
bj' two engines. These mills are doing a good 
business and are justly celebrated for the ex- 
cellence of their flour. 

Keller, StoU & Co., erected a planing-mill in 
1859. Subsequently it changed to the manage- 
ment of StoU & Bro., and in 1869, the firm of 
Stoll, Bro. & Co., was formed. The mill is a 
large one ; the main building is 70x40 feet, with 



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HISTORY OF CRAWFOED COUNTY. 



375 



eJ 



an engine room 40x18 feet, and the entire es- 
tablishment is supplied with the best of ma- 
chinery. A large number of men are employed, 
and an extensive business is done in sash, doors, 
blinds, etc., also in lumber of all kinds. R. C. 
Roer is now a member of the firm, and is one 
of the energetic business men of Bucyrus. 
Their market is both at home and abroad, and, 
whenever good work is required, there is a 
demand for their goods, and their trade is in- 
creasing. 

The Smutter Factory of M. Deal is one of the 
important industries of Bucyrus. Mr. Deal be- 
gan the manufacture of these machines in 1 868, 
then known as the California Smutter. It is a 
machine for taking smut out of wheat, and is of 
incalculable value to wheat growers and dealers. 
Mr. D. has added six new improvements to the 
machine since he commenced the business, and 
now manufactures thirt3'-six different styles of 
niachines for cleaning wheat. His present fac- 
tory, which is in one of the most pretentious 
buildings in the town, employs some twentj'-five 
men the year round, and has a capacity for put- 
ting up 500 machines per j'ear. There are now 
over six hundred local agencies in the United 
States, Canada, South America and England, 
and from $60,000 to $75,000 worth of machines 
are shipped annually. 

The Main Street Mills were established by 
Zeigler, Gross & Co., and in October, 1871, the 
firm of F. & J. Gross was formed, succeeding 
the old one, and in the following May, they 
built the present mills. The building is of 
brick, 48x50 feet, two stories besides basement, 
and engine-room. It had originally three run 
of buhrs and a capacity for manufacturing 
more than fifty barrels of flour ever)' twelve 
hours. In 1876, Mr. Zeigler returned to Bucy- 
rus, after an absence of some years, and became 
the proprietor of these mills, which he has 
operated successfully ever since. He has 
made some improvements ; has added another 
run of buhrs, and is doing a fine custom and 



merchant business. Mr. Zeigler has about 
twenty-seven years' experience in milling, and 
perfectly understands it in all of its details. 

An enterprise of some considerable interest 
to the town of Bucyrus is the shops of the 
Ohio Central Railroad Company, which are 
now in the course of building here. The 
shops and buildings comprise a roundhouse, 
designed for forty stalls, of which ten are to 
be completed for immediate use ; a machine 
and smith shop, 150x70 feet ; an engine and 
boiler house, 50x36 feet ; car shops, 100x70 
feet, and an office and storeroom, 40x30 feet. 
All of these are being now built, and are 
of brick upon stone foundations, and are to be 
surmounted by a self-supporting metal roof. 
Some of the contractors in this work are as 
follows : The Union Planing Mills have a con- 
tract to furnish the door and window frames, 
flooring, etc. ; the Eagle Machine Works sup- 
plies the cast-iron work, and Stuckey & Diller 
the wrought-iron work. The local contractor, 
J. Gt. Frayer. under whose eye the work is 
being done, is pushing it rapidly forward, and 
is a contractor of great experience. These 
shops will be of great benefit to Bucyrus. and 
make it quite a railroad town. It is estimated 
that not less than one million of brick will be 
used, and that the cost of buildings and 
machinery will not be far from $100,000 at 
completion, and will continually increase in 
value as improvements are made and new 
machinery added. 

E. Blair's establishment should be mentioned 
among the manufacturing industries of Bucy- 
rus. The most important article of his manu- 
facture is '-swine jewelry," as it is facetiously 
termed, though other articles are, and have 
been for some time, made extensively by him. 
His wire work is well known. But in his 
'•' swine jewelry "' he has a large trade. It con- 
sists of a ring, or something of that sort, 
which, when placed in a- pig's -snoot."' effoctu- 
all)' stops him from following his legitimate 



J^ 



376 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



calling — rooting. Mr. Blair nianuractures these 
usel'ul articles extensively, and has a large sale 
for them. 

The first secret society organized in the vil- 
lage of Hucyriis on a jx'rnianent basis was the 
Independent Order of (kid Fellows. The Pio- 
plrs Fnniin. pnhlislied September 20, 1845, 
contains tlie following advertisement : 

I. 0. 0. F. 

The installation of La Salle Lodge will take place in 
Hucjrus Monday evening, September 22, 1845. 

La Salle Lodge, after continuing for nearly 
ten 3'ears, surrendered their charter October 2, 
1854, but, in about eighteen months, the char- 
ter was restored on February 26, 1856. The 
names of the members on the restored charter 
are Franklin Adams, W. R. S. Clark, William 
M. Scroggs. Benjamin Failor, C. W. Butterfield, 
Hiram Fenner and J. E. Zook. La Salle 
Lodge, No. 51. of the Independent Order of 
Odd Fellows, is in a better financial condition 
than any other secret society in Bucyrus. 

A short time after the first permanent secret 
society had been organized in Buc^-rus b}' the 
Odd Fellows, gentlemen who were members of 
the Masonic fraternit}- were prevailed upon to 
establish a lotlge of their order in the village. 
Bucyrus Lodge, No. 189, of Free and Accept- 
ed Masons, was chartered October 20, 1846, 
with the following members : Col. Zalmon 
Bowse, Ilibbard P. Ward (Pastoj- M. E. Church), 
Joseph E. Jewett, Benjamin Warner, Madison 
W. Welsh, Araos L. Westover, John Caldwell 
and Jonas Stough. These charter members 
are all dead. Those of the first officers elected 
were : First Master, Joseph E. Jewett ; first 
Senior Warden, Amos L. Westover ; first Jun- 
ior Warden, Benjamin Warner. The early 
records of this society- are all lost, and it is 
impossible to ol)tain any satisfactory informa- 
tion in regard to the other first ofUcers. Some 
forty persons are at the present time coiniected 
with this lodge, the officers ol" which are as 



follows : Worshipful Master, Henry Stuckey ; 
Senior Warden, Dr. W. B. Carson ; Junior 
Warden, (). D. Ward ; Treasurer. William \^)11- 
rath ; Secretary, Lewis Stremmel ; Senior Dea- 
con, Dr. M. C. Cuykendall ; Junior Deacon, A. 
W. Diller ; Tiler, Jacob Haller. 

Crawford Lodge, No. 443, of Free and Ac- 
cepted Masons, was organized May 4, 1870, 
with the following charter members : Robert 
Lee, George F. Seiser, John A. Schaber, Ueorge 
Donnenvvirth, Jr., Samuel Hoyt, William 
Frantz, George C. Gormly, A. J. High and 
Joseph A. Shepard. The officers of Crawford 
Lodge at the present time are : Wilson Stew- 
art, P. M.; R. Lee, W. M.; A. J. High, S. W.; 
John Schaber, J. W.; George Donnenwirth, Jr., 
Treasurer ; William McCutchen, Secretary ; 
George Didie, S. D.; Charles Muntz, J. D.; 
Frank Donnenwirth, Steward ; Stephen Bry- 
mier, Tiler. 

Ivanhoe Chapter, No. 117, Royal Arch Ma- 
sons, was instituted Januar}- 13, 1869, at the 
Buc^-rus lodge-room, b}' Charles C. Keifer, 
Grand High Priest, with the following charter 
members and officers : E. B. Finley, H. P.; 
Cochran Fulton, K.; E. R. Kearsley, S.; Samuel 
Hoyt, C. H.; George McNeal, G. M. 1st V.; 
William VoUrath, G. M., 2d V.; Moses Emrich, 
G. M. 3d v.; J. R. Clymer, S.; D. F. Welsh, 
G.; John A. Schaber, R. A. C; James Arm- 
strong, P. S., and Joshua Crouse. About 
thirty- five persons are connected with Ivanhoe 
Chapter at the present time, and the following 
persons are officers ; Wilson Stewart, H. P.; M. 
C. Cuykendall, K.; C. D. Ward, S.; William 
Frantz, C. H.; Henry Stuckey, P. S.; John 
Schaber, R. A. C; George W. Didie. G. M. 3d 
v.; William Vollrath, G. M. 2d A\; Nathaniel 
Steen, G. M. 1st Y.; J. H. Robinson, Secretary ; 
F. A. Vollrath, Treasurer ; C. Muntz, Guard. 

Bucyrus Council. No. 57, Royal and Select 
Masons, was organized February 10, 1870, at 
the Bucyrus lodge-room, at which time the 
following officers were installed : Samuel Hoyt, 



a) 






HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



377 



Thrice Illustrious Grand Master ; Cochran Ful- 
ton, First Deputy Grand Master ; John A. 
Schaber, First P. C. W.; A. J. High, Recorder ; 
George F. Seiser, Captain of the Guard ; Joseph 
Goldsmith, Sentinel, and E. B. Finley, Treas- 
urer. These gentlemen, with E. R. Kearsley 
and William M. Scroggs, were the charter mem- 
bers of Bucyrus Council. The officers of this 
lodge at the present time are Cochran Fulton, 
T. I. G. M.; John A. Schaber, Deputy I. G. M.; 
Dr. Stensil, P. C. W.; A. J. High, Captain of 
the Guard ; F. A. Vollrath, Recorder ; George 
Donnenwirth, Jr., Treasurer ; C. D. Ward, C. of 
Council ; H. Anthony, Warden ; J. G. Ott, 
Sentinel. 

■ Demas Lodge. No. 108, Knights of Pythiasi 
was instituted on Tuesday afternoon and even- 
ing, September 11, 1877, by Leroy S. Dungan, 
of London, Ohio., Grand Chancellor of the 
State, with the following twenty-four charter 
members : Walter B. Ritchie, J. H. Robinson, 
Fred. M. Swingley, William Frantz, 0. E. 
Gravelle, Henry J. Deal, F. A. Vollrath, J. B. 
Kreider, Frank L. Plants, Jacob Haller, Jacob 
Broese, Theoren A. Rowse, Frank P. Kaler, 
Allen Campbell, G. K. Zeigler, Peter Weller, 
Ferdinand Weichold, Moses Emrich, E. M. 
Moore, William Trounstine, N. K. Zeigler, G. W. 
Harris, C. H. Shonert and Jefferson Didie. 
The first officers elected for Demas Lodge were 
J. H. Robinson, P. C; F. M. Swingley, C. C; 
William Frantz, V. C; 0. E. Gravelle, P.; H. 
J. Deal, K. R. S.; F. A. Vollrath, M. F.; Frank 
L. Plants, M. A.; Jacob Haller, I. G.; Jacob 
Broese, 0. G.; F. M. Swingle}' and William 
Frantz, Trustees ; E. M. Moore, Clerk. This 
lodge held their meetings in the third story of 
the Bowman Block for about one 3'ear, and then 
removed to their present quarters in the Miller 
Block. The society is in good financial con- 
dition. 

Section No. 119, P]ndowment Rank, Knights 
of Pythias, was instituted in Castle Hall of 
Demas Lodge, March 6, 1878, with the follow- 



ing sixteen charter members : David Price, 
Moses Emrich, Allen Campbell, Garrett K. 
Zeigler, William Frantz, F. A. Vollrath, Frank 
P. Kaler, Fernand Weichold, Lee Rothschild, 
Joseph Boure, Charles C. Scott, 0. E. Gravelle, 
W. B. Ritchie, Theoren A. Rowse, J. H. Robin- 
son and H. J. Deal. The following is a list of 
the first officers elected : William Frantz. Presi- 
dent ; J. H. Robinson. Vice President ; Allen 
Campbell, Secretary and Treasurer ; 0. E. Gra- 
velle, Chaplain ; H. J. Deal, Sentinel ; Charles 
C. Scott, Guard ; Frank P. Kaler, Guide. The 
object of this lodge is to provide financial 
assistance to the heirs of deceased members ; 
the amount of the insurance policy is $2,000. 
Frank L. Plants, who died Tuesday, February 
18, 1879, is the only member of the lodge 
removed by death since it was organized. 

Howard Lodge, No. 109, of the Knights of 
Honor, was organized May 3, 1875, at the rooms 
of the Y. M. C. A., in Birk's Block, with the 
following charter members : William Raid, C. 
W. Fisher, E. P. Penfield, M. Emrich, J. M. 
Black, W. H. Drought. Allen Campbell. L. C. 
Caldwell, George Lauck, William Boure. W. B. 
Bennett, George Caswell, Jacob Deardorff, D. 
E. Fisher, H. H. Moderwell and S. D. Welsh. 
The first officers were C. W. Fisher, Dictator ; 
William M. Reid, Past Dictator; M. Emrich, 
Vice Dictator ; E. P. Penfield, Assistant Dicta- 
tor ; J. M. Black, Guide ; George A. Lauck, 
Reporter ; Allen Campbell, Treasurer ; L. C. 
Caldwell, Sentinel; Jacob Deardorft^ D. E. Fisher 
and H. H. Moderwell, Trustees. This lodge 
held their meetings for two j'ears in the third 
stor}- of the Bowman Block, and, in May, 1 877, 
they removed to their present quarters, in the 
third story of Fisher's Block. The object of 
the Knights of Honor is to provide financial 
assistance to the families of deceased members, 
and $2,000 is the amount of the insurance pol- 
icy. Ninetj-four persons are at present con- 
nected with Howard Lodge, and, since it was 
organized, three members have died, viz.: A. C. 



k 



5) ,?, 



378 



HISTORY or CRAWFORD COUNTY 



Monnett, April 17, 1879 ; C. W. Tiinanus, May 
8. 1879 ; Joseph Goodwin, May 3, 1880. 

Crawlbrd Council, No. 15, of the Ro^-al Ar- 
canum, was instituted September 12, 1877, at 
the lodge-room of the Knights of Honor, by 
Deputy Supreme Regent P. L. Teeple, with the 
following charter members : C. D. Ward, John 
A. Schaber, A. G. Rosino, G. W. Myers, S. B. 
Mills, William Vollrath, Nicholas Reehl, J. F. 
Fitzsimmons. G. W. Stewart, W. H. Drought, 
Charles Roehr, L. E. Jones, E. P. Penfield, J. 
H. Sherrard, S. D.Welsh, Charles Vollrath, W. M. 
Reid,W. B. Bennett, George A. Lauck, H. F. Har- 
ris, H. H. Moderwell and P. Bessinger. The 
first officers were E. P. Penfield, Regent ; W. M. 
Reid, Past Regent ; G. A. Lauck, Vice Regent ; 
J. H. Sherrard, Orator ; H. F. Harris, Secre- 
tary ; John A. Schaber, Collector ; S. D. Welsh, 
Chaplain : S. B. Mills, Guide ; P. Bessinger, 
Warden ; A. G. Rosino, Sentry ; C. Vollrath, 
Treasurer ; William Vollrath, L. E. Jones and 
George A. Lauck, Trustees. The meetings of 
the Crawford Council are held every Friday 
evening, in the third story of Fisher & Bros.' 
Block, which story this society occupies jointl}^ 
with the Knights of Honor. Three thousand 
dollars are paid to the families of deceased 
members. Fifty-two persons are at present 
connected with this lodge, which has lost but 
one member by death since it was organized, 
and this member — Quincey A. Rowse, who died 
February 17, 1878 — was the second from the 
lodges of the Ro3-al Arcanum in Ohio to be re- 
moved by death. 

The German Aid Association (Deutsche Un- 
terstatzungs GesdJschaft) was organized March 
23, 1874, at Mader's Hall, with 120 members. 
At the second meeting, held March 25, the fol- 
lowing officers were chosen : John Schaber, 
President ; F. A. Vollrath, Vice President ; 
Charles F. Welp, Secretary ; F. Weichold, As- 
sistant Secretary ; George Donnenwirth, Jr., 
Treasui-er ; George Mader, David Sheeley and 
Charles Metzger, Trustees. The object of this 



association is to provide financial assistance to 
its members in time of need. Three dollars 
each week is paid during sickness, and. upon 
the death of a member, his family receives $10 
from the society funds and $1 from each mem- 
ber of the order. The initiation fee is $4, be- 
tween the ages of eighteen and thirtj^-five ; $5, 
from thirty-five to forty-five ; $6, from fort3'-five 
to fifty ; $7, from fifty to fifty -five. The quar- 
terly dues are 75 cents from each member. 
This association was incorporated under the 
laws of Ohio, July 14, 1874, with the following 
officers : John Schaber, President ; F. A. Voll- 
rath, Vice President ; Ferdinand Weichold, Sec- 
retary ; George Donnenwirth, Jr., Treasurer ; 
J. G. Mader, H. Faerber and George Donnen- 
wirth, Trustees. The first loss by death was 
Robert Wagner, who died in May, 1875. At 
the present time, eighty-five of the industrious 
citizens of Bucyrus and vicinity are members 
of the Gesellschaft. 

During the past sixty 3'ears, many attempts 
have been made to establish other orders in 
Bucyrus for various purposes. Possibly the 
first society of any kind stai'ted in the village 
was the True American Society, of which order 
many prominent citizens of the place were 
members. The objects of this organization are 
now unknown, but the members signed the fol- 
lowing agreement : " We, whose names are un- 
dersigned, having conferred together upon. the 
objects proposed and designed by the True 
American Society, and believing the same to be 
of great importance, and worth}^ the aid and 
support of every true American citizen, we have 
resolved, and do resolve, ourselves into a branch 
of said society, to meet monthly, in the town 
of Bucyrus, on the Saturday next before ever}'' 
full moon in the year, and have therefore here- 
unto subscribed our names, in presence of each 
other. First signed at Bucyrus, July 31, 1823." 
The objects of this order ma}' have been similar 
to those of the American, or '' Know-Nothing," 
societies, which wielded considerable political 



;j^ 



s 



($ 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



379 



power some three decades afterward. Among 
those who signed the agreement and became 
True Americans were Samuel Norton, Lewis 
Stevinson, Amoz Clark, David Beadle, Ishi 
Norton and others. The secret societ}^ which 
created the greatest furor of an}- organized in 
the history of the town, was Lopez Lodge, No. 
85, of the Independent Order of Sons of Malta, 
which was formed about July 1, 1859. The 
Forum, of July 16, 1859, said: " A division of 
the Sons of Malta was organized the other night 
in this place. Quite a number of our most re- 
spectable citizens became members. The order 
is spreading rapidly." Mathias Buchman was 
chosen Secretary, and it is reported many poor 



families received liberal donations during the 
short time this order flourished in the town. 
The Sons held a grand midnight parade at Bu- 
cyrus on the night of October 13, 1859, which 
was attended by many members of the order 
from neighboring towns. 

In preparing the history' of an important and 
active community which has existed for sixty 
years, of a prescribed length, very many events 
are necessaril}' omitted which should have re- 
ceived some notice. If, in perusing this brief 
sketch of Bucyrus, the reader has failed to find 
some mention of an event which he considers 
should have been written up, it is to be hoped 
he will deal charitably with the history. 



CITY OF 



CHAPTER X.* 

BrCYRUS — ITS RELIGIOUS HISTORY — THE DIFFERENT CHURCHES— SUNDAY SCHOOLS- 
EDUCATION M PRINCIPALS AND TEACHERS— THE UNION SCHnOLHOUSE. 



THE first ministers of the Gospel who visited 
the pioneer settlements in the vicinity of 
Bucyrus for the purpose of organizing the relig- 
ious element, were missionaries sent out by the 
Methodist Episcopal Church. It is probable 
that the first person to preach the word of God 
at what is now Bucyrus was a Rev. Mr. Bacon, 
who visited the place several times during the 
year 1821, and conducted religious services at 
the houses of various settlers. It is doubtful 
if he traveled a circuit regularl}^ organized by 
the denomination to which he belonged, but, as 
a missionary, visited in a roving manner many 
neighborhoods. His appointments were about 
once every four weeks, but were ver}- irregular- 
ly filled. The early Methodists of Bucyrus, 
when first organized as a station, were attached 
to the Scioto Circuit. Rev. Jacob Hooper, who 
was appointed to take charge of tliis work by 
the M. E. Conference in the tall of 1821, 
preached occasionally at Bucyrus. His circuit 

*Coiitribiiicd tiy Tbouias P. Hopley. 



was about seven hundred miles around, and 
services were held at each place about once 
every eight weeks by the regular minister in 
charge. Stephen D. Rowse states that, in after 
years, Rev. Hooper told him that he preached 
the first sermon ever delivered in Bucyrus 
under a big oak-ti'ce which stood near the 
present railroad depot. This minister was un- 
doubtedly assisted by others, and it is likely 
the settlers had religious services more fre- 
quently than once ever}- two months. Rev. 
Hooper was succeeded on the circuit in the fall 
of 1822 by the Rev. Thomas McCleary. The 
next year, the M. E. Conference marked out 
another smaller district for itinerant preachers 
to travel over, in order to give other new settle- 
ments regular circuit preaching. Revs. Thomas 
McCleary and James Roe traveled this* new 
circuit, and these men were assisted at times 
by Rev. William Blowers, of Liberty Township. 
(Revs. John 0. and William Blowers were the 
first licentiates of the M. E. Church in Craw- 



"TU 



-k* 



580 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



ford County.) The labors of these early cir- 
cuit riders were almost herculean. Mansfield, 
Plymouth, Bucyrus, Marion and Delaware were 
points of their district, with numerous inter- 
mediate appointments, all to be visited Ijy each 
preacher once in four weeks, occupying nearly 
ever}' da}' of the time to make preaching regu- 
lar once in two weeks at every appointment on 
the circuit. At that early day, there were 
scarcely any bridges over streams. Some of 
the way no roads, only Indian trails to follow, 
and oftentimes the sun, moon and stars, or a 
pocket compass, were the only guides through 
the pathless forest. But the unselfish labors 
of thes(! early circuit riders were fully appreci- 
ated by the sturdy pioneers, among whom 
universal friendship and unbounded hospitality 
prevailed. When the weather was fine, the 
ministers preached in the woods ; but, if other- 
wise, the services were conducted at the log 
cabins or schoolhouses. The old brick school- 
house, erected about 1826, was used for many 
years as a meeting-house by the M. E. Church. 
Occasionally an unfinished building answered 
the same purpose. About 1830, a large revival 
meeting was held in what is now the Sims 
House, which building was then in the process 
of erection. The early Bucyrus Church held 
several ver^' interesting camp-meetings in the 
large barn of Samuel Shaffner, who resided 
where Daniel Boyer lives at the present time. 
The first M. E. Church in Bucyrus was erected 
about 1832. This was the first building dedi- 
cated to the worship of Grod in the village. 
In those early days of the M. E. Church in 
Crawford County, the "quarterly conference 
and love feast " created a much greater impres- 
sion upon the community than at the present 
time. The meral)ers anticipated these meet- 
ings for weeks, and great preparations were 
made in order to provide food and lodging for 
those who attended from a distance. Some 
families, who possessed sufficient accommoda- 
tions, would entertain on these occasions sev- 



eral dozen guests. It is reported that at times 
the crowd was so large that tickets were issued 
on the occasion of love feast, and a doorkeeper 
appointed for the house of the Lord. These 
tickets were given to the various Class-Lead- 
ers, and by them distributed to church mem- 
bers. This system was necessary in order that 
those who desired to attend for their spiritual 
edification could gain admission to the church, 
and not be crowded out by some of the im- 
pious multitude who only assembled out of 
curiosit}'. This ticket system also served to 
keep out the ungodly who came occasionall}'^ 
to have fun by creating a disturbance. For 
many years, the Bucyrus Church was a station 
on the Delaware Circuit, and the various con- 
gregations contributed to build a parsonage at 
that place. About the year 1832, the circuit 
was changed, and funds were then raised for a 
parsonage at Marion. After 1840. the Bucy- 
rus Circuit was formed, and the parsonage 
built about 1841. Every fall, the Conference 
appointed two ministers to supply the stations 
on each circuit with regular religious services. 
These men were called senior and junior 
preachers, and generally the one who served in 
the latter capacity was appointed to the same 
circuit the next 3'ear as senior preacher, with 
some new man under him, but this was not 
always the case. The Methodists of Bucyrus 
were supplied with regular preaching by this 
system until September, 1855, when the Con- 
ference made the congregation a special sta- 
tion. Some difficulty then arose in regard to 
whether the parsonage was the property of the 
Bucyrus Methodists or of the other congrega- 
tions who had also contributed to erect it. 
The appointments for the circuits of which 
Bucyrus and Delaware formed two stations for 
many years were as follows: 1821, Jacob 
Hooper ; 1822, Thomas McCleary ; 1823, 
Thomas McCleary and James Roe ; 1824, 
Jacob Dixon ; 1825, James Gilruth ; 1826, Ab- 
ner Gofl"; 1827, James Gilruth and Cyrus Car- 



_S) 



.^ 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



381 



penter; 1828, James Gilruth tind William 
Runnels ; 1829, David Lewis and Samuel P. 
Shaw ; 1830, Samuel P. Shaw and Alfred M. 
Lorain; 1831, Alfred M. Lorain and David 
Cadwallader. These ministers commenced 
their labors in each of the years above men- 
tioned about September 1. During this period, 
the following ministers were Presiding Elders : 
1821 and 1822, Jacob Young, of the Scioto 
District: 1825 to 1828, James McMahon, of 
the Sandusky District; 1828 to 1831, Russell 
Bigelow and Greenberry R. Jones, of the Port- 
land District. Among the ministers who 
preached regularly to the Bucyrus churches 
from 1832 to 1854 were the following persons : 
David Cadwallader, Zephaniah Bell, Erastus 
Felton, Harvey Camp, John Kinnear, James 
Wilson, Adam Poe (son of the great Indian 
fighter), Thomas Thompson, Samuel P. Shaw, 
Peter Sharp, — Conoway, Oren Mitchell, - 
Hazzard, Hibbard P. Ward, George W. Breck- 
enridge, Samuel B. Giberson, Liberty Prentice, 
Henry Warner, Hobert Dubois and others ; 
1849, David Gray, Gabriel Williams and Jesse 
Durbin ; 1850, David Gray and assistant ; 
1851, N. Taylor and M. K. Hard ; 1852, Ste- 
phen Fant and assistant ; 1853. Stephen Fant 
and George Moore ; 1854, O. Burgess and E. 
B. Morrison. Since Bucyrus was made a spe- 
cial station, the following appointments have 
been made by the Conference, the pastorate 
commencing after the regular annual session in 
September : 1855, Uri Richards; 1856, H. S. 
Bradley; 1858, Dr. H. M. Shaffer; 1860, Dr. 
L. B. Gurley ; 1861, 0. Kennedy; 1862, Isaac 
Newton; 1865, A. Harmount ; 1867, Gershon 
Lease; 1869, D. D. T. Mattison ; 1871, G. W. 
Ball ; 1874, Dr. A. Nelson ; 1877, J. J. Henry 
(died in March, 1878, and J. H. Barron sent as 
a supply) ; 1878, O. Badgley. The want of 
space forbids a more extended reference to the 
many ministers who, during the past sixty 
years, have preached to the Bucyrus charge. 
Not a few of these were eminent for their 



^ 



piety, and during their lives exerted much in- 
fluence in shaping the destiny of the early M. 
E. Church. It is, however, no disparagement 
to the rest to briefly tell of one who labored 
with the church in later years, and, just as he 
commenced to bring rich harvests to his Mas- 
ter's feet, was called to his reward. Joseph J. 
Henry was born at Ironton, Ohio, January 9, 
1853. He was converted in his eighth year, 
and, July 11, 1871, licensed to preach the Gos- 
pel by the North Indiana Conference. Desir- 
ing to qualify himself for the work, he entered 
the college at Delaware. Before he had com- 
pleted the course, he was induced tc> take 
charge of the Olive Green Circuit, and, in his 
twentieth year, commenced his short but event- 
ful ministerial course. God blessed his labors, 
and the membership of both congregations was 
doubled the first year. He was returned, and 
the conversions were more numerous than be- 
fore. In 1874, he was appointed to take 
charge of the M. E. Church at Cardington, 
where in three years large revival meetings 
were conducted by him, which yielded rich 
harvests of Christians hopefully converted. 
In the fall of 1877, he was appointed as the 
successor of Dr. Nelson in the work at Bucy- 
rus A large revival meeting was held, lasting 
from January 6 to February 17, 1878, which 
was blessed by the Spirit. Over two hundred 
conversions were reported, and one hundred 
and eighty-three of these admitted to the 
church. After remaining at the church until 
10 o'clock, Rev. Henry would frequently go 
home and study until past midnight in the 
preparation of sermons for the next day and 
evening. The intense mental exertion conse- 
quent upon this series of protracted meetings 
brought on brain fever, and, after suftering for 
some^two or three weeks, he died March 16, 
1878. The M. E. congregation of Bucyrus 
continued to worship in their first brick church 
until the year 1851, when the present edifice 
was erected on the same site. It was dedicat 




[hL 



;583 



HISTORY OF CRAWFOIID COUNTY. 



ed Wednesday, October 29, 1851. Elder Poe 
preached the dedication discourse. In Decem- 
ber, 1871, the building was repainted, refitted 
and improved under the pastorate of Rev. G. 
W. Ball, at a cost of $2,000. The organ was 
purchased of the Congregational Church about 
the year 1865. The M. E. Sunday school was 
established about the year 1834. Among those 
who have been Superintendent of it during the 
past quarter-century are Martin Deal, B. B. 
McVey. W. C. Lemert. G. W. Myers, James 
Lewis and H. E. Kratz. Of these gentlemen, 
Mr. Deal has had charge for some fifteen years 
at different times. Services have been con- 
ducted once each week for the Bucyrus congre- 
gation since the year 1832. 

The First Presbyterian Church of Bucyrus 
was the second congregation to be established in 
the place on a permanent basis. It is impos- 
sible to give, at this late date, anything like an 
accurate account of its early history, as all the 
records of the church, previous to the year 1838, 
have been lost. Rev. Silas Johnston, one of the 
former Pastors, in writing a sketch of the church 
about the year 1857, says : " We can only 
glean a little information from the few surviving 
fathers and mothers who were here before the 
organization of the church. When the com- 
munity was first settled, there were among the 
pioneers a few scattered Presb3'terian families, 
who loved the church of their fathei's, and 
looked and longed for some one to break unto 
them the Bread of Life. When the solemn Sab- 
bath came, they were ready to sit down and sigh 
for the ordinances of the sanctuary, which thej'^ 
had left behind in the land of their fathers, and 
these sighs and prayers that God would plant a 
vine in the wilderness, where their lot was cast, 
were not in vain. Occasionally, a minister of 
their faith came among them, and preached in 
some grove or private house. Probably, the 
Rev. Shab Jenks was the first Presbyterian 
minister who conducted religious services at 
Bucvrus. Rev. Robert Lee, father of Judge 



Robert Lee, of Bucyrus, was the first stated 
minister, and it is probable that he preached 
here by the appointment of the Home Mission- 
ary Society, and, in an informal way, organized 
a church. The Columbus Presbj'ter}', whose 
jurisdiction extended over this section, were 
not satisfied with the manner of proceeding, and, 
probably by their advice, in the spring of 1833, 
a petition was presented their Presbj^tery ask- 
ing for the organization of a church. This pe- 
tition, which was signed by thirty-four persons, 
was granted, and a committee, consisting of 
Revs. Shab Jenks and E. Washburn, was ap- 
pointed to visit Bucyrus for this purpose. These 
gentlemen met the petitioners during the sum- 
mer of 1833, and the church was organized for 
the second time. They repoi'ted to Columbus 
Presbytery at the next fall meeting, and the 
Bucyrus Church was enrolled. It is impossible 
to learn how many of the thirty-three petitioners 
were actual members when the church was first 
organized ; but only four are now living, viz., 
Mrs. John Moderwell, of Geneseo, 111. ; John 
Forbes and wife, near Springfield, Mo., and Mrs_ 
Andrew KeiT, near Bucj-rus. Like most newly 
organized churches in pioneer settlements, this 
congregation was for several years destitute of 
a church edifice. When the weather was pleas- 
ant, services were held in the grove under the 
broad canop}^ of heaven ; at other times, the 
meeting would be held in some private house. 
Afterward, the church worshiped in the brick 
schoolhouse, which stood on the lot now occu- 
pied by the ^lonnett House, and, after the com- 
pletion of the court house, this church, in com- 
mon with other denominations, occupied it as a 
place of worship, and continued to do so until 
the erection of their first church edifice, which 
was built in 1839. In the Bucyrus Republican, 
of May 22, 1839, J. H. Douglas, John Ander- 
son, John Forbes, Josiah Scott and J. A. Gormly 
advertise that sealed proposals will be received 
until June 1, for building a frame meeting-house 
36x40 feet in dimensions. 



5 ^ 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



383 



A number of ministers labored with this 
church during the early history of the congrega- 
tion, both before and after its organization, but 
at what time, and how long each one was here, 
is not now known. Rev. William Matthews 
preached to the congregation for some time, 
and Rev. Robert Lee was a stated suppl}'^ for 
several j^ears. Rev. Henrj^ Van Deman la- 
bored with the congregation a short time, and 
also Rev. Erastus Cratta. Rev. James Boggs 
began to preach to the charge a short time px'e- 
vious to the unhappy division of 1837, and, as 
he sided with the new-school party, he soon 
left for another field, as a large majority of the 
Bucyrus congregation belonged to the old- 
school branch of the church. 

May 4, 1839, the congregation invited Rev. 
William Hutchinson to labor among them, and 
a formal call was extended to him on July 3, 
He was ordained and installed as the first reg- 
ular Pastor of the church, September 4, 1839, 
and for man}' years faithfully labored to build 
up the charge. Success crowned his efforts, 
and some were received into the church at al- 
most every communion season. He had the 
warmest affections of his congregation ; was 
highl}^ esteemed by the whole communit}', and 
had ever}' prospect of a long settlement in this 
field ; but he was suddenly attacked with hem- 
orrhage of the lungs, which disabled him from 
preaching. He I'esigned the charge during the 
summer or fall of 1848, and removed to the 
mountain regions of Tennessee, where he re- 
mained until May, 1859, when he returned to 
Cratvford County with his family. Mr. Hutch- 
inson died February 1, 1860, aged fifty-seven, 
and was buried in Oakwood Cemetery. In 
1849, tlie church engaged Rev. George S. Ing- 
lis to preach as a stated supply, and after eight- 
een months. Rev. Robert C. Colmory occupied 
the pulpit for three or four months. Then the 
pulpit was vacant for nearly two j'cars. April 
1, 1852, an invitation was extended to Rev. Si- 
las Johnston, and soon afterward a formal call 



was tendered him, and he was installed by the 
Presbytery of Marion, September 8. Mr. John- 
ston continued his labors successfully for nearly 
six 3'ears, but, toward the close of that period, 
difficulties and division of feeling arose in the 
church, concerning the choir, instrumental mu- 
sic, and other matters. Feeling his influence 
crippled by such a state of aflairs, he asked the 
Presbytery to dissolve the pastoral relation, 
which was done, with reluctance, September 16, 
1357. During his pastorate he preached and 
lectured 1,006 times. In April, 1858, a call 
was extended to Rev. George Graham, who re- 
mained until his health failed, and, in the fall of 
1860, he resigned. Early in the spring of 1861, 
Rev. John J. Walcott was called to the pastor- 
ate, and installed May 8. He remained until 
October 12, 1862, and when he left, the church 
was without a regular Pastor until April 11, 
1864, when Rev. Alexander S. MilhoUand re- 
ceived a call. After remaining two 3'ears, Mr. 
MilhoUand resigned, and the church was sup- 
plied with preaching by numerous applicants 
for the pastorate, until January, 1867, when a 
unanimous call was extended to Rev. John H. 
Sherrard, of Pennsylvania. Mr. Sherrard was 
installed April 19, 1867, and remained with 
the church for over eleven years, until August 
4, 1878. Numerous candidates were invited 
during the next six months, and, Jauuar}' 19, 
1879, Rev. J. T. Pollock preached his first ser- 
mon to the congregation as a stated suppl}- for 
one 3'ear, and, since then, has continued with 
the congregation. It is not certain who were 
elected and ordained Elders of the church at 
its organization ; but it is believed that they 
were Messrs. Robert Walker, William V. Mar- 
quis and James McCurdy. These three per- 
sons and Messrs. George Welsh, Aaron Carey 
and Samuel Andrews were members of the ses- 
sion previous to 1838, but the exact date of 
their ordination is not known. December 25, 
1838, Messrs. John Dobbins, James Todd, 
John A. Gormly and William Robinson were 



If 



'-^ 



384 



IIISTOllY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



elected Ruling Elders, and the two former or- 
dained bv Rev. William D. Smith on Februar}' 
1, 1839. At the same time all four were in- 
ducted into office, Messrs. (xorml}- and Robin- 
son having been ordained in another field. As 
time rolled on, these pillars of the church were, 
one after another, taken away b}' death and re- 
moval, and, in 1 844. the vacancy in the session 
was filled by the election of Josiah Scott and 
Nelson Thecker. who were ordained and in- 
stalled on January 15, 1844, by Rev. William 
Hutchinson. Mr. Scott was elected three dif- 
ferent times to this office before he finally ac- 
cepted. On November 7. 1852. Dr. Cochran 
Fulton was chosen and ordained, but Dr. Willis 
^lerriman. who was elected at the same time, 
would not serve. Messrs. Andrew Kerr and 
John P. Black were added to the session July 
7. 1 854. and then, for nearly fourteen years, no 
additional elections were held for this purpose. 
Alexander Caldwell and William H. Drought 
were chosen in February, 18()8, and ordained 
soon afterward. After another decade had 
passed away, the session became reduced b}- 
death and other causes, and July 7, 1878. the 
congregation elected Messrs. Andrew Walker, 
William M. Reid and James B. Gorml}', to fill 
the vacancy. These gentlemen were ordained 
by Rev. J. H. Sherrard, July 28. The Session 
at the present time is composed of the follow- 
ing persons : Messrs. Black, Caldwell, Drought, 
Walker, Reid and Grormly. Tt is not known 
what the numerical strength of the church was 
during its early histor}' ; but it increased gi'ad- 
ually, year after 3"ear, until the trembles and 
division of 1887 and 18l>8 rent it asunder. 
When Rev. William Hutchinson resigned, in 
1848. there were over one hundred members 
but the congregation quarreled in choosing his 
successor, and the bad feeling in the church 
had reduced their number to eighty-two by 
April, 1852 — the date Rev. Silas Johnston com- 
menced his labors. During the next five and 
one-half years, he recei\-ed into tiie c;hui'ch 



seventy persons on examination and forty -nine 
by certificate ; the loss by death and removal 
being sixty-nine. When Mr. Johnson resigned, 
in October, 1857, the membership was 132, and 
during the next ten years this number was in- 
creased to 165. During Mr. Sherrard's pastorate 
of eleven years, 240 were received into the 
church, and the loss by death and removals 
was 175, leaving a membership on August 1, 
1878, of 230. The church continued to wor 
ship in their first edifice until 1860, when it was 
sold to the Roman Catholic congregation, who 
removed it to their lot on Mary street. The 
Presbyterian then, in 1860, erected a fine brick 
edifice, 72x44feet, which cost about $9,000, 
and was dedicated May 26, 1861. This was 
frescoed, repainted and carpeted in the summer 
of 1873, and the building is now as chaste and 
attractive as it is commodious and comfortable. 
The Preslwterian Sunday school was organized 
in 1835. W. M. Reid has been Superintendent 
of the school during the past sixteen years. 

The Evangelical Lutherans residing in the 
village of Bucyrus and surrounding country 
were organized into a congregation some time 
during the year 1829, by Rev. David Shuh, at 
the old brick sciioolhonse. This minister, the 
first Pastor, had received a call from those who 
proposed establishing a Lutheran Church, and 
many of these persons had belonged to what Avas 
known in J*ennsylvania as the German Lutheran 
Church. Samuel Myers, of Nevada, Ohio, is 
the only person now living who took an act- 
ive part in organizing this congregation. .Mr. 
Shuh continued as Pastor for two years, and 
after his departure, in 1831, Rev. John Stough, 
of Liberty Township, was prevailed upon to 
hold services. Father Stough was at this time 
seventy years of age, and as he was anxious to 
retii'c from active service, the English-speaking 
portion of the congregation met December 1, 
1832, and extended a call to Rev. F. L Rutii. of 
Ashland. Previous to this, all services were 
conducted in the (Jerman language, except an 



"^ 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



385 



occasional sermon in English by Mr. Stough, 
Rev. Ruth came at stated times, from Ashland, 
and preached to his charge, and in the spring 
of 1835, removed to Bucyrus. The first record 
of a Church Council being elected, was in Jan- 
uary, 1833, when the following members were 
chosen : Elders, Abram Ma^er and George 
Schroll. Deacons, Nicholas Failor and Abram 
Schroll. Trustees, Adam Bair and Nicholas 
Cronebaugh. At the next church election, held 
May. 1835, four Elders, four Deacons and three 
Trustees were chosen, and shortly after this the 
church met with a severe loss by the death of 
George and Daniel Schroll. two members of the 
council, who died with the cholera. July 12, 
1835, the congregation convened, and. after 
showing due respect to the departed brothers, 
elected John Bremen and Daniel Savage to fill 
the vacanc}'. From the time the church was 
organized, until 1835, services were held in the 
brick schoolhouse, and then the congregation 
removed to the court house, which the}' occu- 
pied until their firs^t church building was erected. 
The latter part of 1835. or early in 1836, the 
trustees purchased from Adam Mayer, for $400, 
the corner lot now occupied by the residence 
and office of Franklin Adams. After perfect- 
ing all the necessary arrangements, the corner- 
stone of the first Lutheran Church in Crawford 
County was laid August 20, 1836, in the pres- 
ence of what was then called a large concourse 
of people. The walls of the building were fin- 
ished, and the roof put on before winter, but 
the church was not completed and occupied un- 
til the fall of 1837, or the spring of 1838. At 
this time, the congregation was composed of two 
parts, German and English, each Itcing repre- 
sented in the Church Council ; together they 
numbered, in 1838. eight3'-one eommunicants. 
Rev. Stough held services occasionally in Ger- 
man, and Mr. Ruth was the regular Pastor, who 
continued to preach for the Knglish portion un- 
til he resigned in 1852. having watched over 
the spiritual interests of this charge for twenty 



years. Father Ruth is still living in Gallon. 
Rev. A. R. Howbert was his successor, and he 
remained until about April 1, 1856. Rev. J. 
Grouse then accepted a call and acted as Pastor 
until he resigned in Ma}-, 1864. Under his ad- 
ministration the present church building was 
erected. The German "interest in the old build- 
ing was purchased for about $400. and August 
11, 1856, the congregation passed a resolution 
to build. The pastor and N. Failor were ap- 
pointed to solicit subscriptions, and by October 
31 , between $5,000 and $6,000 had been raised. 
The church was not finished until the spring of 
1858, and dedicated by Rev. Conrad, of Phila- 
delphia, May 16, of that year. In the mean- 
time the services were held in the small Bap- 
tist Church, which occupied the lot upon which 
Dr. M. C. Cuykendall's residence now stands. 
After Rev. Crouse resigned, in 1864, Rev. M 
W. Harama was elected, and continued as Pas- 
tor until February, 1867. Rev. J. H. Brown 
was then chosen by the church, and remained 
until October, 1870, when, with the consent of 
both congregations, he and Rev. J. B. Baltzh', 
of Lewistown, Penn., exchanged pulpits. Dr. 
Baltzl}- remained with the Buc3"rus church 
for six 3-ears, until Octocer 1, 1876. and then for 
five months the charge was without a regular 
pastor. Rev. A. H. Studebaker received a 
unanimous call from the congregation early in 
1877, and continued with the church until 
June, 1880, when he was granted a vacation, 
and is at the present time making a tour in 
Europe — the pulpit in the meantime being filled 
by Rev. J. IMorris and others. 

The Fivangelical Lutheran Church Sabbath 
School was organized April 5, 1838, b}' the 
more prominent members of the congregation. 
A constitution was adopted providing that the 
school should be under the control of a board 
of managers selected from the church ; and the 
following persons were chosen : Nicholas Failor. 
rienr}' Minich. Abram Myers. Samuel Myers, 
Christian Howenstein and F. J. Huth. This 



386 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



Board of Managers appointed the following of- 
ficers for the school : President, Rev. F. A. 
Ruth ; A^ice Pi-esident, Nicholas Failor ; Secre- 
tary, Samuel IMyers ; Treasurer, Christian IIow- 
enstein. At the end of the first year the Sec- 
retary made an encouraging report, which was 
receiA'^ed and adopted b}- the Board of Mana- 
gers. The Treasurer reported " having received 
during the 3'ear $7.25, and of having disbursed 
for books, etc., $6.75, leaving a balance in his 
hands of 50 cents, which was transferred to his 
successor, Nicholas Failor." The second an- 
nual reports, made in April, 1840, showed that 
" there were in attendance sevent^'-five pupils 
under the charge of six male and seven female 
teachers, and that $13 had been collected and 
$12.35 had been expended during the year." 
Favorable reports are also on record for the 
years 1840, 1841, 1842 and 1843, and then the 
records were not preserved until 1862. The 
last election held for a board of managers was 
on July 6, 1S56, when the following persons 
were chosen : John Boyer, D. C. Boj'er, Joseph 
Failor, Samuel Failor. Edwin Boyer, Dan Min- 
ich and Benjamin R. Boyer. A short time 
after the year 1857, the modern custom of per- 
mitting the teachers to choose the officers was 
adopted. Since the school was organized, the 
pastor of the church has always been appointed 
to act as President or Superintendent of the 
school, except on two occasions. In March, 
1854, the managers elected George P. Seal, who 
served as Superintendent until July 6, 1856, 
and George Lauck filled the same position from 
October 1, 1876, until March, 1877. The 
Lutheran school is the largest and best-organ- 
ized Sabbath school in Bucyrus ; not long since 
the aA'erage attendance during one year was 
199. In April, 1861, the church purchased a 
pipe organ, the second instrument of the kind 
brought to town, which was used for the first 
time April 14; after nearly seventeen years of 
service this instrument was removed and a 
much finer one placed in the church ; this or- 



gan cost about $1,000 and was dedicated by a 
grand concert Friday evening, February 8, 
1878. At the present time some 230 persons 
are connected with the congregation. 

The earl^' Evangelical Lutheran Congregation 
organized by Rev. David Shuh, in 1829, con- 
tained, during the first five years, many influ- 
ential members, who afterward united with the 
Reformed Church. After the English portion 
of this first congregation organized a separate 
society, and tendered Rev. F. I. Ruth a call to 
act as Pastor, the Germans who were left con- 
tinued to worship together, and services were 
conducted in their own tongue by Rev. John 
Stough. This venerable gentleman, however, 
had been an active minister nearly fift^^ 3'ears, 
and was so aged that he could only preach to 
the Bucyrus congregation at irregular intervals. 
About the 3'ear 1835, those professing the Re- 
formed faith, employed Rev. Frederick Gott- 
leib Maschop to preach for them. In the early 
day of the German churches in America, the dif- 
ference between the Reformed and Lutheran 
doctrines was so slight tharsome Pastors were 
styled ministers of the sect •• generallj'^ called 
the Lutherans or Reformed Church." Under 
the administration of Rev. Maschop, +hese de- 
nominations in Bucyrus were more witt'ely sepa- 
rated, and many German Lutherans would not 
attend the Reformed services. Finally those 
Germans who pi'ofessed Lutheranism, employed 
a Rev. Mr. Goergens to preach for them. This 
gentleman did not belong to the same sj'nod of 
which the Bucj^rus congregation formed a part, 
but his doctrines suited his charge better than 
those of the Rev. Maschop. In 1839, the 
church was more full}- organized and Rev. John 
Krauss received a call ; this gentleman for 
some time preached every fourth Sunday'. He 
continued with the congregation man}' 3-ears, 
and, although a man of considerable ability', 
could not resist the many temptations to in- 
dulge too freely in the "flowing bowl." Toward 
the latter part of his long pastorate, his habits 



LA 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY 



389 



became very irregular, for he was frequently on 
long drunken sprees. The cause he professed 
to love suffered much by the sad life he led, 
and, in the interest of German Lutheranism, he 
was forced to resign his position, which he did 
in September, 1854. He removed to Tiffin, 
Ohio, and it is reported he sank deeper into 
vice until he finall}' started a saloon. In 1855> 
Rev. August Michaelis received a call from the 
congregation, which was accepted, and he re- 
mained for twelve years, until 1867, when he 
was succeeded by Rev. Jacob Graessle, the 
present Pastor ; thus,during forty-one yeai's, the 
German Lutheran Church has been organized. 
Only three ministers have served as Pastors to 
this large and influential church. For man}- 
years the two congregations of this same de- 
nomination in Libert}' and Whetstone Town- 
ships assisted the Bucyrus church in providing 
funds to pay the Pastor's salary, and the min- 
ister in charge would hold services at each 
congregation in succession. Finally the Buc}^- 
rus German Lutheran Church became so 
wealthy and influential that this system was dis- 
continued, and since 1872, Mr. Graessle has 
labored solely in the interest of this church. In 
1842, the congregation adopted a constitution, 
and the next 3'ear sold their interest in the 
church building erected about 1836, to the 
English Lutherans ; they continued to occupy 
this church, however, until their present edifice 
was erected in 1857. June 20, 1858, the build- 
ing was dedicated to the worship of God, and 
named " German Evangelical Lutheran Church 
of Good Hope." The Evangelical Lutheran 
Joint Synod of Ohio and other States convened 
at Buc^-rus for a six-days session on Thursday, 
May 23, 1872 ; some 120 ministers and fifty 
lay delegates were in attendance. lu March, 
1873, the congregation purchased from G. F. 
Votteler, of Cleveland, a ver^' fine pipe organ, 
which was dedicated Sunday, March 16, 1873, 
with appropriate exercises. The Sunday school 
of this church was organized about the year 1844. 



The early histor}' of the German Reformed. 
Congregation of Bucj-rus was carefully com- 
piled by Rev. Eli Keller, the Pastor, during 
1857, and copied into the Church records. 
This historj' is as follows : " Having carefully 
examined various documents found on hand 
and questioned certain aged persons with 
reference to the history of the German Re- 
formed Congregation of Bucyrus, it would seem 
that the same was organized about the 3'ear 
1829, standing at that time connected with the 
Lutheran Congregation. Not being able to 
obtain the services of a Reformed Pastor, they 
continued under the administrations of Lutheran 
ministers until the year 1835, and during this 
period they, in connection with the Lutheran 
congregation, purchased a town lot with a view 
of erecting a Union Church edifice. In the 
year 1835, they procured the services of Rev. 
Frederick Gottlieb Maschop, a Reformed minis- 
ter, and held services in the brick schoolhouse. 
About the year 1 840, Rev. Maschop resigned 
and after some months Rev. J. J. Miller 
received a call, and during his pastorate, which 
lasted about three 3'ears, services were held in 
the court house. After the departure of Rev 
jNIiller, the congregation was without a Pastor 
until Rev. Wendel Wasnich received a call, 
and he continued with the charge about the 
same length of time as his predecessor, and 
resigned during the 3-ear 1848. During his 
pastorate, another lot was purchased, and the 
present church edifice erected. When Rev 
Wasnich resigned. Rev. Abraham Keller was 
elected to succeed him, and labored with the 
charge until the fall of 1852, when he was 
attacked with the cholera and suddenh* removed 
b}' death. Rev. Keller organized a Sunday 
school in connection with the congregation, 
but this new move was opposed b}- man}' 
prominent church members, who could not or 
would not appreciate the value of this branch 
of the church. After Mr. Keller's death, the 
congregation remained about one 3'ear without 



890 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



regular services, and then elected Rev. Max 
Stem as their Pastor, who continued until 
thes pring of 1856, when he resigned. April 
13, 1856, Rev. Eli Keller, a licentiate of the 
Mercersburg, Penn., Olassis, was elected and 
ordained July 6, as Pastor." During his sec- 
ond 3'ear with the congregation, it was re- 
organized. August 29, 1857, the following 
officers were elected : Elders — John H. Keller 
for two years ; John Rrehman, for three years. 
Trustees — Abraham Schroll, for three years ; 
Adam Bair, for two years ; George Brehman, 
for one 3'ear ; Clerk, John Miller. September 
11. 1857, the church was duly incoi-porated b}^ 
the name of the German Reformed Congrega- 
tion of Bucvrus. September 16, the members 
adopted a new constitution and by-laws for 
their government. At this time sevent}- per- 
sons were members of the Buc3-rus charge- 
July 24, 1858, a missionary society was formed 
with the following officers : John Reiter, Presi- 
dent ; Aaron H. Keller, Secretary ; Abraham 
Steiger, Treasurer. Rev. Eli Keller continued 
with the congregation for over five years, until 
the fall of 1861, when he resigned and removed 
to Belleview, Huron Count3-. His successor 
was Rev. G. Rettig who remained about 
eighteen months. June 8, 1863, Rev. W. H. 
Fenneman was called " at a salary of $375 per 
year and horse feed," and after some two years 
Rev. W. Wittenweiler succeeded him. This 
Pastor remained about three 3'ears, and then 
Rev. J. D. Gehring was Pastor. When he 
resigned, the pulpit was filled b3' Rev. D. Zim- 
merman, who came from Gallon and preached for 
the congregation. Until his pastorate, services 
were held occasionally in the English language, 
but in accordance with the wishes of the ma- 
jority this custom was discontinued. In conse- 
quence of the clannishness manifested by this 
majority, the congi-egation has lost many valu- 
able members, who have united with the Ameri- 
can churches of Bucyrus. In May, 1 874, Rev. 
H. Nau received a call, and during his pastor- 



ate of eighteen months, the parsonage was 
built. Rev. A. Schade was his successor, and 
he continued until June 29, 1878, and then 
exchanged pulpits with Rev. H. Korthener, 
Pastor of the Sixth Reformed Church of Cleve- 
land, who has had, since that date, charge of 
the Bucyrus congregation. At the present 
time eight3' members are subject to the Church 
discipline. 

Dr. William Nast, the great pioneer of the 
German Methodists in the Western couutr3- 
was the first minister of that denomination to 
visit Bucyrus and preach to the Germans in 
their own language. In the year 1837, this dis- 
tinguished German theologian, then quite a 
3'oung man, was appointed on the first circuit 
laid out in this section of Ohio for German 
Methodist preaching. The territor3^ covered b3' 
this first circuit was so extensive that five 
weeks' time was occupied in filling all the ap- 
pointments. Young Nast's route each five weeks 
was as follows : " He preached at Columbus 
the first Sunda3', then left for Basel, on the 
canal, then to Thornville, where services were 
held the second Sabbath ; then to Newark, 
Mount Vernon and Danville, where the third 
Sunday was spent ; then to Loudonville, Mans- 
field, Gallon and Buc3'rus, where services were 
conducted on the fourth Sabbath ; then to Mar- 
ion and a German settlement near Delaware, 
reached b3' the fifth Sunda3^ ; then to Worthing- 
ton and Columbus bj' the sixth Sabbath, when 
the route was completed." Services were also 
conducted, during the five weeks, at man3' points 
in the vicinity of these places. This pioneer 
circuit-rider of the German Methodist Episco- 
pal Church preached in the German language 
at the English Methodist Episcopal Church 
each Sunday he was in Buc3'rus, but it is un- 
certain how long he remained on the circuit. 
Before man3^ 3'ears, his talents were appre- 
ciated, and he was placed in charge of the Ger- 
man Methodist Church paper at Cincinnati. It 
was said of him in after 3'ears : " Dr. William 



-_«) 



k^ 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY 



391 



Nast is looked upon as the great head and leader | 
of the German Methodists in the United States ; I 
lie has frequently surprised the country with his 
erudition, his ripe scholarship and the vast ex- 
tent of his knowledge." For many years, the 
German congregation was very weak, and the 
English Methodists kindly tendered them the 
use'of their church, which offer was accepted, and 
services were held there by the Germans until 
January, 1855. Among the ministers of this 
denomination who preached at Bucyrus before 
the church was erected, are the following: 
"Revs. Reimsneider (who was the immediate 
successor of Nast), Haefner, ReufF. Neuffer, 
Newton, Reihm, Christian Nachtrieb, Peter 
Sneider, Frederick Deither, George A. Renter, I 
Conrad Gahn and others. Rev. Gahn was ap- : 
pointed in the fall of 1853, and remained two \ 
years. During his pastorate, the German 3Ieth- 
odist Episcopal Sunday school was organized, 
in 185-i, at the basement of the English Meth- | 
odist Episcopal Church, and the German meet- 
ing-house was erected. The weak church of 
1837 and 1840 was strengthened by the addi- 
tion of many from among the Germans who 
settled in the community and professed the 
doctrines taught by the ministers of this de- | 
nomination. Then the congregation became 
strong enough to build a house of worship, and, 
in the fall of 1854, the church was erected by 
John Sneider. The building was dedicated 
Sunday, January 14, 1855. In the morning. 
Dr. Warner, of Columbus, delivered the dedica- 
tion sermon in English. This was at the re- 
quest of the German congregation. A collec- 
tion was then taken up, of $143, to assist in 
paying for the church. Dr. Nast, who was pres- 
ent, preached in German at the afternoon meet- 
ing. Rev. Gahn, Pastor at this time, was a 
large man, with a strong voice. It is related of 
him that once, while preaching in the basement 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church, he was sud- 
denly seized with bleeding at the mouth, and 
the services were interrupted for that day. 



This minister was assisted in his work by a 
young German, of noble birth, by the name of 
Herman Zur Jacobsnmhlen. Rev. Gahn left in 
the fall of 1855, and the following ministers 
were his successors, the pastorate of each com- 
mencing about September 1 of the year they 

were appointed: 1855, Wentz ; 1857^ 

George Berg ; 1859, Gustave Herzer ; 1860, J' 
Horst; 1862, Phillip B.Weber; January 1, 
1864, Albert Vogel ; 1866, Anton Warns ; 1869, 
John C. Kopp ; 1871, John S. Schneider ; 1874, 
August F. Meuler; 1876, Philip Graessle ; 
1879, August Gerlach ; 1880, John Haas. After 
Dr. Nast left, services were held at Bucyrus 
every four weeks until a few years before 1850, 
when the congregation was organized. Services 
' were then held every two weeks, and the Pas- 
I tors preached at Gallon, Bucyrus, and the 
Broken Sword church. Some years after the 
Bucyrus church was erected, the churches at 
1 Gahon and Bucyrus were made special stations, 
' and. since that time, preaching is held every 
Sunday, but the Pastors of the church conduct 
religious services at the Broken Sword church 
every Sunday afternoon. The parsonage was 
built in 1863. The membership at the present 
time is about sixty. 

The records of the First Baptist Church, in 
Bucyrus, are nearly complete, and it is not a 
difficult task to compile an accurate history of 
the congregation since it was organized. The 
minutes of the first meeting are as follows : 
"February 21, 1838, met agreeal)le to adjourn- 
ment at Brother Kelly's, for the purpose of con- 
sulting upon the propriety of forming a confer- 
ence. Elder White in the chair. When, upon 
deliberation, we, whose names are hereunto 
affixed, being Regular Baptists, did resolve 
ourselves into a Conference, to be known by 
the name of the Regular Baptist Conference of 
Bucyrus : William White, Charles Kelly, Cy- 
rus Peck, Prudence White, Martha Kelly and 
Derias Sears." (None of these are at the pres- 
ent time living in Bucyrus. and possibly, they 



*^ 



'iiL 



393 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY 



are all dead.) This conference adopted fifteen 
articles of faitli, and during the first year held 
nu'ctings once each month, alternating for the 
first six mouths between the houses of Brothers 
Kelh^ and White. Services were then held in 
the brick schoolhouse, until their first church 
was completed, but before this building was 
occupied, the small congregation occasionall}' 
assembled at William Magers' home. Elder 
White was the first Clerk, and he imparted 
religious instruction to those who assembled at 
these monthlj' meetings. The little band was 
increased July 29, 1838, by William Magers and 
his wife Margaret G. Magers, Sevena Norton 
and Rachael Magers. Elder William Stevens 
was present upon this occasion, and preached 
upon the subject of "Baptism." This was the 
first sermon on record, delivered to this new 
congregation, and, after it was concluded, they 
repaired to the Sandusky River, and the ordi- 
nance of baptism was administered to the first 
three of the new converts by Elder White. 
James Quinby and John Shull were received 
and baptized February 3, 1839. On February 
■4, 1839, they decided to call a council of neigh- 
boring churches, and February 14, delegates 
from Auburn and Fairfield, met with the mem- 
bers of Bucyrus Conference, and, " after con- 
sultation, it was resolved to proceed to the 
constitution of a church from the Conference, 
and next day Margaret Williams was baptized 
and received, making thirteen members. The 
early history of this congregation is a succes- 
sion of trials. Since it was organized, it has 
passed through many dark days, caused chiefly 
by the difficulty of providing funds to support 
the pastors who labored with the charge. The 
church was never strong in numbers, and very 
few of the members have been men of wealth, 
but the records prove that many who have been 
connected with this little band were sincere 
and earnest Christians. Covenant meetings 
were held every four weeks, at which the mem- 
bers gave their religious experience, or led in 



prayer. In August, 1839, an effort was made 
to secure a regular Pastor. Elder Thomas 
Stevens was the choice of the congregation, 
but the amount raised was only $54.50, and he 
could not promise to visit Bucyrus and preach 
even once a month for this sum. Shortly after 
this, William White and wife left Bucj'rus. 
The failure to secure a Pastor and loss of two 
members did not discourage the remainder, and 
the next spring Lot No. 107 was purchased, and 
upon it they erected their first chui'ch, which 
was opened for public worship, June 13, 1840. 
This building stood upon the site now occupied 
by the residence of Dr. M. C. Cuj'kendall. 
William Magers was chosen the first Deacon, 
January 4, 1840, and April 11, James Quinby 
was appointed first Treasurer. Elder Newton 
preached occasionallj- during the year 1841, 
but it does not seem that he was considered 
the regular Pastor, for Elder Samuel Wads- 
worth was with the congregation many times, 
and shared the duties and honors of this posi- 
tion. During this year many members were 
added to the church, among whom were So- 
phronia Norton, the first person born on the 
present site of Bucyrus, and Samuel Jones. 
It is recorded March 7, 1841, that "the church 
is awake in the cause of religion, and the Lord 
hath heard their prayer." October 2, 1841, 
Rev. Jacob Tharp received a call for one 3^ear, 
which was accepted. December 4, 1841, E. B. 
Merriman, James Quinb}- and Samuel Jones, 
were elected first Trustees under the act to in- 
corporate the First Regular Baptist Church of 
Christ in Bucyrus, and all business previously 
transacted was voted legal. December 29, 
George R. Baker and John Shull were " set 
apart to the office of Deacons, by the laj'ing on 
of hands." October 1, 1842, Rev. Tharp was 
asked to remain as Pastor, laboring half the 
time during the next year, and Elder Samuel 
Wadsworth was invited to preach the other 
half Elder Tharp resigned June 3, 1843, and 
after six months, on December 2, Rev. Edwin 



"1^ 



HISTORY OF CR.IWFORD COUNTY. 



393 



Eaton was invited, and immediately commenced 
his labors. He was oixlained Febi'uaiy 20, 

1844, and continued with the church until his 
health failed, and he finally resigned July 5, 

1845. During his pastorate, the Baptist Church 
was in a very flourishing condition, and re- 
ported by some authorities to be the strongest 
of the churches in the village. This young 
minister ordained in the little church at Bucy- 
rus removed to Illinois, and became eminent 
throughout the West ; after a successful and 
honorable ministry for many years, died within 
the last decade, mourned, not only by his own 
congregation, but throughout the country. It 
was decided on April 6, 1844, to open a Sun- 
day school, and a collection was taken up to 
purchase a school library-. January 4, 1845, 
James Quinby presented the church with a 
communion set. Unfortunately, this worthy 
member died, September 15, 1845, and, not- 
withstanding he released, in his will, the con- 
gregation from a debt of about $250 due him 
for money advanced to pay church expenses, 
his death was a great loss to the early Baptists. 
In after years, his place was well filled by his 
brother, George Quinb}-, who first united with 
the congregation, December 4, 1842. In Sep- 
tember, 1845, Elder J. G. Tunison was called 
to labor one-half his time, but December 6, it 
was decided " the church could not support a 
Pastor. Mr. Tunison was not liked by the 
members in the village, but the country mem- 
bers of Whetstone Township thought so much 
of him that they withdrew from the Bucyrus 
congregation, and formed the (31entangy Bap- 
tist Church, near Parcher's coi-ners, of which 
Rev. Tunison was Pastor for several j'eai's. 
This action seriously crippled the early church 
at Bucj'rus. and Rev. Tunison, in consenting to 
a division of the congregation for personal rea- 
sons, gave the cause he professed to love a stab 
from which it has never fully recovered. About 
this time, fifty-four members were reported to 
the Baptist Association. August 1, 1846, eight 



of these united with the church in the south- 
eastern part of Crawford County, and soon after- 
ward others left to unite with the Whetstone 
Township Church. February 6, 1847, Elder 
Pierson was called, and remained some ten 
months. In February, 1848, Elder Smedmer 
was called, and preached several months, and 
for the next five years services were held very 
irregularly. By the records, it appears only 
two meetings were held in the year 1 849. seven 
in 1850, six in 1851, one in 1852 and three in 
1853. 

At most of these conferences a general 
desire was expressed to have regular preaching. 
During the latter part of 1850, Elder W. C. 
Shepherd was a member, and he was ordained 
Pastor January 2, 1851, but, after remaining 
another five months, resigned May 31. For 
over a year the record is silent, and at the onl}- 
recorded meeting, held June 5, 1852. George 
Quinby, Samuel Jones and John ShuU were 
elected Trustees. At this meeting, the propriety- 
of employing a Pastor in connection with the 
Olentang}' Church, was discussed. After three 
recorded conference meetings in 1853, the church 
was silent for regular Baptist meetings for five 
years, but occasionally a minister visited the 
place and called the scattered flock together. 
In August, 1858. the church and weekh* prayer 
meetings were revived, and after six months, 
on February 5. 1859, the following eight mem- 
bers ' agreed to renew their covenant :' Samuel 
Jones, John Shull, George Quinb}-, Mary Mc- 
Lean, Derias Sears. Mary Aiken. Elizabeth 
Sharp and Dolly Cook Everitt. Elder Wood 
was engaged to preach one-half the time, and 
meetings were continued during 1859. Then 
the church was silent for another period of over 
four years. In the spring of 1864, Rev. S. D. 
Bowker was invited b}' several members to visit 
Bucyrus, and at the first meeting, held in Quin- 
by's Hall, June 4, it was resolved to organize a 
Sabbath school and establish a weekh* prayer 
meeting. The use of the Congregational Church 



-.p 



-I^rr-^ 



394 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



Avas tendered, but foi* reasons refused, and 
Quinby Hall routed, in which reguhxr meethigs 
were heUl. During the three-years pastorate 
of liev. S. I). Bowlcer, several revival meetings 
were held, and many united with the church, 
which numbered, when he resigned Julj' 6, 18G7, 
nearly one hundred members. After a vacancy 
of several months, on December 19, 1867, a call 
was tendered llev. J. Huntington, of Sardinia, 
N. Y., who remained until July 2, 1871, when 
he i-emoved to Niles, Mich. During his stay 
with the congregation, they removed from 
Quinby Hall to their present church edifice. 
This building, originally erected by the Con- 
gregatioualists, was purchased from the Board 
of Education for $2,750, and fitted up b}' the 
Baptists at an additional cost of $2,000. The 
church was re-dedicated for religious purposes 
September 27, 1868. Rev. Walter N. Wyeth 
was Pastor from November -1, 1871, to May, 
1872, when he resigned to take a position on 
the editorial corps of the Journal and Messenger^ 
of Cincinnati. May 4, 1872, Rev. L. G. Leonard, 
the present Pastor, received a call, and since 
that time he has been with the congregation. 
In the spring of 1876, he resigned, and Rev. J. 
S. Covert was employed, but, after remaining 
about one j'ear, difficulties arose, and Dr. Leon- 
ard resumed the pastorate. Since the church 
was organized, in 1838, the following persons 
have been elected to the office of Clerk : William 
White, 1838 ; James Quinb}-, June 3, 1839 ; 
John Shull, October 2, 1841 ; George Quinby, 
December 31, 1842 ; John Shull, February 6, 
1847 ; James H. Reichenecker, July 3, 1847 ; 
George Quinby, August 31, 1850 ; M. V. Long- 
worth, Januar}^ 4, 1868 ; Clark Ludwig, Janu- 
ary', 1873 ; M. V. Longworth, the present incum- 
bent, January, 1874. The numlier connected 
with the congregation at the present time is 
seventy-nine. The Baptist Sabbath school was 
re-organized in 1864, and William P. Rowland 
served as Superirtendent ; his successor, W. 
B. Bennett, held the office nine 3-ears, and 



M. Y. Longworth has had charge of the school 
during the past six years. 

The first Roman Catholic services in Bucyrus 
were held about the 3'ear 1837, at the residence 
of Dr. Joseph Beohler, who lived north of the 
Sandusky River, on the lot now occupied by 
Christian Wingert, and formerly the site of his 
brewer\-. Rev. F. X. Tschenheus, C.S S.R., the 
first priest who visited Bucyrus, came about 
1837, for the purpose of gathering the few 
Catholic families in this section of the county, 
and mass was said at Dr. Beohler's for several 
years at irregular intervals, once in two or 
three months, until he removed to Tiffin, Ohio. 
The services at Bucj'rus were then discontinued 
until about the year 1849, when, Catholic fam- 
ilies becoming more numerous, the fathers of 
this society made the town one of their missions. 
During the next eleven years, until 1860, mass 
was said in private houses. These services were 
not alwa^'s held at stated times, but generally 
at irregular intervals, and the priests did not re- 
side in the place, but came from Norwalk, Huron 
County, and New Reigel, in Thompson Town- 
ship, Seneca Count}*. Among those who visited 
the town during this period were Revs. Amathias 
Dombaugh, G. Arnold, J. Albrecht, August 
Reichert, Peter Kreusch, Mathieus Kreusch, 
— Jacob, — Gebhart and Barnhart Gwinn. In 
1860, the old Presbj-terian meeting-house was 
purchased for $200, and removed b}- A. Kron- 
enberger, Sr., at an additional cost of $100, to 
their present lot on East Mar^' street. The 
building was re-dedicated by Bishop Rappe, 
May 26, 1861. The deed for the real estate, 
worth $350. was made out in A. Krouenberger's 
name, but afterward transferred to lit. Rev. 
Bishop Rappe. Rev. LTerhart Kleck celebrated 
the first mass and preached the first sermon in 
their new church. In 1863, a successful mis- 
sion was held by the Redemptorist Fathers 
G lessen and Jacobs, and some time afterward 
another was conducted by Revs. Neithard and 
Seelus ; each mission lasted about one week. 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



395 



The congregation was then attended until the 
year 18G5, by Rev. S. Falk and V. Arnould, 
Pastors of the Shelby Settlement, and also Rev. 
J. F. Gallagher, of Wooster. From 1865 to 
1869, the congregation was attached to Upper 
Sandusky as a monthly mission. During this 
time the Pastors were : Rev. A. Spierings, from 
November, 1865, to Ma}^ 1867 ; Rev. Joseph 
Reinhardt, until February 2, 1868, and Rev. G. 
Peter until 1869. Rev. Reinhart was killed, 
how, or b}' whom, was never known, while on 
his way from Upper Sandusky to meet Rt. Rev. 
Bishop Rappe, who had visited Bucyrus to give 
confirmation. From 1869 to 1871, the congre- 
gation was without a priest, except once about 
Easter time, on account of difficulties arising 
between the German and Irish portions of the 
church. Finally, peace was restored, and Ma}- 
5, 1871, Rev. D. Zinsmayer was appointed to 
the Bucyrus charge. He was the first resident 
Pastor, and during his sta}- with the congrega- 
tion man}' improvements were made. The 
church was thoroughly renovated, frescoed, pro- 
vided with furniture, and a fine bell, weighing 
1.000 pounds, placed in the belfry. Rev. G. 
Peter had purchased for $1,000 the lot east of 
the church, but, during his Pastorate, onh' .$600 
were paid upon this real estate. The congrega- 
tion, under Father Zinsmayer, raised sufficient 
funds to settle the debt, and also erected upon 
this lot a ver3' fine parsonage. Several fairs 
were held, and, although the congregation num- 
bered about thirtj'-two paying families and 
forty -five in all — the people, though mostly 
poor, assisted their Pastor by liberal subscrip- 
tions. April 27, 1877, Father Zinsma3-er was 
appointed to take charge of the Church of the 
Sacred Heart of Jesus, at Shelby, and Rev. H. 
D. Best, the present Pastor, was sent to Buc}'- 
rus. During the past three 3'ears, the debt left 
by his predecessor has been paid. The church 
has received, at different times, about $1,300 
from the ' Ludwig Missionsverein " of Munich, 
Bavaria. May 19, 1878, Rev. H. D. Best pur- 



chased of Florian Loew, for $200, one and three- 
fourths acres of land, situated one mile east of 
Bucyrus, and this has been laid out for a ceme- 
tery. The first person interred in it was Mrs. 
Martha Doerfler, who died August 17, 1878. 
This cemetery was consecrated by Bishop Gil- 
more, of Cleveland, Tuesday afternoon, October 
19, 1880. It is the custom of this church to 
establish independent schools, and this will, 
undoubtedl}' be the next project of those in 
charge of the congregation. Two attempts 
have already been made in the past — the first 
under Father Spierings, and afterward for four 
months under Father Zinsmayer — but for lack 
of means, these schools were discontinued. 
Considering the limited financial resources of 
most members of the Bucj-rus charge, the con- 
gregation is in a flourishing condition. Success 
has crowned their labors in the past, and the 
future looks bright. 

The Disciples, or Church of Christ, erected 
their church edifice in Bucyrus during the 
summer of 1876, and organized the congrega- 
tion in November of that year. Many promi- 
nent members of this church, however, were 
formerl}' connected with the Disciple Church, 
organized over forty A^ears previous in Whet- 
stone Township. About the year 1828, Oliver 
and Isaiah Jones, then residents of AVhetstone, 
having heard the doctrines of the church taught 
in Wa3ne Count}', invited Disciple preachers 
to their neighborhood. At that time there were 
no members of this denomination in Crawford 
Count\', and the ministers who accepted the 
invitation, were the first to sow the seed of their 
religious faith in this count}'. The two , men 
who extended this invitation, were for many 
years the strongest supporters of the Whet- 
stone Church , they were in no way related to 
each other, notwithstanding they both removed 
from Wayne County, bore the same name, and 
professed the same religious faith. Harrison 
Jones, son of Isaiah, and also one of the early 
members, is still living and an eminent minister 



396 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



among the Disciples. The first services held 
in Whetstone Township by Disciple ministers 
was about the year 1 828, at the log cabin of 
Oliver Jones, b}^ Elders Comer and John 
Secrist. After the first meeting, Elder Comer 
went on to Michigan and Elder Secrist returned 
to Stark County, where he had been preaching. 
Secrist had formerly been a resident of Kentucky, 
and several years after 1828, he again visited 
Crawford Count}' and preached in the Camp- 
bell Schoolliouse, which was located at that 
time on the southern part of what is now the 
farm of W. L. Ferall. In those days members 
of this denomination were known as Camp- 
bellite Baptists. Elder Secrist was a very able 
man. and continued to preach the doctrines of 
his faith in the township at stated periods for 
some five years. When he left, Elders A. 
Burns and 3Iillison came occasionally and 
preached in the neighborhood ; this was after 
the year 1840. Elder Burns is a brother of 
Hon. Barne}' Burns, of Mansfield ; he is now 
minister of the church at Shelb3^ Elders Burns 
and Millison conducted services at the school- 
houses or private residences in the neighbor- 
hood, and sometimes at the barn of John 
Campbell, who was a prominent member of the 
church. Campbell represented Crawford County 
in the Ohio Legislature during the winter of 
1833, 1835 and 1840. The Disciple meeting- 
house in Whetstone was built about the 3'ear 
1845, and during the next thirteen years Dr. 
Lucy, John and Thomas Rigdon and Jonas 
Hartzell were elders of the congregation ; serv- 
ices were conducted during this period at 
very irregular intervals. Hartzell it still living 
at an advanced age in Iowa. About the year 
1858, Polder Belton preached at stated periods 
and continued to do so until shortly after the 
war broke out ; since that time, IClders Richard 
Winbigler and Hathaway, have had charge 
of the church at different times ; services 
were also conducted occasionally by Charles E. 
Van Voorhis, who was raised in Whetstone 



Township, and has for man}' years been an 
active Disciple minister ; he is at present living 
in Knox Count}'. John Cornell also went out 
from the Whetstone Church, and is now a Dis- 
ciple minister in Iowa. Forty years ago the 
Whetstone Disciple Church was a very strong 
and influential congregation, but the losses by 
death and removal reduced the membership 
to such an extent that for many years religious 
services were held very irregularly. Finally 
about December 5, 1875, eight persons met at 
the residence of Jeremiah Correll, in Bucyrus, 
and resolved under Grod to build a house of 
worship in the town and to re-organize the 
church. These seven persons were James Kerr, 
J. W. Bogan, Samuel Keiffer. B. F. Keiffer, 
Edward Ferrell, Edward Campbell, William 
Arbuckle and Jeremiah Correll. A few days 
afterward the lot on the southeast corner of 
Lane and Warren streets was purchased, and 
Edward Campbell, Jeremiah Con-ell and B. F. 
Keiffer appointed a building committee. The 
foundation of the edifice was laid in the spring 
of 1876, and the basement completed by No- 
vember of that year, at which time thirty-three 
persons assembled and resolved to form them- 
selves into a church of Christ, " taking no creed 
but the Bible, and no name unknown to the 
Scriptures." A Sabbath school was organized ; 
Elder George T. Smith was called to preach, 
and has continued with the congregation since 
that date. His labors have been blessed, and, 
during the past four years. 100 additional mem- 
bers have united with the church. The upper 
room of their church edifice was completed 
during the summer of 1877, and the building 
dedicated to the service of Almighty God Sep- 
tember 2, 1877, Elder Isaac Errett oflftciating. 
This house of worship is designed after the 
Gothic style of architecture. The building is 
sixty-five feet long, fortv feet wide, and two 
stories high. The basement is eleven feet, and 
the audience room above has an arched ceiling 
nineteen feet above the floor at the sides, and 






HISTORY OF CRAAVFORD COUNTY. 



397 



twenty-seven feet in the center of the room. 
This is the only arched ceiling in town. The 
church is surmounted with a tower and spire 
whicii reach 120 feet from the ground. The 
cost of the entire building was about $11,000, 
and the entire amount was raised by the mem- 
bers by the time the church was dedicated. 

The United Brethren in Christ congregation 
was organized about August 15, 1879, with the 
following members : John Carson and wife, 
Anna, Charles and Robert Carson, Edward 
Sheckler and wife, Nettie Sheckler, Mrs. Eliza 
IVIonnett and daughters Lulu and Vertie, H. A. 
Raub, Lillie Eaub, Henry Couts and wife, 
Jacob Yeagle and wife. J. Gr. Hull, John Slagle, 
Miss Kate Steelsmith, J. (r. Wert and wife. 
Mar}' and Joseph Wert. These persons were 
all connected with the " Holiness Movement," 
which had. previous to this time, received its 
support in Bucyrus from members of the Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church. During the pastorate 
of Rev. Gr. W. Ball, this movement in the inter- 
est of " Christian Holiness," was organized, and 
most of the active members of the Methodist 
Episcopal congregation showed their sj'mpathy 
by their presence and influence at the special 
" Holiness " meetings. After a few months 
some withdrew, declaring they could not ac- 
quiesce in all that was said and done by those 
who professed to believe the doctrines taught ; 
other prominent members were removed bj' 
death, and, after Mr. Ball left the advocates of 
" Christian Holiness " in the Methodist Episco- 
pal Church, they were not so numerous and in- 
fluential. Their special Tuesday evening prayer 
meeting, however, was continued for many 
months under Dr. Nelson's pastorate, and the 
venerable gentleman kindly attended and led 
many meetings, although he could not coincide 
with all that was said at them. But the mem- 
bers of the " Holiness Band" were afterward 
denied the right to have the church basement 
for their special meetings, because a few re- 
fused to subscribe to the general church fund. 



and, after suffering for some time what they 
considered other persecutions, quietl}' withdrew 
from the Methodist Episcopal Church, and 
formed a United Brethren in Christ Congrega- 
tion, which denomination contains more mem- 
bers professing their views on '• Christian Holi- 
ness." The first trustees were John Carson, 
Jacob Yeagley, Henry Couts, J. Gr. Hull, and 
Barney Saylor. The store-room on the south- 
west corner of Main and Warren streets was 
rented and fitted up for a meeting-house. In 
the fall of 1879, the United Brethren Conference 
appointed Rev. Moses E. Spahr, Pastor of the 
Bucyrus charge, which is at the present time 
attached to Bucyrus Circuit. Rev. 0. H. Ram- 
sey was placed on this circuit in the fall of 
1880. August 25, 1879, a United Brethren in 
Christ Sabbath School was organized with the 
following officers : John Carson. Superintend- 
ent ; Mrs. J. Gr. Wert, Assistant ; Charles Car- 
son, Secretary ; H. A. Raub, Treasurer ; An- 
netta Sheckler, Librarian. A lot has been pur- 
chased at the corner of Walnut and Lucas 
streets, and the congregation contemplate erect- 
ing a church building in the near future. 

During the past sixty 3'ears, several attempts 
have been made to establish other denomina- 
tions in Bucyrus, and the religious services held 
by two of these churches were continued many 
years. Rev. John Pettitt, a Congregationalist 
minister, removed to Bucyrus about 18-10, and 
for many years preached in various neighbor- 
hoods of Crawford County. Through his ef- 
forts, mainly, a society of this denomination 
was organized in the village. For some years 
their services were held at the Protestant 
Methodist Church. In the spring and summer of 
1855, the brick church, which is now owned by 
the Baptists, was erected by the Congregational 
Society. The building was dedicated September 
28, 1855, and about this time Rev. Oliver Bur- 
gess, who had been pastor of the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church for the preceding year, was em- 
ploj-ed to preach in the new edifice. Burgess re- 



liL 



398 



HISTOKY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY 



mained one 3'etir, and then Rev. Pettitt supplied 
tLe pulpit until July, 1859, when the society ex- 
tended a call to Rev. Gideon Dana, former^ of 
Oberlin ; this gentleman remained two 3-ears ; 
during his pastorate the church purchased^ 
December, 1859, the first pipe organ ever 
brought to Bucyrus. Rev. Roljert ^IcCune 
was the immediate successor of 3Ir. Dana. He 
continued as Pastor from July, 18G1, to July 
] 802, and then resigned to accept the position 
of Chaplain at the National Military Hospital, 
on Johnson's Island, near Sandusky Cit}-. Rev. 
I. C. Kingsle}' received a call in Jul}^, 1862, 
and remained until about January 1, 1864. 
Several ministers came occasionally- and 
preached, but after a few months the church 
was sold to the Board of Education for $3,000. 
The organ was afterward sold to the Method- 
ist Episcopal Church. Rev. John Pettitt, the 
founder of the church, and the most active 
member of the congregation during the many 
years it continued, removed, about 1866, to the 
northern part of Michigan. During the many 
years he was a citizen of Crawford Count}', he 
always took an active part in building up the 
moral interests of the community. For the 
last live years of his life, he rode regularly 
through summers heat and winter's snows to 
his appointment five miles distant, and, when 
the weather did not render the frontier school- 
houses untenaljle, he had from two to three ap- 
pc^intments each Sabbath. On the last da^- of 
his life. Sunday, May 11, 1879, he rode on horse- 
back to his appointment, but, upon his return, 
complained of being sick, and in half an hour 
passed from his labors to his reward, in the 
eightieth year of his age, after laboring as an 
active minister of Christ for more than half a 
century-. 

Some forty years ago, ministers of the Prot- 
estant M\'thodist Church visited Bucyrus and 
conducted religious services ; possibly the first 
member of this denomination to preach in the 
village was Rev. Seeley Bloomer. About 1845, 



Rev. Dalb}- organized a congregation at the 
house of John Moi'foot, who resided at that 
time on the lot now occupied by Mrs. Doll, just 
north of the northeast corner of Walnut street 
and the Middlet<:>wn road. Among the early 
members of this church were John Morfoot 
and wife, now Mrs. John Bo3'er, John Kelly 
and wife, John Fralic and wife, David Holma 
and wife, Matthew Fulloon and wife. Shortly 
after the congregation was organized, the lot on 
the northwest corner of Rensellaer and Walnut 
streets was purchased, and a meeting-house 
erected. Rev. Bamford was the first Pastor. 
Services were conducted once every two weeks. 
The congregation in the village was a station on 
Bucyrus Circuit, which included the neighbor- 
hoods of Wingert's Corners, Bear Marsh and 
Grass Run. Among those who had charge of 
this circuit during the decade from 1845 to 
1855, were Revs. John W. Case, Jeremiah Jack, 
Aaron D. Abbott, Samuel Catlin and James 
Duffy. It is possible that other ministers 
preached regularly to the Bucyrus church dur- 
ing this period. Rev. I. C. Thrapp was Pastor 
in 1856, and, after he left, services were discon- 
tinued in the Bucja'us church. The building 
was removed, several years afterward, to the 
site now occupied b}' the Eagle Foundr}', and 
used as a work-shop until destroyed b}' fire in 
August, 1867. 

During the latter part of 1869, Rev. Alexan- 
der 31. Cowan, a minister connected with the 
Southern Presbyterian Church, visited Buc3'rus 
for the purpose of establishing a congregation 
of that denomination. Among those who aided 
and encouraged tliis minister during his labors 
in the place, b}- attendmg his services, were 
Dr. C. Fulton and wife. Judge James Clemens 
and wife, Judge Thomas Beer and wife, George 
L. Saulsbury and wife, Hon. C. D. Ward, Hon. 
William M. Scroggs, Hon. William Larwill, 
Samuel Hoyt, Dr. George Keller and others. 
The first sermon was preached in the court 
house. October 81, 1869, and shortly afterward 



e) 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUXTY 



399 



Quinb}' Hall was rented, in which meetings 
were held every Sabbath, morning and evening, 
for several months, but the outlook for a strong 
and prosperous congregation was not flattering, 
and the meetings were discontinued. 

Through the eflbrts, mainl}-, of Robert Mac- 
Leod, civil engineer of the Atlantic & Lake 
Erie Railroad, certain Episcopal ministers were 
induced to conduct services at Bucyrus during 
the year 1874. The first meeting was held 
May 3, b}- Rev. J. M. llillyar, of Mansfield, 
and Rector of the church atGralion. This gen- 
tleman continued the services during the sum- 
mer. He was assisted occasionally b}' other 
ministers. The meetings were held at the 
rooms of the Young Men's Christian Associa- 
tion, and among those Episcopalians who gave 
Mr. Hilh'ar aid and encouragement during the 
summer, in his eflbrts, were Robert MacLeod 
and famil}-. William Eccleston and family, W. 
T. McDonald, J. Hopley and others. 

The Sunday school cause early enlisted the 
attention of tliose pioneer settlers who desired 
to improve the morals of the community. 
James MeCracken, Esq., for mam* years a 
prominent citizen of the village and township, 
is authority- for the following statement : '• In 
the year 1827 or 1828, at the instance of an 
Episcopal missionary from Mt. Vernon, the 
first Sabbath school started in Bucyrus was or- 
ganized at the little brick schoolhouse. Abel 
Gary was elected President, and Dr. Hobbs, 
Secretary. There were also four Directors 
chosen, John Moderwell being one of them. 
These officers constituted an executive com- 
mittee for the government of the school. They 
appointed James MeCracken Superintendent." 
Although most of the working members in this 
school were connected with the early Presby- 
terian Church, 3'et it was not established in the 
interest of that denomination, but as a union 
school ; and it was attended and supported by 
members of the Methodist, Lutheran and Pres- 
byterian Churches. This moral agency was 



continued several years, but, after the iMethod- 
ists erected their church, thej' organized a sep- 
arate school, about 1834, in the interest of their 
congregation. The Presbyterians organized 
their school in 1835, and the Lutherans in 
1838. Since then, the other denominations have 
established Sabbath schools, in the following 
order : Baptist, in 1844, and re-organized in 
1864; German Lutheran, about 1844; Re- 
formed, about 185U ; German Methodist, about 
1854 ; Disciple, 187G ; United Brethren in 
Christ, 1879. 

During the latter part of 1869. a Young 
Men's Christian Association was organized at 
Buc} rus. The first meeting held for this purpose 
assembled at the St. Paul's Lutheran Church, 
Tuesday evening, November 2. The audience 
was addressed by Christian gentlemen from 
Mansfield. The Association was organized at 
the 31. E. Church, Friday evening, November 
5. 1869, with the following officers : President, 
William M. Reid ; Vice Presidents, W. B. Ben- 
nett and B. F. Lauck ; Corresponding Secretary, 
M. Deal ; Recording Secretar}', George C. Gorm- 
le}' ; Treasurer, James B. Gormlej- ; Board of 
Managers, E. P. Penfield, G. W. Myers. M. V. 
Long:worth and J. J. Fisher. A daily prayer 
meeting was established, which continued for 
some months ; the association rented the sec- 
ond story of No. 8 Quinby Block, and fitted it 
up with a library and entertaining newspapers, 
and, for several 3'ears after, the prayer meeting 
was discontinued ; tiie organization maintained 
a special hall for the general use of all accepta- 
ble public meetings. For some three years, the 
Y. M. C. A. Hall was in the second story of 
Birks Block. 

Although the pioneer settlers of Bucyrus and 
surrounding country sufiered many hardships, 
and often sighed for the comforts and luxuries of 
their former Eastern homes, they ditl not forget 
that the minds of their cliildren needed instruc- 
tion, and at an early day the cause of education 
enlisted their attention. Unfortunately, a pio- 



de> 



400 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



neer settlement, sixty years ago, did not possess, 
and could not obtain, the many modern educa- 
tional improvements. It is not surprising, then, 
that, in a community deprived of many conven- 
iences of life, the early schoolhouses were rude 
buildings, poorly furnished and illy adapted to 
the purpose for which they were used. But, in 
these rude log school buildings in those early 
pioneer days, many children, who afterward be- 
came good, substantial citizens of the country, 
received the only school instruction they ever 
obtained. And some, who, in after years, be- 
came distinguished citizens of the nation, not 
only for their high moral worth, but also for 
their intellectual attainments, received the 
foundation of their education in these pioneer 
schoolhouses. 

The first school taught on the site now occu- 
pied by the town of Bucyrus, was held in a lit- 
tle log cabin situated on the south bank of the 
Sandusky Biver, just north of the lot occupied 
by Silas Bower's residence. This cabin was 
erected by the Beadle family on their land, and 
had formerly been occupied by them as a res- 
idence. It has long since passed away, but at 
that time was west of the town plat, laid out on 
Norton's land after this cabin was built. Will- 
iam Blowers taught the school held in this rude 
building during the winter of 1 822-23. He was 
fully competent to take charge of it. as he pos- 
sessed a very good education. The attendance 
was not large, and nearly all those who were 
pupils in this first school at Bucyrus are dead 
and gone ; however, Horace Bowse and Mrs. 
A. M. Jones, two of them, still remain citizens 
of Bucyrus. Blowers charged a tuition fee of 
$1.50 per pupil, for a term of three months and 
" boarded around." His text-books were Pike's 
Arithmetic. Dillworth's Spelling-book and the 
Columbian Orator. The next winter. Blowers 
taught a school in Liberty Township : he was 
one of the first two licentiates of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church in Crawford County, and for 
many vears an active minister of that denomi- 



nation. Butterfield, in his history, relates the 
following in regard to this first school : "An 
incident of this school is remembered, the hero- 
ine of which is now one of the most respected 
matrons of our town — then a sprightl}' lass of 
half a dozen summers. Once upon a time, this 
'pretty, winsome, wee thing' made her appear- 
ance in the school-room promptly at 9 o'clock, 
A. M., with a pair of new shoes upon her feet, 
an event calculated to produc a ' profound sen- 
sation ' in those pioneer times ; but in preparing 
the leather for these shoes, the blacking of the 
tanner gave out, and, as there was none to be 
had nearer than Zanesville, the consequence 
was. that, rather than send so man}^ miles for 
an additional supply, only one shoe was black ; 
the other icas quite red. In those daj'S, ' despotic 
fashion ' had not swayed her scepter over the 
heads of the mothers of Bucyrus." Shortly 
after this first school, Altie Kent taught another 
near where Samuel Ludwig now lives, and some 
of her pupils resided in the new town. Miss 
Elizabeth Norton, now Mrs. A. M. Jones, one 
of her scholars, relates that the teacher fur- 
nished her good pupils with " rewards of merit." 
These tokens wei'e home-made ; designed by 
the instructor, and highly colored with golden- 
seal and blood-root. Joseph Newell also taught 
in the same building after Miss Kent. 

The first public schoolhouse built in Buc3a*us 
was erected soon after the passage of the act of 
1824, establishing free schools in Ohio. The 
site occupied by this building was at the east 
end of the lot. on the northeast corner of Walnut 
and Mary streets. This lot is now owned and 
occupied by Charles Vollrath. The schoolhouse 
stood on the spot just west of where the Roman 
Catholic Church now stands. " The building 
was of logs. The builders had no need of an 
architect ; hence there was no plan and specifi- 
cations. It was ' to be of logs, and twenty feet 
square ;' a summary understood b}- all without 
the aid of an elevation." — Buttrrfield. " It was 
furnished in the cheapest and most simple st3de. 






l±. 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



401 



All the children of the district who could be 
' spared from work ' attended. A Board of 
Directors controlled or managed the school ; 
that is, they hired the teacher and drew orders 
on the Treasurer of the township for the pay- 
ment of his salary, which was $15 per month. 
Zalmon Rowse was the first teacher in the first 
schoolhouse, and, though not a professional 
teacher, his labors were entirely satisfactory^ to 
his neighbors. When the public fund, which 
at that time was small, became exhausted, the 
school was dismissed ; this generally occurred 
after a three-months term. During the summer 
months, a school was opened for the 3'ounger 
childi'en by some one who charged a small 
tuition fee." — Scroggs. Rowse continued his 
school during the summer one time, his neigh- 
bors agreeing to do his harvesting rather than 
have the school stop during that season. Jonas 
Scott and Horace Pratt also taught in this first 
log schoolhouse. Butterfield says of Pratt : 
" He is remembered as a good teacher ; but, 
notwithstanding his fine chirography, made his 
mark, as a few of the boys, now our old and I'e- 
spected citizens, have still a striking and vivid 
recollection. Like the memory of joys that are 
past, a recollection of him is pleasant, but a 
little mournful. Debating societies and teachers' 
institutes had never, at that day, discussed the 
question as to whether corporal punishment 
ought to be abolished from schools." In this 
old log schoolhouse the benches were placed 
around the sides ; windows were formed by 
sawing an aperture through the logs at the side, 
and the fire-place at the end furnished heat dur- 
ing the winter. The population of Bucyrus was 
soon increased b}' new settlers to such an extent 
that all the scholars could not be accommodated 
in the twenty-foot-square log schoolhouse, and 
arrangements were made by the citizens to con- 
struct a more suitable building. Samuel Norton 
deeded to the district for school purposes the 
lot now occupied by the Monnett House, and 
upon this was erected a brick schoolhouse, 



18x36 feet in extent, and one story high. Al- 
gebertus Bucklin burnt the brick for this ])uild- 
ing about the year 182G. His brick-kiln was 
situated near where Thomas Hall's barn now 
stands, northeast of the present railroad junc- 
tion. This building was not onW used for 
school purposes, but served in those early days 
as a court house, town hall and meeting-house 
for the different religious societies. When used 
as a court house the jury had to be accommo- 
dated in shops or vacant buildings in other 
parts of the town. It was used as a meeting- 
house by the Methodists, both Protestant and 
Episcopal, the Lutherans, both English and 
German, the Presbj'terians, Old School and Se- 
ceders, Reformed Baptists and possibly other 
congregations. In this schoolhouse were taught 
orthography, reading, writing, arithmetic and 
geography, and, when the teacher was qualified, 
a few of the larger boys and girls were taught 
English Grrammer and Natural Philosophy. 
Among those who taught in this building at an 
early day were Horace Pratt, Sallie Davis, Dr. 
Horton, Mrs. Espy and two daughters, Maggie 
and Elmira, Mr. White and others. After several 
years, this brick schoolhouse could not contain 
all the children of the town, which received each 
year additional accessions, and schools were 
established in other parts of the village. The 
public school fund was not sufficient to employ 
teachers all the year round, and, consequently, 
between 1826-50, man}' private schools were 
started at different times. While the American 
House, ei'ected about 1830, and now occupied 
by William Shaw, was in an unfinished condition, 
a school was taught in what is now the hotel 
office. A frame building on the northeast corner 
of Perr}- and Walnut streets, torn down several 
years since, a log house on Main street, south 
of what is now Blicke's store, and other build- 
ings, were used for school purposes. The old 
log district schoolhouse, erected as earl}* as 
1833, at the west end of Warren street, and now 
occupied as a wood-house, on the same lot, was 



403 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



the buildiiiij,- which nmny schohirs of the town 
attended. 

The prouressive citizens, knovvinsi- that the 
interests of their children demiinded more :ind 
better accouimodations, made arran<2;einents for 
a larger building. ]Mr. Scroggs sa^'s in his 
historical sketch : "In 1830, the brick school- 
honse, which was then too small to hold all the 
pupils, had to give way to a more imposing 
structure. A frame building, 50x30 feet, two 
stories high, divided into four rooms, with 
closets and suitable stairs, was erected upon 
the school lot near where the old brick had 
stood. The house was finished in good style, 
and was furnished with the best kind of school- 
house furniture then in use, made of black 
walnut plank, the value of which at this time 
would be a small fortune in itself The house 
was provided with a belfty and fine bell, and, 
when entirely finished, it was painted white 
with green blinds, and was the best and most 
imposing public schoolhouse in this part of the 
State. School was first opened in tiiis building, 
October, 1840, and was, in a qualified sense, a 
graded school. The first teachers were S. 
Fry. J. B. Squier, ^Misses Marshall, Gary and 
Espy. 

Mr. Fry taught the more advanced boys and 
had a general supervision of all the schools 
though he spent no part of his school hours in 
supervising, and never taught in a place other 
than the room under his immediate charge. 
Mr. Squier taught the smaller boys. Miss Mar- 
shall the more advanced girls, Miss Gary and 
Miss Espy the younger girls. All of these 
teachers, unless it be Miss Marshall, are still 
living, honored and respected members of 
society. There was no regular course of study 
prescribed. The common English branches 
were taught, and, when boys or girls desired 
instruction in Natural Philosophy and Algebra, 
they could be accommodated ; but. if they 
became extravagant in their desires, and 
wanted to get still higher, they had to be sent 



from home. The text books then used were : 
Webster's Elementary Speller. Mcduffey's First, 
Second. Third and Fourth Reader, Porter's 
Rhetorical Reader, Golburn's Mental Arithme- 
tic, Adams' Practical Arithmetic. Olnev's 
Geography, Kirkluim's Grammar, and Com- 
stock's Natural Philosophy. Declamations and 
compositions were in order each week. Some 
of our most substantial citizens received all 
their school education in the old brick and 
frame schoolhouses." 

In those early days, it was seldom that the 
village school, supported I)}- the public school 
fund, offered facilities to those scholars who 
wislied to obtain a knowledge of the higher 
branches usuall}^ taught in normal schools and 
academies. In order to supply this want, 
experienced teachers would occasionally estab- 
lish a higher school and charge tuition. The 
Peoples Fornm, of March 23, 1849, contains a 
card from E. G. Chambers, announcing " tliat 
he had permanently located in the place and 
is prepared to teach, in the most thoroughly 
scientific manner, the various branches of 
science usually taught in high schools and 
colleges." Mr. Chaml)ers occupied for some 
months, one of the four rooms in the old frame 
schoolhouse, now the Monnett House. He did 
permanently locate in the county, for he is at 
present a resident of Whetstone Township. 
Some eighteen mon-ths previous to this, Joseph 
R. Whitham conducted a high school in the 
village. The People's Forum, of October 29, 
1847, contained the following notice, which is 
given as a specimen of the educational system 
as it was just before the union schools were 
organized : 

High School. — The undersigned, a gradiuite of .Jef- 
ferson College, Penn.sylvania, would respectfully inform 
the citizens of Bucyrus and vicinity, that he proposes 
to commence a High School in the town of Bucyrus. 
Having had considerable experienc<j in teaching, he 
flatters himself that he will not prove unacceptable to 
those who may see proper to lend him their patronage. 






HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



403 



Terms of Tuition per Session of Five Months. — 
The lower English branches, including English 

Grammar, Geography and Arithmetic $ 6 00 

Niitural Philosophy, Chemistry, History, etc 8 00 

Latin and Greek Languages, with the liigher 
branciie.s of Mathematics, including Alge- 
bra, Geometry, >""'urveying. etc 10 00 

The Session will commence November 15. Pupils 
commencing at any time before the middle, of the ses- 
sion, will be charged a full term ; those not commenc- 
ing until the middle, or after the middle, of the session, 
will be charged half a term. .Joseph R. Whitham. , 
BucYRUs, October 25, 1847. 

This gentleman taught in the frame building, 
and was employed several times to teach the reg- 
ular school, which he did as long as the public 
funds lasted, and then charged tuition of those 
scholars who desired to continue. It is reported 
of him that he possessed a good education, and 
liked the company of young ladies, but was 
somewhat " green." His admiration for one 
who is now the wife of a distinguished citizen 
of the town, and still admired by all her friends, 
was not disguised. One evening he called to 
see her and spend the evening. About 9 
o'clock, the old folks, sensible, good old souls 
as the}' were, bid the 3'oung people good-night 
and retired. But Whitman very foolishly 
could not appreciate their kindness, and did not 

take advantage of this delightful • well, 

hour (we fear the lady if we should say a longer 
time) tendered him, and left for home. He ap- 
peared uneasy, and his mind must have troubled 
him. for. after going a very short distance, he 
returned, and when the young lady again an- 
swei'ed his knock at the door, he was so pro- 
fuse in his apologies " for keeping her up so 
late, and for staj'ing so long after the time at 
which she usually retired," that she told her 
most intimate friends how " green " he acted ; 
these intimate friends would not keep still, and 
told it as a " good joke " on Whitham. 

During the twenty-five years in the educa- 
tional liistor}- of BucN'rus. between 1825 and 
1850. man}' ditferent persons taught public and 



private schools in the village. It would be a 
difficult task to secure the names of all these 
teachers, and a much greater one to describe 
the many particular incidents which occurred 
during the administration of each. Among 
those who taught during this i>eriod. and not 
previously mentioned are : Of the gentlemen. 
Messrs. McMullen, McGill, Wallace, Jacob Hof- 
mau. Yost, Myers, Lee, Camp, Davis, Plants, 
Kiskaden, Bowse, Sears, Squier, Fry. Needhara. 
Everson and Martin ; of the ladies, Emily 
Bowse, the Misses Gary, Margaretta Williams, 
the Misses Davis, Ann McCracken and Hannah 
J. Dunn. Man}' of these names will doubtless 
recall to the memory of old settlers, pleasing 
recollections of the times that are past. Of all 
those who were teachers in Bucyrus. previous 
to 1850, only one is at the present time a resi- 
dent of the town. This is Mr. Horace Bowse, 
who was also a scholar in the first school taught 
in Bucyrus Township. " Many of the rest 
have long since been piloted over the river by 
the grim ferryman." 

Until the year 1849, the common schools of 
Ohio with but few exceptions, were conducted 
upon the general plan of district schools. The 
Greneral Assembly of the State on February 21 
of that year, passed an act '• for the better reg- 
ulation of the public schools in cities, towns 
and villages "' which permitted the organization 
of graded or union schools. ^lany towns 
throughout the State immediately took advan- 
tage of this law, and the citizens in Bucyrus 
were not slow to avail themselves of the oppor- 
tunity to secure a better school system, which 
was then offered by this act of 1849. But all 
public improvements, however necessary and 
beneficial to a community, are opposed by 
many citizens, and. when the question of graded 
schools was submitted to the qualified electors 
of the village in April, 1849, they rejected the 
new system. The friends of education were 
not discouraged, but continued to agitate the 
matter, and, after the new plan had been ex- 



-4* 



404 



HISTOKY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



plained to the " intelligent voter," the question 
was again submitted some weeks later, about 
July, 1849. The result of this election was a 
victor}^ for the present graded school s^'stem 
by a fair majority. Jacob Scroggs, Esq., says, 
in his Centennial History : " The persons 
most active in securing this plan were Hon. 
Josiah Scott, late Chief Justice of the Supreme 
Court, Dr. Willis Merriman, Aaron Cary, Dr. 
Jacob Augenstein, Hon. L. W. Hall, J. B. Lar- 
will. Rev. John Pettitt, John Anderson, John 
Moderwell, M. P. Bean, editor of the Forum, 
and Col. Zalmon Bowse. There were no doubt 
others who were active and efficient in produc- 
ing the desii-ed result, but the above named 
are at this time prominent in the mind of the 
writer. The most serious and obstinate oppo- 
sition came from a few men of wealth, who had 
no children to educate, or who cared but little 
for any education beyond what was necessary 
to compute interest at 12 per cent." Shortly 
after this system had been adopted, the citizens 
assembled and elected the following persons as 
the first Board of Education of the Bucyrus 
Union Schools : Rev. John Pettitt, John 
Anderson, Aaron Cary, Dr. Jacob Augenstein, 
Dr. Willis Merriman and John Moderwell. 
These were all active and zealous friends of 
education and of the new plan, and the union 
school was in the hands of its friends. The 
boai'd was organized by the election of Dr. 
Merriman as President, Aaron Cary as Secre- 
tar}^, and Dr. Jacob Augenstein as Treasurer. 
For some reason, the board was dela}' ed in get- 
ting ever3'thing arranged, and the organization 
of the schools was not completed until the 
spring of 1850. The board then published in 
the Peojilcs Forum of April 2G, 185U, the fol- 
lowing announcement : 

School Notice. — The Bucyrus Public Schools will 
commence on the first Monday in May, under the Su- 
perintendence of I. Booth, Principal. He will be 
assisted by Miss Taylor, of Syracuse, N. Y., assistant 
to the Principal in the High School; Mr. Bowles, of 



Ashland, to take charge of the Secondary or Grammar 
School; Mr. Schepf, of this place, to conduct the Ger- 
man department, aud Miss McCracken and Miss Fitz- 
simmons the primary scholars not entitled to admission 
to the school under the law, will be received on the 
following terms, viz. : 
For tuition in Primary Department, per quarter of 

eleven weeks %2 00 

For tuition in Secondary Department or Grammar, 

per (Quarter of eleven weeks 3 00 

For tuition in High School, per quarter of eleven 

weeks 5 00 

By order of the Board of Education of Bucyrus. 

A. Cart, Secretary. 

In the above notice, the name of N. P. Tarr, 
teacher of the Junior Grammar, was for some 
reason omitted, and the grading during the 
first term was not as advertised by the Secre- 
tary, but as follows ; High School, Senior 
Grrammar, Junior G-rammar, Secondary and 
Primary. Miss Diana Taylor, the first High 
School teacher, was employed at $25 per 
month ; T. C. Bowles received the same amount 
for teaching the Senior Grammar ; N. P. Tarr, 
taught tlie Junior Grammar for a short time, 
but he took sick, and the board employed Jacob 
Scroggs to take his place at $20 per month. 
Misses Ann McCracken and Maria Fitzsimmons 
(now Mrs. Dr. Byron, of Upper Sandusky) had 
charge of the Secondary and Primary Depart- 
ments and received $13 per month. Prof Israel 
Booth, the first Superintendent, was emplo3'ed 
at a salary of $601) p.u' auuum. A special tax 
was levied by the board sufficient in amount, 
when added to the State fund, to pay these 
teachers aud current expenses. 

Prof Booth had a difficult task to perforin. 
It was necessarj' for him to organize and re- 
duce to a system the adverse elements of the 
old district schools. Butterfield says : "His 
fault was eccentricity and forgetfulness, but he 
succeeded and succeeded well." In the Cen- 
tennial sketch, it is stated : - He was a pains- 
taking and conscientious gentleman, who taught 
about one-half his time and had his regular 



;rr 




^ ^ -^%\ 



% 



v^^ 





/t^^ 




<^ ®- 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



407 



classes ; the remainder of the time was spent 
in supervising the subordinate teachei's and in 
instructing them in the best way to teach." 
Booth conducted for some months an educa- 
tional department in the Peoples Forum, and 
this was greatly instrumental in enlisting the 
attention of citizens to the work being per- 
formed. The Board adopted rules for the regu- 
lation of all departments ; eight to guide the 
Superintendent, nine for the teachers, and six 
special and twent^'-five short general rules for 
the pupils. The lower departments were held 
at the frame schoolhouse, and in them the com- 
mon branches were taught. The High School, 
during the first year occupied the Odd Fellows' 
Hall, situated in the second story of Ander- 
son's Block, now the residence of C. K. Ward 
and George C. Grormly. Their room was not 
provided with any school furniture, and the 
facilities for teaching and the convenience of 
the temporary occupants were not first-class. 
But in this lodge-room were taught Algebra, 
Natural Philosophy Latin, French, Drawing 
and all the common branches. After the first 
term, public examinations were held and exhi- 
bitions given for two nights, October 10 and 11, 
in the Lutheran Church. The school grew 
rapidl}^ in favor with the people, and after the 
first year all open opposition died out. Satur- 
day, October 26, 1850, the citizens voted to 
levy a tax of $4,000 for the purpose of building 
a new schoolhouse. The new building erected 
soon after was made to accommodate the high 
school and grammar schools, as the old frame 
was barely sufficient to accommodate the pri- 
mary and secondaiy grades. As the number 
of pupils increased, such changes were made in 
the grading and classification as the exigencies 
of the time appeared to demand. For several 
years only two terms were held each year ; the 
spring term, continuing during the summer, 
and the fall term, which extended through the 
winter. 

Miss Taylor, the first high school teacher, left 



after the first term, and Miss Carrie Thayer was 
her successor. Prof Booth ramained two years 
and was succeeded by H. S. Martin, for one 
term, at the rate of $500 per annum. Booth 
removed to Indiana and engaged in the prac- 
tice of law at Sullivan, where he died in 1860. 
The sixth session of the Union Schools com- 
menced Monday, November 8, 1852, with Prof 
J. M. Hill as Superintendent. He was a gradu- 
ate of Jefferson College, possessed a fine edu- 
cation and had great experience. He remained 
one year and received $600 for his services. 
The new brick building was first occupied in 
the fall of 1852 ; when he commenced, previous 
to this, the high school was held at the M. E. 
Church. David Kerr was then employed by 
the board, and took charge of the schools in 
the fall of 1853. For a short time previous to 
this, he had practiced law in Bucyrus. He re- 
ceived $600 per annum, remained two years, 
and " his kindness to the scholars will long be 
remembered by those whose good fortune it 
was to be cared for by him." His successor in 
the fall of 1855, was J. K. Mason, a graduate 
of Yale College — a young man of fine scholas- 
tic attainments, but with little experience as a 
teacher. He only remained six months, at the 
rate of $600 per year. 

[The following pages, upon Mr. Hople3^'s ad- 
ministration and management of the Bucyrus 
schools, we deem of interest, and have had it 
prepared carefully for this special department. 
— Historian.] 

At the opening of the spring term, in April, 
1856, Mr. J. Hoplc}- entered upon his duties as 
Superintendent, and his labors constitute an era 
in the history of the schools. At that time, 
the union school system was in its infancy, and 
that a system or series of schools should be 
found in disorder was not so serious, nor so un- 
usual, as such a condition of affairs would be 
in the present day. Mr. Hople}' was intro- 
duced to his new duties by Bev. A. Howbert, 
President of the Board, with the remark, " We 



7p 



fi^ 



408 



HISTORY OF CRAWFOllD COUNTY 



cannot tell you an3'thing about the schools, ex- 
cept that they are completely run down." The 
whole corps of teachers was new, and there 
were neither the registers of the past term nor 
any official reports to guide him. But the 
heart of the new Superintendent was in his 
work. He had been educated at the Roj'al Na- 
val College, located at Camberwell, a suburb of 
London, England This naval school was con- 
ducted mainly upon the Bell system, and, as 
pupil and as monitor under this plan, Mr. Hop- 
ley had been trained in the art of instructing 
large classes. He was. moreover, a good sys- 
tematizer, and he soon brought oi'der out of 
chaos. The citizens recognized this, and gave 
him their cordial support. To what extent he 
succeeded, two extracts from the Bucyrus pa- 
pers will show. The following notice of a con- 
test among the pupils of the high school is 
taken from a communication by Dr. W. R. S. 
Clark, and published in the Journal December 
27, 185G. The portions complimentary to the 
Superintendent and teachers are omitted as un- 
necessary in a history of the Bucyrus schools : 

Not less than fifty scholars were at one time on the 
floor, each intently engaged in spelling and defining 
the words pronounced to them from McGufFey's Fourth 
Reader. After three hours, twelve of the two contend- 
ing parties still retained their position oa the floor, 
having neither spelled nor defined a single word incor- 
rectly, although 600 had been given to them. The 
finale was exceedingly spirited. The generality of the 
pupils retained their position until 995, 969, 936, 
920 and 900 words had been pronounced. One young 
lady maintained her position against an opposition of 
ten, spelling down in succession nine of them, when 
the exercises were closed from the simple fact that the 
book had been exhausted. Altogether, this young lady 
must have spelled and defined over 250 words. 

The young lady to whom reference is made 
in so complimentary a manner was Miss Vir- 
ginia Swingly, now Mrs. J. B. (xormly ; and her 
sister. Miss Marcella Swingly, was the only per- 
son left on the other side. 

From the Journal, of December 3, 1857, the 



following is taken from a report of a similar 
contest, involving, this time, however, the three 
highest schools. This extract has an added in- 
terest, because it recalls the names of many who 
have since grown to be honored and respected 
citizens, and themselves heads of families : 

The multitude which crowded the spacious room 
was indicative of the deep interest which parents are 
taking in relation to the schools. * * * * I have 
taken some pains in procuring the names of those 
scholars that did so great credit to themselves, and am 
proud to publish them to the readers of the Journal, 
and feel confident that they cannot be excelled by any 
school in the country. The following are the names of 
those pupils who spelled through a book of over one 
thousand words : In the high school, Misses Mary E. 
Moderwell, Georgianna Merriman, Elizabeth Moder- 
well, Amanda Kimmel, Jane Sims, Melinda Lightner, 
Ophel'a Didie, Elizabeth Rexroth and Sarah Rexroth, 
and Master Hiram Moderwell; in the senior gi'ammar 
school, Misses Helen Van Tyne, Fidelia Howenstein, 
Mary Gormly, Lydia Rexroth, Elizabeth Rowse, Mar- 
garet Fulton, Anna T. Fulton, Elizabeth Bradley, Mas- 
ters A. Van Tyne, D. Hall, J. Moderwell, Eugene Sims, 
D. Kanzleiter, Rufus Kuhn and Leroy Henthorn. Miss 
Emma Shaw, from the junior grammar school, retained 
her place on the floor during the pronunciation of over 
900 words, and Miss Mary Howenstein, from the same 
department, kept up until after 800 words had been de- 
livered, spelled and defined. 

These results were not produced by any un- 
usual effort, as Mr. Hopley afterward explained 
in a communication to the paper ; they were the 
result of steady perseverance, a few minutes 
onl}" each day, and of encouragijig mutual 
competition in large classes. In consequence 
of complaints wholly factious, a committee was 
appointed by the Board of Education to visit 
the schools to make a careful examination of 
their condition. This committee consisted of 
S. R. Harris. Esq., John A. Gorml}^ Esq., and 
Rev. J. Grouse, and the following extract taken 
from their report, illustrates the system upon 
which the schools were being so thoroughly 
taught and so rapidly elevated : 

In all the schools except the High School, there are 
but two classes in each department, and all the pupils 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY 



409 



in each class are employed at the same time on the 
same lesson, and as a general thing each must not only 
perform his own part in the recitation, but must watch 
the mistakes or correctness of his classmates, and by 
correcting the mistakes or omissions of the others ad- 
vance himself in his class; and by the accuracy of his 
acquirements he maintains his own position in the 
class, and thus they are all kept at work at the same 
time. For example, and to illustrate our meaning, the 
committee observed a recitation of arithmetic in the 
Junior Intermediate Department. There was a class 
of about thirty small pupils reciting their lesson in sim- 
ple multiplication. They stood in order on the floor, 
each provided with a slate, and they all wrote on their 
slates the multiplicand and multiplier as announced by 
the teacher ; the first one in the class numerated the 
figures in the example, the next multiplied the first 
figures announcing the product, at which the whole 
class wrote the same on their slates, the third continued 
the operation for the next figure, and so on through 
the whole class, and if any one made a mistake it was 
corrected by the next one below who could correct it, 
and the lower one who made the correction advanced 
above. When the multiplication was completed, there- 
fore, the entire class had the same on their slates, and 
each several pupil had performed all the mental labor 
which was required to perform the entire multiplica- 
tion. In the Senior Grammar School, the whole room, 
amounting on that day to some fifty pupils, during the 
visit of the committee, performed an example in reduc- 
tion, both ascending and descending reduction, in the 
same manner, and the committee were pleased to see 
the readiness of their answers and the neatness of their 
work, as it appeared when completed on their slates. 
The pupils in all the departments appear to be judi- 
ciously classed in a similiar manner in all the other 
branches. The plan, therefore, appears to have the ef- 
fect to create an ambition and laudable emulation 
among the pupils, and fits the intellectual and indus- 
trious ones for proper advancement to the higher de- 
partments. 

Mr. Hopley's connection with the schools con- 
tinued for two years, and it is a striking proof 
of the value of his labors, that the organization 
that he then effected has remained substan- 
tially the same ever since. After retiring 
from the schools, he formed a partnership 
with A. M. Jackson, Esq., in the practice of 
the law. 



From a report made December 30, 1857, the 
following facts are taken : " Number of pupils 
enrolled during the past four months — males, 
205 ; females, 193 ; total 398 ; being an in- 
crease of 44 over the same term of 185G nnd 
1876, since April 1, 1856 ; average daily at- 
tendance 258.5." The number in each of the 
different grades was : High School, 33 ; Senior 
Grraramar, 56 ; Junior Grrammar, 64 ; Senior 
Intermediate, 61 ; Junior Intermediate, 54 ; 
Senior Primary, GQ ; Junior Primary, 64. 

In April, 1858, Prof Alexander Miller took 
charge of the schools, and remained until June, 
1861, receiving a j'early salary of $800. But- 
terfield said in regard to this gentleman : " The 
superior qualities of Prof Miller as a teacher 
are well known in Ohio. His ripe scholarship, 
gentlemanly bearing, his high-toned morality 
and Christian character shed a bright luster on 
the position he occupied. He was appreciated 
by his employers and respected by all." Dur- 
ing his administration the enrollment increased 
to such an extent that the board rented at dif- 
ferent times the M. E. Church basement, the 
old Baptist Church, and finally the Congrega- 
tional Church basement, in which a second 
junior grammar school was organized. B. B. 
McVey was then employed by the board at 
$800 a year. He commenced in September, 
1861, and remained until April, 1864. Butter- 
field says : '' His indomitable energy, affability 
and zeal made him a very popular Superin- 
tendent. The standard of our schools was 
elevated by him." Prof Samuel J. Kirkwood 
was his successor, and continued for one year 
and three months, receiving $1,000 per year. 
At the end of the June term, 1865, he resigned 
to take charge of the public schools in TitHn, 
Ohio. He is at the present time Professor of 
^Mathematics and Astronomy in the university 
at Wooster, Ohio. 

In September, 1865, J. C. Harper com- 
menced his long term of five years. The 
salary paid him was increased several times. 



VI 



® — 



lIl 



430 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



nncl for tlie last twelve months' service be re- 
ceived $1,000. During the half clecaclc he was 
in chai'ge, the grading of the schools was more 
thoroughly systematized than at any other 
period, and the first class completed the course 
and graduated Mai-ch 25, 1870. In the six 
months preceding this date, the number of 
pupils enrolled was as follows : High school, 
38 ; four grammar schools, 182 ; five interme- 
diate schools, 266 ; four primary schools, 299 ; 
total, 785. The crowning work of Mr. Har- 
per's administration was the building of the 
new union school house, the most important 
event in the histor}'^ of the Bucyrus Union 
Schools. Since the public schools of the town 
have been organized, there ma}' have been men 
in charge of them who possessed a better edu- 
cation than this gentleman, but no Superinten- 
dent has excelled him in the natural abilit}^ to 
govern the scholars. It is doubtful if, in the 
five years he was in charge, he personally used 
the rod upon refractory pupils more than half 
a dozen times. He will long be remembered 
by those scholars who attended the higher 
grades during his long term of service, for the 
man}' instructive and entertaining talks in 
which he imparted to them much valuable in- 
formation not found in the text books. 

Miss Mareella Swiugly, teacher of the high 
school for nearly all the preceding six years, 
was, in September, 1870, promoted to the su- 
perintendency, and received a salary of $1,100 
during her third year. The idea of having a 
lad}^ Superintendent was declared to be an 
" experiment " by the board that employed her. 
It proved in most things to be a successful 
one. and, during the three years of her admin- 
istration, the pupils advanced in scholarship, 
and most citizens were satisfied. Occasionally, 
when difficulties arose in regai'd to government, 
she did not receive from the Board of Educa- 
tion that hearty support which should have 
been extended to a lady in charge of so many 
refractory pupils, and conse(piently at times 



the position she occupied was particularly try- 
ing and embarrassing. She was also opposed 
b}' citizens who did not believe the doctrines 
taught by those who are endeavoring to secure 
the adoption of their Sixteenth Amendment to 
the National Constitution. However, she had 
many warm friends, who have alwaj's admired 
her many sterling qualities as a Christian lad}'. 
It is worthy of historical note that she is the 
only person who has occupied in the Bucyrus 
Union Schools the different stations of a pupil 
in several grades, a teacher of several grades^ 
and finally G-eneral Superintendent over all 
departments. 

In the summer of 1873, the board succeeded 
in obtaining the services of Prof F. M. Hamil- 
ton, a graduate from the University of Michi- 
gan, located in Ann Arbor, at a salary of 
$1,700 per year. Since 1873, the schools have 
been under his fostering care, and during this 
period, seven classes have completed the high 
school course and graduated. He is a polished 
gentleman, possessing a fine classical education, 
and the fact that he is now serving his eighth 
year as Superintendent of the Bucyrus schools, 
is sufficient proof that his labors are appre- 
ciated by an unusually censorious public. Al- 
though Mr. Hamilton teaches over half his time 
there has never been a better general supervis- 
ion than during his administration. Teachers' 
meetings are held each week, conducted by the 
Superintendent. Examinations of teachers are 
conducted by examiners appointed by the 
board ; they are both oral and written. The 
pupils in the various grades are examined twice 
each term, and these tests of scholarship are 
also both oral and written. At the present 
time, the schools are graded and classified as 
follows : A, B, C, D and E Primary ; A, B and C 
Intermediate ; A, B and C Grammar ; the Ger- 
man-English School and the High School. The 
number of scholars enrolled in these depart- 
ments during the school year ending June 11, 
1880, was as follows : 



^f- 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY 



411 



BOYS. GIRLS. TOTAL. 



High school 31 

Grammar schools '2 

Intermediate schools 79 

Primary schools 219 

German-English school 64 



54 

70 

104 

208 
48 



85 
142 
183 
427 
112 



Total. 



.465 



484 949 

Miss Diana Taylor, the first high school 
teacher, remained one term, and resigned Oc- 
tober, 1850, to accept a more desirable position. 
Since this time, the following persons have had 
charge of the high school in the order named : 
Carrie Thayer, Harriet Weight, Jnlia Brown, 
Delia Galusha, Julia Dustin, Emma McGregor, 
Martha Stewart, until July, 1856 ; Julia C. 
Breckenridge, until July, 1857 ; Julia A. Wal- 
work (now Mrs. Jacob Scroggs), until June, 
1862 ; Jennie E. Jackson, until April, 1864: ; 
Marcella Swingley, until AprU, 1868; Sallie 
Freman, from January until June, 1869 ; Mar- 
cella Swingley, second term, until July, 1870 ; 
J. C. Shumaker, until July, 1871 ; Sarah Rex- 
roth (now Mrs. T. J. Monnett), until July, 1872 ; 
Anna Sigler, until July, 1873 ; A. G. Gumaer, 
until July, 1874; H. E. Kratz, until July, 
1875; William Thomas, until July, 1876; D. 
C. Porter, until July, 1877, and J. W. Spindler, 
the present incumbent. Of these persons, Miss 
Walwork, now Mrs. Jacob Scroggs, had charge 
five years, the longest continuous term, and 
Miss Marcella Swingly, four years at one time, 
and one year at another. The persons who 
have successively taught the high school, have, 
in nearly every instance, fully met the expec- 
tation of those who employed them. IMany ex- 
celled as thorough and accomplished instruct- 
ors, and not a little of the prosperity and 
progress of the schools is due to their wisdom 
and energy. The want of space prevents a 
more extended reference to each. From 1866 
until July, 1873, an assistant high-school 
teacher, was employed, and among those who 
have served in this capacity are : ^liss 
Anna McDonald (now Mrs. Shannon Clemens), 



until April. 1868 ; Anna R. Gary, from Januaiy 
until June, 1869 ; Alice Codding, until July, 
1872 ; Lizzie Baltzly, until July, 1873. 

Since the graded-school system has been 
adopted in Bucyrus, many different persons 
have taught in the lower grades. It would be 
a difficult task to secure the names of all these 
teachers who have been employed during the 
past thirty years. At the present time the fol- 
lowing persons have charge of the several de- 
partments : High School, J. W. Spindler ; 
Grammar Schools— A, Miss Lizzie ^McCracken ; 
B, Miss Sarah Sheckler ; C, Mrs. C. P. Wiley ; 
Intermediate Schools— A, Mrs. Mary Beer ; B, 
Miss Mattie :\Iessner ; C, Miss Frankie Scroggs. 
Primary Schools— A, Miss Lizzie Stauffer ; B, 
Mrs. Emma Dalzell ; C, Miss jNIaud Keller ; 
D, Miss Dillie Clymer ; E, Miss Mary McCon- 
nell. German-English School, Mr. Carl F. 
Preuss and Miss A. M. McCracken. Of these 
teachers, Miss Mary McConnell has been em- 
ployed by the board for eight years ; Miss Sa- 
rah Sheckler, sixteen years ; and Mrs. C. P. 
Wiley, twenty-four years. Henry Wingert, the 
present janitor, has occupied that position since 
the erection of the new building. 

The frame schoolhouse, built in 1839, and 
the brick building, finished in 1852, furnished 
ample accommodation for several years. When 
the number of pupils increased, the board pro- 
vided more room by renting, at different times, 
tlie Methodist Episcopal Church basement, the 
old Baptist Church, and, about 1860, the base- 
ment of the Congregational Church, which was 
occupied for several years. But the different 
grades became crowded to such an extent that 
the question of erecting an additional building 
was agitated. At a special election, held 3Iay 
18, 1868. it was decided to sell the old frame 
schoolhouse, to purchase additional ground 
east of tlie brick building, and to levy a tax of 
$2,000 for improvements. Three weeks later, 
on June 9, at another special election, the cit- 
izens voted unanimously to build an addition 






^1 



•^ 



413 



HISTORY OF CRAAVFORD COUNTY, 



to the brick school house, and to le\\y a tax of 
$0,000 for this purpose. The two and one-half 
acre lot east of the brick l>uildiiig was pur- 
chased of John A. Gormly for $1.G50, and $6,- 
000 of the tax voted was levied, but the other 
propositions voted by the citizens were not 
cai-ried into eftect. Two years afterward, April 
25, 18G5, the Congregational Church was pur- 
chased for $3,000, and fitted up with four 
schoolrooms, and these for a time relieved the 
crowded departments. In January, 186G, the 
territory of District No. 2 was added to Buc}'- 
rus Special School District, and shortly after 
this, the Senior Grammar Department was as- 
signed quarters in the old district schoolhouse, 
at the western end of Warren street. The 
proposition to levy a tax of $40,000, and build 
a large edifice, was submitted at a special elec- 
tion held February 24, 1806, but the citizens 
rejected this by a majority of 104 in a vote of 
over four hundred. It was generally admitted, 
however, that the interests of the children de- 
manded more and better school accommoda- 
tions ; and, after the question had been dis- 
cussed for another year, the board submitted, 
at a special election, held April 13. 1867, two 
other propositions, asking for either $10,000 or 
$20,000. Both of these were carried by large 
majorities. The board employed A. Koehler, 
a Cleveland architect, to elaborate their design, 
and furnish the necessary maps, elevations and 
specifications. The contract for building the 
edifice was let to the Bucyrus IMachine "Works 
at $46,000. Excavations for the cellar were 
commenced in the fall of 1867, and, in April, 
1868, the old brick building was torn down. 
The corner-stone was laid Thursday, July 30, 
1868, by the Masonic fraternity, in the pres- 
ence of about five thousand persons. In the 
cavit}' of this stone was tastened an oblong tin 
box, and within this they placed the following 
articles : " A parchment roll of the schools, 
beautifully written in India ink, by Fred M. 
Swingl}', showing the scholarship and deport- 



ment of everv scholar belonging to the union 
schools, a copy of the Holy Bible, copies of 
the Craiv/ord County Forum and Bucyrus Jour- 
nal, a fine specimen of printing, a certificate of 
the County Clerk, to which was attached the 
official seal, a marriage certificate by Probate 
Judge, with official seal, specimen of nickel 
coins, specimen of fractional currency, several 
pieces of curious coin, copy of the State School 
Commissioners' report, and various other ar- 
ticles." After the Masonic ceremonies, the 
crowd adjourned to the grove, where addresses 
were delivered by Bev. Joshua Crouse, John 
R. Clymer, editor of the Forum, and Rev. Ja- 
cob Graessle, Pastor of the German Lutheran 
Church. The stone foundation was completed 
during the summer of 1868, and the brick walls 
were rapidly pushed forward during the fall 
and early winter, so that by February 1, 1860, 
the immense structure was under roof For 
nine months succeeding April 1, 1868, the 
schools were discontinued. Monday, Jan- 
uarv 4, 1860, six departments were opened — 
the High School in Blair's hall, the Senior 
Grammar in the district schoolhouse, the Jun- 
ior Grammar and Intermediates in the old 
frame building. The new building was com- 
pleted during the summer of 1860, and dedi- 
cated on the evening of Septeml^er 28, at which 
time a large and intelligent audience assembled 
at Chapel Hall, where the following exercises 
were held : A masterly- poem of dedication, 
written by William Hubbard, was read by J. R. 
Clymer ; addresses were delivered by Rev. A. 
S. Milholland, C. W. Butterfield, Hon. D. W. 
Henkle, State School Commissioner, Prof J. C. 
Hartzler, Miss Sarah Frantz, and others. The 
ceremonies were then concluded with a public 
dance. 

The Bucyrus Union School building stands 
at the south end of Lane street. It is con- 
structed of stone and brick, in the most sub- 
stantial manner, and finished in a plain, but 
neat and durable stvle. In the creation of this 



HISTORY OF CEAWrOPiD COUNTY, 



413 



edifice, the board had several designs in view 
— to provide enough large, commodious, 
well-lighted, healthfullj- ventilated schoolrooms 
for the 3'outh, not only of the present, but 
for future generations. The building, which 
is three stories in height, with a nine-foot 
basement, and surmounted by a large dome, 
presents a massive, elegant and majestic ap- 
pearance. There is a breadth and spacious- 
ness about the entire structure, inside as well 
as outside, that pleases all who have compared 
it with other public buildings. The entire 
length is 20S feet ; depth of center or main 
building, 120 feet ; depth of wing, 45 feet. 
There are twenty-one large rooms, besides a 
fine hall for exhibitions, which is capable of 
seating 500 persons. The building also con- 
tains wide, air}' halls with convenient closets 
for clothes ; numerous doors for entrance and 
exit, so that the larger and smaller pupils are 
separated and all are secure in case of fire or 
other casualty'. The edifice is situated in the 
midst of a fine schoolyard, four acres in extent, 
one-half of which is composed of one of those 
beautiful oak groves so fi'equently found upon 
the Sandusky Plains. 

The total amount paid the Bucyrus Machine 
Compan}- on tlieir contract, was $50,415.69. 
The furniture, bell, furnaces, stone pavements, 
fences, gas-pipe, cisterns, wells, drains, out- 
buildings and other improvements cost over 
$25,000, making the entire cost of tlie edifice 
upward of $75,000. The citizens voted a tax 
of $20,000, April 13, 1867, and an additional 
$20,000 on November 28, 1868. The old 
buildings were sold for about $5,000. These 
levies were not sufficient to defra}- the entii'e 
expense of the new schoolhouse, and the board, 
desiring an additional $12,000, called a public 
meeting, which assembled at the court house, 
Januar}^ 22, 1870. They submitted a report to 
the citizens, who appointed a committee to 
examine the school accounts during the preced- 
ing four years. This committee made an elabo- 



rate report to the public, in which was included 
an itemized account of the expenses incurred by 
the boax'd during the period covered by the 
investigation. Although it was generall}- con- 
ceded that the board had made some mistakes, 
no evidence was found which proved them to 
be guilt}' of fraud or official dishonest}-. During 
the preceding four years, they had expended 
over $120,000 of school funds. The citizens, 
who were laboring under a heavy tax levied to 
raise this amount, naturally supposed the ex- 
penses incurred were too high, and, when the 
special election was held, March 2, 1870, they 
refused the additional $12,000, by a vote of 
292 to 151. The school treasury was empty, 
and funds were necessary in order to conduct 
the schools ; the board applied to a friendly 
Legislature, which, by a special act, granted 
what the citizens had refused. But the citizens 
would not forgive the members of the board, 
who had outwitted them, and, when their term 
of office expired, they were not re-elected. 

The board of 1867, the original projectors of 
the union school building, was composed of 
the following gentlemen ; Dr. C. Fulton, Presi- 
dent ; John Pb. Clymer, Secretary ; John Franz, 
Treasurer ; Judge James Clements, George 
Donnenwirth, Sr., and Samuel Hoyt. Had this 
board asked for a levy to commence a $75,000 
schoolhouse, the mouey would have been re- 
fused — the $40,000 proposition had been re- 
jected by a large majority when submitted to 
the citizens the previous year. So they asked 
for $20,000, and, having secured authority for 
this amount, adopted the plan for a new build- 
ing, which cost, before completed, nearly four 
times the sum originally authorized by the 
citizens. While the schoolhouse was well under 
headway, they were openly condemned by 
many citizens for their actions, and, after the 
structure had been completed, they were more 
bitterly denounced by the majority. Ten years 
have elapsed since the edifice was finished ; it 
is now all paid for, and every public-spirited 



& — 



J? L> 



414 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



citizen is satisfied the monej^ has been expended 
for this worth}' purpose. Bucyrus has now a 
school building of which all are proud, and, if 
special credit be due to any persons for this 
fact, it belongs to those gentlemen, who, in 
1867, over-ruling the economical wishes of a 
wealth}- community, succeeded in planning and 
furnishing for the public good, the largest and 
finest schoolhouse in Ohio. 

In 1870, during the administration of Prof 
J. C. Harper, the first class completed the 
high-school course and graduated, and each 
year since this date a class has been prepared 
for commencement day. Through the efforts 
mainly of Charles J. Scroggs, an Alumni Asso- 
ciation was formed during the summer of 1878. 
It is worthy of record in the history of Bucyrus 
schools that this young man, a member of the 
Class of 1877, completed the course before he 
had attained his fourteenth birthday. This 
Alumni Association, which includes all those 
who have completed the Bucyrus High School 
course, was formed with the following members : 

1870 — blisses Anna Sears, Mary Howenstein 
(now Manley), Kate Swingley (now Fulton), 
Sallie Sims (now Spencer), Emma Summers 
(now Pero), and Sally Frantz (now Kerr). 
1871 — Misses Millie Howenstein, Frankie 
Scroggs and Minnie Wright (now Rowse). 
1872 — Misses Mary Lewis, Bell Johnston, Alice 
Sears, Joanna ■Myers (now Henthorn), Mary 
Scott (now Chalfant), Althea Quaintance (now 
Dier), and Hattie Summers (now Stamets), 
Charles Picking and Thomas P. Hopley. 
1873 — Loran Jordan, S. Webster Van Winkle, 
Lewis Haman, jMisses Mary Kirkland, Ida Ruhl, 
Anna Boilhartz (now Ingman), and Irena Shaw 
(now Haman). 1874 — Misses Minnie Sears, 
Mary Jones, Bessie Wise, Kate Hopley, 
Annetta Sheckler and Nettie McCracken (now 
Cohnory), Harrv Howenstein, Charles Albright 
and Hamilton Ott. 1875 — Miss Ida Hofman, 
Charles Fisher, Pinkney Fisher, Frank Mon- 
nett, James Albright and Charles Penfield. 



1876 — Misses Lizzie Deardorff and Clara Bid- 
die ; Hiram Fenner, James D. Beer and Edward 
M. Biddle. 1877— Misses Mary McKibben, 
Emma Lommason and Ida Messner ; Charles 
J. Scroggs. 1878 — Misses Sallie Harris, 
Blanche Ward, Ella Fuhrman, Sue McDonald, 
Dillie Clymer and Hattie E. Hopley ; Roy 
Chesney, Herbert Blair, Frank Ruhl, Edward 
Vollrath and Rufus Sears. All the Class of 
1873, except Loran Joi'dan, refused to pass a 
special examination insisted upon by the Board 
of Education, claiming it to be unjust. Jordan 
received a diploma duly signed, the rest re- 
ceived certificates that they had completed the 
high-school course, which certificates were 
signed by the Superintendent, high-school 
teachers and three members of the board. The 
entire class were, after considerable discussion, 
made members of the Alumni Association. 
The first officers of this society were Thomas 
P. Hople}', President ; Mrs. Kate Fulton and 
Miss Dillie Clymer, Vice Presidents ; Miss 
Frank Scroggs, Secretary ; Roy Chesne}', Cor- 
responding Secretary ; Harry Howenstein, 
Treasurer. Since the association was formed, the 
following classes have been received into full 
membership at the annual re-unions : 1879 — 
Misses Anna Drought, Anna Reid, Ella Gormly, 
May Fre}^, L^'dia Streib, Fannie Pogue, Ida 
Bennett and Ida M. Pope ; Smith Bennett, 
William Beer and Edward Kern. 1880 — Misses 
Carrie Blair, Kate Van Voorhis, JIattie Jour- 
dan, Allie Yost, Delia Hull, Emma Munson, 
Kittle Everett and Allie McDonald ; Otto Voll- 
rath and Jay Robinson. 

At the present time the Board of Education 
is composed of the following citizens : Jacob 
Scroggs, Pi'csident ; Rev. Jacob Graessle, Sec- 
retary ; George Donnenwirth, Jr., Treasurer ; 
Judge Robert Lee, E. R. Kearsley, and C. H. 
Shonert. Tliese gentlemen have faithfully 
labored many years for the public gooil, and, 
under their management the schools are in a 
flourishing condition. The President of the 



:Ui 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY 



415 



Board was a scholar in the Bucyrus schools 
over fort}" j'cars ago, and a teacher in the Junior 
Grammar Department, when the graded school 
system was first adopted in 1850. He has 
always taken a deep interest in the cause of 
education, and much of the present efficiency 
of tlie schools is due to his valuable efforts. 
In his Centennial History, Mr. Scroggs sums 
up the present policy of the board in the fol- 
lowing language : "In the spring of 1873, the 
board resolved that pupils should not graduate 
from the schools, until, in addition to the usual 
class examination b}' the teachers and Superin- 
tendent, they should pass a satisfactory exam- 
ination in all the branches taught in the entire 
course, commencing with orthography ; this ex- 
amination to be conducted b}' a committee of cit- 
izens appointed by the board. This resolution 
has been adhered to ever since, and, while it may 
have reduced the number of graduates, it has 
insured a higher scholarship. Review classes 
are organized in the high school, in which all 
branches taught in the lower grades are thor- 
oughly reviewed by members of the A or Senior 
Class. The necessit}' of this resolution above 
named, was made apparent when it was found 
that members of the A Class, who could pass 
an excellent examination in the studies of 
Senior year, could not conjugate a common 
irregular verb, or cast the interest on a plain 
English note of hand, upon which several pay- 
ments had been paid. The people are well 
pleased with the change, as they can see that 
the system of reviews can but tend to make 
more thorough scholars, and the}' know now 
that a graduate of our schools can, without 
trouble, procure a certificate to teach a common 
country school. The schools are firmly fixed 
in the hearts of the people ; they take a deep 
interest in, and are proud of them. A note- 
worthy feature of the Bucyrus schools is, that 
the colored children of the village have always 
been received in the schools with the white, and 
treated, not as outcasts, but as human beings, 



with minds to educate and souls to save. The 
motto of Bucyrus is, ' Education for all, with- 
out regard to sex, color, or previous condition.' " 
Some twenty years ago a Normal School was 
established at Bucyrus, and continued for sev- 
eral years. The Normal School Association 
was organized May 28, 1860, with the following 
officers: President, M. Deal; Vice President, 
W. R. S. Clark; Treasurer, George Quinby; 
Secretary, Girard Reynolds ; Corresponding 
Secretary, C. W. Butterfield. Prof Isaac F. 
Bangs, a graduate of the New York State Nor- 
mal School, was employed to act as principal, 
and Miss Harriet M. Angel, of Akron, Ohio, 
as assistant. The first term commenced Mon- 
day, August 13, 1860, and extended through 
twenty-two weeks. The sessions were held in 
Quinby Hall, and upon the top of the block, 
the sign, "Ohio State Normal School," was 
painted in large letters. These letters con- 
tinued many years after the school had been 
discontinued, and some of them are still visi- 
ble. The school was divided into four classes, 
Sub-Junior, Junior, Sub-Senior, Senior ; sixty- 
eight scholars were in attendance the first term. 
At the commencement of the second term, in 
Februaiy 1861, J. H. Adams, of Albany, New 
York, was employed as an additional assistant. 
The second year the school was in charge of 
Rev. Alexander Miller, M. A., formerly Super- 
intendent of the public schools in Bucyrus. 
He was assisted by E. C. S. 31iller, M. A., for- 
merly Superintendent of the Tiffin schools. 
This institute continued during the fall term of 
1861, the winter term of 1862, and on Monday, 
September 2, 1862, the fall term of 1862 was 
commenced under the same management, but 
after a few months, the normal school was dis- 
continued on account of the poor attendance.* 

*NoTE. — The historian has been greatly aided in preparing this 
history of the Bucyrus Schools, by the historical address delivered 
by C. W. Butterfield, at the dedication of the new school building; 
also, by the paper prepared by Hon. Jacob Scroggs, fur the Centei.uial 
f>ketches of th« Public Schools of Ohio, published by the Stiite School 
Commissioner in 1S76. 



fV 




■;i 



GALION_ UNION SCHOOL HOUSE. (Furnished by the School Board.) 




BUCYRUS UNION SCHOOL HOUSE. rFumished by School Board.) 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



417 






CHAPTER XL* 

POLK TOAVNSHIP— ITS ORGANIZATION — FIRST ELECTION— TOPOGRAPHY, ETC.— THE PIONEERS- 
EARLY INDUSTRIES— INDIAN AND OTHER INCIDENTS— THE FIRST CHURCHES— SCHOOLS. 



SANDUSKY TOWNSHIP was surveyed 
by Maxfield Ludlow in 1807. Like all 
townships of the Government siu-vey, it was 
six miles square, and formed one of the western 
townships of Richland Coimty. There were 
very few settlers before 1817. It remained 
up to this time in an almost primitive condi- 
tion, many of the Delaware and Wyandot In- 
dians yet lingering, and little inclined to 
leave one of the finest hunting-grounds they 
had ever known. Long and stubbornly had 
they contended for their homes against the 
white settlers and their encroachments. Here 
was game in the greatest profusion, and meat 
could be obtained in abundance, with such 
ease that hunting was always a pastime and not 
an arduous toil. The forests were heavily tim- 
l^ered with every variety of stately tree; 
streams of sparkling brightness flowed fi'om in- 
numerable springs; the plains and prairies 
on the west were the abode of large herds of 
deer. This was the home of Wigenuud, and 
"within this tenitory Col. Crawford had been 
captured. Bloody tragedies had been enacted 
all over this ground, and through a thoiisand 
associations of fierce war and of gentle peace 
was this beautiful land endeared to these 
savages. Many maple groves were distributed 
throughout the township, and sugar was an 
article manufactured by whites and Indians. 
In 1812, the soldiers cut a road through the 
township, which passed north of the Olen- 
tangy, near the present site of Galion. An- 
other road fm-ther south had been cut out by 

* Contributed by Dr. J. C. Mcllvaine. 



the Pennsylvania militia, when the settlers 
began to an-ive; a few years later, they cut 
out roads for themselves. 

On the 12th day of February, 1818, the 
township was organized — twelve miles long by 
six wide — and called Sandusky. The name is 
derived from " Sandusquet " of the old French 
traders and voyageurs; the Sah-un-dus-kee, 
clear water, or San-doos-tee, at the cold water 
of the Wyandots, fi'om the clear, cold water of 
the springs near the south shore of Sandusky 
Bay, or it may have been derived fi-om the 
Sa-un-dustee — water within " water-pools " — 
also a Wyandot word. 

At the time of the organization of San- 
dusky, it included within its limits the pres- 
ent townships of Vernon, Jackson and Polk; 
the former, with the remnant of Sandusky, re- 
maining in Richland County. It remained 
in that shape until March 5, 1845, when the 
north half was taken fi'om it and called Yer- 
non Township. This left Sandusky six miles 
square again. About this time there was a 
mania for manufacturing new counties, town- 
ships and, especially, new county seats. This 
was a queer speculation, and outgerryman- 
dered anything ever known of the kind before 
or since. The originally surveyed townships 
were divided and cut up and rejoined until 
they almost lost their former identity. Fom* 
tiers of sections were taken from the west 
side of Sandusk}' Township, Richland County, 
and passed into the possession of Crawford 
County, on the 3d of February, 1845. To the 
west side of this tier of four sections was 



X^ 



418 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



added what was known as the "three-mile 
sti'ip." On the south was added a strip one 
mile wide from Marion Connty. From all 
this aggregation of pieces of townships, a 
strip of land three miles wide and seven miles 
long was taken from the south side, and 
named Polk Township. It is at present 
bounded on the north by Jackson and Jeffer- 
son, on the east by Richland County, on the 
south by Morrow County, and on the west by 
Whetstone Township. Polk was unfor- 
tunately situated as regards an outlet to 
market. After the Sandusky, Mansfield & 
Newark Railroad was built, a majority of the 
fanners of Polk were trading in a county seat 
not their own. There was much dissatisfac- 
tion among the people on the eastern side of 
Polk; they had been pulled about in a ruth- 
less manner, against their will; Crawford 
County was j)oor; many of her public build- 
ings were yet unpaid for, and they thought 
their taxes would be increased to an enormous 
extent; especially was this the case with those 
who had formerly- been within the limits of 
Richland County. This county was compara- 
tively rich. The public buildings were mostly 
erected and paid for ; the people felt as though 
they had been taxed to em-ich the old county, 
and now that prosperity was dawning upon 
them, they were compelled to pay taxes in a 
poor county and assist in bringing them out 
of debt. !Much excitement followed the act, 
loud protestations were made, violence and 
bloodshed were threatened. Nothing serious, 
however, occuiTed, and the people did the 
most reasonable thing under the circum- 
stances that cotild be done. They sent Mr. 
Asa Hosford to the State capital as a lobby 
representative, and enjoined him to take care 
of their interests. He worked with fidelity, 
but failed in part of his mission. That por- 
tion of the new township which had been in 
Richland County, through their Representa- 



tive, induced the Legislature to pass an enact- 
ment whereby they were released from the 
payment of taxes upon the coimty buildings of 
Crawford. The Representative was Mr. Het- 
trick. He presented the facts of the case, and 
earnestly demanded the enactment. This was 
apparently so easily done and with so little 
opposition, that Mr. Hosford asked that the 
same favor be shown to the strip coming 
fi'om the south, in Marion County; Mi'. Het- 
trick offered the resolution, but IVIr. Cary, repre- 
senting the citizens of this southern strip, ob- 
jected on the ground that his constituents did 
not ask for it. This ended the matter. 

Previous to the formation of Polk Town- 
ship, the elections were held south of Crest- 
line nearly two miles, on Section 10, at the 
house of Mr. Fate. It was here that Maj. 
Robinson cast his maiden vote for Daniel 
Riblet, who was a candidate for Justice of 
the Peace. The Major was not quite twenty- 
one years of age; but this election, like all 
others, was of vast importance, and politics 
ran high. Gallon was the center of interest 
in the new township, and for many miles 
around. The narrowness of the township 
placed Gallon so near the line that, in many 
cases, those who did much for her prosperity 
and were interested in her growth, resided 
outside of Polk Township.* 

In an old book in the County Clerk's Office 
at Bucji'us, there was one allusion to Polk 
Township, which is given as a resolution by 
the County Comissioners : 

March 6, 1845. — Board met pursuant to adjourn- 
ment. Present, full Board. Resolution. — This day it 
was resolved, by the Commissioners of Crawford County, 
that the following fractional townships, taken from the 
counties of Richland and Marion, and those lying on 
the west side of said county of Crawford, accord- 
ing to an act of the General Assembly of the 
State of Ohio, passed February third (3d), 1845, to 

* In writing this history, we are compelled to depend much upon 
old settlers' and newspaper accounts. 



)V 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



419 



erect the new county of Wyandot, and alter the bound- 
aries of Crawford, was organized into separate town- 
ships, to wit : All that part taken from the county 
of Richland, and being in Township twenty (20) north, 
Range twenty (20) west, and all that part taken from 
Township nineteen (19), with Range (20), and all that 
part taken from the county of Marion, and being in 
Township fifteen (15) with Range twenty-one (21) be, 
and the same is hereby, organized into a separate town- 
ship by the name of Polk, and tha,t the County Auditor 
be and is hereby authorized to cause notice to be given 
to the said township of the foregoing organization and 
alteration, according to the statute of Ohio in such case 
made and provided. John Clements, 

Hamilton Kerb, 
Samuel Lee. 
Attest : 0. Williams, County Auditor. 

In selecting a name for this township, 
the first choice was for Jackson; it was Dan- 
iel Hoover's desire to so name it; but it was 
discovered in time that one of the new town- 
ships on the north had preceded them in the 
selection of the name Jackson. INIr. Polk be- 
ing President at this time, his name was pro- 
posed and accepted. According to the resolu- 
tion and orders of the Supervisor, Mr. James 
Eobinson was ordered to post, in three con- 
spicuous places within the township, notices, 
setting forth a list of offices then vacant, and 
ordering the time and place of election. The 
officers for Sandusky Township had already 
been elected, and when the election in Polk 
took place, soon after, it was only to fill vacan- 
cies caused by the separation, those having 
been elected in Sandusky and residing in 
Polk were to hold over till the next annual 
election. A. Underwood was one of them, 
having been elected Justice of the Peace. 
The record of the first election is in the pos- 
session of F. A. Keen, and is as follows r 

At an election held in the Township of Polk, in the 
county of Crawford, State of Ohio, on the 7th day of 
April, in the year of our Lord 1845, Isaac Criley, 
Joshua Canon and Pharas Jackson, Judges, and Solo- 
mon P. Nave and Samuel R. Canon, Clerks. The fol- 
lowing officers were duly elected and qualified : 



^ 



Trustees— Asa Hosford, Samuel P. Lee, Bartholo- 
mew Reed, Jr. ; Clerk— Peter Cress ; Treasurer— John 
S. Davis ; Assessor — Samuel R. Canon ; Constables— John 
A. Loneus, Joseph Kimmel ; Supervisors— Eri Hosford, 
Joseph Diddy, Edward Cooper, David Thrush, William 
White, A. C. Jackson, Frederic Taylor, Jacob Stine- 
baugh, John Ashcroft, William L. Dille, Bart Reed, 
Sr., Andrew Reed, A. S. Caton, Phillip Ichorn, Phillip 
Zimmermaker, Isaac Nayer. 

At a meeting of the Trustees of Polk Township, held 
on the 26th day of April, 1845, among other business 
transacted was the sale of James Sutton, a town pauper. 
He was sold to the lowest bidder for his keeping for 
one year from above date. He was taken by Jacob 
Steinbaugh, at $100, clothing and doctor bills excepted. 
They proceeded also to levy a tax, for poor purposes, 
of 2 mills on the dollar, and f of a mill for Township 
purposes. At a meeting held on the 6th day of Sep- 
tember, 1845, present, Asa Hosford and Bartholomew 
Reed, they appointed the place of holding elections to 
be at the schoolhouse, in the borough of Gallon, in 
said township. Peter Cress, Toumship Clerk. 

To those who do not understand what is 
meant by the sale of paupers, we give in full 
a copy of a handbill found among the rec- 
ords. It must be remembered no county 
house existed at the time, and it was neces- 
sary to provide in some way for the poor; 

hence they were sold: 

Sale of Paupers.— There will be sold, on Wednesday, 
May 16, 1866, Mary Houk and Delia Hengst, paupers 
of Polk Township, Crawford County, Ohio, to the low- 
est responsible bidders, for one year. Terms of pay 
for keeping said paupers, half in six months from day 
of sale, and the remainder at the expiration of the 
year. Proposals will be received from 1 to 4 o'clock, 
p j^j Samuel Shunk, 

Daniel Hooter, 
John Lemon, 
May 1, 1866. Trustees. 

There are twenty-one sections in Polk Town- 
ship, of as fine land as exists in Northern 
Ohio. The timber was very heavy, and con- 
sisted mostly of beech, maple, oak, hickory, 
elm, black walnut and ash. The land, be- 
fore cleai-ing, has the appearance of being 
swampy and wet. This is caused by the 
hit^h and generally level condition, there be- 



'.k. 



420 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



ing no general slope to the land by wliich tlie 
water can run off at once. All over the town- 
ship, there is evidence of immense deposits of 
ch'ift; gravel-beds, mixed with iron and clay, 
with strata above or below it of fine and coarse 
sand, are abundant. The geological forma- 
tion is such that, in the primeval days, the 
land in this vicinity formed shoals, and one 
can easily conceive that the great mountain 
glaciers coming from the icy North, freighted 
with their load of stone, gravel and clay, were 
wrecked in the shallow sea over this township, 
grinding and pulverizing the primitive rock 
that formed this rich soil. 

The Olentangy River meanders throughout 
the whole length of the township. It enters 
in the northeast portion, winds I'ound in broad 
sweeps toward the south and passes out on 
the west side, on the farm of J. K. Sherer. 
All along its valley there are outcroppings of 
sandstone, of the Waverly group. There are 
at present, as far as we know, but two quar- 
ries in operation — those of John Flowers, and 
Dr. Coyle and James Green. The Olentangy 
waters the bottom lands of the whole town- 
ship, and springs abound in profusion; this 
might seem contrary to the genea'al expecta- 
tion, or to any one not a practical geologist, 
when it is remembered that Polk Township 
occupies a part of the dividing ridge or crest 
that separates the slope to the lakes on the 
north, and the valley of the Ohio that slopes 
to the south; but so it is. Within the town- 
ship are two springs but a few rods apart; 
the one on the north contributes its mite to 
Lake Erie, thunders with its waters over the 
ponderous Niagara, and wends its romantic 
way around and among the " Thousand Isles," 
and thence to the sea. The spring on the 
south side lingers slowly, clinging gently to 
its birthplace, as if in doubt as to which 
coiu-se it shall take. It finally takes its course 
toward sunny lands, and on thi'ough populous 



countries, rich meadows, gradually down to 
the " Fathw of waters," and thence to the Gulf 
of Mexico. Thus it can be seen that we are 
high upon a billow of land, and upon the 
very summit of the crest. 

When the first settlers came to Polk or 
Sandusky Township, the Olentangy was a 
beautiful stream; luxuriant groves existed on 
each side of it, and its banks were lined with 
a profusion of flowers and grasses; countless 
herds of deer drank of its sweet waters, and 
the red man loved and venerated the stream. 
Before the land was cleared up, the banks 
were tolerably full, and the stream never 
shrunk to its present proportions; year by 
year, numerous mills were erected upon its 
banks, and the falling waters turned the 
wheel of indtistry to the owners' profit and the 
great convenience of the settlers. 

Probably the first men who cleared any 
land within the present limits of Polk were 
Benjamin Leveredge and his two sons, James 
and Nathaniel. Most of the early settlers 
were from New York and Pennsylvania. No 
biography of this first family can be obtained, 
and very little is known of them previous to 
their arrival in this vicinity. They came in 
the year 1817, cutting their way to their land. 
The father built his cabin near the springs on 
Atwood street, Galion, on the quarter-section 
he had entered. James Leveredge erected 
his cabin on the ground now occupied by 
David Mackey's residence, and Nathaniel built 
his primitive dwelling near the center of the 
public square in Galion. The two former had 
water in abundance from the numerous 
springs in their vicinity, but Nathaniel dug a 
well near his cabin door. This was the well 
that was filled up about ten years ago, and 
traces of which were found within the pres- 
ent year (1880) by workmen while engaged 
in grading the square. In the year 1818, 
George Wood and David Gill arrived; they 



'^ 



HISTOEY OF CKAWFORD COUXTY. 



431 



settled north of the Olentangy, near the old 
military roal, cut out by soldiers in 1812. 
These two families were from Pennsylvania, 
Wood and Gill being brothers-in-law; Wood 
was a carpenter, and Gill followed school- 
teaching, mostly; he was well educated for 
the time, and the general business man in the 
community. James Gill was a son of David, 
and his widow still lives on the site of the 
farm owned by the former. Mrs. Fanny Bry- 
fogle, Mrs. Catharine Monnett, Mrs. Nelson 
Casey and the wife of Samuel IMosher were 
daughters of David Gill. George Wood had 
one son, George, Jr. ; the two families removed 
to jMissouri, where the older members died, 
and some of the younger returned to Gallon. 
It was also in the year 1818 that Benjamin 
Sharrock came to Polk Township; he erected 
a temporary shelter near the Reisinger Corners 
for hi.s family, while he made progress with 
his ax and saw on the farm south. 

On Satiu'day, September 19, 1819, Mr. Asa 
Hosf ord trudged afoot into Polk Township ; he 
stopped over Sunday with Benjamin Lever- 
edge. From the date of his arrival, Mr. Hos- 
ford became a leading citizen and was inter- 
ested from that time on with the concerns of 
the township requiring tact and ability. In 
1820 came Nathaniel Story and Father Kit- 
teridge, the latter living with the former, who 
was by occupation a hunter and trapper. Mr. 
Skory erected his cabin near the crossing of 
Main street and the Olentangy, west of town. 
In the year 1822 came the liev. James Dun- 
lap, who went to farming, but afterward en- 
tered the ministry and taught school. In 
1824 came Nathan Merriman, who, in the 
year following his arrival, ei'eqted a whisky 
distillery at the springs, near where the Lev- 
eredges lived. This was the first distillery in 
the township, and was known far and wide, 
and familiarly designated as "the still." 

Thus far we have eiven the date of arrival 



and the order of their coming of all that are 
known. There were others taking up land 
and settling throughout the township, but 
those above named formed the nucleus around 
which clustered the new settlement. 

The first grist-mill in Polk Township was 
erected by Mr. Hibner, on the banks of the 
Olentangy, near the railroad bridge, on the 
farm now owned by Mr. Bm-gener. A saw- 
mill was built north of Gallon ; Hosf ord's and 
Park's grist-mills and Sharrock's grist and 
saw mill were all within a few miles of each 
other, and run by the waters of the Olentangy, 
which is not now a romantic-looking stream. 
The lands which it drained have been cleared, 
and many of the springs which fed it have 
become dry. Immense ditches, with the 
modern system of draining, with its miles of 
tiling, have all tended toward the destruction 
of the stream, and its banks are full only aft- 
er the heavy rains or melting of accumulated 
snow; but a small rivulet carries the water 
from pool to pool ; the waters are dark, filthy 
and putrid. The wash from the city of Gallon, 
with the washes of gas-making and dyeing, 
together with slaughter-hoiises, have contrib- 
uted to the general nastiness. 

In some portions of the township, there is 
an approach to the formation of plains, but 
not extensively so ; the soil is generally a 
gravelly loam ; at a slight depth there is found 
a clean-washed gravel, and under the gravel a 
dense hard-pan. This gravel is satm'ated 
with healthy water, and is the cause of the 
numerous springs where this gravel crops out 
to the sm'face. 

Among the topographical featm-es of the 
township, there is one thing that deseiwes es- 
pecial notice. About sixty yeai*s ago, a terri- 
bly severe wind-storm swept over the north- 
west pwtion; the storm entered the western 
portion of the township on what is now known 
as the Belts farm, passing in a northeast di- 



422 



HISTORY OF CRxVWFORD COI'NTY 



rection, and out of the township near the 
farm of Hon. James Robinson. Its track was 
about one mile in width; every tree, almost 
without exception, was uprooted or twisted off, 
and prostrated in the most unimaginable con- 
fusion. The trees went down like grass before 
the sickle. Peter Snyder, now of Crestline, 
was at the time a boy, plowing in the field. 
Hearing the roar of the approaching storm, he 
made haste to find security; he entered an 
old-fashioned Pennsylvania log barn, set on a 
cobble-stone foundation; he repaired to the 
mow for safety, but hardly had he ai-rived 
there when the whole structui'e was raised 
three or fom* feet fi'om the foundation. 
While suspended in the air, the roof gave way 
and flew across the field, and the barn settled 
back to its foundation. Debris of all kinds 
was scattered over the ground, and among 
them were found numerous boughs and twigs 
of pine, which must have been brought from 
great distances. Deer and wild turkeys were 
killed and crushed and fearfully mangled, as 
were also many cattle belonging to the set- 
tlers. Disberry Johnson had five head of cat- 
tle in the woods that were penned in by the 
fallen timber, but, strange to say, uninjured. 
It required five days of chopping and clear- 
ing to release them from their strange captiv- 
ity. The year following this storm, fire broke 
out among the di-ied leaves and twigs in this 
windfall, and swept the whole length of it. 
The crops and buildings within close prox- 
imity were destroyed; for days the smoke was 
so dense that one could not see ten feet before 
him. Many times people would be obliged 
to prostrate themselves upon the ground to 
prevent suffocation. The settlers despaired of 
retrieving anything from the general wreck; 
many of them became despondent, and 
had they possessed the means, or any facili- 
ties, would have moved away fi'om the black- 
ened and charred iniins. The track of this 



windfall can at this day be traced in its 
course; where the trees were allowed to grow 
again, they are generally smaller; the trees 
going down and biu'ning in the manner they 
did saved much logging and clearing; but on 
some farms it took every acre of timber from 
them. 

The soil of Polk Township is eminently 
adapted to the raising of corn, although 
excellent wheat crops are harvested. The 
farther west in the township the more it is 
adapted to grazing and crops of grasses; 
stock can be kept better nowhere than on the 
plains and prairies which commence in Polk 
Township and extend for miles westward. 

In the year 182!*, William Murray, Maj. 
Jeffrey and James Dunlap rigged up a one- 
horse wagon with a pole in it for two horses. 
This was in what was called Ohio County, and 
is now in Western Virginia. They had rifles, 
ammunition, cross-cut saw, axes and several 
old quilts. They covered the wagon with a 
linen cover and started for the West. They 
crossed the Ohio at the mouth of Short Creek, 
above Wheeling, passed through New Phila- 
delphia, in Tuscarawas County, through 
Wooster, on to Mansfield, a town then having 
three stores, two taverns and a blacksmith- 
shop. On, west, they continued to a place 
they heard of as " Spangtown," "Moccasin," 
or " Goshen." Th«re were five families be- 
tween Gallon and Mansfield, as follows : Judge 
Patterson, Alfred Atwood's mother, a widow 
lady, old John Edgington, John Marshall and 
John Hibner. Just as they came to where the 
Cleveland, Columbus & Cincinnati Railroad 
crosses Main street, Mr. Dunlap told his com- 
panions that he thought they were coming to 
a settlement, as he discovered sheep tracks. 
They laughed at him and said they were deer 
tracks, which they proved to be. They came 
on through the woods up to the square where 
there were two log cabins, in one of which 



K 




c.-^ Pif^^^w 



izfk 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



425 



lived IVIr. Leveredge. At the foot of the hill, 
where Mrs. J. Gill now lives, was a cabin, 
where J. Dickerson then lived. Farther west, 
where J. R. Clymer's brick house now is, 
there was a double log cabin, owned by Will- 
iam Hosford, Asa Hosford's father; Horace 
Hosford had a blacksmith-shop on the Reis- 
inger Corners, where he lived; Grandfather 
Kitteridge lived on the other corner. They 
went southwest to iSenjamin Sharrock's house. 
They were twelve days making the trip of 150 
miles; sometimes the mud was up to the 
wagon-bed. The next day, Mrs. ShaiTock 
baked them some bread, and they went to their 
land to erect a cabin. On the land were 
twelve or fourteen Indians, who had been on a 
big drunk the day before; one of them had 
been stabbed through the left side with a scalp- 
ing-knife. The Indian bragged over it and said, 
"Me berry stout Injun — stick big knife 
through — no kill — wooh!" The emigrants 
were much annoyed through the night by the 
howling of wolves. In a few days, they 
finished their cabin and returned for their fam- 
ilies. This Mr. Dunlap afterward entered the 
ministry, and, within ten years, has written a 
number of papers entitled, "Recollections of 
Crawford County." 

The settlers would espy a covered wagon 
coming, and cry out, "There comes another 
settler; " and start to meet him, and give him a 
hearty welcome, take axes and help to cut out a 
trail to his land and help him to select a good 
site for his cabin; all being agreed upon, they 
would chop and roll two logs together, kindle 
a fire between for the good woman to cook and 
provide something to eat, while they went to 
work clearing off a spot on which to erect a 
cabin. In two or three days, sufficient logs 
would be cut, and the cabin erected, and a 
hole cut in one side for a door. Then the 
household furnitui-e would be unloaded, con- 
sisting, generally, of two beds and bedding, a 



table, bureau, some chairs and kitchen furni- 
ture, piling them with the family, in the cabin, 
on the gi'ound floor. A young man-ied couple 
generally started in the same way, being as- 
sisted by their parents. A necessary piece of 
f lU'niture in the pioneer's cabin was a hominy- 
block, which was made by taking a log twenty 
inches thick and three feet long, chopping it 
in from each end and shaping it like a goblet; 
then setting it on end, kindle a fire under it 
and bui'n it out like a di'uggist's mortar; then 
they take a small pole, with an iron ring on 
one end, put an iron wedge into it to pound 
the corn, put the corn in, pour on hot water to 
loosen the hulls, and pound with the wedge 
until cracked into hominy. While the hus- 
band is pounding his hominy at night, the 
wife is spinning flax-tow or wool for clothing 
for the family. The following pioneer remin- 
iscence is pertinent to the subject: 

"I have seen a whole family,-consisiing of 
father, mother, children, pet pigs, young ducks 
and chickens, all occupying the same room at 
the same time, truly equal to Barnum's happy 
family. Although some endured hardships 
almost beyond endurance — having large fam- 
ilies to support and no money — meat could be 
obtained from the woods. The writer of these 
lines has seen the times when he has brought 
home a sack of meal and did not know where 
the next was to come from; yet, trusting in 
God, and working day and night, has at length 
obtained a competency for himself and family, 
as many others have done. When I look 
back fifty years and see this country a howl- 
ing wilderness, thronged with wild beasts of 
various kinds, hardly a white inhabitant from 
here to the Rocky Mountains, I am struck 
with wonder and surprise at the progi-ess of 
our nation. In 1825, we had a manufactur- 
ing establishment in Gallon, Polk ToAvnship, 
erected, I think, by old Nathan or Bishop 
Men-iman, of Bucyrus, to make whisky of our 



^' 



426 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



spare com and rye. About the same time, 
there was a horse-mill put up by old Mr. Sny- 
der (I think his given name was Christopher), 
at Middletown, north of Gallon two or three 
miles, where we could get grinding done. 
The farmers for miles around would piit a bag 
of corn or wheat on a horse with harness on, 
take another, if he had it, and go to mill. 
If his tui-n came before night, all right; if 
not, he would hitch up in the night and keep 
himself awake by traveling around ait°ir his 
horse. If it was wheat, he could turn a crank 
attached to a bolting cloth, and get his flour 
bolted by hand, and when his flour was ground 
would come home whistling and singing as 
happy as a lark. Perhaps his wife would tell 
him they were out of meat; taking his gun 
and dog, he would go out and shoot down a 
fat deer, as a farmer now goes out to his field 
to kill a fat sheep." 

Soon after the war of 1812 James Nail, 
Esq., was in Richland County ; his father's was 
the seventh family in the county. Mr. Nail 
was bom in Somerset County, Penn., Novem- 
ber 9, 1797; he left his father in 1819 and 
came to Sandusky Township, and bought 160 
acres of land (called Congress land), two miles 
north of Gallon. In 1821, he married and seir 
tied on his land. When he first came, he 
knew of no neighbors but the Leveredges and 
his brother-in-law, Lewis Leiberger, with whom 
he lived till married. The next year, Leiber- 
ger moved away. Bee-trees were plenty at 
this time, and IVIr. Nail and his brother-in-law 
started one morning on a bee hunt, taking a 
southwest course. They camped the first 
night on Sandusky Plains, half-way between 
Gallon and Bucyrus, at a small stream; the 
next day they himted till evening, and camped 
on Sandusky River, two miles west of Bucy- 
rus ; they saw many deer and turkeys, many 
bee-trees, but not a human being or a settle- 
ment. By the year 1821, John Brovm, Benja- 



min Sharrock, Nathaniel Story and Mr. Hos- 
ford had moved into the neighborhood. For a 
long time, the Indians had been in the habit 
of taking large quantities of cranberries to 
Richland County; they would sometimes be 
seen with eight or ten horses loaded down 
with bark boxes filled with cranberries; these 
boxes were slung over the backs of the horses, 
and each one led by an Indian, single file. 
They traded the cranberries for meal, etc. ; the 
Indians kept secret the place of their growth, 
but Mr. Nail, his father-in-law, Samuel Brown, 
Michael Brown and Jacob Miller, determined 
to find the place where they were procured. 
They went southwest till they struck the Penn- 
sylvania army road, and followed it for several 
miles, which was easily distinguished; after 
going some distance, they thought they had 
better go farther north ; this they did till they 
struck the Sandusky River, east of Bucyrus. 
As they came to the stream, they heard a man 
chopping a little above; Mr. Nail told his 
companions that Indians were around, or else 
some white man had got in; they rode up and 
foimd Mr. Daniel McMichael, a man they had 
never seen before; he seemed much alarmed, 
but was re-assured when ]Mr. Nail rode up close 
to him. This man gave them directions, and 
went with them a distance, showing them the 
Indian trail that led to the cranbeiTy marsh. 
They camped out that night, and saw the 
camp-fii'es of several parties of Indians, but 
were not molested. The next morning, they 
gathered as many cranberries as their horses 
could carry. They reached home that evening ; 
in passing over the military road, the weeds 
were as high as their horses' heads. They saw 
but one man during the trip. Mr. Nail states 
that their food, when he was young, consisted 
of bear's meat, venison, turkey, corn-meal, pota- 
toes and hominy. Their clothing was gener- 
ally buckskin and linsey-woolsey; the chil- 
dren mostly went bareheaded and barefooted 



"~® 



V 



:hL 



HISTORY or CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



497 



nearly all the year. They made some kind of 
linen from the nettles. Some time after Mr 
Nail and his brother-in-law had hunted and 
marked their bee-trees, they went after the 
honey. After it was all collected, they lacked 
a little of two ban-els; Mr. Christian Snyder 
had moved to the neighborhood a little while 
before, and was about going back for his 
goods ; he offered to take the honey to Jeffer- 
son County for nothing, saying it would there 
sell for $1 a gallon. 

In 1822, Mr. Nail sold his land and bought 
eighty acres on a branch of the Whetstone, or 
Olentangy, southwest of Galion. Michael 
Brown, John Dunmeier and James Lever- 
edge assisted him in putting up his cabin; 
about this time, he had occasion to go to 
Mansfield on foot, which was twenty-two miles 
the way he was obliged to go ; he got back at 
10 at night; but as he reached the house his 
dog barked violently. The wife drew the 
blanket that covered the door to one side, 
when the dog ran in the cabin followed by a 
wolf, who, seeing a large fire, ran back. Mr. 
Nail found his wife prepared for emei'gencies, 
sitting near the fire, the dog at her feet and 
the ax in her hand. About this time, Mr. 
Alexander McGrew came to Mr. Nail's, from 
Tuscarawas County, and solicited the contract 
for erecting a mill which Mr. Nail contem- 
plated erecting. A dam was made, and in six 
weeks' time, the fr'ame and running gear were 
in order. The farm and mill were sold that 
fall to IVIr. John Hauck, who was looking for 
a site for a carding-machine and fulling-mill. 
The settlers were too sparse, and the project 
was given up. Mr. Nail reserved the right to 
live in the cabin and use the mill for one 
year, which he did, fiu'nishing lumber to the 
settlers. In 1822, he moved one-half mile be- 
low his saw-mill and in 1824 erected a grist- 
mill. The mill-stones were made of " nigger- 
heads " by ]Mr. Buckland, of Bucyrus. The 



market prices at this time were as follows 
Coffee, 50 cents a pound; salt, 6 cents a pound 
powder $2 a pound; lead, 50 cents a pound 
chewing tobacco, 50 cents a pomid ; whisky 50 
cents a gallon ; and the two latter articles, ]Mr. 
Nail says, no family could get along without. 
IVIr. Nathaniel Story was a native of Oxford 
County, Me., and came with his father's fam- 
ily to Ohio in 1818. They stopped a short 
time at the Williamson settlement, east of 
Galion ; they intended to buy some of the Vir- 
ginia military school lands, but failed in their 
object, and passed the winter of 1818-19 in a 
cabin of John Leveredge, situated southeast 
of the public square of Galion. Mr. Lever- 
edge had been killed but a short time previous 
to this, by a log falling upon him at the rais- 
ing of John Williamson's new hewed-log 
cabin. When they came into the settlement, 
that hewed-log cabin stood up near the square 
without a roof, and exactly as it was left when 
Leveredge was killed. In the spring of 1819, 
they moved into the house of jMr. Sturges, sit- 
uated northwest of Galion, on the brow of the 
hill across from John G. Kraft's brewery, 
and where the residence of Jesse Pm'key now 
stands. They lived there for f oiu* years. Mr. 
Story writes of the Indians as follows : "I was 
acquainted with most of the Wyandots and 
Delawares, among them the Walkers, Will- 
iams, Armstrongs, Dowdys, Johnny Cake, etc. 
Johnny Cake was a full-blooded Indian of 
much note. He was a well-developed man, of 
fine physical proportions, supple, athletic, and 
he possessed in an iiuusual degree the respect 
and confidence of all the white settlei*s of that 
day. His wife was three-fourths white, and 
an excellent woman for the opportunities that 
she had. There is a bit of romance connected 
with her histoiy, which may be interesting to 
readers, as it has never been published except 
in the Bucyrus Forum. The mother of Jolinny 
Cake's wife had been captm-ed fr-om her white 



fk^ 



428 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



parents, somewhere in the eastern part of Ohio, 
by the Indians, probably during the war with 
Groat Britain in 1812-15, and adopted into one 
of the Indian families on the Sandusky. Here 
she was coiuied and married in Indian fash- 
ion, by Abraham "Williams, a half-breed In- 
dian. The fruit of the imion between this 
half-breed and white girl, was a beautiful 
daughter, who was coui'ted and married by 
Johnny Cake. Johnny went with an exploring 
expedition in 1823, or thereabout, to the Great 
West beyond the Mississippi. He was a 
marked man in council or courage, and so re- 
garded by all who came in contact with him. 
When his tribe removed from the Wyandot 
reservation in 1846, he and his wife went with 
them, and, when last heard from, in 1874, were 
living in wealth and good position among the 
Walkers, to whom he is related." The last 
time that IVIr. Story saw Johnny Cake was in 
1845 or 1846. His father, Nehemiah Story, 
and himself, were working on the frame of a 
house where the widow of James W. Gill, 
Esq., now lives, on Main street, west side of 
Gallon. He stopped and talked with them a 
long time as he was passing through; he said 
that the Indians' hunting-grounds had been 
sadly interfered with by the white settlers, who 
killed or drove away the game, and for that 
reason he seldom came that way of late years. 
He seemed overjoyed to see and talk with them 
and revived many reminiscences of the past 
that had for years slumbered in their memories. 
At this time he weighed nearly two hundi-ed 
pounds, and was a splendid specimen of a wild 
Indian of the woods, who was keenly alive to 
the great facts of " manifest destiny." Clearly 
foreseeing the future, he spoke in raptm'ous 
terms of the white man, who brought with 
him the all-conquering forces of a superior 
and higher civilization, but grievously 
mourned, in broken accents, the decay of his 
own Indian race, whose doom was "wi'itten in 



the setting sun of the West." Says Mr. 
Story : " W^e shall never forget the appearance 
and expression of this man — this thoughtful 
but untutored child of the forest — as he affec- 
tionately and tearfully bade us good-bye. He 
wheeled the head of his pony toward the 
Sandusky Plains, and was soon lost to our gaze 
forever." Mr. Story remembers the exciting 
attempt of Tom Dowdy, a keen, small but 
sharp Indian, to murder a Canadian Indian. 
They were both in liquor, obtained at a tavern 
near where Gallon now stands. A quarrel 
ensued over the whisky bottle (as it does 
now sometimes among white people), and Tom 
took out his scalping-knife and stabbed his 
Indian companion, with a terrible stroke, in 
the side. The two Indians were afterward 
seen at an encampment on Shaw's Creek, south 
of Iberia. The whisky was gone, and the two 
Indians sat on opposite sides of the fire, smok- 
ing in peace. Dowdy once brought informa- 
tion to the Storys, that there was a certain 
white-oak tree that had in it five raccoons and 
a porcupine. This was business for Story, and 
exactly in his line. They went with Dowdy 
and his squaw, who was an excellent chopper, 
and soon had the tree down and the game se- 
cured. Dowdy and his wife took three of the 
coons, and the Storys took two. The skins were 
piu-chased by James Nail. This Indian, 
Dowdy, died at Pipetown some time afterward, 
in the severity of winter, and, in accordance 
with the custom of the Indians, his body, with 
his clothing and hunting implements, was 
laid upon a scaffold, at a safe height from the 
ground. Here it remained until the warm sun 
in the spring had softened the soil, when his 
remains were deposited in the earth. 

The Indians had a buiying-ground just 
north of where the Gill farm is, on the banks 
of the Olentangy. Here the dead fi*om the 
Indian village were buried. The graves were 
generally quite shallow; they made some dis- 



^ 



>V 



ifk^ 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



439 



tinction in the graves, according to the social 
status of the person; some of the graves had 
forks erected at each end, with a pole across; 
on this were laid strips of bark and twigs, 
but it soon gave way and was not renewed. 
How long this spot had been consecrated by 
the Indians, is not known, but they continued 
to use it up to their departui'e from this vicin- 
ity. In an early day, young men opened the 
graves, with the vain hope of obtaining ti'eas- 
ures. Some of the early doctors secured fur- 
nitui'e from this ground for their offices. The 
graveyard had little reverence shown it, and 
it was only when the field was cultivated, and 
the graves plowed level, that it became safe 
from molestation. 

In the year 1825, Mr. Nail added a distillery 
to his grist-mill and continued grinding and 
distilling till the year 1S35. Before mills were 
built in Polk Township the settlers went long 
distances to get grinding done. In 1822, 
they were going to Spring Mill, southeast of 
Ontario ; and, even after mills were built along 
the Olentangy, some were obliged to go below 
Belleville, by reason of the scarcity of water 
in Polk Township. Corn-meal was more 
plentiful than flour. It was generally cooked 
in f oiu" different ways : A very common way of 
using it was to make mush and eat it with milk ; 
when it was baked in a Dutch oven, it was 
called 2:)one ; when baked on a board, it was 
called johnny-cake; and when made into 
round balls and baked in the oven, it was 
called corn-dodgers. Mr. Nail relates that a 
family lived tln-ee miles southeast of Gallon, 
by the name of Jackson; a little fellow of 
this family would often come to mill with 
a bag of com to be ground; after the com 
was ground, he would lift the little fellow on top 
of the bag, of meal on the horse and start him 
for home. He generally had meal in one end 
of the bag, and a jug of whisky in the other 
end. ]\Ir. Nail had no thought at that time that 



little Abner M. Jackson would be the porfy 
man he afterward became, much less that he 
would become the Presiding Judge of our 
court. In 1835, IVIr. Nail sold his grist-mill 
and distillery to Mr. Parks, who came from 
Beaver County, Perm. 

INIr. Dunlap stated that after he retmned 
fi'om Virginia, where he had been for his fam- 
ily, the settlers had increased in numbers from 
twelve to twenty-five. About the time of his 
return, there was a double log cabin one mile 
southwest of Gallon, in which lived two fam- 
ilies, one by the name of Eiysman, and one by 
the name of Dun, or Doormise, who had a lit- 
tle daughter about fom' years of age. The 
mother was boiling sugar-water in the woods 
near by, and had the little girl by her. Think- 
ing it time the little one was in the house, she 
went with her to the fence, lifted her over 
the inclosure and told her to amuse herself 
until the mother arrived. Nothing was ever 
seen of the little girl after that day. A ntunber 
of strange Indians (called Canadians, because 
they belonged near the lakes where the set- 
tlers were French), had been roving around 
the settlements, and but a few hours before 
the child was missed. A party of four or five 
had been to Mr. Hosford's to purchase some 
whisky. But a few days before a party of 
Indians, supposed to be the same, had been to 
the house of Benjamin Sharrock, and attempted 
to negotiate for a yotmg girl which they 
wanted to raise in their tribe, and be adopted 
as one of them. "When the poor mother came 
in fi'om her woi'k and found that the little 
daughter had not come in the house, she knew 
almost intuitively that the little one was lost. 
She was fi-enzied with hoiTor, and a strange 
terror crept over her ; in a fi'antic manner, she 
roved up and do^vn tlu'ough the woods, one 
moment calling in endearing accents the niune 
of her little child, and the next the woods would 
ring with her piercing shi'ieks, her cries and 



W' 



>> 



430 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY, 



appeals to lioavon. Word had boon sont to Mr. 
Asa Hosf ord, aud ho came with men as promptly 
as possible; for three days and nights the 
woods wore searched ; parties of men were sent 
with information in every direction, but all of 
no Tise. The frantic mother suffered so much, 
that all the ofood-heartcd old pioneers tried to 
think of some new expedient; finally, they 
ceased their search in the woods and began 
to fh-ag the creek. Men, women and children, 
with ])oles, rakes, grapnels, and every imple- 
ment that could possibly be of use, were 
brought oiit for the purpose. But hopes of 
the lost one died within tliem, and the search 
was gi-adually given up, and the bright little 
one was lost forever. The strange Indians 
were never seen in the vicinity thereafter. It 
was the theoiy of those most thoroughly 
versed in Indian affairs that some chief was 
desirous of bringing up in his tribe a white 
squaw that should in time be the wife of one 
of his favorite sons, or his legitimate successor. 
The only mitigation of this horrible destiny was 
the fact that nearly all remembrance of her 
parents and her innocent childhood joys would 
be obliterated from her memory. Near the 
same place, a family by the name of Bashford 
had taken a little girl to raise. She went out 
to find the cows, which, by the ringing of a 
bell, she soon discovered; but she was confused 
aboiit the route to bo taken for the house ; she 
kept cool, and determined to stay with the 
cows, knowing that when they were found she 
would be all right. She followed them around 
until they lay down; she crawled up and laid 
as near the back of an old cow as she could, 
for the sake of the warmth. In the morning, 
she was found rambling around with the cat- 
tle and her feet somewhat fi-ost-bitten. She 
was much alanned by the howling of the 
wolves thi-ough the night. There were hardly 
any roads, except Indian trails, and women 
and children were often lost in passing from 



place to place, and in some instances men were 
lost. A man by the name of Samuel Dany 
went into the woods to shoot a deer; he soon 
became lost, and wandered round and round un- 
til he was j)erfectly confused. At last he came 
in sight of a cabin, and a woman standing in 
the door; he walked up to the fence, and in- 
quired of her where Samuel Dany lived. She 
laughingly told him he might come in and 
see. He was overjoyed to discover that it was 
his own wife and his own home. Mr. Dunlap, 
Owen Tuttle and James Auten went to the 
southeast corner of Polk one time, and in less 
than two houi's killed five deer on two acres of 
ground. In an early day, a gentleman trav- 
eling on his way west, passed through Gallon 
on a fine gray Canadian stallion. Some days 
after, the horse was found tied to a sapling on 
the Beltz farm; he had the appearance of 
having been there for several days, but no 
owner was ever found for horse, saddle or bri- 
dle; the traveler could never be traced beyond 
that place. A few years ago, while the roads 
were being worked, some human bones were 
turned up by a scraper on the hill at the end 
of the bridge over AVlietstone Creek, just be- 
low Mr. Hosford's mill. This spot was not 
far from the trail traveled between Bucp'us 
and Gallon at the time of the supposed mur- 
der. 

In connection with this sujiposed murder, 
we will give an account of one that did occiu', 
and one that chilled the hearts of early set- 
tlers with hoiTor. With all the hardihood of 
the w^hite men in Polk Township, mm'der 
never entered their thoughts, and this occur- 
rence cast a gloom over the settlement that was 
evident for years after. Mr. John Hammer 
and his brother-in-law. Bender, walked from 
Greensburg, Westmoreland Co., Penn., acro.ss 
the Alleghany Mountains, and joiu'neyed on 
foot to Wooster, Ohio, which, at that dav 
(183G), was considered neai* the border. Ham- 



K 



k 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



431 



mer had with him $200 to buy land, besides 
spending-money. Bender had from $30 to 
$40 also, but no money for land, as he went 
along only for company and to see the West. 
They went to the bank in Wooster and had 
the cashier examine their money, to see if it 
was all good; here they were discovered by 
two robbers, who followed them at a distance 
and unobserved. At Gallon, they entered a 
groceiy store, where Hammer and Bender 
were, and made their acquaintance; they cas- 
ually asked them where they were bound for, 
when the men, suspecting nothing, replied 
that they were out looking over the Western 
country for some land to buy for a farm. The 
strangers stated that they were going that 
way, too, and could bear them company. They 
went on west together, till near the western 
boundary of Polk ; one of the robbers secured a 
stout stick, and soon after they all sat on a log 
and talked awhile; when they arose, Bender 
and Hammer took separate paths, running 
parallel, and the robbers each followed one of 
the men. One then placed his pistol to the 
back of Bender's head and shot him; Hammer 
heard the crack of the pistol, but, before he 
could tm'n, he was struck over the head by a 
heavy gi'een stick. He was terribly bruised 
and beaten, and but for the splintered condi- 
tion of the club, would certainly have been 
killed. While Hammer was being pounded so 
unmercifully, his comrade was having his 
pockets rifled; his handkerchief was torn from 
his neck and his watch taken, but his money 
was securely hid in his vest. Col. Sweeny was 
at that time very near, getting out logs for a 
saw-mill. Just after the crack of the pistol, 
one of the men employed yelled in a loud man- 
ner to the oxen. This fi-ightened the robbers 
and they fled through the woods. Nothing 
reliable was ever heard from them after. 

A stranger coming from Gallon the next 
day, on horseback, discovered the dead man 



lying on his back in the mud, and yelled at 
the top of his voice for help. Mr. Sweeny 
and his men heard him, and immediately came 
up to the scene of the murder. Harmner was 
ten'ified, and ran in a southwesterly direction, 
until he came upon a man plowing in a 
field, whose name was Goodale; Harmner 
could speak no English, but the farmer saw 
plainly that the man had been badly injured. 
He begged to have his brother-in-law brought 
to him before bmial, which was done. An in- 
quest was held in the woods where the mur- 
der was cormnitted. Abraham Hahn was the 
Coroner. The next day the body was buried 
in the Campbell graveyard. JMr. Hammer re- 
covered, and in a couple of months, bought a 
farm near Bucyrus, and paid down his $200. 
He returned to Pennsylvania, sold out his in- 
terests there, and, in two years' time, moved on 
to his farm. Many years after, the papers had 
an account of the execution of a mm'derer, 
who at the last moment confessed that he had 
killed Bender near the Olentangy, in Craw- 
ford County, Ohio, and also a man in the 
Sherer neighborhood. 

While searching the records in the different 
offices in Bucyrus, we came across a book, in 
which were recorded a great many descrip- 
tions of "marks." Mi-. Asa Hosford informed 
us that these books were kept in each township 
by the Clerk, and that each owner of stock 
was obliged to lay claim to some mark for his 
cattle, and have it recorded in this book. The 
cattle were marked in accordance with the rec- 
ord, and was prima facie evidence of his prop- 
erty. There were left crops, right crops, long 
crops and short crops, whole crops and half 
crops, and dumb-bells in profusion and con- 
fusion. Besides the natural game in the 
woods, many hogs had a proclivity for going 
deep into the woods for mast, on which 
they fattened readily. Eventually they would 
breed in the forest, and the woods became full 



i "V 



2iJ^ 



433 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



of wild hogs without a mark upon them. In 
many places, the hunters would shoot these 
down with impunity, and without fear of be- 
ing called to account. The great number of 
hogs in the forest was always a temptation to 
bears. These animals have a special liking 
for honey and pork. As bee-trees and wild 
hogs were generally to be found in the vicinity 
of settlers, so the bear was seen, perhaps, more 
often about settlements than deeper in the for- 
est. Bruin would sometimes make bold to at- 
tack a pig in his own domicile ; the peculiar cry 
made by the hog was generally recognized by 
the settlers, and they rushed out at once to 
"save their bacon." Sometimes men would 
steal to the woods and mark young cattle be- 
fore the owner had an opportunity, and these 
were the pests of settlers. It was in these 
times that those who had no need of whole- 
some laws and legal restrictions, were neces- 
sarily often annoyed by lawless and disorderly 
persons. There was no absolute seciu'ity for 
persons and property; personal coirrage and 
independent action were the greatest safe- 
guards, and the moral law was predominant in 
its sway over the masses. The plea of self- 
defense was more often heard than would be 
consistent in these times with a Jaw-abiding 
people. 

As the settlers cleared up the lands, they 
began to sow some wheat. They had no 
near market, and there was not much induce- 
ment to raise more than was needed for home 
consumption. Up to 1825, there was much of 
the produce hauled to Mansfield; for wheat at 
this time, they generally received 25 cents per 
bushel, in goods. Common sheeting or calico, 
was worth by the yard a bushel of wheat. 
The women would often go to market with a 
crock of butter in each end of a bag, thrown 
across a horse, and a basket of eggs on her 
lap. There they received 6 cents a pound for 
the butter, and 3 cents a dozen for the eggs. 



Hearing that a better market existed at the 
lake, some of the settlers made the venture of 
hauling some grain there. The neighbors, 
hearing of the retm'n of the adventurers. 
Hocked in to inquire about the facilities of 
trading at Sandusky, market prices, roads, etc. 
At the new market they received 55 cents per 
bushel for their wheat, purchased salt for $5 
a barrel, and other articles in proportion. 
The news soon spread, and the market was 
turned to the north. Asa Hosford was influ- 
ential in getting the Columbus and Portland 
road to pass through Gallon, which became 
the highway for all traffic to the lake for many 
years after. He came into Polk Township on 
the 19th day of September, 1819, on foot, in 
company with his brother Horace. This was 
on Saturday, and Mr. Hosford determined to 
pass the Sabbath in quiet, and rest himself 
from his weary journey. He stopped with 
Benjamin Leveredge, for there was no hotel in 
all that country, and the settlers were glad to 
receive any one who could bring them news 
and talk to them of the outside world. On 
Sunday forenoon, IVIr. Hosford observed the 
arrival at the cabin of ten or twelve men and 
a few women; they took seats in the cabin, and 
he conversed with them concerninof the land 
and such topics as bore upon the times and 
place; finally a tall, rawboned man appeared, 
di-essed in linsey-woolsey shirt, wamus and 
pantaloons, moccasins on his feet, over his 
shoulder powder-horn and bullet-pouch, and 
aroimd his waist a belt with a large knife sus- 
pended by his side. On his arm he carried a 
long rifle. Mr. Hosford was passing his first 
Sabbath in a frontier town; he had no con- 
ception of what would happen; he asked no 
questions and quietly awaited developments. 
The tall man deposited his accouterments in 
a corner and took a seat; all was hushed for 
a few moments, when Benjamin Sharrock, for 
he it was, arose, and sung an old hymn; then 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



433 






he knelt and prayed, after which he stood up 
and exhorted after the Methodist fashion. Mi'. 
Hosford was agreeably surprised, and this 
meeting made a lasting impression upon his 
mind. Mi'. Sharrock had bought out the Mr. 
Hauck who had come from Cincinnati to start 
a mill, in 1822. He erected a saw and grist 
mill on the Olentangy, Many of his old ac- 
couterments are in the possession of his de- 
scendants, who value them highly, and prize 
them as worthy of preservation among the ar- 
chives of the family. Mr. Sharrock remained 
on his farm for many years, until his death, 
within the present year (1880). This remark- 
able man was as old, if not older, than oiu- 
republic, for he believed himself to be one 
hundred and five years old at the time of his 
death. He has numerous descendants through- 
out the county, and his name will ever be 
prominent among the pioneers of Polk Town- 
ship and vicinity. 

When the first settlers came to Polk, they 
found a village of Wyandot Indians on the 
south side of the Olentangy, on ground that 
now forms the northern part of Gallon. They 
were peaceful and well disposed toward the 
white settlers, and rendered them valuable 
assistance in the erection of -their cabins, and 
at log-rollings. At one time, 'Mx. Hosford had 
employed a number of them to assist in a 
log-rolling; in the evening, when the day's 
work was done, they all assembled in Mi*. 
Hosford's kitchen; being slightly intoxicated, 
they were in humor for some demonstration 
of their pent-up spirits. Mr. Hosford, think- 
ing to amuse all present, and desiring to wit- 
ness some of their ceremonies, proposed that 
the Indians should give an exhibition of their 
war-dance. They readily acceded to his re- 
quest, and immediately placed one of their 
number, by name "Buckwheat," in the center 
of the room, and commenced a horrible dance 
around him. Hideous as they were of them- 



selves, they added to their repulsiveness con- 
tortions of body and countenance. They 
whooped and yelled and grew fiercer in their 
actions, till finally they di-agged Buckwheat 
roughly from his seat and threw him violently 
upon the floor. One of the braves placed his 
foot upon Buckwheat's neck and went through 
the pantomime of scalping him; while others 
represented themselves as plunging their knives 
into the quivering victim. Buckwheat played 
his part well; he was personifying a white 
man in captivity ; so realistic was this tableau, 
that a white man present became enraged at 
the apparent fear and trembling of Buck- 
wheat, and it almost required the personal re- 
straint of INIr. Hosford to prevent Buckwheat 
being killed. JVIi'. Hosford had reason to con- 
gratulate himself that before the exliibition 
commenced all arms and weapons had been 
concealed. This mimic dance and death of a 
white man at this period, made a lasting im- 
pression on those who saw it, and it brought 
vividly to their memories the hori'ible atroci- 
ties pei-petrated in this near neighborhood but 
a comparatively few years before. 

As we have before stated, from Mr. Hos- 
ford's first appearance in the township, new 
life and energy were infused into the settle- 
ment. He at once became the leading spirit 
of progress and advancement; he was intrust- 
ed with many positions of responsibility, and 
eno-ao-ed in many projects that were of per 
manent benefit to both Polk Township and 
Gallon; he circulated petitions for, and was 
influential in, obtaining the two roads that cross 
at the Reisinger Corners. The importance of 
these roads, in the development of the town- 
ship at that time, can hardly be estimated; 
comparatively it could only be equaled by the 
crossing of railroads in modern times. The 
first road opened was fi'om Mansfield to Upper 
Sandusliy; Main street in Gallon was foi-med 
of that poi-tion which passes through the cor- 



484 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY 



poration. The road has been changed some- 
what from its former course; originally, it 
angled northeast at the intersection of Main 
and Columbus streets, and followed the mean- 
deriugs of the "Whetstone. This change was 
made over fifty years ago, which gives to 
Main street a due east-and-west bearing. This 
road was a stage route, and hotels soon lined 
the wayside. After this came the road from 
Columbus to Sandusky ; this road was surveyed 
by Col. Kilborne, of Bu.cyi'us, and was origi- 
nally known as the Columbus and Portland 
road, and many old deeds of land whose bound- 
ai'ies touched this road will be found to bear 
the above name. 

The tendency of a market on the lake was 
to make this road one of importance. The 
trip could be made in from five to seven days. 
Unless loaded coming back, the return trip 
was shortened. The farmers from the south, 
one hundred miles from the lake, all about 
Delaware and surrounding country, used this 
road as a highway for their produce. Hotels 
sprang up every three or four miles along 
the route, and some of them have kept a hun- 
dred and fifty teams and men over night. A 
tavern, on the farm of Hon. James Eobinson, 
frequently kept forty, and yet a majority of the 
farmers carried along their bread and food 
for themselves and horses, sleeping in their 
wagons. When they had passed over half the 
jom-ney, they would hang up in a tree a por- 
tion of the horse-feed to be consumed on their 
return. Wheat was seldom more than 50 
cents a bushel, and they were obliged to econo- 
mize, or their produce would be absorbed by 
their expenses. We know of two men in Polk 
Township who marketed their grain in San- 
dusky and retxu-ned home at an expense of 6 
cents each. These 6 cents piu-chased whisky, 
which was 3 cents a drink. Besides the traffic 
on these roads, the county began to be full of 
strangers; many men were hunting up lands. 



some for the purpose of settling and some for 
the purpose of speculation. So numerous 
were these travelers that hotel-keeping became 
one of the most honorable and lucrative occu- 
pations that one could engage in. So great 
was this spirit of speculation, so wild and reck- 
less were the people, that it was almost univers 
ally indulged in by those who were capable. 
Poverty was all that debarred any one fi'om 
the privileges. Polk Township being com- 
paratively poor, but few were cau.ght in the 
ruins of the crash; many plunged deeply in 
debt for land, supposing that the great num- 
ber of broad acres they carried could, in the 
near future, be unloaded with immense profit. 
With 1837 came the inevitable rviin that fol- 
lows speculation and high prices; business of 
all kinds was stagnated, manufacturing ceased, 
and markets were almost closed. The Ohio 
Legislature went promptly at work, enacted 
measures of relief and stay-laws; the United 
States had a surplus of money idle in the 
Treasury; this was divided among the States 
and subdivided in the counties according to 
population; it was then loaned out to farmers 
and others in sums of $100, taking as security 
a mortgage on real estate for five or ten years, 
with 8 per cent interest. This humane act 
was the means of averting hardship and suf- 
fering from many homes, and was of the ut- 
most good to those who were really poor. 

Mr. Hosford, seeing the travel that was 
likely to exist on the two roads that crossed 
west of Gallon— one road of which was a 
stage route, and the other a highway to the 
nearest market — opened a double log tavern 
at the Corners. The settlement had never been 
regularly christened, but was known as " Moc- 
casion," " Hardscrabble, " " Spangtown," " Go- 
shen," etc. In 1821, in answer to a petition 
by the citizens, for a post office by the name 
of Goshen, the Postmaster General replied 
that there already existed more than one town 



-,^ 



:li 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



435 



by that name, and suggested the name of 
Gallon. This was accepted, and Horace Hos- 
ford became the Postmaster of the Corners. 

James Nail says that he never heard any 
preaching in his life till long after his arrival 
in Polk Township. The fii'st sermon he heard 
was preached south of his mill, in a house 
belonging to a Mr. Straw, by Elder Jackson,^ 
the grandfather of Jiidge Jackson. There 
was a great turn-out of the settlers for miles 
in every direction. 

In 1826, the Methodists formed a circuit 
through the neighborhood, and Eussel Bigelow 
appeared to preach the word of life, without 
money or without price. He was a good 
speaker, an eloquent man, and mighty in the 
Scriptures. He was large and muscular, had 
a voice like a lion, sharp, piercing eyes that 
when they became excited, seemed almost to 
biu'n like lire. All things combined to make 
him a veiy successful preacher; he was also 
a very exemplary Christian in his deportment, 
and had great influence with the people gen- 
erally. An old minister preached in the neigh- 
borhood of Polk Township many years ago. 
His name was John Rhinehart, and was bom 
in the glades of Pennsylvania; he moved to 
Ohio when it was a Territory; his home was 
in what is now Jefferson County; it is not 
known at exactly what period he was here, 
but it is stated that John Rhinehart, of Bloom- 
ing Grove, and his twin sister, the widow 
"Winn, of Cleveland, were born while he was 
preaching in this vicinity in the log cabins of 
the settlers. He entered, at the land office in 
Wooster, the land now owned by Thomas 
Rhinehart and Peter Zimmerman. This early 
pioneer is the father of Mrs. Dr. Coyle, of 
Gallon. Many of his descendants are living 
in this vicinity. 

Ml*. Hibner, as we have stated, erected the 
first grist-mill in the township; the mill was 
located east of town, where the old timbers 



may yet be seen jutting out from the bank at 
the railroad bridge on John Bnrgener's farm. 
Mr. Hibner had entof ed considerable land in 
the neighborhood. The buhr-stone of to-day 
was not proem-able, and "nigger-heads" 
were substituted. It may easily be conceived 
that these primitive mills had no great capacity, 
and yet the settlers were very thankful to have 
their grain ground for domestic use. There 
is a story, handed down by the Hibners, of an 
occurrence that took place while this family 
was living on the farm upon which the mill 
was located. Their log cabin was like all 
others at the time, and had the usual wall of 
stones back of the fire-place, with the huge 
chimney occupying one end of the cabin. ISIr. 
Hibner was away from the cabin, attending 
his work, and Mrs. Hibner was quietly attend- 
ing to her household duties ; but a short time 
before, she had placed the baby on a blanket 
on the floor, near the fii-e-place. Some time 
before, one of the stones forming the back 
wall of the fixe-place, had been loosened, and 
jostled from its place. Hearing some unusual 
noise, she looked up hastily and saw with hor- 
ror that a great black bear had thrust his paw 
through the crevice, and was making desperate 
efforts to reach the baby. Happily, the bear 
could not reach the child, and the mother 
quickly removed the little one fi'om the \dcinlty 
of the fire-place, when the bear hastily betook 
himself to tlie woods. 

Among those who should not be forgotten 
was IMi's. Brown, the wife of Samuel Brown, 
who had owned the northeast quarter of land 
that Mr. Buhl had bought, and which now 
forms the northeast portion of Gallon. The 
land was entered by Mr. Cracraft and sold to 
Samuel Bro\vn. Mi"s. Brown was known and 
beloved by all the families in the settlement. 
She spun and wove, and helped many families 
with their supplies of cloths, linen and yarn; 
many families never wove any, nor even pos- 



:rv 



436 



HISTORY OF CEAWFORD COUNTY. 



sessed tlie machinery. Mrs. Brown generally 
took in such work for many miles ai-ound, and 
had an enviable reputation for good, clean 
work. She is reputed to have done the first 
weaving in Polk Township, and for many years 
the only weaving. Buckskin was a common 
article of wear; wool was very scarce, and cot- 
ton high. It was very difficult to keep sheep, 
on account of the wolves, and in many old 
accoiints the article of wolves' scalps appears, 
for which the State paid a generous bounty. 
This bounty figures in accounts up to near the 
year 1840. 

Many other old settlers than we have named 
cleared land in Polk, and labored to conquer 
the wilderness, but we have given something of 
each one, as far as we could learn, and shall 
finish with Disbeiiy Johnson. He was from Vir- 
ginia, and was born about the year 1764. He 
was twelve years old at the breaking-out of the 
war of the Revolution, and remembered many 
incidents connected therewith that he was fond 
of relating diu'ing his latter days. He started 
with his family to Kentucky, about the year 
1812, but was obliged to take refuge near 
Fort Pitt, now Pittsburgh. During the year, 
he went down the Ohio Biver, and took refuge 
in the block-house at Booneville till the war 
was over and peace declared. As soon as he 
was safe in doing so, he removed to Harrison 
County, Ohio; here his first wife died, and he 
man-ied a widow lady by the name by Cooper. 
Mr. Johnson had six children by his fu'st wife, 
the widow had six by her fii-st- husband, and 
the couple were blessed by six more. As near 
as can be ascertained, Mr. Johnson removed 
to Polk To^\'usllip in the year 1817. Ho took 
up the northwest quarter of Section 26, where 
he lived for many years. He was a Justice 
of the Peace in early days, and was held in 
high esteem by all who knew him. His 
second wife was the grandmother of James 
P. Throckmorton, of Gallon, and a numerous 



progeny have descended from their eighteen 
children. The old windfall, already spoken 
of, destroyed all the timber on their farm, and 
it was upon Johnson's land that five head of 
cattle were imprisoned among the fallen tim- 
bers. Ml'. Johnson had two brothers captured 
by the Indians while lads, but by their own 
bravery they made their escape by quietly 
arising at nig-ht and tomahawking their two 
captors. Mr. Johnson died in the year 1868, 
and was buried in the cemetery at Gallon. 
Many families throughout the countiy are de- 
scended from this old Virginia stock. 

A large bear was caught in a trap by Sam- 
uel Johnson; he found the ti'ap down, and 
pieces of hair and fur attached to splinters of 
the trap, as also such evidence of scratching 
and clawing as only a bear could do. It was 
a mystery as to what had become of the bear, 
until one day soon after, while Asa Hosford, 
Mr. Johnson, Nat Story, James Nail and some 
others were working at a building, the sul^ject 
was brought up. Mr. Hosford at once told 
the men present that, for several days, some 
Indians had been canying bears' meat along 
a trail near his house. He had noticed that 
they had a bear's head, but no pelt. It was 
proposed that the whole party should start 
from the Corners that night, follow the trail 
till they came to where the Indians were en- 
camped, and secure the bear's pelt. James 
Nail was elected Captain of the squad, and 
they agreed to stand by his orders. The first 
adventiu'e that they met with was just east of 
the Corners, where the water from the springs 
crossed Main street. In the center of the road 
the water was three feet deep, and Nail ex- 
claimed that, as he had been elected captain, 
they must follow and obey him. He plunged 
thi'ough the water, while the rest followed after. 
It was quite dark, and they were wet on the 
first start, but this did not dampen their 
ardor, as they had already taken an antidote 



Al< 



HISTORY OF CEAWFORD COUNTY. 



437 



against the dew. They suspected that the 
Indians were encamped a few miles east of 
Galion. They fired off their guns, and as they 
approached the Indian camp, they heard a 
general scrambling and also heard the dogs 
barking from the bushes in the woods, whither 
the Indians had fled in their fear and conster- 
nation. The party entered the cabin and dis- 
covered by the crackling of the coals that the 
Indians had taken the precaution to pour water 
over their fire before they took flight, hoping 
thereby that the intruders might think the 
cabin unoccupied and pass it by unmolested. 
Some of the men thought that the Indians 
might have taken the pelt with them; Mr. 
Hosford, however, took down a pole which 
hung across the cabin, covered with numerous 
deer hides, coon-skins, mink, etc., and, rapidly 
throwing them aside, he soon came to a fresh 
bear-skin, which he knew by the long shaggy 
hair ; they took the bear-skin and returned home 
in triumph. They shot several volleys, whooped 
and yelled much after the Indian fashion, 
thereby creating considerable alarm along the 
route. They disposed of the pelt for about 
$5 worth of whisky; this beverage cost, gen- 
erally, 25 cents per gallon. 

Just north of Galion, where David Gill and 
George Wood settled, there can be seen the 
remains of their orchard; the young trees for 
this orchard were taken from one of Johnny 
Appleseed's nurseries. The west orchard, on 
the Clymer land, was raised from seedlings 
planted by the same man, as was also the 
orchard on the Sharrock homestead. Many 
more such instances could be made known of 
settlers availing themselves of these fruit- 
trees, but enough have been mentioned to show 
the usefiilness of this strange man. He 
brought with him numerous varieties of seeds 
(to be sown through the settlements), mostly 
of a medicinal character ; altogether, he was a 
strange, simple, good man, and worthy of all 



the praise that has been given in his memory. 
Asa Hosford came from Eichfield, Mass. 
At the age of twenty-one, he left New York 
(where his father had emigrated) with his 
brother Horace; they arrived at Cleveland in 
the first boat that ever sailed on Lake Erie. 
They started afoot for the interior, and arrived 
at Galion September 19, 1819, on Satui'day 
evening ; they rested over Sabbath at the house 
of Benjamin Leveredge; they passed the win- 
ter in Huron County, and in the spring were 
met by their father's family; who were on 
their way to Gallon; near the Corners, before 
any road was opened, and before any general 
travel was expected, the father erected a double 
log cabin. As settlers came in and travelers 
became numerous, IMr. Hosford, like all other 
settlers, was importuned for meals and lodging. 
All this while Asa Hosford was single, and 
working wherever he could find employment ; 
he worked for some time with his brother 
Horace, who had a blacksmith-shop near his 
father's dwelling. He worked along several 
years before he had saved $100, with which to 
procure a piece of land; the father never kept 
a hotel, but merely entertained those who 
could not find accommodation elsewhere, or had 
not facilities for camping out. Finally, Mr. 
Hosford sold the property to his son-in-law, 
but he never occupied it or used it for any 
purpose. In 1824, Asa Hosford opened a 
tavern in the double log house which he had 
bought from his brother-in-law ; he was not 
yet man'ied and he contracted with his sister 
to act as landlady; these duties she performed 
with success. IVIr. Hosford was a year finding 
a landlady that would px'omise to remain vnth 
him for all time; he married Miss Alta Kent, 
of Bucyrus. He prospered in this tavern for 
eight years, at which time they sold out to 
John Buhl ; they have three children living — 
Bebecca, Eri and Stephen. In the year 1824, 
the Corners was known as Galion; it had a 



438 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



commodious hotel. Here two roads crossed, one 
of which was a stage route, and the other was 
a highway to market for a hundred miles 
south of the lake. The settlement of Gallon 
had a post office, a store with assorted goods, 
a blacksmith-shop, a schoolhouse, and a grist- 
mill in the vicinity. George Wood was a car- 
penter and ready to put up such work as was 
wanted. Soon followed the distillery at the 
springs on Atwood street, which consumed 
some of the grain, and enabled the people to 
enjoy their whisky at 18 to 25 cents a gallon. 
Nathaniel Story was hunting and working 
"time-about;" hunters abounded all over the 
country, and some trapping was done. Three 
or four old beaver dams exist in the vicinity 
of Gallon, but have never been inhabited since 
white men settled in the vicinity. It is quite 
probable that some of the old British fur 
companies had their trappers at work here 
years before; they certainly got large quanti- 
ties of fur; these furs were, doubtless, traded 
to China for the very tea for which the Ameri- 
cans were taxed before the Revolution. 

Many persons at an early date engaged in 
bee-hunting. A Mr. Schauber sold enoucjh 
honey to secm'o the pui'chase money on what 
is knoAvn as the Schauber farm. The beautiful 
forests abounded in bee-trees ; it is surprising 
to see the countless swarms that spread over 
the West. The Indians considered them the 
harbinger of the white man, as the whites do 
buffalo and deer of the Indian, and note that as 
the larger game retires the bee advances. The 
Indians with sui-prise found the moldering 
trees of their forests suddenly teeming with 
ambrosial sweets, and nothing can exceed the 
greedy relish with which they banquet for the 
first time upon this unbought luxiuy of the 
wilderness. The honey-bee swarms in myi'iads 
in the noble groves and forests that skirt and 
intersect the prairies, and along the alluvial 
bottoms of the creeks and rivers. The hunters 



generally place a piece of comb on a tree, and 
await the arrival of workei's. As soon as the 
bees have loaded themselves with honey, they 
take their flight straight for their own tree with 
their load. The hunters run after them with 
head erect and eyes aloft, frequently stumbling 
over obstacles at their feet; in this manner 
they track the bees to their individual colonies, 
mark the trees, and seek for more. They dare 
not cut down the trees until fully prepared to 
take away the honey, for the bears, skunks, 
raccoons and possums have sweet teeth and 
would soon devour any honey within their 
reach. The bear will gnaw for days together 
until they make a hole in the trunk, big 
enough to insert their paws, and then draw 
out honey, bees and all. Mr. Story states that 
in an early day, Doudy, an Indian, with his 
squaw, cut down a bee-tree. The grandfather 
of Story was along ; the honey was very fine, 
and the Indian, who was very fond of Mr. 
Story, sent him a lai'ge piece of comb on a 
piece of shellbark. Story was quite overcome 
by the generosity of the Indian, who, he says, 
was gentle in peace, while desperate and brave 
in war. 

Altogether, this was a prosperous communi- 
ty. Farms were being cleared in every direc- 
tion, and there wei'e no more doubts about the 
prosperity of the country. 

We have spoken somewhat of the attention 
the settlers paid to religion, and will now devote 
some space to education. ]Mi\ Phous Jackson is 
credited by Mr. Dunlap as the first teacher in the 
township of Polk. This may be true, outside 
of Gallon, but David Gill was certainly the first 
teacher in Gallon. However, we give IMr. 
Dunlap's statement, and when we write of 
Gallon we will give the school history fi-om 
beginning to end. He says that Phous Jack- 
son, a cousin of Judge Jackson, had taught 
two months in the winter of 1825, in a private 
house, the first and only school that had ever 



/ 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



439 



been taught in the township. In the fall of 
the next year, Mr. Dnnlap concluded to teach ; 
he held school for three months, at $1.25 per 
pupil. The people soon put up a log cabin, 
12x14, seven logs high to the eaves, for a 
schoolhouse ; they split some slabs or puncheons 
for a floor, spread some clapboards overhead 
for a loft, had foolscap paper greased for win- 
dows, had slabs for seats, and a board for 
writing desk. Among the first scholars who 
attended that school now living, are Dr. Story, 
of Iowa, a Free-Will Baptist minister ; James 
Eeeves, a preacher, and Gen. George Row, of 
Marion, a lawyer. We cannot find the date 
of organization of school districts in the county, 
nor of subdistricts in Sandusky Township; at 
the first division, Gallon formed Subdistrict No. 
9, and it remained so some time. Gallon was 
advanced to a borough in 1840, and elected 
her first Mayor, Joel Todd, but the school re- 
mained in the same order. The law under 
which school districts are formed is such that 
opportunities are ever present for making new 
districts or chanofingf their form, addins: to or 
taking from. Not even an attempt can be 
made to give the boundaries of old or new dis- 
tricts and their changes; their outline might 
present a geometrical figure, whose area a 
Newton would be puzzled to compute. The 
township was not settled in its different por- 
tions with the same rapidity, and while a " dis- 
trict" would be imperative in one part, perhaps 
the same area would have but a few families in 
some other portion of the township. However, 
they got along with their primitive schools and 
primitive teachers, and at this time have seven 
school districts and seven good brick school- 
houses. Nothing could be more prosperous than 
this conditon of things. The reports of these 
schools show prosperity, and a full and realiz- 
ing sense of the importance of education. The 
names of the schoolhouses in the several districts 
are as follows: Dice's, Rhinehart's, Hillgrove 



Klopfenstein, Jackson's, Williams', Bergner's. 
These schoolhouses have each good fviruitui-e, 
and in every respect are models of neatness 
and comfort, and each district is strenuous in 
its efforts to secure good and efficient teachers. 
Certainly the youth of Polk Township have 
no reason to complain of a lack of educational 
facilities, as they will compare favorably with 
those of any other State. The earliest record 
of the schools of the township are dated 1843. 
There were at that time nine districts. Gallon 
forming Subdistrict No. 9. The whole num- 
ber of school children for the year was 397. 
The following is the annual report of the 
enumeration of youth between the ages of five 
and twenty-one years in Polk Township, Craw- 
ford County, taken and returned to the under- 
signed township Clerk of said township, by 
the Local Directors, between the first and third 
Mondays in September, 1863 : 



3 

■n 


NO. OF YOUTH. 


d 

« 

d. 

H 


to 






a 

1 
03 


1 


S 

3 


o ^ 

I'l 


■3 


"3 
I 


1 


19 
L7 
23 

29 

41 
9 

44 


19 
18 
39 

35 

33 

18 

43 


38 
45 








3 and 4 

5 and 6 

2 and 3 

2G, 27, 34, 

35. 

;^6, 1, 25, 26 

•21 and 30 

27, 2-i, 29, 

33, 34. 


38 


2 








45 


3 






62 
i 


fi? 


4 




64 

74 




74 


5 






\ 


6 




27 
87 




27 


7 






{ 


^7 








i 


Total 


192 


205 






















The trade of Polk continued for many years 
along the Columbus and Sandusky City road. 
Small lots of goods were brought back by the 
farmers, such as salt, groceries, etc. ; but many 
of the stores throughout the county brought 
their stock fi'om Philadelphia and Baltimore, 
over the mountains. This was expensive and 
tedious, but paid better than to buy goods at 
the lake that had passed through so many 
hands. In the year 1840, a strap railroad 
was built from Sandusky to Monroeville; the 
cars were drawn by horses. After this, the 






>^ 



440 



HISTORY OF CRx^^WrOKD COUNTY 



farmers of Polk and vicinity took their prod- 
uce to Monroeville, thereby saving thi-ee or 
four days of time, this trip consuming on an 
average not more than three days. Eventually 
the Sandusky, Mansfield & Newark road was 
built; as soon as it was finished to Mansfield 
and Shelby, the latter place became the market 
for Polk Township, as Mansfield had been in 
the beo-inning. There it continued until the 
Cleveland, Columbus & Cincinnati road was 
brought to Gallon. Then the era of taverns 
and long roads to market was ended forever in 
Polk Township. The reason that the Colum- 
bus & Sandusky road was not a stage route, 
was the fact that a north-and-south road, east 
and west of it, passed through the county seats, 
and those routes were selected for stage travel. 

The building of the railroad was an era in 
the growth and development of Polk Township 
as well as that of Gallon; she took rapid 
strides in growth; for many years, the popu- 
lation of Polk and Gallon was far behind Bucy- 
rus and its township, but ere many years 
Gallon and Polk led their rivals by a large 
majority. 

The census of 18S0 gives to Polk Township, 
outside of Gallon, a population of 883. This 
is a gain of only 37 dm'ing the last decade. 
We can hardly expect the population of Polk 
Township to ever rise to a very high figure. 
From the present geographical location of 
Polk, it is evident that no other town will ever 
exist within its limits other than Gallon. The 
whole township is given to agriculture, with 
almost no waste of untillable land, and no 
great interest can exist here. At the time the 
lands were mostly taken up, there was peace 
throughout the territory, and everybody felt 
seciu-e in making large pm'chases and invest- 
ing all their means. The natm-al result of 
this metliod of buying has been to create large 
farms. Thus, from year to year, the forests 
have been cut away, swampy and wet land has 



been drained, and nearly all of what was once 
considered poor land has been reclaimed. 
Year by year the acreage has increased; each 
farmer has widened out his domain of tillable 
land, while labor-saving machinery has lessened 
the demand for working hands. The gain of 
thirty-seven inhabitants in the last decade, 
bears no relation whatever to the increase of 
productiveness and large gains of marketable 
produce. 

Two miles east of Gallon are the tile works 
of Messrs. Weaver & Reed. This factory was 
started in May, 1879; they have a dry-kiln, 
148 feet in length, with a commodious engine- 
house; there is a capacity for biu-ning 2,500 
tile at one time. They have five men constantly 
employed, who average 7,000 tile per day. 
There is a large and increasing demand for tile 
throughout this and adjoining townships; the 
draining of lands, by means of a system of 
tiling, has passed from the domain of experi- 
ment to that of an assured and valued success. 
There are on the Infirmaiy grounds, or county 
farm of Crawford County, about two and one- 
half miles of tiling. Nearly every farmer in the 
township is acquainted with the system, and is 
well informed as to its value, where needed. 
There is no doubt but that a permanent de- 
mand will be made for these tile, that will in- 
sure their constant manufacture. The con- 
venience of the factory to the farmers of Polk 
is a matter of congratulation, as it always is 
Avhen the requirements of the farm can be 
produced in the near vicinity of their consump- 
tion. 

There is but one church in Polk Township, 
outside of Gabon. This is what is known as 
the old Baptist Church, just east of Gallon. 

A short trip through Polk Township in the 
sprino- of the year will reveal the fact that 
most of the wheat has been drilled in, and not 
sown broadcast. Good fences inclose all the 
farms, and the buildings are models of beauty 






^k 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



443 



and utility. When the grass is cut, you do not 
hear the continual whet, whet, of the back- 
breaking scythe ; but you do hear the rattle of 
machinery, and see the farmer comfortably 
seated on his mowing machine, di'iving his 
sleek and well-conditioned horses across the 
meadows; and, when the hay is cured and be- 
ing collected for housing away, you see the 
horse-rake gathering in the scattered hay in a 
rapid and cleanly manner. Then, at the barn 
or stack comes in the horse-fork, which per- 
forms the work that has always been laborious 
and tedious to the farmer. This same fork, 
in combination with an improved hay-knife, 
enables the farmer to load his ricks with ease, 
and haul to market with a great saving of 
time and labor. Then comes the grain. It 
was thought to be the acme of perfection, a 
few years ago, when wheat and grain were cut 
down rapidly enough to keep two rakers and 
binders busy behind a machine. Now, with the 
driver comfortably seated on the machine the 
grain is rapidly swept down, gathered up in 
bundles and tied, and when a sufficient number 
are accumulated can be dropped in one spot for 
putting up in shocks; and, suppose, under 
unavoidable circumstances, the grain be too dry 
to cut in this manner. They have only to take 
another machine, called the header, that will 
cut off the heads only from the straw, and the 
grain can be taken to the barn in tight wagon 
boxes. During the early days, wheat was 
threshed with a flail, or by tramping of horses 
and cattle ; men went fi'om farm to farm and 
contracted to do their threshing for them, 
generally at the price of one-tenth of the yield. 
The horse-power threshing machine involved 
considerable work and many hands and teams, 
yet it was a great advance over hand-flailing 
and tramping. Now, after harvest, can be seen 
all over the country, wreaths of smoke curling 
upward, which mark the spot where some little 
engine, run by steam, threshes the grain much 



more perfectly than was ever done by hand 
All hands are not obliged to stop and give 
the horses a rest; the motive power in a steam- 
thresher never gets tired. What a compari- 
son! The farmers of Polk ride in carriages 
every week, that, sixty years ago, would have 
stamped them at once as aristocratic in the 
extreme. 

Polk Township as it now exists (1880) is a 
model of what may be accomplished by pa- 
tience and well-directed industry. The early 
pioneers who have labored over sixty years to 
make of this a vineyard, to transmute the howl- 
ing wilderness into a blooming garden, are 
worthy of praise, honor and emulation. They 
have received the reward of their daring en- 
terprise, as far as material interests are con- 
cerned. The heavy timber and thick under- 
growth have been cleared away; their orchards 
are abundant, and they blossom and bear fruit ; 
broad acres of ripening grain redeem the 
promises of a full yield; an abundance of fine 
horses, cattle and sheep, with all kinds of 
stock, show well the luxuriousness of their 
rich meadows; the large and well-filled bai-ns, 
the beautiful country homes, with a thousand 
comforts and luxuries, above all attest that a 
bountiful harvest has succeeded fi-om the first 
sowings of civilization sixty years ago. 

The experiences and necessities of successive 
o-enerations have brought their legitimate 
results. From the first rude log cabin and 
barn, we can now see many beautiful mansions 
of frame and of brick, with spacious bams 
and outbuildings of the finest work. From 
the first rude schoolhouse, that was a wonder 
when it was built, we can now see seven well- 
appointed brick schoolhouses. Not only these 
opportunities are ever present, but it is rapidly 
becoming a custom for the farmers to send their 
sons and daughters to a higher grade of schools 
when they have done with their own, and the 
barrier between the countiy and city bred, is 



444 



HISTORY OF CKAWFORD COUNTY. 



fast disappearing. Now it is a common cus- 
tom for the wealthy and retired merchant to 
have his country seat, and the fai'mer, after 



yeai's of toil and accumulation, bethinks him- 
self of a city residence with its advantages of 
school and cultivation for his children. 



CHAPTER XII.* 

CITY OF G ALIGN— FIRST PLAT AND ADDITIONS— SOME OF ITS BUSINESS MEN— GROWTH AND 

BUSINESS— HOTELS, BANKS. MILLS, ETC— INCORPORATION— FIRE 

DEPA RTM ENT — CEM ETERIES. 



/^ ALION was laid out September 10, 1S31, 
^-^ by Michael and Jacob Kulil. At this time, 
it was in Sandusky Township, Eichland County. 
The original plat consisted of thii-ty-five lots, 
and extended fi'om Lot No. 1, on which the 
Ristine Block stands, to the second alley on 
"West Main street. The fii'st addition was 
made by the same parties December 14, 1833, 
and consisted of thirty-three lots. Over sixty 
separate and distinct additions have since been 
made. The nearest towns to Gallon, when it 
first made its appearance as a geographical 
location, were Mansfield, Upper Sandusky, 
New Haven and Mount Giload, and by calling 
them towns at that time they received a dignity 
that would hardly be accorded them now. 
Gallon was the natm-al inheritor of what little 
business and enterprise existed at the Corners. 
About the public square was higher ground 
and a more desirable location in eveiy respect 
for a village; the Corners were built upon low, 
swampy ground ; they were in close proximity 
to the sluggish head-waters of the Olentangy, 
and the land I'ose higher on every side of the 
settlement; nothing but the crossing of the 
roads ever gave that spot any prestige over any 
other locality. The business was not long in 
being transf eiTcd to the vicinity of the square, 
and the plat of the old settlement was taken 
up. It was, as we have intimated, known by 
numerous names; but when a post oflice was 

♦Contibuted by Dr. J. 0. McUvaine. 



established in 1824, it began to curtail some 
of the titles, and select one upon which there 
could be some unanimityi' The petition signed 
by the residents, named Goshen as the most 
euphonious, but the Postmaster General in- 
formed the good people of the burg that 
there was already more than one Goshen, and 
with their permission he named the new post 
ofiice Gallon. The name can be foimd no- 
where else in the world. "WTiat suggested it^ 
or whether it was arbitrary upon his part, is 
unknown. /John Ruhl, the father of Michael 
and Jacob Ruhl, had entered several quartei- 
sections in the vicinity of Gallon. He came fi'om 
York County, Penn., direct to Gallon and moved 
into a log cabin 'at the Corners. The cabin 
was without a floor, except the earth ; the f am 
ily consisted of father, mother, Michael, Jacob, 
Levi, Henry, Peter and Rebecca ; the daughter, 
Rebecca, was married to IVIr. J. Criley, who 
lived on a farm, which now forms the southeast 
portion of the city; the west line of this farm 
is now South street, on the corner of which 
stands the residence of Samuel Myers. Mr. 
Criley had a carding machine and fulling mill ; 
the motive power of this machineiy was a steam 
engine, the fii'st that over did service in Gallon. 
Mr. Ruhl, Sr., was possessed of considerable 
means in lands and money; he purchased and 
sold to Jacob, his son, the northeast quarter of 
Section 31, and to Michael the southeast quar- 
ter of the same section. Henry Ruhl owned 



ilV" 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



445 



tlie Gill farm, and Levi owned the land that was 
known as the Brewery land, on the State road, 
and Pet^r Ruhl owned a farm east of Asa Hos- 
foi'd's mill. Jacob Ruhl was an active member 
and a zealous worker in the Lutheran Church, 
and gave much of his time and influence toward 
the erection of the first public edifice that was 
dedicated to God in Gallon. He erected the first 
saw-mill in Polk Township or near vicinity of 
Gallon. James Nail had erected a saw-mill 
at a much earlier date, but, as near as can be 
determined, it was just without the present 
south line of Polk Township. IVIi*. Ruhl's 
saw-mill was on Noi*th Market street, at the 
creek; traces of the old race and dam are 
yet remaining east of the street. Michael 
Ruhl kept a store on the square in a fi-ame 
house; Jacob Ruhl kept a tavern where the 
Spoiihauer Block is. This was the first frame 
house erected in Gallon or Polk Township. 
It had been built by Asa Hosford, who, some 
time before, had erected a frame barn near the 
old Corners, which was also the fii'st fi'ame barn 
in the township. This barn was entitled to 
special recognition, as its walls and rafters had 
been witness to the word of God and hymns 
and prayer long before any building had been 
specially consecrated to Him. 

Michael Ruhl kept a varied stock in his 
store south of the square; goods of all descrip- 
tions that could be wanted in a fi'ontier to\vn 
were there. It has been said of him, however, 
that he inclined to drugs, and that he carried 
quite a stock of medicines, patent and other- 
wise; also that he possessed as much medical 
skill as was possible without a special prepara 
tion for the practice, and was always proud 
to be able to assist in alleviating sufiering 
and pain. John Ruhl, the father, died in 
Gallon. Jacob and Michael are both dead, 
and Peter yet resides in Gallon. Jacob has 
thi-ee daughters living in Gallon — JNIrs. O. T. 
Hart, INIrs. Seth Cimimings and Miss Mary 



Ruhl. The latter lady has her home with 
her sister, Mrs. Seth Cmnmings. ]Mrs. O. T. 
Hart, while a young girl, went to school at 
the old log schoolhouse on Main street. One 
day, while they were conning over their les- 
sons and deep in the mysteries of Webster's 
old speller, a man on horseback came riding 
fi'om the west, at a breakneck speed; his hair 
was disheveled, his clothing hung in the wind, 
and his countenance had an appearance of 
abject terror. He shouted and gesticulated 
in a loud and excited manner, saying that the 
Indians were coming in force, and bidding 
each one seek safety in flight. School was 
promptly dismissed, and the little ones fled 
with unabated spead to their homes for safe- 
ty. No Indians came, and the excitement died 
away. No one has ever accounted for the ori- 
gin of the alarm. Soon after the aii'ival of the 
Ruhls, they began to plan the work, which 
they afterward accomplished. They already 
possessed a manifest advantage in the great 
quantity of valuable land they possessed, and 
it was soon kno\VTi that they were in posses- 
sion of money with which they could pm-chase 
more ; and they determined to possess more ; 
they bought of others such pieces as they 
would need to carry out their enterprise, 
or that would sell at a good advance after 
their improvements were made. They were 
considered good men, of an enterprising na- 
ture, and valuable additions to the little com- 
munity. There were others in the settlement 
who had hoped to do much, and contom})lated 
the very work that the Ruhls were evidently 
enofaired in. But thev knew thev could not 
compete with the new-comers and their 
wealth. The result was that they com- 
bined their labor with the Ruhls and hon- 
estly aided them in the furtherance of their 
plans. It is not knowTU that any of the Ruhl 
family ever took advantage of any man's pov- 
eiipy or financial embarrassments when they 



2il: 



>> 



446 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



bid for their lands. When Col. Kilbourne 
■was surveying his road from Columbus to Port- 
land, he tried hard to get the road through 
James Leveredge's land, so the two roads 
"vvould cross considerably east of where the 
crossing now is. Leveredge positively refused 
to allow it. It had been whispered around 
that Col. Kilbom*ne intended to lay out a vil- 
lage about half way between Columbus and 
the lake, and Levex*edge was bound that his 
farm should not be cut up into lots. In this 
he showed the childish fear of a surveyor 
that pertains to the Indians, for the latter have 
a superstitious di-ead of surveyors. The Col- 
onel wanted to avoid the swamp, and talked up 
the matter of a village to IVIi-. Hosford. This 
gentleman had not the means to do anything, 
but became the warm friend of Col. Kilbourne. 
The latter had stopped a few nights with 
Leveredge, who charged him a high price for 
his entertainment. Col. Kilbourne was a little 
soured, and, perhaps, justly incensed against 
the indifference of Gallon, and when his com- 
pass came to the last sight before reaching 
Galion, it pointed farther west, and the road 
took its present location. Col. Kilbourne was 
bound to have his town. Soon after, he ran 
the road from Columbus through where Bucy- 
rus now is, and there he planted his town. 
It has done well, and perhaps but for the rail- 
road interest here, would have been much 
ahead of Galion, as, in fact, she was for many 
years. By his influence, the road became a 
stage route to the lake. 

Thus it was that the Kuhls took up the 
work that Col. Kilbourne had planned, and 
that Asa Hosford had afterward contemplated. 
In nearly every instance they (the Ruhls) paid 
the price asked, and closed the bargain with 
ready cash or its equivalent. We are imable 
to find any of the deeds, or any records of 
their transfers, with the exception of one, 
which is in the possession of Hon. O. T. Hai-t, 



of Galion, a son-in-law of Jacob Ruhl. It is a 
cm'ious article of agreement between Samuel 
Brown and John Ruhl. At the time of the 
transfer, the land in question was in Sandusky 
Township, Richland County, the western line 
of the township of Sandusky being located on 
the west line of J. R. Clymer's orchard, and 
the west line of the farm in question, was the 
north and south quarter line, on the east line 
of Gill's farm. The land had been entered by 
Cracraft and sold to Samuel Brown. The 
document reads as follows : 

Article of agreement, made and entered into this 
first day of August, A. D. 1831, between Samuel 
Brown, of Sandusky Township, Richland Co., Ohio, 
yeoman, of the one part, and John Ruhl, of Sandusky 
Township, and Crawford County and State aforesaid, 
yeoman, of the other part ; 

WITNESSETH, That the said Samuel Brown, for the 
consideration hereinafter mentioned, doth grant, bar- 
gain and sell unto the said John Ruhl, a certain tract 
of land, with all thereunto belonging (excepting one 
acre in the southeast corner of it, which being sold for 
a church yard), situated in Sandusky Township, Rich- 
land County, aforesaid, being the northeast quarter of 
Section 31, Township 20, Range 20, and containing — 
acres, and adjoining the public road leading from 
Mansfield to Biicyrus, Frederick Dickson and others, 
for which the said John Ruhl is to pay unto the said 
Samuel Brown, the sum of fifteen hundred dollars, in 
the manner following, viz.: Eight hundred dollars in 
hand on the first day of September next, and seven 
hundred dollars on the first day of September, in the 
year of our Lord eighteen hundred and thirty-three. 
The said John Ruhl is to have six geese, six hens and 
one rooster, to be delivered up to the said Ruhl when 
said Brown gives full possession, and the said Ruhl is 
to have liberty to cut timber, dig, etc., on said land 
from the date hereof, and the said Brown is to give 
the said Ruhl a good right and title for said tract of 
land when he pays the hand money. But the said 
Brown is to have the crops now on the ground, and 
have privilege to live on the said land until the first 
day of April next; then he is to deliver up all unto the 
said John Ruhl, excepting the house now on the State 
road (now occupied as a schoolhouse), which, in case 
said Brown would not move on the first day of April 
next, he is to have the privilege of living in two 



V 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY 



447 



months after, and Sarah Brown is to have stuff for a new 
frock when she signs the writing. The said Brown is 
to have the privilege of sugar camp next to the house, 
and all the pasture on the farm, excepting the six-acre 
meadow. But Ruhl is to have privilege to plow the 
fields. For the true performaace of the above agree- 
ments, both parties bind themselves, their heirs, exec- 
utors or administrators, one to each other, in the 
sum of thirty hundred dollars. In witness whereof, 
both have hereunto set their hands and seals, the day 
and the year first above written. 
Witnesses: Samuel Brown, [seal.] 

Asa Hosford, John Rdul. [seal.] 

Ben J. Grove. 

The burying-ground referred to is the old 
one east of the German Reformed Chm'ch; 
the schoolhouse named above was the second 
one bnilt and ref eiTed to before. It was a cus- 
tom in former days, that holds good now in 
some coramunities, to present the wife stuff 
for a new frock whenever called upon to sign 
a deed. From this piece of land, and a corre- 
sponding piece on the south, was laid out the 
public square, and the first thirty-five lots of 
Gallon. It will not be unfair to say that the 
Ruhls had no idea nor full conception of the 
extent to which their new town would prosper. 
They could have had no knowledge of the 
coming of railroads, for it was not till the year 
1844 or 1845 that IMi-. Hosford was intrusted 
with the developing of an interest in railroads 
in favor of Gallon. They could not have 
known that the Columbus and Portland wagon 
road would cease to be the highway to market, 
for the railroad from Sandusky to Mansfield 
had not been built. After all, they must have 
had luidaunted courage, and strong faith in 
the future. At this very time, one could look 
around and see but few houses about the 
square, and fewer people, while, looking down 
West Main street toward the Corners, there 
could be seen on the north-and-south road and 
about the hotel and little cluster of buildings 
there, an almost unceasing stream of wagons, 
fairly blocking the roads at times. The bustle 



and activity of the roads crossing here had, of 
course, made it an excellent tavern stand 
and location for post office and blacksmith- 
shop. Otherwise, it was a poor site for a grow- 
ing tovra. or city. Any one having a proper 
idea of the development of our country and 
the growth of the State, would never have laid 
out a town at the Corners; but this covdd be 
known to no one. The first railroad would 
stop the travel to market on the wagon road, 
and travelers would at once have better egress 
and ingress at a less cost than by staging 
over rough roads and deep mud. Mansfield 
was growing; smTounding towns gave evi- 
dence of advancement; foreigners were aiTiv- 
ing in great numbers, and the land was being 
rapidly taken up; travelers were numerous 
everywhere, and the stages and hotels were 
crowded with men, whose purpose and busi- 
ness it was to put their shoulder to the wheel, 
and, with mighty efforts, crowd the line of the 
frontier on to the west — through forest and 
prairie and over river and mountain. This spot 
where Gallon now stands has grown beyond 
all former expectations, and the whole State 
now occupies a position among her sister States 
that is enviable in the extreme. Nor is the 
end yet. The city of Gallon has an inherent 
property pertaining to its potential powers and 
possibilities that few realize. There are large 
opportitnities here for manufacture and whole- 
sale and shipping facilities that should be util- 
ized to a far greater extent than they are at the 
present time. We believe that a few more 
years of time will give to moneyed men a 
realizing sense of their golden opportunities. 
However, retiu*ning to the Ruhls, they foiuid 
their lots were having a fair sale, and quite a 
little business began to exist, which made 
some stir around the square. The business 
was gradually trtmsfeiTed from the Corners to 
the new plat, althoitgh it is a mistake to think 
that any of the buildings were removed. In 



f 



448 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



the winter of 1S8;{, the lliihls })iit on another 
addition of thirty-three lots, and they were 
niucli pleased with the prosperity of their 
yonng city. In the year 1886, Jacob Riihl 
erected a saw-mill at the creek on North Mar- 
ket street. The timber was heavy, and the 
ground wet and swampy ; the handling of the 
timber was an herculean task, yet paid well 
for the investment. It was the only saw-mill 
in the near vicinity, and furnished most of the 
sawed timber for the early buildings on the 
first and second plats. The panic of 1837 
had little bad effect in Gallon. The Ruhls 
had paid, and paid well, for all they got; they 
had bought out Asa Hosford's hotel and nine 
acres; they had bought the southwest corner 
of the square and the fi-ame building that was 
the first erected in Gallon. East of the square, 
Samuel Brown owned on the north side, and 
Asa Hosford had pin-chased south and east of 
the square. Mr. Hosford had his own idea 
of about what he intended to do, but had no 
idea that any other person contemplated doing 
just the same thing. He had had a talk with 
Samuel Brown, and the two had agreed that 
they together would lay out a plat and become 
the proprietors of a village. Hosford was 
full of this plan and was feeling quite posi- 
tive of success. Imagine his chagrin when 
he found that Mr. Brown had sold to the 
Ruhls, and the latter were at his door in a 
quiet, gentle and most apologetic manner in 
the world, begging to Imow how much Mr. 
Hosford desired for this last piece of ground. 
Mr. Hosford woiild like to have founded a 
town ; but he was yet comparatively young and 
other opportunities might present themselves 
more favorably than the present. He accord- 
ingly asked a good high price for the land. 
Mr. Ruhl paid the price, and the platting went 
on. Thiis, when the panic of 1837 came, the 
Ruhls were out of debt. The farmers were 
mostly out of debt, and the city passed throuo-h 



the panic with colors flying, as she did during 
the panic of 1873. 

As far as manufactm-ing is concerned, there 
was almost none in 1837. Produce brought 
a very low price, but it could be consu.med or 
stored at home, and there was no crash by 
banks, for we had none in Gallon; and what 
cash was in the county was in the hands of 
the people. As a matter of course, some lost 
by reason of bills that became bad while in 
their possession, but that was a minor evil 
compared with the distress in some communi- 
ties. We know of one man in the West who 
has one room papered with bills of banks that 
were broken while in his possession. Directly 
after the war of 1812, settlers coming to Ohio 
paid $2 a bushel for wheat, $1 for corn. Eveiy- 
body sowed as much as they could, and put no 
restrictions upon the amount they would 
raise. In two years wdaeat was 25 cents a 
bushel, and could not be marketed when raised 
any distance from navigable streams, not even 
could the produce be traded for store goods. 
The resiilt of this was that farmers raised no 
more than was sufllcient for home consump- 
tion. Many of these men emigrated to Ohio, 
and some to this vicinity. They knew well 
from experience or tradition the results of the 
panic in 1815 or 1816, and treasured up wis- 
dom for what they had anticipated. 

One of the duties intrusted to Asa Hosford 
during the session of the Legislature in the 
winter of 1841-45 — during his visit to the 
State cai^ital — was that of securing an opening 
througli the township and city by means of a 
railroad. Mr. Hosford worked earnestly for 
this road. As first proposed, it was to end on 
the south at Columbus and strike the old San- 
dusky, Mansfield & Newark Railroad at some 
convenient point near Shelby. Now, to fully 
realize the condition of affairs, it must be re- 
membered that Polk Township and all the 
farming country that was nearer to Mansfield 



■fT 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



449 



than Sandusky, were having their trade and 
selling their produce at Mansfield and Shelby, 
Richland County, which was the most powerful 
county in Northern Ohio. She had brilliant 
men in her coui'ts and legislative halls, among 
whom might be mentioned Gov. Bartley, 
Thomas Ford, Judge Brinkerhoof, Judge 
Stuart, Bax'nabas Burns, and hosts of others. 
At this time, Thomas Bartley was President 
of the Senate, and Hettrick was Representa- 
tive. Hettrick had secured an enactment 
whereby that portion of Richland County that 
had passed into Crawfoi'd was released from 
taxation for public buildings for all time. 
But in regard to the railroad, Mansfield was 
the market town, and her people knew that a 
raih'oad through Gralion would destroy their 
trade with us; and on the west at Bucyrus, 
they were making a desperate struggle for the 
county seat against Galion. IVIi-. Hosford suc- 
ceeded in putting by the permanent location 
for two years, and it has been said that Galion 
came within one vote of securing the location 
here. With this opposition, Mr. Hosford had 
a large and formidable an-ay of opponents 
and a perfect galaxy of talent against him. 
The Representatives fi-om the two north and 
south extremes of the State were indiflerent 
about the road, for neither extremes of the 
road affected them. Eventually, the Repre- 
sentatives of Cleveland and Cincinnati con- 
ceived the idea of projecting the proposed 
road from the lake at Cleveland to Cincinnati, 
on the Ohio River. They at once interested 
themselves in the project, and went to work 
with ]Mi-. Hosford. They found an old charter 
bearing date of 1836. This charter was re- 
vived on the 15th day of March, 1845, and 
the road was completed in 1851, and knowTi 
as the Cleveland, Columbus & Cincinnati Rail- 
road. It is a fact little known that jMi*. Hosford 
never put forth any urgent claims to this 
honor, and has never made any clamorous 



demands for recognition in this respect. It 
is fitting in this place, to give him the credit 
he deserves, and recognize in him the chief 
worker in the interests of Galion for this rail- 
road. The success following this enterprise 
was great ; it took Galion from the woods and 
gave her a highway to the markets of the 
world. A great boon was this railroad to Gal- 
ion; her greatest era must date from its com- 
pletion; the natural gi'owth and prosperity of 
Galion were immediately advanced ; there were 
no valuable water privileges ; there were no rich 
veins of mineral wealth hidden beneath the 
soil. Galion had heretofore existed as a mere 
convenient center for agricultural interests; 
there was now a road that brought foreign 
produce and articles of home consumption to 
their doors, and which took in retm'n the 
wheat and corn and pork of their own pro- 
duction. For years, Polk and Galion had 
gone abroad with their products in search of 
a market. Now there was a reversal of condi- 
tions — Galion was now a market, and others 
came to her to trade. Sandusky, Milan, Mon- 
roeville and Mansfield were only casually men- 
tioned, and but few interests remained to call 
the citizens of Galion to these places. New 
settlers could reach the township and village 
with greater ease; goods and household fur- 
niture could be brought cheaper than by the 
long roads with cumbersome wagons across 
the mountains, through swamps and long 
reaches of wilderness. 

Gradually the property left the possession 
of the Ruhls, but they yet retained an influ- 
ence and had considerable power in shaping 
the destiny of Galion. The lands changed 
hands rapidly; new buildings were erected, of 
amoi'e modern style; new interests arose; the 
occupations of a large number of the citizens 
were changed, and fi'om a countiy towTi Galion 
rapidly assumed the habits and manners of a 
railroad center. In the year 1840, Galion 



■^pv 






450 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



was advanced to tlie dignity of a borough, 
the definite date of which is not known. At 
this time, the population of Sandusky Town- 
ship was G79, and as near as can be determined, 
the population of Gallon within its present 
limits, was, in 1849, but 379. Surely there 
must have been a sparse settlement in 1840; 
however, as small as it was, she elected Joel 
Todd for her first Mayor. The first brick 
block in the village was erected in 1839, by 
Davis & Bloomer, on the northeast corner of 
the square, where for many years they carried 
on the dry-goods business. It was generally 
known as the " village store." This building 
is yet standing, and is occupied. The brick 
which forms it were made by Dr. Beard on 
the ground where now stands the Capitol 
Hotel. The Doctor found ample time between 
epidemics to manufacture brick. The first 
brick building for a residence was built by 
John Buhl, on the property at the Comers, 
and is the little brick on what is known as the 
J. R. Clynyr property. This was followed by 
the brick, in the east part of the city, now 
known as the Harding property. Thus it 
will be seen that there were but three brick 
buildings within the present limits of the city 
of Gallon in 1839, and each of them put 
on quite an aristocratic appearance. This 
can be readily understood when we know that 
the fii'st fi'ame building in the township was 
erected by Asa Hosford on the public square 
in the year 1832. 

The charter for the Bellefontaine & Indiana 
Railroad was issued Februaiy 25, 1848; it 
was completed in 1859, and consolidated with 
the Bellefontaine & Indianapolis Railroad, 
forming what is now called the Indianapolis 
Division of the Cleveland, Columbus & Cin- 
cinnati Railroad; strips of land, 180 feet wide, 
extending from Main street to Atlantic & 
Great AVestem crossing, and fi-om South Mar- 
ket street to the old junction of the Indian- 



apolis branch with the Cleveland, Columbus 
& Cincinnati road, were donated to the com- 
pany by Alpheus Atwood. The old Bellefon- 
taine & Indianapolis shops were finished in 
1854. Thomas Quigley was the first master 
mechanic; he took the first engine, " Wash- 
ington," over the road. The roundhouse was 
destroyed by fire in 1866, but was immediately 
rebuilt. When the road was completed from 
Gallon to Marion in 1852, the shops were 
located at the latter place. A. M. Stewart, of 
Gallon, was one of the first workmen employed. 
He afterward, in 1863, with Mr. Duck, 
built the cattle yards and sheds in Gallon. 
H. S. Camp, also a resident of Gallon, was 
employed by the company for many years at 
this point as agent; he sold the first ticket at 
Marion, using a box car for an office; the 
money and tickets were carried home with 
him every night in a tin box. Previous to 
the completion of this road to Gallon and the 
location of its shops here, there were no resi- 
dences south of J. U. Bloomer's residence on 
South Market street. Many persons, at that 
time, desiring to take a walk into the country, 
would go no farther than the residence of J. 
U. Bloomer's, and the present site of the Ohio 
& Pennsylvania Railroad depot was well into 
the suburbs. The Atlantic & Great Western 
was finished through Gallon in 1863, and the 
shops built shortly after the completion of the 
road. In 1871-72, the large brick shops were 
erected, and a new impetus was given to the 
building interests of Gallon. These railroads, 
with their immense shops, constitute the life 
and vitality of Gallon. It has been estimated 
that not less than 65 per cent of our present 
population is composed of railroad men and 
their families, and the average monthly sum 
paid out to the employes residing in Gallon 
was, five years ago, over $45,000. Since then 
the amount has increased to a much greater 
extent. The men from the shops of the Cleve- 



:i£ 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



451 



land, Columbus, Cincinnati & Indianapolis 
Railroad, were removed to the new shops at 
Brightwood some few years ago ; they retained 
some hands here, and the blacksmith departr 
ment is of greater extent than at the time of 
removal; there are upward of a hundred men 
in the old shops. There are at present twenty- 
two day-men in engine house, and twenty- 
three night-men; there are thirty-five helpers 
and forgers; twenty-three in machine shop, 
and twenty-two in car department. There 
are ninety-eight engineers and firemen, anJ 
the whole number of men in the employ of 
this company and residing in Gallon is very 
near four hundi'ed. Among the old and well- 
tried engineers, running now on these divisions, 
are A. B. Quigley, who commenced in 1852; 
John Brunton, 1855; William Smith, 1853; 
Jerry Myers, Samuel Rule, Samuel Alleman, 
1860. 

The Ohio & Pennsylvania shops are now in 
a prosperous condition; the men are working 
over hours. The immense undertaking of nar- 
rowing the gauge of the road from 6 feet to 
the standard of 4 feet 8| inches, has caused 
the narrowing of all the engines, and shoi-ten- 
ing the trucks on all the cars. Before the large 
shops were built, a portion of the roundhouse 
was utilized as a shop. There are accommoda- 
tions for twenty-two engines in the round- 
house. All the water used about the works 
comes from the creek, where the company 
have a pump. This is about a quarter of a 
mile north on Edward street. The fii'st super- 
intendent of the third and fourth divisions 
was H. D. Chapin, who remained for about 
one and a half years. Mr. T. A. Phillipps 
succeeded Mr. Chapin, and has retained the 
position ever since. On the Gth day of Jan- 
uary, 1880, the Atlantic & Great AVestern was 
sold by the foreclosure of mortgages, and 
passed into the hands of the Ohio & Pennsyl- 
vania Company. No sooner had they taken 



possession than they began to plan for the 
narrowing of the gauge, and the general im- 
provement of the road. All being ready, on 
the 22d day of June, ISSO, the signal was 
given, and from end to end of the road, men 
labored with might and main. This work 
had been so skillfully planned, every difficixlty 
anticipated, and all preparations so accurately 
made, that the road was narrowed in less than 
half a day. Very few trains were delayed, 
and hardly a break occurred in the great 
business of this road. The work of narrowing 
engines is yet going on, the average cost being 
$1,600. If a new boiler and fire-box are re- 
quired, the expense runs upward of $3,000. 
The machine shop proper contains the loco- 
motive works, the smith-shop and carpenter- 
shop. Just west of the roundhouse, there is a 
building occupied as rail-shop. The cost of 
all the buildings connected with local work 
has been estimated at nearly $100,000. The 
first master mechanic of these shops was James 
Ball; the date at which Ball took possession 
was 1864; H. M. Sprague succeeded IVIr. Ball 
in 1866; Mr. Sprague remained till 1869, 
when Allen Cook succeeded him; in 1873, C. 
W. Butts succeeded Cook; it was during the 
stay of Mr. Butts that a large poi-tion of the 
machinery was put in place; on the 1st of 
July, William Hill became the master me- 
chanic, and has retained his position ever 
since. INIr. Hill made large additions to the 
tools, and successively introduced new ma- 
chinery. In the same office with IMr. Hill are 
INIr. P. H. Martin, locomotive clerk for third 
and fom-th divisions, and Samuel Parsons, 
assistant locomotive clerk for third and foiu-th 
divisions. Both these gentlemen have been 
long connected with the shops here, and are 
well acquainted with all the minutiae and de- 
tails of their history. A. M. Brown is fore- 
man of the machine shop; William Price, 
foreman of blacksmith-shop; Robert Laird, 



452 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



foreman of boiler-shop ; James Spittle, foreman 
of coppL'rsmith-shop; A. M. Ball is engine 
dispatcher and foreman of I'oundhouse, and 
is the oldest man on the road; Ed Schi'ock 
is store-keeper; A. N. Monroe is foreman of 
carjientcr-shoi^ ; C. H. Newell, foreman paint- 
shop; Hugh Ross has charge of the rail-shop, 
and Col. J. W. Holmes is superintendent of 
car I'epairs. Among some of the oldest en- 
gineers connected with the road are L. N. 
Harriman, J. T. Pinckney, J. T. AVright, J. C. 
Bull, J. M. Dando and E. A. Gurley. For 
several months the average number of men 
employed in the shops has been 302, including 
engineers and firemen of third and foui'th 
divisions. The average pay to each man by 
the day is $1.93, excluding those employed by 
the month, whose pay monthly amounts to 
$710. The average monthly pay to the shop 
department is $21,500. All this does not 
include the superintendent's office. There the 
pay-rolls are made up of the conductors, brake- 
men, and the monthly men in their depart- 
ment. 

For some considerable time, the subject of 
making Galiou a city of the second class had 
been in contemplation. A number of times a 
vote was taken and the people declined to 
favor it. Finally, in 1878, a charter was se- 
cured, and an election ordered. The city is 
divided into foui' wards, each of which was 
entitled to two Councilmen. Abraham Under- 
wood was elected Mayor the last election before 
the charter was received. James R. Homer 
was elected Mayor; John D. De Golley, Solic- 
itor; H. C. Sponhauer, Treasurer. Members 
of Council— First Ward, M. Wisler and C. 
R. Miller; Second Ward, H. Helfrich and 
D. Hoover; Third Ward, Samuel Myers and 
A. Long; Fom-th Ward, David Mackey and 
P. Daily. D. T. Price, Marshal. The names 
and the date of the election of each Mayor, 
fi'om the advance of Gallon to a borough, up 



to the time of the charter election, are given 
below with as much accuracy as is possible. 

Joel Todd, 1840, Daniel Hoover, 1846 (:Mr. 
Hoover resigned one year after election, to 
take the post office under President Polk); 
Alpheus Atwood, unknown; George Downer, 
unknown; Andrew Poe, 1858; W. C. Parsons, 
1860 and 1862; Charles Quigley, 1864; Peter 
Cress, 1866; M. V. Payne, 1868; O. T. Hart, 
1870; M. Burns, 1872 (resigned, and Samuel 
Myers elected to finish the term) ; Jacob Meu- 
ser, 1874 (resigned, and Wilson Armstrong 
elected to serve out the term) ; W. I. Goshorn, 
1876; Abraham Underwood, 1878; charter 
election was in 1879, and J. R. Homer elected 
first Mayor of the city. Part of the time while 
Gallon was a borough, the term of office for 
mayor was two years, the balance of the time 
being but for one year. 

The assessed valuation of Gallon was, in 
1860, $374,757; in 1870, $750,578; in 1870, 
it was $1,500,330, and in 1880, about $2,120,- 
000. 

There was no separate census of Gallon 
prior to 1860, at which time the population 
was 1,965. In 1870, the population had in- 
creased to 3,523. At the present census (1880) 
there is a population of 5,634. Since 1874, 
the population has increased over 2,000, and 
the valuation has increased about $1,250,- 
000. In 1874, the city and school debt of 
Gallon was $74,792. In October, 1880, the 
debt is about $17,000, and provisions are 
made for liquidating the last cent of indebt- 
edness in 1873. By that time, Gallon will 
be ready for new enterprises and projects for 
advancement toward her destiny. 

Of the various industries of the city of 
Gallon, we may mention " The Gallon Machine 
Works" as entitled to notice, as they deserve 
a much greater consideration than is generally 
accorded them. The immense railroad-shops 
in the near vicinity overshade them in impor- 






'.k. 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUXTY 



453 



tance, but, when we examine into the business 
of these works, it will be discovered that good 
woi'k has been done. They were established 
in 1854, and at the time of starting, the works 
consisted of one fi'ame building, which was 
devoted to the casting of small articles used 
mostly by the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. In 
1856, the foundry was destroyed by fire, but 
by the energy of the proprietors, Messrs Squier 
& Homer, it was soon rebuilt, and in one 
month fi-om the fire was at work in the new 
quarters. In 1858, the machine shop was 
added by a INIr. Holms, who was the o^voier of 
the same for eight years, at the expiration of 
which time he was succeeded by J. B. Mc- 
Clinton, who shortly afterward associated his 
brother with him as a partner, under the firm 
name of McClinton & Brother. This was the 
style for three years, when the firm was known 
as McClinton & Co., and remained as such 
until July, 1875, when the present owners 
(the latter going into the firm in 1807) took 
sole charge of the machine shop. The machine 
shop and main building is a two story brick, 
30x50 feet; the engine-room, 20x25 feet; the 
foundiy-room, 40x<30 feet; co^e-room, 12x20 
feet. There are, in addition to these different 
departments, a paint and blacksmith shop and 
a pattern and storage room. All of these 
buildings occupy on the ground a surface of 
132x150 feet. Constant employment is given 
to fifteen men, all of whom are experts in the 
different departments wherein they work. The 
engine has a power of twenty-five horse, and 
the machinery is of the best and most approved 
patterns and fully adequate to the pm'poses 
intended. Both members of the firm are prac- 
tical molders and have worked for wages. 
They are the kind of men that lead in their 
trades, and whose word and integrity are un- 
questioned. The senior member of the fii'm 
had charge of Woodruff & Beach's machine 
shop, at Hartford, Conn., for a number of 



years. J. R. Homer has held the office of 
United States Gauger for the Eighteenth Dis- 
trict; he has also been member of the Board 
of Education. IVIi-. Homer landed in Gallon 
with 50 cents in his pocket. This, with his 
honorable character and integrity, has made 
him one of the most respected citizens in the 
city. He was elected Mayor (although a Re- 
publican in principle) in a largely Democratic 
city, at the fii'st charter elected in Gallon. 
His 50 cents, with the other requisites, have 
brought him a fine residence, with other real 
estate, and a good paying business. His part- 
ner, Mr. A. C. Squier, is also a man of in- 
domitable will and perseverance. He is a 
master mechanic, and was connected with the 
machine works of Welch, Gray & Co., Bristol, 
Conn. This firm is manufactui'ing largely 
portable and stationary steam engines. Star 
feed cutters, saw-mills, wood-saws, etc. They 
also do all kinds of foundry work, and are 
prepared to repair engines, threshers, mowers 
and farming implements. The shops are lo- 
cated on Washington street, east of Cleveland, 
Columbus, Cincinnati & Indianapolis Rail- 
road Freight Office. 

One of the most important considerations in 
the advantages of a city is its banking facili- 
ties. Much of the prosperity of a city may 
depend upon the integrity of these institu- 
tions. Like all other powers, with capabili- 
ties of working good, they may, when misused, 
be the instrument of great harm. When 
badly managed or dishonestly conducted, they 
may plunge a city into distress, paralyze man- 
ufactures, and bring disaster andniin to almost 
every industry. Diu'ing the last financial 
panic, when neighboring cities were so sucL 
denly plunged into debt and bankruptcy, and 
the whole county suffered so severely, the 
banks of Gallon stood fii*m and true to the 
interests of all trusts reposed in them. There 
are now in operation two national banks. 



iht. 



454 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



Their career, from the first beginning to the 
present, has been one of prosperity. They 
both enjoy the confidence of the community, 
and their credit is enviable. So it has ever 
been in the whole history of the banking busi- 
ness of Gallon. Not one cent has ever been 
lost to a depositor, nor has any one ever suf- 
fered from bad credit. The first bank estab- 
lished in Gallon was a private institution, 
owTied and conducted by John S. Davis and 
John U. Bloomer. They commenced opera- 
tions in the year 1852. It was not a bank of 
issue, nor has there ever been such a one in 
Gallon. This bank was located in the room 
now occupied by C. Fox as a clothing store, 
on East Main street. For seven or eigfht 
years, these gentlemen conducted their busi- 
ness with profit to themselves and convenience 
to the people. 

On the 22d day of February, 186-4, the 
First National Bank was organized. It ab- 
sorbed within itself the private bank of Davis 
& Bloomer, these gentlemen entering prom- 
inently into the new organization. The First 
National Bank of Gallon has a capital stock 
of ^50,000, divided into 500 shares of $100 
each. The first Pi'esident of the concern was 
C. S. Crimm; J. IT. Bloomer was Cashier, and 
Miles Hosford, Teller. Crimm remains Presi- 
dent; O. L. Hays is Cashier, and W. P. Stentz, 
Assistant Cashier. The banking-rooms are 
conveniently and pleasantly located in the 
First National Bank Building, on the north- 
west corner of the public square. 

The Citizens' Bank was organized July 25, 
1866. There was invested a capital stock of 
$20,000. The fii'st officers were John Beatty, 
President, and J. H. Green, Cashier. The 
bank was conducted under the above title for 
about six years. The rooms were in the 
building on South Market street, now owned 
by Dr. C. S. Coyle. On the 2d day of June 
1872, it was incorporated as a national bank, 



at the same time the capital stock being in- 
creased to $60,000. About the year 1872, the 
association bought ground on the southeast 
corner of the square, and erected a brick block, 
and removed the bank to this place. The 
President is I. H. Pennock; Vice President, A. 
Long; Cashier, J. H. Green, and Assistant 
Cashier, Austin Lowe. 

The Citizens' Building Association, of Gal- 
ion, was organized the 3d of August, 1872. 
The authority upon which this association is 
founded is as follows: 

We, the undersigned residents and citizens of the 
incorporated village of Galion, Ohio, to wit, James H. 
Green, J. G. Meuser, S. G. Cummings, Henry Nau and 
C. Ernst Klopp, desiring to organize a company for the 
purpose of raising moneys to be loaned among the 
members of such company for use in buying lots, or 
houses, or building or repairing houses, agree to be- 
come a body corporate, under the act of the Legisla- 
ture of the State of Ohio, passed May 5, 1868, and 
the amendments thereto, and upon the terms and con- 
ditions following, to wit: The name and style of (he 
company shall be "The Citizens' Building Association 
of Galion, Ohio," and its place of doing business at 
Galion, in Crawford County. The capital stock of the 
company shall be three hundred thousand dollars, 
divided into fifteen hundred shares of two hundred 
dollars each. In testimony whereof, the parties afore- 
said have hereunto subscribed their names and affixed 
their seals this 3d day of August, A. D. 1872. 

J. H. Green, 
J. G. Meuser, 
S. G. Cummings, 
H. Nau, 
C. Ernst Klopp. 

The officers, at the time of organization, 
were David Mackey, President ; J. G. Meuser, 
Secretary; Citizens National Bank, Treasurer. 
Directors — David Mackey, S. G. Cummings, 
C. Ernst Klopp, A. M. Brown, F. A. Keen, 
James Marshman, J. Jacob Schaefer. The 
shares have been reduced to about 1,000, the 
limit being between 500 and 1,500. This 
association is a solid concern, and is of real 
benefit in assisting worthy persons to build, 



^ <r 



[^ 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



455 



buy or repair homes for themselves. The 
tenns upon which its members receive assist- 
ance are easy and just. The association is 
doing a good, safe and prosperous business. 

The mercantile business of Galion is similar 
to that of cities generally of the same size. 
There is some considerable jobbing of hard- 
ware, oils, etc. There are the usual number and 
quality of stores, and in no wise does Gallon 
di£fer from other towns in dry goods, grocer- 
ies, hardware, furniture, clothing, etc. Proper 
advantage has not been taken of all the facili- 
ties for trade as should have been done. Every 
enterprise in Gallon, and every business that 
has been well and properly conducted, has suc- 
ceeded, and this argues well that the railroad 
facilities might well be utilized in building 
up more than one good trade. A good woolen 
mill was once in operation in the city, but 
did not survive its trial. There is no doubt 
but this, as well as many other enterprises, 
will, within a few years, be in successful oper- 
ation. 

The character of a city is known by its 
hotels, and in this respect Gallon presents a 
good showing. The Capitol Hotel was first 
opened by John Tracey in 1853. He did not 
run it long before he was succeeded by Terry 
Harding. Mr. Harding was succeeded by 
Oliver Euck, who, in 1870, was succeeded by 
C. E. Pratt, now of the Miltenberger House of 
Bellefontaine. IVIr. Pratt enlarged, improved 
and refurnished the building. J. F. Mohen 
bought out Mr. Pratt, and ran the hotel the 
month of October, 1880, when it was bought 
by H. H. Elliot, of the Simms House, Bucyi-us, 
and Will J. Eyan, of Gallon. Fred Ticknor, 
of Bucyrus, and formerly of Weddel Strubur- 
ger's House, of Cleveland, will represent IVIr. 
Elliot. There are fifty rooms furnished in a 
superior and comfortable style. The hotel is 
located at Nos. 107, 109 and 111 East Main 
street, and has a frontage of 09 feet, while it 



extends back 198 feet. It is a handsome 
three-story brick structure, with some show of 
Gothic in its architecture, while a Mansard 
roof surmounts the building. Its capacity is 
for seventy-five persons, and the dining-room 
will seat fifty people. It is well conducted 
and is excellent in all its appointments. 

The Central House was built by Joel and 
David Eiblet in 1851. They occupied it as a 
dry goods store and dwelling. At this time, 
the little hotel opposite, where Jacob Euhl 
had kept tavern, was occupied by Michael 
Matthius. David and Joel Eiblet had kept 
the same hotel in 1848. In 1852, Brown & 
McMillan opened a hotel in the brick build- 
ing, and called it the Western. It was ex- 
tended back by the Eiblets, but the third 
story was added after it left their possession. 
It has changed hands, and now several parties 
have an interest in the building. One of the 
present proprietors took possession of the 
hotel (now called Central) in 1874, by virtue 
of having purchased the interest of JNIi'. W. 
W. Eeed; October 9, 1878, George H. String- 
ham became a full partner. The house is 
centrally located, as regards the business and 
residences of the city. It has a frontage of 
99 feet on Main street, and extends back 198 
feet. There are sixty-six sleeping rooms, three 
large sample rooms and a dining-room with a 
capacity of sixty seats. There are thirteen 
servants employed. 

The Gallon House is situated on South 
Market street, just over the Ohio & Pennsyl- 
vania depot. This hotel has, within a year, 
been repaired and refm*nished by J. Garver, 
It is convenient to the depot and shops. It is 
a fi-amo building without any pretentious look, 
but it is popular among the railroad men and 
enjoys its full share of patronage. 

A large number of the houses in Gallon 
have boarders. Every building, every room, 
is utilized. The number of mechanics makes 



;r^ 



456 



HISTORY OF CRAWrOllD COUNTY. 



it necessary to have these boarding-houses or 
more taverns. 

Five times the votes of any district gen- 
erally amounts to the same as the popula- 
tion. But five times the number of voters in 
Galion would give us a population of nearly 
7,000. Thus it can be seen that there is quite 
an excess of unmarried men, for the popula- 
tion is actually only 5,300 in round numbers. 

Nothing so accurately measvu'es the social 
condition of a community as the amount and 
kind of literary matter that is read. The 
newspaper business commenced early in the 
history of Galion. The changes in politics 
and names of proprietors of newspapers, and 
the names of the papers themselves, would 
constitute a lengthy sketch of itself. A full 
history of the press of Galion can be found 
in another chapter of this work, devoted to the 
press of the county, and hence will not be 
repeated here. 

The National Mills, one of the solid con- 
cerns of Galion, were established by David 
& Parson over twenty years ago. They 
have passed through various hands, were 
successively improved, until purchased by C. 
& F. Nachtrieb, twelve or fourteen years ago, 
from Snyder & Brothers. When the Nach- 
triebs took hold of these mills their capacity 
was not very great. They put in a new boiler 
and machinery and enlarged the building. 
About one year after the new boiler had been 
put in, it exploded, and caused a damage of 
§3,000 to $4,000. In 1877, the mills were 
overhauled again, and machinery put in of a 
later pattern. Later, other improvements were 
made. These mills have a capacity for 100 
barrels of flour per day. They do both cus- 
tom and merchant work. Their trade is mostly 
in Pennsylvania and New York. The com- 
pany are maniifacturing their own baiTels, 
and employ eight to ten men night and day ; 
a switch running to the mills connects with 



the Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati & In- 
dianapolis Raih'oad. Charles and Frederick 
Nachtrieb, the proprietors, are both natives of 
Germany. 

In 1805, F. W. Johnson and William 
Patrick entered into the lumber and coal 
business. This forms a very important in- 
terest in this part of Ohio. Much capital has 
been invested by the present firm, Johnson, 
Linsley & Co., and the business requires con- 
siderable skill in keeping up with the trade 
and studying the new demands constantly 
made. The firm has two branch lumber- 
yards in other towns, which will show at once 
their ability in building up such a trade. 
They cai'ry a stock of 1,250,000 feet of lum- 
ber, and do an annual business of over $150,- 
000. On the pay-rolls there are forty names. 
There are two foremen, and T. H. Linsley acts 
as book-keeper. 

In 1854, John Kraft erected a brewery, 
west of Galion. He is a German, and early 
learned the practical part of the business of 
brewing. He was succeeded in the business 
by his son, John Kraft, Jr., in 1866, who en- 
larged and improved the business. The main 
building is brick, 40x60 feet, and three stories 
high. The capacity of this brewery is 8,000 
barrels per annum. Galion consumes of this 
product about 2,400 barrels. The brewery is 
now conducted by Daniel Roth. 

The Tyler Organ Company was established 
in April, 1879, with its place of business on the 
northeast corner of the square, in the old 
brick. In June of the same year, the com- 
pany was re-organized and the name changed 
to that of the "Empire Organ Company." 
The quarters were removed to the old planing- 
mill on South Market street, near Pemisyl- 
vania & Ohio Railroad depot. This building 
was remodeled to meet the requirements of 
the company, and a dry-kiln erected on the 
grounds, by means of which they are assured 



V 



W 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



457 



of the perfect seasoning of the himber used. 
Two gentlemen of this company, ]Mr. Tyler 
and ]Mr. Whitney, have been employed as 
master mechanics in many of the largest es- 
tablishments in the United States. They have 
agents thi-oughout Ohio and adjoining States. 
The company employs constantly about fifteen 
men, and sales have progressed steadily from 
one organ per week up to seven. They are at 
this time putting in nearly $1,000 worth of 
new machinery, and intend enlarging the 
capacity of the building. The amount of 
sales, when compared with the length of time 
the works have been established, is sufficient 
evidence of the quality of their wares. Mr. 
Tyler has added to these organs certain im- 
provements of his own invention. ]\ir. Whit- 
ney and Mr. Tyler are both fine musicians, 
and their personal supervision over the whole 
establishment, and their inspection of each 
piece in detail, as well as of the instruments 
complete, makes a double guarantee of their 
perfection. 

It was in the year 1824 that Gallon received 
a post office. As stated in the preceding 
chapter, it was at the old Corners, and Horace 
Hosford, a brother of Asa Hosford, was the 
first Postmaster. It can easily be imagined 
that the duties pertaining to postal matters 
were not arduous. Mi*. Hosford relates that 
an average of one letter per day, as long as 
he was the public functionary, was consid- 
ered evidence of a flourishing condition of 
that department. Letters could be sent with- 
out prepayment of postage. If a young man 
in Gallon corresponded with his ladylove, and 
she resided over 500 miles fi'om him, it cost 
him 50 cents a month to pay for her letters 
and his own, providing each wrote once a 
month. This was a fearful th-ain on the 
pocket of a lover, and the flame would neces- 
sarily be warm and ardent when it consumed 
such precious fuel. The amount of postage 



at that time was regulated by the distance 
the mail matter was carried. The mail came 
by stage from Bucyrus and Mansfield, and 
was carried by the Ohio stage line, running 
originally from Pittsbm'gh to Mansfield. The 
line was extended afterward to Bucyrus, and 
mail was taken every Wednesday to the latter 
place. As the county settled up, the stages 
were increased and the number of post offices 
multiplied. The stages were the old style 
rockaway, on strap springs, painted a wine 
and bright red color. They were generally 
drawn by four horses in winter, and when 
the roads were good in summer they got 
along with two horses. There were two boots 
on the stage, one behind and one in front 
under the driver's feet. These stages were 
intended to carry fifteen persons, twelve in- 
side and three outside, including the driver. 
There was a seat at each end, and a double 
one in the middle, each seat capable of hold- 
ing three persons. Straps were placed across 
the stage in front of each seat, on which the 
passenger leaned or held on with his hands. 
But for these protecting straps, the hu'ching 
and swaying of the stage in chuck-holes would 
throw the T)assengers about indiscriminately. 
The horses, and generally the di'iver, were 
changed at Eiblet's hotel. There was a stage 
arrival every day, one from Mansfield, and 
the next day its retm-n from Bucp-us. Among 
the di-ivers of this old set of Jehus were Eri 
Hosford, Samuel Casey, Joel Kiblet, John 
Snyder, Benjamin Hoover, John Hoover, Joe 
Hoover, and, occasionally, Diuik Mitchell. At 
a later day, Thomas Holton and Peter Acker- 
man. Once AVilliam Hoover, in di"iving from 
Gallon to Riblet's Corners, became a little anx- 
ious about not seeing some f eatm'e of the gen- 
eral muster which was then going on in the 
fields near the hotel. On tlie way, a linch-pin 
was lost from a hind axle, and in going down a 
hill the wheel ran off and upset the coach. No 



:l^ 



458 



HISTORY OF CEAWFORD COUNTY 



one was hurt, and all the passengers took the 
back track to search for the linch-pin, which 
was foimd after an hour's delay, half a mile 
back. Mr. Riblet gave up the tavern business 
to his son-in-law, Mr. Samuel Shunk, and 
then built for himself a fine brick residence 
on East Main street, and removed to Gallon 
in the year 1S54. Under Pierce's administra- 
tion, Mr. Riblet was made Postmaster of Gal- 
ion, and served up to the administration of 
President Lincoln. Mr. Riblet occupied a 
prominent position, and was identified with 
many of the interests of Gallon after his re- 
moval. He had been a Justice of the Peace 
for eighteen years. He was elected to serve 
as State Representative for two terms — from 
1840 to 1844. He was also, in 1852, elected 
a member of the State Senate. He died in 
18G5, and was buried in the cemetery that he 
donated and named. The Postmasters of 
Gallon, as far as is known, were Horace Hos- 
ford, who, in 1824, kept the office in connection 
with his store at the old Corners; Jonathan 
Ayers was Postmaster, but for how long a 
time or where he kept the office we have been 
unable to ascertain; Solomon Nave kept the 
office in a small frame building near the 
square, where Anthony Long now lives; Ran 
Hoover, as Postmaster, occupied a hewed-log 
building on the lot opposite the Capitol House, 
where he carried on the business of wheel- 
wright and chair-making; Mr. Hoover was 
Postmaster for four years; Jacob Bry fugle 
kept the office on the Anthony Long property, 
where Solomon Nave had occupied; John S. 
Davis, in Davis & Bloomer's brick block, where 
the latter carried on the business of dry goods; 
Dan Riblet first kept the office in the dry 
goods store of Joel and Jacob Riblet, where 
George Snyder's gi-ocery now is; afterward, 
Mr. Riblet erected a small frame building for 
the purpose, where Burgest & Deitrich's 
tin and stove store now is, and back of the 



Central Hotel. 'Mr. Carhert was appointed 
Postmaster at the beginning of President Lin- 
coln's administration. His brother, E. Y. 
Smith, was deputized to conduct the business 
of the office. As soon as Mr. Smith had pos- 
session, he removed the office to a frame 
building where Kesselmier's Block now stands. 
During the service of E. Y. Smith, which was 
sixteen years and nine months, the office was 
located in quite a number of different places. 
Once it was where Mackey's Block now stands ; 
for a time in Howard's Block; once on North 
Market street, and the last time in Keene's 
Block; Robert Cowden became Postmaster 
January 29, 1878, and is still in the office. 
Mr. Cowden removed the office to the north 
part of the First National Bank building, 
where it has remained ever since. Gallon 
Post Office became a money-order office while 
Mr. Smith was acting as Postmaster, on the 
21st day of July, 1871. 

As the city and township business increased, 
the authorities began to agitate the question 
of building a public edifice for the use of 
officers, court-room, etc. In 1873, the authori- 
ties of Polk Township and the corporation of 
Gallon entered into an agreement to erect 
jointly a building for the above purpose. It 
was agreed that the township should pay one- 
third and own an undivided interest of one- 
third the building, and the corporation to pay 
two-thirds and own a two-thirds interest. 
There was much discussion in regard to the 
location of the building. Long remonstrances 
were signed and presented to the Council, and, 
before the site was selected, this question be- 
came an issue in the elections. Eventually, 
a part of Lot 48, original plat of Gallon, was 
selected. The size of the building was to be 
66x75 feet, throe stories high, to be built of 
brick and stone. Plans and specifications 
were agreed upon, and the conti'act awai'ded 
to George Wimmie in 1875, and it was fin- 



-^pV 






U-^u/rn Lr~Oi^ 



I 



HISTORY or CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



461 



ished the following year. At the time the 
plan was completed, Sam Myers was Mayor; 
M. Doty, clerk of corporation, and J. G. Meu- 
ser, clerk of township. The lower story of 
the building has one storeroom, two election 
rooms (one for city and one for township), 
one room for Star steamer and hose cart, and 
one j ail-room. The second story has six rooms, 
Mayor's and Justice's court-room. Council 
room, firemen's room, one room to be used 
temporarily as infii-mary, and one that is open 
for rent. In the third story is the opera hall, 
a good room with stage complete, and twenty- 
six changes of scenery. It is so arranged 
that the township receives two-thirds of all 
rents from opera house, and one-third from 
the rents below. The ground upon which 
the building stands was purchased at a cost 
of $3,500. The building cost $20,380.22, and 
is a good one and well worth the money ex- 
pended upon it; yet many of the citizens re- 
main dissatisfied with the location. Especially 
is this the case as regards the opera hall. 

Dm'ing the last year. Dr. H. R. Kelly, David 
Stout and John Riblet, who own the building, 
have fitted up the hall in the upper story of 
the Sponhauer Block. The stage has been 
enlarged, new scenery painted, and the hall 
generally remodeled. For convenience of lo- 
cation, this is an excellent improvement, and 
the manner in which the hall is patronized 
gives evidence of its appreciation. 

Gallon has been one of the muddiest cities 
in the State. No one can conceive of any 
worse condition of roads than those in this 
vicinity. About the first sidewalk put down 
in the town was a walk around the square. 
A double row of logs extended around and 
were slightly raised from the grotmd. The 
upper surfaces of the logs were hewn flat, 
and answered the pui'pose very well. The 
Supervisors annually worked the streets and 
extended the poll-tax, but Market and Main 



streets refused to be dry. During the winter 
of 1879-80, there was so much open weather 
that the streets were in a semi-liquid condi- 
tion most of the time. So terribly bad was 
the condition of the city at this time, that the 
people became in earnest in demanding that 
something be done. It is not difiicult to 
grade the streets of Gallon, but they are little 
better when graded than before. In the 
sf)ring a petition, signed by a majority of the 
resident property-holders, was sent to the City 
Council, demanding that Market and Main 
streets be gi'aded and paved in some manner. 
There were many suggestions, and consid- 
erable investigation into the best method and 
the best material. F. L. Krouse, civil en- 
gineer, was called to Gallon, elected City 
Engineer, and proceeded to advise and assist. 
Piking was decided upon, and was to extend 
from about one and one-half blocks west of 
the square on Main street over the Cleveland, 
Columbus, Cincinnati & Indianapolis Rail- 
road on the east, and from the square on 
south to the depot on Market street. Plans 
and specifications were made, and an invita- 
tion to bid for the work published. The con- 
tract was awarded to Gray & Co., of Cleveland. 
The whole design of the work, including all 
the details, is excellent. It will not fail to 
enhance the value of pi'operty in the city, and 
those two streets will serve as a model that 
we think many other streets will copy more 
or less from. The amount of money spent 
on these two streets will amount to upward 
of $30,000. 

It was during the year of 1859 that Gallon 
came from darkness into light. Before this 
time, her citizens waded miid, fell into chuck- 
holes, and stranded themselves generally over 
dry goods boxes, hogsheads, and such things 
as usually give evidence of prosperity and 
home consumption. The location of the gas 
manufactory was near the railroad on Main 



T^ 



:i^, 



4G2 



HISTORY OF CliAWFORD COUNTY 



street. The construction of the works was 
intrusted to William Stephenson. About two 
miles of wooden pipe was put down, which 
served their purpose for twelve years. The 
stockholders in this company lost all they 
put in it. The stock was all absorbed; there 
never was a dividend, and every one had assess- 
ments. Principal among the stockholders 
were Dr. John Reisinger, Martin Sponhauer, 
William Hays, Joel Riblet, David Riblet, 
Jacob Riblet and others. The old gas fac- 
tory was removed to its present location about 
eight years ago. The old factory was sold 
at Sheriff's sale, and bid in by W. Hays. Mr. 
Hays sold to Miller & Kuhn, of Pennsylvania. 
They kept the factory at the old place for a 
short time, and removed the wooden pipes 
and replaced them with iron. They also laid 
down considerable more pipe, and increased 
the works to a greater extent. In 1S72, they 
built the works where they are now located, 
on East Church street. Their contract price 
with the city is $1.75 per thousand foot for 
gas. It was made a stock company a few 
years ago, but Miller & Kuhn retain a con- 
trolling interest. 

We are informed that in the early times of 
Gallon, each available citizen was a self-con- 
stituted member of the fire department. As 
soon as the alarm was given, each one seized a 
pail and ' rushed to the scene of action. It 
was seldom that much order existed, and each 
one worked with a will, but independent of 
all others. Later in the history of the town, 
a brigade was formed, which was capable of 
doing much good. Two rows of men were 
formed, extending from the water supply to 
the conflagration. The pails full of water 
were passed hastily along one line and re- 
turned em[)ty along the other. Afterward, 
when the small rectangular boxes, with pumps 
in them, came into use, the brigade emptied 
the water into the box. These boxes held 



from one to three barrels of water, and were set 
on low trucks. A pump was placed in the box, 
but there was no suction, however, and the 
lids of the box had to be kept shut while 
pumping. From four to six men could work 
at the levers. A tongue was attached to the 
forward trucks, by which the whole apparatus 
was drawn. About the first fire that occiu'red 
after this box had been pm'chased, the citi- 
zens made a great discovery. It was found 
that it was just as well to pour the water from 
the pails on the fire as to pump it after it had 
been carried to the vicinity of the conflagra- 
tion. Immediately upon this discovery, the 
crowd began to jeer and make merry over the 
fire department, and so ashamed and disgusted 
were some present that the innocent little 
piece of mechanism very naiTowly escaped 
being thrown into the burning building. It 
was called the "Protection," and was pm'- 
chased by the Council in 1852, at the instiga- 
tion of Dr. John Reisinger and Jacob Riblet, 
who were both members of the Council. 
Jacob Riblet lent the village $100 with which 
to purchase it. It was soon sold as a garden 
sprinkler. 

In 1853, the Council deemed it best to pro- 
vide some more efficient method of combating 
fixe. Much discussion and many disagree- 
ments eventuated in the pm-chase of the 
"Phoenix" hand fire engine. This was a 
great advance in the utility and importance 
of the fii'e department, yet the growing bm'g 
must needs learn by experience that which 
she could learn in no other way. The Phoe- 
nix was an excellently made engine, tremen- 
dously heavy and low built. She had been 
intended for Cleveland, for use upon paved 
streets, but about that time steam fire engines 
were coming into use, and Cleveland did not 
want her. An(h-ew Poe was the first foreman. 
It had considerable effect upon the fun-loving 
portion of the community to see this valiant fore- 



1^ 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



463 



man at the end of the rope — his pants tucked 
into his stockings, with himself and the engine 
stiick in the mud. The engine coukl throw a 
considerable volume of water to a good height. 
Soon after her pui'chase, Jacob Riblet, who 
had opposed the purchase on the ground of 
her heaviness, made a bet of a keg of beer to 
the company that they could not throw water 
to the top of Wimmie's Block. The bet was 
accepted, and Jacob ascended the roof with an 
umbrella. The company won the beer and 
thiis demonstrated the capabilities of the Phoe- 
nix on di-y land. But when Gralion assumed 
her lacustrine condition, the Phoenix would 
sink to the bottom. She was hoiised, with 
her hose-cart, in a little tmnble-down brick 
on the northwest corner of Atwood and South 
Market streets. The \dllage there owned sev- 
enty-one feet front, running back to the alley ; 
a small building in front was used for jail 
and engine house. The building was con- 
demned as unsafe and was torn dowTi, and a 
new and substantial brick building was erected 
farther back on the lot, which is now used 
for engine house, jail and firemen's room. 
The building faces Atwood street. The 
reason of setting it back was, that a market- 
house had been contemplated on the portion 
facing Market street ; but the east front 
was sold, and the project of a market-house 
failed. 

In the year 1856, the Phoenix engine was 
traded to Button & Blake, of Cincinnati, for 
the " Niagara," now in use and housed in the 
engine-house on Atwood sti'eet. The authori- 
ties paid to the Cincinnati fii*m $800 as the 
difference between the two engines. The first 
otficers of the Niagara were Dick Watkins, 
Foreman, and A. M. Brown, Assistant Foreman. 
After pm-chasing the Niagara, it was foimd 
one hose-cart was unable to cany all the hose 
reqiiired, and in order to overcome this diffi- 
citlty, a second hose-cart was purchased. The 



present Foreman of Niagara Fire Company is 
E. Fissel. 

The fii'e apparatus, etc., are in the com- 
fortable rooms in the brick building on At- 
wood street. The firemen are well uniformed 
and properly disciplined, and know well what 
is expected of them, and, undoubtedly, are 
well aware of the many responsibilities rest- 
ing iipon them. They are well worthy of the 
esteem bestowed upon them by the people, 
and no fear need be entertained but that they 
will be as brave and daring in danger as the 
occasion may require. 

October 10, 1872, the corporation piu'chased 
the Star Steam Fire Engine of Alirens & Co., 
Cincinnati. The cost was $4,500. The hose- 
cart was purchased at Akron, Ohio. The 
steamer and hose are housed in the City Hall 
building. Jacob Lamb is Foreman of Star 
Company, and H. McFarquer, engineer. Their 
room is on the second floor of the city hall 
building. The whole fire department of Gal- 
ion belongs to the " Firemen's Volunteer Asso- 
ciation of Northern Oliio." Two of their 
annual toui'naments have been held in Gallon, 
the last one September, 1880. 

Wherever men live or dwell, whether on 
sea or on land, and no matter what cares or 
other son'ows biu-den them down, there is al- 
ways one awful and solemn duty that must 
be prepared for and performed. Every na- 
tion, every tribe, are bound to certain and 
various customary rites and ceremonies and 
methods of disposing of the departed dead. 
We have before alluded to the Indian bmying- 
ground on the Gill fai-m, with some few of 
their methods of sepultiire. It is the oldest 
city of the dead in the township. We give 
what James Nail, an old settler, says of our 
oldest burying-gi-omid, used by early settlers. 
It was embodied in a communication written 
by him to the Crawford County Farmer: "In 
earl r pioneer days, before any graveyard was 



1^: 



:£ 



464 



HI8T0RY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



started in the eastern part of the county, it 
was the custom of the people to bury their 
dead in favorable localities on their newly 
cleared farms. As the neighborhood im- 
proved, the settlers conceived the necessity of 
purchasing a site for a burying-ground, when 
John Williamson, James Nail and others se- 
lected an acre of ground out of the corner of 
the northeast quarter of Section 31, Township 
20, Range 20, in what was then Sandusky 
Township, Richland County, but is now Polk 
Township, Crawford County, in the present 
limits of Galion, situated on Main street, 
immediately east of the German Reformed 
Chm-ch. This land belonged to Samuel 
Brown, and, being in the woods, covered with 
timber, such as beech, maple and underbrush, 
was bought for $5. They paid for it, and the 
deed was written in the name of John Will- 
iamson and others, to be used for burial pur- 
poses forever. This deed was left in Squire 
Williamson's hands, and unfortunately was 
never recorded. These men then employed a 
man by the name Sedorus, for $14, who 
chopped off and cleared away the timber and 
made the ground fit for use. This was before 
Galion was laid out. In every transfer of 
the farm from that day to this, we are in- 
formed that this acre, consecrated to the dead, 
has been reservea lor that pui-pose. The first 
or second grave was for a child of James 
Nail, who has eight members of his family 
sleeping there — two wives and six children. 
One of the original purchasers — Mr. William 
Neal — has been one of the men to keep this 
graveyard under fence and repair, from the 
time of its purchase to the present time, at an 
expense to him of more than $100. The last 
payment, $25, was made some fourteen years 
ago, to H. C. Carhart and James W. Gill, for 
the present fence. Many suppose that the 
graves lying in the street belong to the grave- 
yard. This is a mistake. These graves were 



made on the corner of the farm owned by 
Benjamin Leveredge, Esq., which joined Mr. 
Brown's farm." 

The last person buried in this graveyard 
was Mr. John Williamson. It was done by 
his request, as he desired to lie by the side of 
his family, who had previously been buried 
there. Good old Benjamin Leveredge lies 
beneath Main street, opposite this old grave- 
yard. When Main street was laid out, it fol- 
lowed the quarter line and lapped over the 
edge of Mr. Leveredge's farm, and covered 
the spot consecrated by him as a private bury- 
ing-ground. Another old biu-ying-gt'ound lies 
in the northeast quarter of what is now known 
as Union Green Cemetery. The ground was 
donated for the purpose by Jacob Ruhl. Ad- 
ditions were made to this gift sometime after- 
ward by the Lutherans. The last addition 
was made by Daniel Riblet, who, in 1861, 
gave a strip of land on the south side of the 
original grounds, inclosed the whole of it 
and laid it out. To the whole piece he gave 
the name of Union Green Cemetery, under 
which name it has been used ever since. 
North of Union Green Cemetery, and adjoin- 
ing it is the Catholic Cemetery, This was 
opened for burial purposes at a later date, 
and has been in use only since the establish- 
ment of Catholic societies in Galion. No 
dead are interred here but those having mem- 
bership in the church of the Catholic faith. 
It does not bear the crowded appearance of 
the other cemeteries, and is kept in very good 
repair. All of these cemeteries are located 
almost in the midst of the city, and are 
strangely out of place. The city has im- 
proved so rapidly in population and growth, 
that some of her institutions, adapted to the 
village only, have fallen behind in compara- 
tive worth. Nothing connected with a city, 
growing as Galion is, can be more worthy of 
attention than the cemeteries. It would be 



-I I® 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



4G5 



folly to expend much on these old cemeteries, 
and it is with great pleasure that the citizens 
notice a recent act of the Common Council 
and Trustees of the Township, whereby a tax 
of one-fourth of a mill is to be levied on all 
taxable property in township and city for the 
piu'pose of obtaining a new cemetery. A fine 
gi'avel knoll is to be selected, if possible, within 
a mile of the city, and improved with di'ives 
and walks, with beautiful designs in land- 
scape gardening. Such a place as this, in 
some sightly location, away from the hum of 
industry and the busy scenes of the city, 
would give that peace and quiet that should 
pertain to the city of the dead. Such a place 



is to be selected with no thoughts of tempo- 
rary use, but with the full idea of perma- 
nence. Then we can ornament and beautify 
with no fears of removal or dread of over- 
crowding, but with hopes of a perpetual rest 
for the remains of our friends and kin. There 
is no qxiestion but that this work will soon be 
done, and thus save much labor in the futiu-e, 
of removing bodies to the new site which are 
now almost daily being deposited in the old 
grounds. When the new cemetery is ready 
and the bodies removed from the old one, the 
city of Gallon will have ample room in the 
latter place for the park which has been in 
contemplation so long. 



CHAPTER XIII.* 

CITY OF GALION — CHRISTIANITY— ORGANIZATION OF CHURCHES — SECRET AND BENEVOLENT 
ORDERS — EDUCATIONAL— SCHOOL BUILDINGS. 



A T an early day in the history of Gallon, 
-^-^ the people, in their humble way, gave 
to God a portion of their time and money and 
influence. Diu'ing the times of hardship, and 
almost unendiu'able poverty, when they lacked 
most of the comforts that are now enjoyed by 
the poorest, when dangers threatened from 
want, sickness and privation, the early settlers 
found time to sow the seeds of religion and 
education. How unselfish were the motives 
of pioneer missionaries, and Christians of every 
denomination, when they wandered from set- 
tlement to settlement, preaching and praying 
with those who only needed to know of re- 
ligion to embrace its tenets. They had no 
hope of reward on earth, foregoing the com- 
forts of home and the pleasm'e of the family, 
facing the bitter storm or di-enching rain. 
Alone and companionless, but for the omni- 
presence of the Master they served, what a 

* Contributeil by Dr. J. 0. Mcllvaine. 



work was theirs, erecting in the wilderness, 
from station to station, in the wondering pres- 
ence of the red man, altars at which the pio- 
neers might gather, and perpetuate to all 
time, tidings of salvation. Across streams, 
on foot or horseback, through swamps, over 
corduroy road, north, south, east, west, in 
every direction, these men pushed their way, 
and preached their doctrine. To these men 
and their earnestness, do we owe the pleni- 
tude of chiu'ches that grace oiu- city, and the 
religious influence that stamps the character- 
istics that belong to it \T[K)n oiu* people. 

Rightly considered, we should never look 
U})on our spacious edifices in which we wor- 
slii[) at this day, without fervently giving 
thanks and asking a blessing upon all the pio- 
neers of religion. We should consider the 
magnificent piles dedicated to God and His 
service as in some sense great monuments which 
mark and perpetuate the works of these men. 






466 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



n* 



Wo have before s]ioken of Russell Bigelow, 
Mr. Matthews, and Mr. Ilhineliart. There were 
many others whose names cannot be recalled; 
and nothing is known of th(Mn except the fact 
that they preached ajid worked in the cause. 
One l)y the name of Erret was a great laborer, 
as well as the father of Rev. Francis Clymer. 
Rev. John Smith, now living west of Gallon, 
was one among the pioneer ministers. Rev. 
Mr. INIathews was the first pioneer minister 
who received any pay. His first year's pay 
was a subscription list of $15, and the peo- 
ple took great pride in their Presbyterian 
minister. In 1820 or 1828, Gallon was made 
a station on a Methodist Circuit, and Russell 
Bigelow appeared as the minister for this cir- 
cuit. Father Stough was the first Lutheran 
minister who preached in the brick Lutheran 
Church. He was a man much beloved by all 
who knew him. Previous to the buildings of 
churches, the schoolhouses and private build- 
ings were miich used for the purpose of 
chiu'ch service. Where barns were large and 
commodious, they furnished a convenient place 
for assemblage. Mr. Hosford's frame barn, 
being the first in the township, was many 
times utilized for church service. Father 
Fellows was a stanch member of the Meth- 
odist Chiu-ch, and donated the land for the 
first Methodist Church in Gallon. Father 
Stough used to relate some sad experiences of 
the early days. He said that once, in another 
coimty, he started out to collect some money 
that was imperative to his needs. He went 
with his horse, but nowhere did he receive 
any money ; everywhere they gave him bsjon. 
Finally the poor horse became loaded down 
with side meat, and they coiild not proceed. 
He received no money and could not dispose 
of the bacon. He silently prayed to Heaven 
that his children might never be obliged to 
endure the hardships and scant pay that he 
suffered from in his pioneer work. 



Not only were schoolhouses, private build- 
ings, and barns witnesses of the piety of early 
days, but the beautiful maple groves of Polk 
many times resounded with the earnest 
prayers and hymns of pioneer camp-meetings. 
Not unfrequently the wondering red men 
caught the spirit, and there was awakened in 
their breasts the keen proiuptings of a higher 
and holier life. There was at one time a 
camp-meeting east of Gallon, held under the 
auspices of the United Brethren. During 
service, an Indian rode into the grounds, 
hitched his horse to a limb and took a seat. 
After service a class-meeting was held. This 
Indian desired to give his experience. Aris- 
ing, in his untutored way, he acknowledged 
to have been a very hard-drinking man. He 
took from his pocket a pint whisky flask and 
declared that he had known the devil to re- 
side in it. Every time he di'ank fi'om the 
flask, the devil got into him. He finally 
bought a pint of whisky and had the cork 
tightly fastened in. This is what saved him. 
The devil had entered the flask and had hoped 
to enter his body when he drank the whisky. 
The Indian said he never drank any more, 
and the devil ceased troubling him. As far 
as was ever known of this Indian, he led a 
Christian life. 

The last camp-meeting held within the 
present limits of Gallon was in a beautiful 
maple grove where Johnson and Linsley's 
lumber-yard now is. Some of the older citi- 
zens will remember a young lad by the name 
of Harris (whose mother lived in what is now 
Troy Township, Morrow County), who was 
converted at this time. This Mr. Harris 
afterward became a professor in the Ohio 
Wesleyan University, and is now a Bishop in 
the Methodist Episcopal Church. 

The first Sabbath school in Gallon was or- 
ganized before a church building was erected. 
The date of this orcjanization cannot be deter- 






iJ< 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



4G7 



mined. The Sunday school services were held 
in the old schoolhouse, the last of the kind, 
on the present site of Joel Riblet's residence. 
The credit of this organization belongs to the 
Lutherans. At this time, church service was 
held in the same building by the above- 
named congregation. Mrs. Sarah Ruhl and 
Mrs. Dr. Johnson were most active in the en- 
terprise, and should be credited with its suc- 
cess. It being the only Sabbath school in 
Gallon, it received patronage from persons of 
all denominations, and they all urged their 
childi'en with willingness to attend. In the 
year 1840, work was commenced on the first 
church building in Gallon, which was finished 
within the year. The building was of brick, 
and located on the corner of North Union and 
West Church streets. The building was 
beautifully located, and was surrounded by 
numerous shade-trees. It was at this time 
greatly admired by all, and to-day many of 
the old citizens speak of it as though very 
pleasant and happy associations were con- 
nected with it. It was built by the Lutheran 
and German Reformed congregations. The 
venerable pioneer missionary, Rev. F. J. Ruth, 
ofiiciated at the laying of the corner-stone; 
Rev. John Stough was the first Pastor. At 
this time the English and German Lutherans 
had no distinctive organizations. Duringr the 
same year that the Lutheran Chiu-ch was built, 
work was commenced upon the old Methodist 
meeting-house, yet standing on West Main 
street. Although not commenced until after 
the one previously mentioned, it was first to 
be completed and ready for services. The 
land upon which it stands was donated by 
Father Fellows, who was a zealous worker in 
the cause, and a pillar of strength in the Meth- 
odist Chui'ch for many years. Father Fellows 
had purchased the farm on which this build- 
ing stood, from Benjamin Leveredge. It was 
already well improved when it came into his 



possession. A portion of it afterward went 
to make what is called Fellows' Addition to 
Gallon. Before the building of this church 
edifice, the barn of this gentleman had been 
the place for holding many an interesting 
meeting, where pioneer preachers were earnest 
in presenting the precious truth as laid down 
in God's Holy Book. This church was a 
frame building, and is now used as a dwell- 
ing-house. 

A short biographical sketch of Rev. F. J. 
Ruth, the oldest pioneer worker in this vicin- 
ity, is not out of place in this connection. His 
life has been one of toil and hardships in the 
cause he represents ; but for fifty years he has 
gone on with unabated zeal and fidelity. This 
reverend gentleman was born in Frederick 
City, Md., on the 9th day of January, 1805. 
He had fair advantages for education, study- 
ing four years with Rev. Dr. Schaefer, un- 
der whose tutorship he was taught Latin, 
Greek, and the classics generally, and who 
also prepared him for the ministry. He was 
licensed by the Lutheran Synod of Maryland, 
in October, 1830, and was by them soon after 
sent as a missionary to Ohio. He preached 
in the vicinity of Gallon about two months 
during the year 1831. This same year he 
located at Ashland, having charge of several 
stations, among which was Mansfield, where 
he established a church. In April, 1835, he 
received an invitation to go to Bucyrus, where 
in 1832 he organized a church. During 
his stay there he had charge of Sulphur 
Springs, Spring Mill, London and Mount 
Ziou congregations, besides preaching occa- 
sionally in Gallon. Mr. Ruth relates that 
the first time he visited Gallon was in 1831. 
Starting from Mansfield he inquired, when 
near Shelby, the road to Gallon. No one in 
the vicinity knew of such a place ; they had 
heai-d of a place called " Moccasin," and per- 
haps that was the place. Between Shelby 



■^fv 



^ 



468 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY 



and West Lib(n'ty, he met a man of whom he 
asked the road to Moccasin. The man replied 
that he had never heard of Moccasin, but 
that there was a small place near Leesville 
called " Horseshoe " which was probably the 
point he wished to reach. "When he arrived 
at Gallon he stopped at a log hotel on West 
Main street, which is now a portion of Mrs. 
Gill's residence. He inquired of the clerk 
for the names of some Lutheran families. 
There were five drunken men in the room, 
and one of them asked Mr. Ruth if he could 
preach in German. He answered him by 
saying, " I am not eloquent in German, but I 
can exhort in that language." They then 
asked if he could preach in English; he re- 
plied that he could, after which they told 
him that he was not wanted, as they would 
prefer to hear a hog grunt rather than to 
listen to an English sermon. Mr. Ruth im- 
mediately returned to Mansfield with feelings 
of disgust. A few weeks after this, the wives 
of Michael and Levi Ruhl came to Mansfield 
to hear Mr. Ruth preach. They were well 
satisfied with him, and gave him a strong in- 
vitation to come to Gallon. He accepted the 
invitation, and preached his opening sermon 
to a large audience in the frame barn belong- 
ing to John Ruhl. He was so kindly received 
and welcomed that his poor opinion of the 
Gallon people was considerably modified. 
He preached occasionally in Gallon until the 
spring of 1852, when he was called as the 
regular pastor of the church, at the same time 
accepting the charge of the congregations at 
Leesville, Newcastle and Lost Creek. He had 
officiated in the laying of the corner-stone of 
the Lutheran Chui'ch, which was built in 18-40. 
He resided at that time in Bucyi'us. He re- 
moved to Gallon in 1854, yet continuing to 
preach to the former congregations till the 
spring of 1862. He then took charge of 
four congregations in Richland County, for 



three years, viz.. Mount Zion, Lucas, Saint 
John's and Petersburg. He was then recalled 
to Gallon, Lost Creek, Leesville and Sherer 
congregations, remaining until 1870, at which 
time the Gallon Lutheran Church separated 
from the rest of the charge while he continued 
with the remaining three for about five years, 
when, owing to impaired health, he was obliged 
to rest for two years, since which time he has 
been serving a congregation at Spring Mills, 
Richland County. To him it must be with 
joy and thankfulness that he sees all over this 
country the bountiful yield of his early sowing. 
The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Gal- 
ion* was organized A. D. 1831, by Rev. John 
Stough; a man of eminent piety, and much 
beloved by all who knew him. His zeal in 
the work of the Master was invincible, and he 
was instrumental in laying a good foundation 
for much of the good work done in after years. 
He continued his labors with this church for 
about ten years. During his pastorate ( in the 
year 1840), the fixst Lutheran Chui'ch building 
was erected, on the corner of North Union and 
West Church streets. The corner-stone was 
laid the year previous, at which time he was 
assisted by the now venerable Rev. F. J. Ru.th. 
He was succeeded by Revs. H. W. Lawer, J. 
B. Hoffman, A. Kuhn, S. Ritz, J. Crouse and 
I. Culler, who successively served the church 
with great acceptance until the year 1852. 
Prominent among the original members of 
this church, and who took an active part in 
its organization, were Michael Ruhl, Jacob 
Ruhl, John Ruhl, Thomas Rinehart, John 
Rinehart, John Shawber, and Samuel Ger- 
brecht. About the year 1843, the German 
portion of the congregation withdi-ew fz'om 
this church, to effect an organization of its 
own. This so weakened the English poi'tion 
which remained, that ofttimes it seemed a 
struggle between life and death, and at times 

*Contributed by Bev. E. W. Soudcrs. 



^i 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



4G9 



it was a question whether they conld perpet- 
uate their organization or not. 

On or about April 1, 1852, Rev. F. J. Ruth 
received and accepted a call to become its pas- 
tor, and continued such until April 1, 1861. 
Of his labors I need not here speak, as a brief 
biography of this venerable father in Israel 
occurs elsewhere in this work. Suffice it to 
say, that his labors have been abundantly 
blessed in this and many other churches he 
organized in this and adjoining counties. 
Upon Father Ruth's resignation, in April, 
1801, Rev. M. J. Stover took charge of the 
congregation, together with an organization 
at Leesville. He continued in charge one 
year and six months. Quite a number of 
members were added; but, owing to another 
year and six months' vacancy, many losses 
were sustained. April 1, 1864, Rev. F. J. 
Ruth was recalled to again become Pastor 
of the congregation, which relation he sus- 
tained until September 18, 1870. During 
this time, in 1867, the present church edifice, 
on South Columbus street, was erected. Shortly 
after taking charge, in 1864, two other con- 
gregations were added to the charge, that of 
Lost Creek and Sherer's, which, together with 
the one at Leesville, added during Rev. Sto- 
ver's administration, constituted a charge of 
four congregations. Li the surmner of 1870, 
the congregation, deeming more fi'equent 
preaching necessary for its welfare than could 
be given it in connection with three other con- 
gregations, petitioned the Wittenburg Synod, 
then in session at Mansfield, Ohio, of which 
the charge was a member, to separate it from 
the other three congregations, and constitute 
it a charge by itself. This being done. Rev. 
F. J. Ruth resigned the Gallon congregation, 
as above stated, September 18, 1870, to con- 
tinue as Pastor of the remaining three con- 
gregations. January 1, 1871, Rev. H. B. 
Miller was called to become the Pastor of this 



congi'egation. In the spring of the same 
year, the members deemed it wise to dissolve 
the existing organization, and organize anew. 
They at once proceeded to di*aw up an article 
of organization and incorporation. This was 
passed upon and met with approval, and an 
organization with thirty-five members was ef- 
fected, a record of which can be found in the 
office of the Probate Court of the county. 
The new organization, being weak numer- 
ically and financially, found it impossible to 
afford its pastor an adequate support. It now 
became a mission, under the supervision of 
the Board of Home Missions of the General 
Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church 
of America. Thus it became prepared for 
the work of the Master, and to husband the 
blessings of God, soon to be given it. In 
the winter of 1872-73, the general revival that 
visited the country at lai-ge, came in refi'esh- 
ing waves to the Gallon congregation. Dur- 
ing a six weeks' meeting held in the Lutheran 
Church, about seventy souls were converted 
to God, sixty of whom united with this church. 
As a result of this ingathering, the congi-ega- 
tion relieved the Board of Home Missions 
from any further aid, and became self-sus- 
taining. It now became a fixture, taking its 
place alongside of the other churches of 
Gallon. 

In November, 1875, Rev. H. B. Miller re- 
signed the charge of the congi-egation, and it 
Avas again without a regular pastor eight 
months. During the winter of 1875-76, Rev. 
G. M. Heindel preached for it as a supply. 
But, being without a regular pastor, the 
" love of many waxed cold," and the church 
suifered many losses. On the 25th day of 
June, 1876, the present Pastor, Rev. E. W. 
Souders, received and accepted a call from this 
congregation, and entered regularly upon the 
duties of the pastorate, July 2, 1876. The 
roll showed an active membership of ninety. 



470 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUXTY 



During the spring of 1878 acd 1879, quite a 
number of accessions were made, the church 
enjojdng two seasons of precious refreshing 
from the Lord. Notwithstanding the numer- 
ous losses, mostly by removal and death, the 
church has been making steady progress under 
the present administration, having grown 
from 90 to 160 in membership. Its experi- 
ence, as a congregation, is a varied one. The 
changes through which it has passed, tended 
in no small degree to retard its progress for 
years. But now it has an interesting and effi- 
cient Sunday school, under the superintend- 
ency of S. G. Cummings, and a membership 
that will compare favorably with her sister 
churches, in benevolence and spirituality, and 
the graces that characterize the true church of 
God upon earth. 

There were quite a number of Luther- 
an families among the early settlers in 
Polk Township. There is much that is 
known by tradition of these old families 
in connection with their religious procliv- 
ities, but recorded facts are not to be found 
bearing a very old date. We are now writ- 
ing of " The German Evangelical Lutheran 
Frudens Geminde of Gallon." This Luther- 
an Church is not governed by the same 
synod, nor does it bear any similarity in doc- 
trine to the English Lutheran. Of course 
there were German and English Lutherans 
united in the early days to secure services 
and build the old brick chiu*ch on the corner 
of North Union and West Church streets. 
Their first meeting was in an old log cabin, 
a little north of the public square, which 
was at that time used for a schoolhouse. 
Among the early members were Christian 
Buhlor and Hemy Buhler, Ludwig Bohl, 
Henry Bohl, Daniel Eiblet. They had serv- 
ice at intervals, but no regular organization 
existed. Rev. Father Stough officiated as 
traveling missionary. As soon as the German 



element became strong enough they deter- 
mined to make an effijrt to organize separately 
fi'om the English Lutheran. Many German 
settlers were arriving, who could not converse 
in English, much less comprehend an abstruse 
discourse on theology. Altogether, it was 
deemed best, and the Germans sold to the 
English people their interest in the old brick 
church. They then organized under the above 
name, and in the same year built jointly with 
the German Reformed congregation, a brick 
church on South Market Street. There was 
no union of the two congregations in any 
other sense than that of a business association 
for the purpose of economy. Each congrega- 
tion used the church and had certain privi- 
leges and uses, but, as far as the church organ- 
ization was concerned, they were separate and 
distinct. Eventually the German Lutherans 
bought out the interest of the German Re- 
foi-med congregation. In the year 1874, the 
front part of the old church building was 
taken down, and in the front of the remain- 
ing part was erected a new church. This 
building is a model of architectural beauty 
and a standing witness of well-expended means. 
This church edifice is the finest in the city of 
Gallon; and, for the amount it cost ($18,000), 
can hardly ])e excelled in beauty and propor- 
tion. A Sunday school was organized about 
the year 1852, which has continued in suc- 
cessful operation up to the present. It has 
always been well attended and has wrought a 
good work. Many of the members of the 
church now becoming gray, gained their first 
light of God's promise in the Sabbath school. 
In the fall of 1878, a parochial school was 
organized, and school opened in the rear of 
the church. English and German branches 
are taught. The school has been conducted 
since its organization by Mr. A. Krueger. 
Mr. Krueger is also the organist for the con- 
gregation. The school has now an enrollment 



f 



'P 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



471 



of seventy-two pupils. The first regular min- 
ister who preached for this congregation was 
Rev. J. Kraxiss. The congregation has l)een 
served in regular succession by J. Schlader- 
mimt, M. r. Dethlefs, Gc. T. H. Meiser, H. 
Kleinegus, C. Wernle, C. Lilye, and J. A. 
Schultze, who is the present Pastor, and has 
been since April, 1875. The congregation num- 
bers -400 communing members, or 605, includ- 
ing children. This congregation is eminently 
prosperous, as is all its interest. 

The history of the Reformed German 
Chiu'ch is about the same as that of the 
German Lutheran. They were associated 
together and worshiped in common until 
the year 1847. At this date a regular or- 
ganization was made. Prominent among 
the members of this first organization, were 
Jonas Shumaker, Adam and Daniel Eichhorn, 
Dr. John Reisinger, Henry Althaus, John 
Burgner, Rudolphus Bessinger. Altogether, 
there were about twenty families in the new 
organization. They were suj^plied by visit- 
ing pastors of the Reformed Church, until 
1850, at which time Rev. Abraham Keller 
took charge of the interests of the church, 
and preached every other Sabbath. He was 
a man of great zeal and piety, and his memory 
is yet cherished by all who knew him. He 
died in Bucyrus during the year 1852, while 
yet in the prime of life. In the spring of 
1853, Rev. Dr. M. Stearn took charge of the 
field and served the church with great success 
and ability, up to the year 1860. Rev. John 
Rettig succeeded Dr. Stearn, serving the church 
for two years. The next Pastor was Rev. 
John Bippus, who remained until 1868, when 
Rev. Martin Miller took charge, who, by rea- 
son of failing health, was obliged to retire 
from ministerial labor altogether, which he 
did in 1871. The congregation then called 
their former Pastor, Dr. Stearn ; he only served 
one year, when he was stricken with paraly- 



sis, and retired. In 1872, Rev. J. H. F. 
Dickman was called, and served till 1878. At 
this time. Rev. Dr. J. H. Kline, of Louisville, 
Ky., was called and is yet serving the church. 
The Reformed German congregation and the 
German Lutheran congregation owned jointly 
a brick church building on South Market 
street. In 1858, the German Lutherans 
bought out the interest of the Reformed 
Church. They immediately purchased an 
acre of ground, of James Gill, on West Main 
street, at the foot of Boston, and at once be- 
gan to erect the church edifice that now stands 
on the ground. This chiu'cli was dedicated 
in May, 1859, by Rev. J. Joerris and J. G. 
Ruhl. The cost of the building was $4,143. 
They have a basement for Sabbath school and 
an audience-room. The church is out of debt, 
and expends for all purposes, annually, $1,- 
500. In 1868, the congregation purchased a 
lot on Boston street, near Main street, ahd 
erected a building for a parsonage. The super- 
intendent of the Sabbath school is Jacob 
Schaffner. The school numbers about 300 
members. The church roll shows a member- 
ship of 425 communicants. 

The following regarding the Methodist 
Ej)iscopal Church of Gallon, is contributed: 

At the annual session of the North Ohio 
Conference, held at Medina, Ohio, Aiigust 7, 
1850, the Gallon Methodist Episcopal Chiu'ch 
was combined with the Methodist Churches of 
Leesville, West Point, Iberia, Ebenezer and 
West Liberty, and the combination was known 
as Gallon Circuit. At this time, there were 
fifty-eight members in the church at Gallon, 
and the following names we find on the offi- 
cial roll: Randall Smith, Jonathan Fellows, 
John Rinehart, John Gilliland, Thomas B. 
Casner and S. P. Nave. A few of these offi- 
cers remain, the rest have fallen asleep in 
Christ. The Rev. William Thatcher was Pas- 
tor duriugf the vear. The followincr voar Rev. 



-sF 



^: 



472 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY 



John Orr was Pastor, and Rev. Alonzo Rodgers 
assistant. In the fall of 1852, Rev. E. H. 
Bush was appointed Pastor, and Alonzo Rodg- 
ers assistant. In 1853, Rev. William Hudson 
was appointed Pastor, and Rev. James W. 
Fribley assistant. During this year, the name 
of Dr. N. E. Hackedorn appeared on the offi- 
cial roll. Rev. Z. C. Norton was appointed 
Pastor, and Rev. E. J. McClelland assistant, in 
the fall of 1851. These ministers sustained 
their pastoral relation to the Gallon Circuit for 
two years, the longest pastorate that as yet any 
of the ministers had sustained to this circuit. 

At the General Conference of 1856, the 
North Ohio Conference was divided and a 
new conference organized, called the Central 
Ohio; and at the fu'st session of this new con- 
ference Delaware District was formed, and 
Gallon Circuit became a part of this district. 

Through the earnest labors of the pastors 
and the people, the church in Gallon had 
steadily increased in numbers and strength, 
and it was now thought that with the aid of 
Union Chapel, situated two and one-half miles 
west of Gallon, a pastor could be sustained 
without the aid of the other congregation, so 
Gallon and Union Chapel were set off as a 
pastoral charge, and Rev. A. J. Lyon ap- 
pointed Pastor. In 1857, Rev. S. H. Alder- 
man was Pastor. During this year the Lord 
greatly blessed the labors of His people, and 
many souls were converted and added to the 
church; of these quite a number became use- 
ful workers in the vineyard of the Master. 
In 1858, Rev. William S. Paul was appointed 
Pastor. During this year the church, under 
the leadershi}) of this faithful servant of God, 
resolved to build a new house of worship. A 
meeting of the members and friends of the 
church was called for consultation, at which 
time a conditional subscription was started — 
subscription to be binding when $8,500 was 
subscribed. The church now decided to piu'- 



chase the old parsonage property, corner of 
Walnut and Columbus streets, which had been 
sold to Mr. James Braden, and there locate 
the new edifice. The purchase was made ; and, 
on the r2th day of February, 1859, at a meet- 
ing of the congregation, it was reported that 
the desired amount of subscription was se- 
cured. This gave great encoiu'agement to the 
friends of the enterprise, and they determined 
to push the work of building as rapidly as 
possible. The old church on West Main 
street was sold to the Disciples; a building 
committee, composed of Loyd Lowe, William 
Hays and Rev. W. S. Paul, was appointed, 
contracts were soon let, and the work com- 
menced. Rev. AV. S. Paul was returned to 
the charge in 1860, and in the good provi- 
dence of God was enabled to carry through, 
by the help of the noble band of workers at 
his side, the work of chiirch building to com- 
pletion; and on the l()th day of September, 
1860, the new church was dedicated to the 
worship of God. In the fall of I860, Rev. 
Amos Wilson was appointed Pastor. This 
was a year of great spiritual prosperity. The 
people had given of their substance to build 
the Lord a house. Now the Lord came and 
filled it with His glory, and blessed the people. 
In this revival many, old and young, were con- 
verted; heads of families were saved and be- 
came grateful helpers in the church of Chi'ist. 
This year, Union Chapel was transferred to 
Caledonia Circuit, and Gallon became self-sus- 
taining. Before the pastoral year closed, Rev. 
Mr. Wilson resigned the charge and accepted 
the chaplaincy of the Twenty-third Regiment 
Ohio Volunteer Infantiy, and Rev. W. S. Paul 
filled the unexpired pastoral term. He was 
sxicceeded by Rev. L. B. Gurley, D. D., a 
man innocent as a child, piu*e as an angel, 
and as eloquent as Apollos. He filled the 
pulpit for two years with great ability, and 
to the delight and profit of his auditors. 



*^3 



w 



_«-^ 






HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



473 



During his pastorate an addition was built to 
the parsonage. Rev. F. Mamott succeeded 
Dr. Gurley as Pastor; he sustained this rela- 
tion but one year, having been taken by the 
authorities of the church and placed on Lima 
District, as Presiding Elder. Rev. Mr. Ma- 
mott was succeeded by Rev. W. W. Winters, 
who remained with this church two years, the 
full length of the pastorate allowed by the 
law of the church. He was followed in the 
fall of 1866, by Rev. A. Nelson, D. D. He 
also remained full length of pastoral term, 
and his services were greatly enjoyed by the 
congregation, and blessed by the Lord in the 
spiritual culture of the worshipers. 

The General Conference held at Chicago in 
May, 1868, so changed the boundaries of the 
North Ohio and Central Ohio Conferences 
that Gallon became a point in the North Ohio 
Conference; and, at the following session of 
the conference, Rev. H. Dubois was appointed 
Pastor. He remained but one year with this 
church, and through his labors a number of 
important additions were made to the mem- 
bership. He was followed by Rev. S. Mc- 
Burney, who remained two years and was 
successful in the temporal and spiritual work 
of the church. He improved the church 
property to the amount of $3,700. He was 
succeeded by Rev. John W. Baxton, who at 
the close of one year was appointed Presiding 
Elder of Mansfield District. Li 1872, Rev. 
George W. Pepper was appointed Pastor, and 
sustained this relation three years, the longest 
pastorate in the history of this church. God 
blessed his labors with a gracious revival, and 
many who united with the church in the re- 
vival are faithful to the present. He was fol- 
lowed by Rev. Lorenzo Warner, who after 
seven months of service was transferred to the 
church triumphant which is before the throne. 
Rev. S. Mower, D. D., filled the unexpired term 
and at the close of the year was appointed 



Pi-esiding Elder of the district, and Rev. John 
Whitworth was appointed Pastor. He re- 
mained but one year, and was instrumental in 
the hand of God in saving many souls, some 
of whom are filling official positions in the 
church and Sabbath school. He was followed 
by Rev. E. Y. Warner, who occupied the pul- 
pit two years, and, tlirough the assistance of 
Mrs. L. O. Robison, of Greencastle, Ind.. 
quite a number were added to the church dur- 
ing his second year. In the fall of IS^U, Rev. 
S. A. Thomson, present incumDent, succeeded 
Mr. Warner. Thus we nave seen this little 
vine, from a small beginning, gi'ow to be a 
strong church. Its present membership ntim- 
bers 325. " What hath God wi'ought !" 

The German Methodist Episcopal Church 
differs in no wise from the English Methodist 
Episcopal Church, except in language. The 
church in Gallon separated from the Zoar 
Station, which was an old and large associa- 
tion, having a church edifice west of Gallon 
about three miles. There had been in this 
vicinity a missionary by the name of Clu-is- 
tian Nast, sent by the Central Ohio Confer- 
ence, in 1842. In the year 1844, another 
missionary was sent here, by the name of Rev. 
Nuhfer, who preached in the old log school- 
house then existing. This minister went to 
work in earnest, and in a short time had or- 
ganized a German society. Among some of 
the fii-st members at this organization were 
Ludwig Gerth, Antoine Young, Louis Quant, 
Louis Gugler, Jacob Self, Michael Self, Peter 
Brick. The first regular minister of this 
chm-ch was John Bier. The services were 
held in the log schoolhouso until that was 
sold by the village. They then, in common 
with other chiu'ches, held services in the old 
Brick Lutheran Church, near the cemetery. 
When the English ]\Iethodist Chm-ch was 
built, the Gei-man Chm-ch had preaching in 
the basement. In 1864, the frame building, 



:i^ 



474 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



the first built by the Methodists, on West Main 
sb'oot, was piu*chased. Here they remained 
until 1873, at which time they sold their 
property to Richard Atkinson, and bought a 
lot corner of Atwood and South Market streets. 
Here they erected a fine brick edifice at a cost of 
$12,000, and which they yet occupy. The pres- 
ent Presiding Elder is Rev. George Schwim, 
and the Pastor, Rev. P. J. Grrassle. There 
art^ about seventy full members, besides proba- 
tioners. The Sabbath school has an enroll- 
ment of about seventy members. The first 
Sabbath school of this church was organized in 
1S60, with Ludwig Gerth as Superintendent. 

The first Presbyterian organization in Galion 
was effected in 1851. Before this time, a 
scattered few were zealous in their efforts to 
keep up the interest in their faith. They had 
not been selfish in their work, and with lib- 
eral minds they added fuel to the flame that 
burned upon God's altar, and were gratified 
at the success of Christianity through repre- 
sentatives of all faiths. 

In 1851, the Marion Presbytery (O. S.) 
gave ear to the petition of Mr. John Young 
and his wife, Mr. Joseph Lee and his wife, 
Mr. John McClelland and his wife, Mrs. Ann 
Rankin and Mrs. Barton. In response to this 
petition, they sent to Galion a committee con- 
sisting of Rev. J. B. Blaney, Silas Johnston 
and J. P. Lloyd for the purpose of organizing 
a chiirch. These were the nuclei — small, but 
fij'm as the Rock of Ages — which have year 
by year assimilated and grown to the fair 
proportions that chui-ch now assumes. From 
this little band of pioneers, there has devel- 
oped a church that is a power for good, and 
a worthy representative of God's instrumen- 
tality. Of this number, but few remain on 
earth. The rest have gone to join that larger 
congregation above. Joseph Lee, John Young, 
and Ezra Day were the first Elders, followed 
by others in regular succession, viz., Abraham 



De Haven, David KeiT, T. H. B. Beale, James 
Bryant, F. W. Johnson, William Dickey, J. 
M. Snodgrass, Elah D. Shaler, etc., many of 
whom are yet here, working with faith and 
love in the cause of the Lord. The infant 
church held frequent and earnest prayer meet- 
ings at the house of Mr. J. McClelland. Un- 
doubtedly a large portion of success was attrib- 
utable to these zealous gatherings. Galion, 
at this time, had but 400 inhabitants, and 
several other churches were in operation. 
No house of worship, no resident minister, 
there was much to discourage them, and but 
little to cheer. Services were held every 
second Sabbath in summer and every fourth 
Sabbath in winter, and this in the afternoons, 
yet the small congi'egation struggled against 
these obstacles nobly. A serious blow to the 
church was the removal of Rev. J. P. Lloyd 
to Mt. Gilead, and the vacancy thus created 
was dijSicult to fill. On the completion of the 
Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati & Indianap- 
olis Railroad the town rapidly increased in 
population, and the other churches kept pace 
with it. The Presbyterian Church remained 
stationary, with occasional preaching in a 
borrowed or hired house. From this time 
there was a vacancy, which lasted for three 
years and six months. This was nearly fatal 
to the organization. Added to vacancy was 
debt, with its crushing weight and other at- 
tendant evils. All of these causes had a fair 
share of disaster to account for, yet the organ- 
ization prevailed, and in 1858 Rev. Mr. Lloyd 
returned fi'om Mt. Gilead and resumed charge 
of the struggling church, jointly with the 
church of Crestline. Each communion there- 
after witnessed new accessions of members, 
and in two years more the subject of build- 
ing a house for the Lord was broached. Dif- 
ferences were settled and unity prevailed 
sufficiently to commence the building. A site 
was selected on South Market street, and work 



^ 



HISTOEY OF CRAWFORD COUXTY. 



475 



coinmenced. It had not progressed far when 
the civil war broke out, and the building 
ceased. It stood still for a few years, and 
was finished in 18G3. Now a heavy debt was 
incurred, and the church had yet to struggle 
against these earthly fetters. The year 18G2 
was an era in the history of the chm*ch. Then 
the niu'sery of the church was organized, in 
the form of the Sabbath school. In 1866, the 
Rev. ]Mr. Lloyd removed to Crestline, and 
another short vacancy occurred, which was 
filled by Rev. A. E. Thompson. Dm'ing his 
stay, immense efforts were made to do away 
with the debt. The enterprise of liquidating 
a large portion of the debt was particularly 
due to F. W. Johnson, aided by labor and 
prayer by T. H. B. Beale, James Bryant, 
David Kerr and Dr. J. M. Snodgi-ass. In 1868, 
Rev. Thompson's removal caused another va- 
cancy of nearly a year. In 1869 Rev. Kingery 
served the church as stated supply for one 
year. Another short vacancy was filled by 
Hugh R. Price, who remained from 1871 to 
1874. Rev. jVIr. Price was possessed of winning 
manners, and gained friends from every side, 
especially among the non-church-going classes. 
Although far up in years, and suffering much 
pain from the infirmity which ended his life, 
he was truly " the old man eloquent." 

After Rev. IVIr. Price's removal, some time 
elapsed before he was succeeded by Rev. Mil- 
ton McMillin. " Although not a great preacher, 
he was a man of great spiritual power, a 
devoted Pastor, and successful in his work. 
Some of the good seed sown by Rev. McMillin 
has come up and borne fruit, and much we 
trust, yet remains." "With his assistance 
the Sabbath school increased in numbers and 
interest. The church was stirred up to work 
and prayers." IVIr. McMillin ceased his la- 
bors here, April, 1875. Foiu' months after, 
came Rev. Edward P. Elcock, who is yet serv- 
ing the chm-ch. The Presbyterians ai-e out of 



debt, and own a fine brick church, and are in 
a prosperous condition. 

The Regular Associated Baptist Church of 
Gallon, Ohio, was organized on the 14th day 
of January, 1859. There was no regular 
pastor for the church until the month of April, 
1861. At this time, Rev. J. B. Sutton became 
the Pastor of the young church. Prior to 
this, and on the 29th day of December, 1859, 
the Regular Baptist Church of Gallon met, 
and while so convened entered into the follow- 
ing agreements: "We, the undersigned, mem- 
bers of the Regular Baptist Church, in the 
Mohican Association, for om' mutual good and 
the promotion of the cause of Christ, do cov- 
enant and agree with each other, in church 
capacity, and as a branch in Gallon of the 
Bloomfield Church, in the Mohican Baptist 
Association, to maintain the apostolic order of 
the church in its primitive purity. 

" First. We believe the Bible to b? given 
by inspiration from God; we believe the New 
Testament to be a complete rule of faith and 
practice for the chxu'ch. Signed, John Will- 
iams, J. A. Mann, Sarah Williams, Martha 
Mann, W. B. Cloak, Charlotte Ricker, Nancy 
Rulil, Savezilia Peterson, Emma Stout, Orlan- 
do Steward, Emily Steward, B. G. Schrock." In 
the spring of 1862, the chm'ch began to build 
the brick house of worship they now occupy. 
As soon as the foundation was laid, Elder J. 
B. Sutton mounted the scaffold, with his 
trowel in hand, and worked assiduously at the 
brick-laying until the walls were completed. 
He did much other work on the building, and 
labored hard, by physical and mental means, 
till the building was completed, which was 
during the year. On the 3d of August, soon 
after completion, the building was dedicated 
by Rev. J. W\ Osborn, then of Mansfield. El- 
der J. B. Sutton occupied the new pulpit until 
August, 1864. At this time Elder S. ^Vhitney 
occupied the pulpit alternately till April, 



476 



HISTORY OF CliAWFORD COUNTY 



1866. A. D. Abbott then jn-oached for the 
con^-egation for oue year, but from April, 
1 S(57, to April, 1872, this church had no pastor. 
Their chiu'ch building was occupied a portion 
of this time by the English Lutheran Chui'ch, 
while they (Lutherans) were erecting their 
own building. In April, 1872, Elder B. M. 
Mon'ison was called, who faithfully and ably 
served the chm'ch until early in the winter 
of the same year he died. In January, 1873, 
O. H. Betts was called, and ordained as Pastor 
of the church. He occupied the pulpit until 
July, 1874, when Elder T. Yarnell was called, 
who remained till October, 1876. Next in 
order came Elder John Hawker, who remained 
three and one-half yeai-s. During Elder Haw- 
ker's stay, the chm'ch increased in membership 
more than 100 per cent. Elder Hawker re- 
signed his pastorate and removed to Ports- 
mouth. His place was immediately filled by 
Elder H. B Fernald, who now occupies the 
pulpit with ability and faithfulness. The 
membership of this chiu'ch is eighty-six com- 
municants. There is a good Sabbath school, 
conducted by INIi'. Willen, with a membership 
of eighty. 

The church of the United Brethren in Christ 
of Gallon was organized in 1852. Previous 
to this date, a number of meetings, as well as 
of camp-meetings, had been held in the vicin- 
ity. Among the earlier itinerant ministers 
of this chiu-ch were Rev. W. R. Rhinehart and 
Rev. Peter Flack. The first efforts toward 
organization were made after the arrival of 
Rev. Francis Clymer, who preached his first 
sermon in the old Lutheran Church. He at 
this time instituted a protracted meeting, and, 
in company with the Lutheran Church, suc- 
ceeded in arousing a spirit of revival. About 
fifty souls were converted, of which number 
about one-half imited with the Brethren 
Church. At the time of the organization, 
three trustees were elected: Rev. F. Clymer, 



Daniel Hoover, and Jesse Puskeypile, who 
were instructed to purchase ground and \n\} 
pare for building a church. The west half of 
the lot on northeast corner of East Walnut 
and South Market streets was purchased, and 
building commenced. The church was finished 
during the year, at a cost of upward of $4,- 
000. This was the first church erected in 
Gallon after the completion of the Cleveland, 
Columbus, Cincinnati & Indianapolis Rail- 
road. Prominent among the members at the 
organization were Daniel Hoover and wife, 
Jonathan Bosline and wife, Jesse Puskeypile 
and wife, Mrs. Mary Wertz, Mrs. Sarah Un- 
derwood, John Moreice and wife, Henry Dice 
and wife. At this time a class was formed, 
of several members, with Daniel Hoover as 
Class-leader. At the same time Daniel Hoover 
organized a Sabbath school, of which he was 
Superintendent. The congregation rented 
the Lutheran Chui'ch for one year, after 
which, they held their services in the old 
Methodist frame church till their own build- 
ing was finished. The first regular minister 
who preached after the church was built w&s 
Rev. Arkinson Berry, who remained for two 
years. The minister now preaching for the 
congregation is Rev. Mr. Ramsey. The pres- 
ent Superintendent of Sabbath school is S. Iv. 
Traul. There are enrolled upon the books 
upward of 200 names, and a membership 
of the Sabbath school of nearly 250 scholars. 
In January, 1854, there came to Gallon a 
Catholic missionary by the name of Matthias 
Kreusch. The religious order to which he 
belongfed was designated as the C. P. P. S. 
He came here with an earnest purpose, and 
lost no time in beginning the work that he 
had in contemj^lation. He brought together 
the little band of Catholics, and by his earnest 
preaching he succeeded in organizing them 
into a congregation. The first services that 
he held were in a private house, a frame dwell- 



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HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUN^TY. 



479 



ing belonging to Mr. Rndiger, and situated 
near the Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati & 
Indianapolis Railroad depot. The next year, 
they built a small frame church building on 
East Main street, near the railroad. After 
some time the congregation bought the prop- 
erty on South Union street, and north of the 
union school building. Here they erected a 
neat and tidy brick church. It was small, 
but of sufficient size to accommodate the grow- 
ing congregation. The parsonage was on the 
same ground. In 1865, the chm-ch was erected, 
and a parochial school was commenced at the 
same time. The priest at this time was Father 
John P. Pitts. He, in addition to church 
duties, took charge of the parochial school. 
In 1867, St. Patrick's and St. Joseph's con- 
gregations separated, and each society con- 
ducted a parochial school. In 1873, St. Pat- 
rick's society erected the fine brick church in 
the eastern part of Gallon. At this time, 
Father Girardin conducted the chm'ch and 
school. In 1877, St. Joseph's congregation 
purchased the property on the corner of Lib- 
erty and Church streets. This is the block 
of three lots, and the first brick schoolhouse 
in Polk Township. The congregation have 
remodeled the building, so that it now con- 
stitutes the parsonage, parochial school and 
church. Father Girardin left, by orders from 
Bishop Gilmore, and was replaced by Father 
Ksempker, who at present has charge. It is 
the intention of St. Joseph's Society to erect, 
in 1881, a fine brick church on one of their 
vacant lots south of the present building 

In October, 1869, the Rev. George S. Da- 
vis commenced missionary work in Gallon, 
in the interests of the Protestant Episcopal 
Church. He performed the service, and 
preached on alternate Sabbaths. His minis- 
trations were continued for about six months. 
Early in December, preliminary steps were 
taken for the organization of a parish, and 



the name of " Grace " was selected for the 
mission. No application was made at this 
time for admission to the convention. The 
first vestry were then elected, and were as fol- 
lows : Ml-. Ball, Senior AVarden ; Horace Hard- 
ing, Junior Warden and Clerk of Vestry. T. A. 
Phillips, Charles Horn, Vestrymen. Commu- 
nicants — Mr. Ball, C. Horn, H. Harding and 
wife, E. M. Sibley and wife, Ikli-s. A. W. Ball, 
Mrs. George Stowell, Mrs. T. H. Bancroft, 
Mrs. W. Smith. Sei'vices were then held in 
the Baptist Church building, on Walnut 
street. After IVIr. Davis ceased his labors in 
Gallon, the service was occasionally read by 
Messrs. Trimble, Doolittle and others. At 
length, however, all service ceased, and the 
church remained quiet and inactive for the 
space of three years. On Satm-day, July 5, 
1873, Mr. Hillyar came to take charge of the 
church. No preparation being made for serv- 
ices, he spent his first Sabbath in visiting 
members and families. He found them hope- 
ful and in earnest spirits, with a fair amount 
of church attachment. On July 14, service 
was held in the chapel of the schoolhouse, 
after which the use of the hall of Brother- 
hood of Locomotive Engineers was solicited 
and secured. In the afternoon after the first 
service in this hall, committees were appointed, 
and Bible and Sunday-school classes were 
formed. In the year 1874, a piece of ground 
was purchased on South Union street, of ^Mr. 
Fisher, for $650. Ground was soon broken, 
and a chm'ch edifice erected after a plan sub- 
mitted by the Bishop and designed by Lloyd 
& Peai'ce, of Detroit, Michigan. The fii-st 
services in the new church were held on June 
27, 1875, fifth Sunday after Trinity. On 
December 19, 1875, the Rev. Marcellus Kar- 
cher, from the diocese of Central Pennsylva- 
nia, took charge of the mission, and entered 
upon his duties. He remained till October 1, 
1876. During his stay, the ladies of the 



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480 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



claiirch reduced the debt of $1,100 to $800. 
On May 25, 1870, the Festival of the Ascen- 
sion, the church was consecrated. Much was 
due to T. A. Phillips, who personally assumed 
the debt of $300, that the chiu'ch might have 
consecration. 

This chiirch building is a model of neat- 
ness and excellent arrangement. Its dimen- 
sions are ample, its proportions handsome, 
the appointments are elegant and complete. 
The entrance is on the northeast, facing east, 
the aisle running north and south. The en- 
trance to the vestry is on the southeast corner, 
on the right of the chancel. To the left of 
the chancel is the organ, which is one of the 
finest in the city. The woodwork and fur- 
nishings are of late design and richest finish. 
This little gem is well wortliy of the pride 
taken in it by the members of " Grace " Church. 
The present Rector of Grace Church is Kev. 
Samuel T. Street, who took charge in Febru- 
ary, 1880. There are twenty-nine communi- 
cants in the chiu'ch, and a well-conducted 
Sabbath school of about fifty members. 

Gallon has among her citizens a large num- 
ber of young men, who work hard and faith- 
fully in the shops, or on the road, or wherever 
their business calls them. A large portion of 
these men are single, or have but one room 
where they board. In consequence (as it is 
in all manuf actiiring towns) secret societies are 
in favor, and are generally well patronized. 
Some of these societies are merely specula- 
tive, but there is a constant danger of death 
and mangling in the particular work that 
engages a large proportion of the citizens, 
and a species of insurance is united with the 
advantages of a club-room. There are no less 
than five of the latter societies, consisting of 
the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, 
Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen, Knights 
of Honor, Royal Arcanum, American Legion 
of Honor. Among speculative secret societies 



are three of Independent Order of Odd Fel- 
lows, two Blue Lodges of Free and Accepted 
Masons, and one Chapter of Royal Arch Ma- 
sons. The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engi- 
neers, Division No. 16, meets every Monday 
evening in Engineers' Hall, East Main street, 
A. G. Bryan, C. E. ; Robert Boyd, F. A. E. ; 
J. R. Belton Corresponding Seci'etary and In- 
surance Agent. The Brotherhood of Locomo- 
tive Firemen, Union Lodge No. 5, meets on 
Sunday afternoon of each week in B. of L. 
E. Hall, A. N. Jenkinson, M., Theo. Woolley, 
R. S. Knights of Honor, Mutual Lodge No. 
32, meets on the second Monday and foui-th 
Tuesday of each month, in Long's Block, 
southeast side of public square; E. J. Hann, 
D.; A. E. Reed, R. Royal Ai'canum, Galion 
Council No. 20, meets in the hall of the K. of 
H., first Thursday and third Friday of each 
month ; J. R. Homer, R. M. ; J. T. Ryone, Sec- 
retary. Eureka Lodge, No. 138, American 
Legion of Honor, meets in Odd Fellows' Hall, 
on second Wednesday and fourth Saturday of 
each month ; J. T. Ryone, C. ; A. Lewis, Sec- 
retary. Beside these named, there are many 
societies formed for mutual relief, social ad- 
vantages, and literary entertaimnent. All 
deaths in this community of membei's of insur- 
ance societies have been promptly paid, and 
all of the above associations are respected. 
But little difference exists in the principle 
upon which each is founded. The American 
Legion of Honor differs from the others 
chiefiy in admitting ladies to full member- 
ship. The charter of Fidelity Lodge, F. & 
A. M., bears date of Oct. 17, 18G0. (A. L. 5860.) 
The petitioners to the Grand Lodge were, Jo- 
seph Hikketh, H. C. Carhart, William S. Paul, 
S. Stieger, P. W. Webber, C. Hostetter, A. C. 
Allen, H. S. Camp, H. M. Duff, J. Sedick, 
O. Lam, John C. Snyder, James S. Potter, 
Z. E. Ban-ett, C. D. Fullington, A. S. Skilton, 
William Smith, A. S. Caton, M. M. Camp, 






^ 



HISTORY or CRAWFORD COUNTY 



481 



Israel Belton, A. Beny, D. L. Dye, E. A. 
Browii, T. P. Harding, A. Poe, Albert Wal- 
ter, H. L. Fostney. These petitioners had 
been working successfully under a dispensa- 
tion, and, having a room properly furnished, 
the charter was granted, and signed by Horace 
M. Stokes, M. W. G. M., and J. D. Caldwell, 
Grand Secretary. 

Fidelity Lodge has well-furnished and am- 
ple rooms in the third story of Hackadorn's 
Block. The first officers wei'e: Joseph Hil- 
di-eth, W. M.; H. G. Carhart, S. W.; and 
Henry M. Duff, J. W. The officers for the 
present year (1880) are as follows: J. R. 
Homer, W. M. ; A. W. Lewis, S. W. ; J. R. 
Belton, J. W.; W. R. Davis, Treasurer; T. G. 
Barlow, Secretary; J. G. Mamott, S. D.; J. E. 
Miles, J. D. ; and S. B. Nute, Tiler. 

Masomy took a deep hold upon the aflfec- 
tions of the people, and the number of its 
votaries increased. Li the year 1868, it was 
decided to create a new Lodge. The follow- 
ing-named brethren had been working under 
a dispensation from Grand Master Matthius, 
and petitioned the Grand Lodge on the 21st 
of October, 1868, as follows: 

" To the Grand Lodge of the most Ancient 
and Honorable Fraternity of Free and Ac- 
cepted Masons of the State of Ohio, convened 
and assembled at the city of Dayton, Ohio, 
greeting. L. H. York, G. W. Barker, Y. C. 
Case, Jerry Wemple, H. L. Gordon, A. W. 
Ball, C. H. Home, John Swisher, J. C. Hart- 
zler, Brock Quigley, having heretofore assem- 
bled under dispensation fi'om Grand Master 
Matthius, now pray for a charter under title 
of Gallon Lodge No. 414. Brother J. W. 
Holmes, Master; M. P. McGregor, Senior War- 
den; James A. Larnerd, Junior Warden. City 
of Dayton, Oct. 21, A. D. 1868, Era of Ma- 
sonry 5868." 

The charter was granted, and both lodges 
worked in their lodge rooms in Hockadorn's 



Block, southwest corner of the square, until the 
winter of 1879. Diu'ing the spring of 1878 a 
dispensation for a charter was secured, in 
accordance with a petition from J. W. Holmes, 
H. A. Cooper, H. R. Kelly, Samuel Wagner, 
G. W. Bui-t, O. L. Hays, J. Campbell, William 
Smith, A. B. Quigley, M. B. Mann, W. H. 
Raymond, John Swisher, Jeremiah Wemple, 
Brock Quigley, H. L. English, J. S. Graham, 
Albert Cook, C. J. Home, George W. James, 
John Blythe, J. R. Homer, A. S. Caton, T. H. 
Lindsley. This dispensation was granted, and 
the Chapter worked under it till Oct. 11, 1878, 
Year of Discovery 2408, at which time a char- 
ter was granted by the Grand Chapter of Ohio, 
convened at Columbus. J. W. Underhill, 
Grand High Priest; J. B. Hovey, Deputy 
Grand High Priest; Daniel A. Scott, Grand 
King; J. H. Chamberlain, Grand Scribe. 
Attest: James Nesbitt, Grand Secretary. First 
officers of Crawford Chapter No. 142, were 
George W. Biu't, High Priest; Otho L. Hays, 
King; William H. Raymond, Scribe. These 
three lodges were prosperous, and were con- 
stantly gaining in wealth and numbers. 
Soon after the formation of the Chapter, many 
of the Masons conceived the idea of fiu'nishing 
a new lodge-room. David Mackey was about 
building a tine three-story block on South 
Market street. The new lodge. No. 414, and 
the Chapter, seciured the upper story of this 
block, and had it finished under their own 
supervision. Every convenience of modern 
lodge-rooms was provided, and the room was 
divided with such accm-acy as regards con- 
venience and utility that it is practically per- 
fect. It is fm*nished in a beaiitif ul manner, 
with all the taste that refinement could sug- 
gest and money procure. They removed to 
the new lodge room in the winter of 1879. 
The main room is of fine proportions; the 
floor covered by a fine Brussels carpet, and 
the windows secured by inside shutters. A 



^c 



ihL 



483 



HISTOKY OF CKAWrORD COUNTY. 



magnificent secretary's desk in one corner is 
harmonized by a fine imitation pipe organ in 
the opposite corner. The chairs are all of 
black walnut, those in the lodge-room of a dif- 
ferent pattern from those in the banquet-room. 
A library and banquet room are separated by 
sliding doors, and can be easily made into one. 
A kitchen, with a fine cooking range, with all 
the kitchen furnitiu'e, connects with the ban- 
quet-room. An ample pantry has its shelves 
full of table-ware. In short, this lodge-room 
and its accompaniments is well worthy of the 
pride taken in it, and a seat among the breth- 
ren is an honor of which one may feel proud. 
The present officers of Gallon Lodge No. 
414, are as follows: John Blythe, W. M. ; L. H. 
York, S. W. ; D. S. Quigley, J. W. ; M. L. Hack- 
adorn, Treasvu'er; H. A. Cooper, Secretary; 
J. E. Williams, S. D.; T. M. Miller, J. D.; 
William Smith, Tiler. Officers of Crawford 
Chapter No. 142: G. W. Burt, H. P.; J. R. 
Homer, King; J. Blythe, Scribe; J.W.Holmes, 
Captain Host; H. A. Cooper, P. S.; D. S. 
Quigley, R. A. C; G. M. 3d V.; 

A. S. Caton, G. M. 2d V.; A. Cloak, G. M. 1st 
v.; W. H. Raymond, Treasurer; L. H York, 
Secretary; AVilliam Smith, Guard. 

The first subordinate lodge of the I. O. O. 
F. was instituted on the 9th day of March, 
1853. The charter members of Gallon Lodge 
No. 215, are as follows: The Grand Lodge 
of the State of Ohio, by authority of a charter 
from the Grand Lodge of the United States, 
do hereby grant this warrant or dispensation to 
U. S. Baker, D. M. Barton, D. W. Roberts, P. 
D. Connell, A. S. Caton, David Hiltabital, M. 

B. Payne, F. Ashbaugh, John P. Wisterman, 
John Crawford, Edward Kenyon, Charles 
Roberts, J. C. McQuaid, J. E. McQuaid, J. P. 
Smith, C. I. Hutchinson, D. L. Dye, and Sig- 
mund Baker. Done at Dayton, Ohio, the 20th 
day of January, 1853. Instituted March 9, 
1853. This lodge met in several localities 



before they secured a permanent location. 
They built the third story to the brick block 
erected by IVIi*. Hostetter, and now owned by 
H. C. Carhart. 

The large German population in Gallon 
induced them to organize the Ober Rhein 
Lodge I. O. O. F., No. 604. They were granted 
a charter or dispensation by the Grand Lodge 
of Ohio, the 12th day of May, 1875. It was 
instituted June 16, 1875. The charter mem- 
bers are Charles Slapp, Heinrich Reusch, 
Wilhelm Biehl, John Lorsch, Wilhelm Hol- 
lander, Heinrich Straub, Jacob Gugler, Freid- 
rich Koppe, John J. Sang, John Gaushorn, 
Jacob Schupp, Carl Storck, Hermann Mann- 
hardt. This lodge also met in different places 
before they were permanently located. 

Aug. 4, 1869, the Lebonah Encampment of 
Patriarchs No. 123, was instituted. The date 
of their charter was May 5, 1869. The char- 
ter members are William Rogers, W. W. 
Schafier, J. J. Rick, Hugh Ross, Henry Ogden, 
C. J. Slater, and A. M. Brown The two 
subordinate lodges and the Encampment are 
now located in the third story of Kesselmier's 
Block. Their lodge-room is beautifully pro- 
portioned jand handsomely finished. The 
walls are of artificial granite, and the em- 
blems of the order are hung around in beau- 
tiful order, and have a striking effect. They 
have their lodge excellently furnished, and 
the furniture is good. The ceiling is lavishly 
decorated in stucco work, and the beautiful 
chandeliers suspended from the ceiling, give, 
at night, a beautiful effect. The officers of 
Gallon Lodge are: Alex Bookwalter, N. G.; 
J. W. Coulter, V. G.; John Hart, Secretary. 
The officers of Ober Rhein Lodge are: Sam- 
uel Myers, N. G. ; Jesse Emmenigger, V. G. ; 
Jacob Ritzhaupt, Secretary. The officers of 
Lebonah Encampment are, W. G. Goshorn, C. 
T.; Samuel Dice, J. W.; W. W. Shaeflfer, 
Treasurer; Simon Bookwalter, Scribe. 



1^ 



;v 



\1 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUXTY. 



483 



The older members of a family, emigi-ating 
from well-settled districts and wealthy com- 
munities, had advantages of education that 
pertain to such places ; but, in bringing their 
children to a new countiy, not the least bless- 
ing left in the old home is the privilege of 
education. First, cabins must be built, land 
cleared, roads made, clothing provided, and 
each hand must assist in bringing about them 
the necessities of life. Generally, for a few 
years there are not families enough in the 
community to support a teacher. Some few 
endeavor to impart a little instruction, in a 
rudimentary manner, at home. Finally the 
time arrives when families enough, by com- 
bined efforts, can support a school. 

The first schoolhouse erected in Galion was 
located in the near vicinity of C. Scrim's resi- 
dence, on West Main street, in 1822. There 
was no district formed. No parliamentary 
point obstructed the progress. No red tape or 
circumlocution hampered the completion of 
the work. This was a community of primi- 
tive ways and simple habits. There was a 
sudden awakening to the necessity of educa- 
tion, and of having a schoolhouse, and an 
instinctive impression that it could be built 
and a school supported. Acting upon this 
spontaneous impulse, the citizens came to- 
gether with their teams, axes, and all the tools 
and apparatus required. It was a round-log 
schoolhouse, with a clapboard roof. Poles 
were crossed on the ceiling and stuffed with 
moss; over this was plastered clay. Sections 
of logs were cut out for windows, of which 
there were three. Frames were made for 
these windows by Mr. George Wood, who was 
a carpenter; and, that the force of this remark 
may not be lost, we will merely state that the 
frames were an advance upon the ordinary 
foiTQ of window, which was generally a hole 
in the cabin, with greased paper covering it 
in the winter. A large fire-place, oj^ening into 



a chimney of sticks and clay, occupied one end 
of the building. The seats were of split logs, 
or slabs with the flat side up, holes bored 
slanting near the ends, and long pegs di'iven 
in to form benches. The most difficult of all 
feats to perform was to keep all four legs on 
the floor at one time. A few boards were se- 
cured, which were' attached to the walls around 
the building, to be utilized as writing desks. 
The building, when finished, was rude and 
uncouth in appearance, somewhat dark in the 
interior, but warm ; but it was the beginning 
of school. The germ of education was planted 
in the midst of the settlement; how well it 
took root, and grew from year to year; how it 
was carefully nurtiu-ed and cared for, and the 
grand result, the perfection of the school 
system, till now there seems little more to do — 
is evident to all. Mr. David Gill possessed 
an education, and a knowledge of business 
forms, in advance of his associates in Galion. 
It was conceded by all that he should first 
have the honor of teaching the youth of Gal- 
ion. Accordingly, we find him duly installed, 
with full authority at once with the book and 
the birch. The pay for the teacher and sup- 
port of the school did not come from assess- 
ments, but by subscription. No regulai* set 
of books wei'e studied. The Bible was fre- 
quently the reader, and Webster's old spelling- 
book was in requisition. 

The settlement increased in population, new 
families arrived each yeai', and younger chil- 
di'en became old enough to go to school. The 
child six years of age studied by the side of 
the boy sixteen years old. The necessities of 
education made a new demand upon the peo- 
ple. Not only was a lai-ger building needed, 
but pride stepped in and demanded that the 
new building should be better, neater and 
finer in every respect possible. The old grave- 
yard on West Main street was selected as the 
site of the new schoolhouse. Here a "scutched" 



^ 



K 



484 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY, 



log schoolhouse was erected. The logs were 
lightly hewed on the outside after the build- 
ing was erected. This schoolhouse was used 
for religious worship, and was the first public 
building used for that purpose. In the year 
1834, this building burned down. The next 
building erected for school purposes was a 
hewed-log building, on what is now Joel Rib- 
let's property, on North Market street. The 
gable ends were sided up and painted red; 
the roof was of shaved oak shingles ; the walls 
were chinked with clay, mud, and stone. 
Here, in the third schoolhouse built in Galion, 
we find the slab seats are yet predominant. 
An improvement existed, however, by the 
innovation of desks. These were made some- 
thing in the shape of a box, with poplar 
boards. A feature of this school was a piece 
of furniture called the dunce block. It was 
separated from the other seats, and generally 
placed in the aisle or near the teacher's desk. 
More than one father and mother of Galion 
can now bring to recollection the shame and 
confusion they experienced when occupying 
this lowly seat. But nothing could be added 
to the shame, when, occupying the dunce 
block, the " fool's cap " was placed on the 
head. These modes of punishment were in 
full vogue during the long time Mr. John 
Stauffer taught, and were generally not con- 
sidered inappropriate. We doubt very much 
that a teacher would be sustained for a single 
day in such a course at this time. This old 
building outlived its usefulness as a hall of 
learning, and now does duty on the lot north 
as a wagon shop, owned l)y Jacob Henenom. 
Most of the middle-aged citizens of Galion, 
who obtained their rudimentary education 
here, have attended school in this building. 
It was in this building that the first Sabbath 
school was organized, by Sarah Ruhl and 
IVIrs. Dr. Johnson. It was while this bviild- 
ing was in use that the township had been 



divided into districts. The town of Galion 
was made a sej^arate district or subdistrict, 
and was called No. 9. In 1845, the enumer- 
ation of school children for this district was 
124. 

As we have stated, the last log schoolhouse 
had yet slab seats ; but, as soon as Polk Town- 
ship was organized, the officers of School Dis- 
trict No. 9 began to make improvements. 
Among the first innovations was a change in 
the pattern of the seats. We give below a 
contract between the directors and George 
Rensch, for this improvement: 

"Ai'ticle of agreement made and entered into 
this 20th day of October, 1846. The Direct- 
ors of District No. 9 of the first part, and 
George Rensch, of the second part, of Galion, 
Polk Township, Crawford County, and State 
of Ohio. Whereas, the said George Rensch 
does agree to make fifteen seats and fifteen 
desks, four feet long; desks eighteen inches 
wide, seats ten inches broad; one double desk 
and two seats eight feet long, with a division 
board in the south, a seat to be made at the 
end of every desk, and a platform four feet 
square, raised six inches from the floor, with 
a desk on it four feet long, eighteen inches 
wide, to be placed down the back to the seat 
that is to be put in front, with a seat to be 
placed behind the desk; likewise one batten 
door and hung, glass put in the windows, and 
patch the plastering, and furnish all the ma- 
terial. The work to be finished on or before 
the fifteenth of November, next, and done in 
a workmanlike manner. All of the work to 
be nailed together. And the aforesaid direct- 
ors doth agree to pay the said George Rensch 
the sum of $20, when the work is done as 
described above. Signed and sealed in pres- 
ence of witnesses. Witness, J. V. Bloomer, 
G. C. Wrenn. Directors, Isaac Wiley, Peter 
Cross, George Rensch." This third and last 
log school building was erected in 1834. 



t 



IV 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



483 



The old system of select school teaching 
continued for some time after the Aki'on 
school law was enacted. Select schools were 
taught side by side with the public system, 
until the comparison became odious. It was 
not strange that all could not see the grand 
possibilities of the new system; neither was 
the law, or its execution perfected, as it now 
is. Schools were opened and taught as an 
educational factory, exactly as one would open 
a door or shop, depending upon the patronage 
of the people. Education was doled out at 
so much per month, by teachers who were 
their own censors. If a scholar was sick, or 
from any cause likely to be detained from 
school, a brother or sister could attend, and 
fill up the lost time. Thus the deficiency was 
made good, and all were satisfied. There 
were always a number of teachers who would 
solicit pupils for each term; these teachers 
supplied a want in the earlier days that was 
very necessary to the settlers. In many 
cases, where the people could not afford a 
schoolhouse, these teachers would rent a room, 
and thus enable the school to go on. They 
generally went from house to house and solic- 
ited pupils. They would set forth the pe- 
culiar advantages of their system, and dilate 
upon their marvelous facilities for discipline. 
They charged a certain sum for each pupil, 
and agreed to teach a definite length of time. 
These teachers were their own censors. No 
board of examiners made them tremble and 
fear and grow sick with the dread of a failure. 
Their authority was complete. No laws of 
State or town interfered with them. Many 
of these old style -teachers were faithful in 
their work, and taught good schools. Among 
some of them were David Gill, Phai'es Jack- 
son, John Morrison, Joel Todd, James Dun- 
lap. Later on, before the building of the 
first brick schoolhouse in Gallon, a select 
school was tauofht in the old frame Methodist 



Church, on West Main street, by Miss Rebecca 
Hosford, now Mrs. Maxfield. Soon after this 
school, Miss White, now the wife of IMr. H. C. 
Cai'hart, taught a select school in the old hotel 
building, near the northwest corner of the 
square, now occupied as a barber shop. In 
the earlier times, the teacher often boarded 
around from house to house, visiting the home 
of each pupil. In many respects, this was a 
good custom, as it brought the parents and 
teacher in closer relation, and developed a 
greater interest in the progress of their chil- 
di-en. 

Finally, came the Akron school law, in 1847. 
This was the basis upon which ovu' present 
perfected school system was fou.nded. When 
this law came into force, Gallon had grown 
and increased in population to that extent that 
new schools and a broader system was needed. 
To meet the requirements of this law, the 
schoolhouse now occupied by St. Joseph's 
Catholic society, was built. It was a large 
building for the times, and furnished abun- 
dant room. The first brick schoolhou.se in the 
township, it was a matter of pride with the 
inhabitants. This was the first graded school 
also, which was a feature unknown in the an- 
nals of school history of this vicinity. This 
building was erected in the year 1854, on the 
corner of Liberty and Church streets. ISIr. 
Lowe was appointed a committee of one to 
purchase the property. It belonged to Jacob 
Rnhl, who had owned the whole quarter-sec- 
tion. The whole block was pui'chased, in 
which there were three lots. It was some time 
after the new school system was inaugiu'ated, 
before the receipts from taxation were suffi- 
cient to keep a school for more than three 
months. In this case, school would be kept 
as long as the money held out, and then the 
citizens continued by subscription to keep the 
school sroinor for the usual length of time. 
There were four grrades in this first orojaniza- 



486 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



tion. No. 1 , primary , was so crowded with pupils 
that extra benches were placed aroimd the 
room for the scholars. It was taught by Mrs. 
Hackadorn and INIi-s. C. S. Crimm. No. 2 was 
taught by Hugh Williams; No. 3, by John 
Clymer, who afterward edited the Bucyrus 
Forum; No. 4 was taught by David Kerr, 
who was the first Superintendent of Schools. 
The seats were arranged in single rows. They 
consisted of wooden chairs, set upon a wooden 
pedestal adjusted to the center of the seat 
and screwed to the floor; the back of the chair 
or slat was also screwed to the desk behind it. 
The desks were of wood and iron. The cast- 
ing was done in Gallon, and the desks were 
made here. The blackboards were plastered 
into the walls. The building soon became 
crowded, and, to gain more room, the basement 
was finished off into two apartments, and a 
German school taught in one of them. This 
was a new element in the population of Gal- 
ion, that, from its numbers, demanded recog- 
nition. Abraham Underwood sold to a Ger- 
man the first land ever owned in Gallon by 
one of that nationality; but foreigners were 
arriving rapidly, and they were so numerous 
at this time that they demanded and obtained 
a German department in connection with the 
public system. This schoolhouse was sold 
just about the time of the erection of the 
union school building. It was afterward fit- 
ted with machinery, and a stock company ran 
a woolen-mill in it. This failed, and eventu- 
ally the building was purchased by the Cath- 
olic society, and is now used for a church and 
parochial school by the St. Joseph's Society. 
Mr. J. C. Hartzler was Superintendent of 
schools while the Union School building was 
erected. On the 21st of March, 1868; the last 
piece of ground required for school grounds 
was purchased. From this time on, the school 
board met frequently, and were chiefly occu- 
pied with the building. Many changes were 



made from the first plans, and improvements 
were suggested and carried out until the build- 
ing was completed. The architect of the 
building was J. W. Thomas, who was also 
Superintendent of the erection of the building. 
The contract was taken by Bird & Woodward, 
at $31,000. Numerous committees were ap- 
pointed to visit different parts of the country 
for the purpose of ascertaining the best mate- 
rials, and the most successful furnaces and 
ventilators, and pains were taken to copy from 
the best in all the parts of the building. It 
was said to be built in 1869, but the work was 
a long time being completed. Bonds were 
issued as a means of obtaining money for the 
building. In January of 1872, at the urgent 
demand of the tax-payers, J. G. Meuser and 
S. G. Cummings were appointed a committee 
to report the cost of the schoolhouse, grounds, 
and all matters wherein expenses were incurred 
in the improving of the grounds. Their re- 
port shows that the whole cost up to that date 
was $87,571. The grounds cost over $9,000; 
the item of fence alone was $2,371.60. This 
building occupies ground between Boston 
street on the west to South Union on the east, 
and from Walnut street on the north to a dis- 
tance about one-half across the block on the 
south. Fine walks are laid in the grounds; 
fine maples almost surround the block, and 
line the sidewalks; the grounds have been 
filled up and graded till they are perfect. It 
is the intention in the near fixture to ornament 
and adorn the grounds by landscape garden- 
ing. The present Superintendent, M. Manly, 
has occupied this position for six years, and 
has been elected for a term of three years more. 
In the year 1879, the brick schoolhouse in the 
eastern part of the city was built. This is a 
very neat and tastily designed piece of archi- 
tecture. It answers to something in the nature 
of a ward school, although, from the peculiar 
outlines of the different wards, no schoolhouse 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY 



487 



can be erected with strict reference to them. 
This last schoolhouse is located north of East 
Main street, on the corner of Church and East 
streets. This building is in great favor with 
many of the citizens, who object to the large 
size of the union school building. In the east 
schoolhouse, there are three teachers employed. 
In the high school building, there are fourteen 
teachers, J. L. Lasley, teacher of high school, 
and A. W. Lewis, teacher of grammar school. 
The first graduating class from the high 
school was in 1871, and consisted of only two 



— "Willis Stentz, of the First National Bank, 
and S. S. Pague, who afterward graduated at 
West Point, and is now Lieut. Pague, U. S. 
A. There have been in all six schoolhouses 
erected in Gallon, three of which were log 
buildings, and three of brick. There are but 
two buildings used for school purposes at this 
time, and both of them are an honor to the 
city, both as regards their architectural beauty, 
and the perfect manner in which they are 
conducted. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

JACKSON TOWNSHIP— INTRODUCTORY — TOPOGRAPHY— ORIGINAL BOUNDARIES— THE WHITES — 
RAILROADS AND TOAVNS — THE EARLY LIFE OF CRESTLINE — RELIGIONS, ETC. 



"TN the eastern part of Crawford County, 
-*- lies Jackson Township, the smallest of its 
civil divisions. Like the little Republic of 
San Marino, situated amid the lesser ranges 
of the Apennines, and the smallest republic 
in the world, embracing but twenty-one square 
miles, Jackson Township is not only the 
smallest division of Crawford County, but 
probably the smallest township in the State 
of Ohio. From one of the largest townships, 
it has been whittled ofif and cut down, until it 
now comprises but eight square miles. In its 
original dimensions it included Jefferson 
Township, together with other portions of ter- 
ritory, and it was not until 1873, as shown in 
another chapter, that Jefferson was set off 
from Jackson. These two townships are hon- 
ored with good old Democratic names; the 
one for the hero of New Orleans, and the 
other for the great apostle of American De- 
mocracy. The latter name (Jefferson) was 
doubtless bestowed upon the township at the 
time of its creation, in consequence of the 
source from which its territory was taken. 



Being made of a " rib" from " Old Hickory," 
otherwise taken from the township of Jackson, 
it was not deemed advisable or prudent to 
offend the memory of the old iron-souled war- 
rior-President, by calling it by any other than 
a good, sound Democratic name. The history 
of the two townships is interwoven, they being 
one until so recent a date that it is difficult 
to separate them, and to give a distinct sketch 
of each, without " mixing things " almost un- 
intelligibly. The early settlement of the town- 
ship is noticed principally in the chapter 
devoted to Jefferson, as that portion now knowTi 
as Jefferson was settled first. Hence, but 
little will be given in this connection upon 
that subject. 

This little township, this little San Marino 
of Crawford County, has experienced wonder- 
ful changes in the last sixty years. There 
are but few American readers who are not 
familiar with the romantic story of Rip Van 
Winkle, as told by Washington Irving. This 
story recites the strange adventures that befell 
the long sleeper in the Catskill Mountains, 



k^ 



k. 



488 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



wliich served but as a prelude to the surprise 
that awaited him when he awoke, no longer 
the loyal subject of George III, or the crony 
of Nick Yedder, the tapster, and the some- 
time boon companion of Van Brummel, the 
Dutch schoolmaster, but the fi'ee and sov- 
ereign citizen of this great Republic, then for 
a decade of years or more, piloting its way in 
" the full tide of successful experiment." Were 
"one to rise from the dead" who saw this 
country sixty years ago, in all its original wild- 
ness, or some of the "noble red men," whose 
hunting-grounds it once was, come back from 
the land of the Great Spirit, they would 
doubtless be as much bewildered at the change 
inwrought in these three-score years as was 
Rip Van Winkle when he awoke from his 
little nap in the Catskill Mountains. The 
pioneer found here an unbroken forest, miry 
swamps, the Wyandot Indians, and a profu- 
sion of game of all kinds. The visitor of to- 
day finds lloiu'ishing farms, palace homes, 
trunk-line railroads, and those concomitants 
of civilization — the church and schoolhouse. 
The patient ox, the old Gary plow, the reap- 
ing-hook and the scythe and cradle have given 
place to the improved machinery of to-day, so 
that the tilling of the soil is no longer a 
drudgery, but one of the sciences of the age in 
which we live. All this, the sixty years that 
have come and gone since the pioneer wan- 
dered here, have witnessed. The giant trees 
that have withstood the storms for ages, and 
in whose tops 

"The century-living crow 

Had his birth, then grew old and died 

Among their branches," 

have almost disappeared before the advancing 
tide of irmnigration, until now, a more flour- 
ishing or highly favored locality than the 
eight square miles of Jackson Township is 
scarcely to be found in the State. The land 
is rich, well improved, and has every facility, 



both natural and artificial, to render it valu- 
able to the husbandman. 

The surface features of Jackson Township 
are not dissimilar to the sm*rounding country. 
In its original state, it was heavily timbered, 
and in many places flat and|Swampy, but with 
a soil of almost unexampled richness. It was 
a section not unlike the " Black Swamp " in the 
western part of the State, or the " Black For- 
est" of Germany, where 

" Der Schwarzwald steht der finstrer Tannen," 

and when cleared of the timber, drained and 
properly cultivated, was very valuable. Ar- 
tificial or tile draining has done much to re- 
claim this swampy land, and reduce it to the 
fine state of cultivation we find it in at the 
present time. Its principal productions are 
corn, wheat and oats; also the more common 
of the smaller crops are grow^n to some extent. 
The timber is that indigenous to this section, 
and consists mainly of several kinds of oak, 
hickory, poplar, sugar maple, beech, elm, ash, 
and some walnut, and some of the common 
shrubs. It has but few water-courses or 
streams of running water, even of the smallest 
dimensions. One of the tributaries forming 
the Sandusky River, passes through the north 
part of the township. This, with Whetstone 
Creek, and one or two small brooks which are 
nameless on the maps, constitutes its natural 
drainage system. 

Geographically, Jackson Township, as we 
have said, lies in the eastern part of the 
county, and is bounded north by Vernon 
Township, east by Richland County, south 
by Polk Township, west by Jefferson Town- 
ship, and is situated in Range 20 west, of 
Township 20, and is fractional, being one sec- 
tion short of the foiu'th of a regular Con- 
gressional township. As nearly as the facts 
can be definitely ascertained, the eight sec- 
tions now comprising Jackson Township, were 



v^« 



;r^ 



'k. 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUXTY 



489 



originally in Richland County, and the twelve 
western sections, a part of Sandusky Township, 
in this county. In 1835, a petition was pre- 
sented to the County Commissioners, praying 
for a new township, and fifteen sections were 
stricken off from Sandusky, and called Jack- 
son, as already related, for the hero of New 
Orleans. In 1842, a four-mile strip was added 
to Crawford from Richland County, and eight 
new sections were added to Jackson, making 
in all twenty-eight sections. At that time, it 
embraced within its limits Jefferson Town- 
ship, which, as we have seen, remained a part 
of Jackson until 1873, when the citizens liv- 
ing in the western part petitioned the County 
Commissioners to be created a separate and 
distinct township, in order that they might 
enjoy some of the emoluments of office, 
Crestline being in the habit of capturing the 
majority of them, thus leaving the west end 
of the township out in the cold. In 1822, we 
learn that an election was held at the resi- 
dence of one of the prominent settlers, in 
what is now Jackson Township, and officers 
elected, but their names we were unable to 
obtain. This, then, may properly be termed 
the organization of Sandusky, now Jackson 
Township. In 1840, the township had a pop- 
ulation of 636: in 1870, it had, including 
Crestline, increased to 4,021, and in 1880, its 
present territory, exclusive of Crestline, con- 
tained 386 inhabitants; thus showing a gfrad- 
ual increase in population, taking into con- 
sideration the different extent of territory at 
the date of census. There are no towns or 
villages in Jackson except Crestline; indeed, 
there is no room for any others; for, by the 
time Crestline has grown to be as large as 
Cincinnati, it will cover the entire township, 
from end to end. Two trunk-line railroads 
cross almost at right angles, near the center, 
thus affording to the good people the most 
ample means of both travel and transportation. 



This portion of Crawford County was a fa- 
vorite hunting-ground of the Indian, long 
before the appearance of the white man. We 
have no record of Indian towns and villages 
in the present township of Jackson, but, in 
that portion now known as Jefferson, many 
facts of history pertaining to the red men are 
intimately connected and associated. Through 
it, Crawford moved upon his ill-fated cam- 
paign against the Indians, and within its boi'- 
ders he encamped one night, as he marched 
on to his destruction. Indeed, nearly every 
square mile of Jefferson has some Indian in- 
cident or legend attached to it. In its forests, 
he chased the bounding deer, or howled be- 
hind his flying prey, and in the glare of the 
"wigwam fire" he "wooed his dusky mate." 
And in the thick forests of Jackson, as at 
present limited, he is only associated through 
that portion lately stricken off. These forests 
were an attractive spot to the savage in an 
early day, and a favorite place of hunting. 
But, as the tide of civilization pressed on, the 
poor Indian was forced backward, and the 
spot where he had roamed as undisputed 
monarch, was destined to know him no more 
forever. Well might he have said: "The 
stranger came, a timid suppliant — few and 
feeble, and asked to lie down on the red man's 
bear-skin, and warm himself at the red man's 
fire, and have a little piece of land to raise 
corn for his women and childi-en; and now 
he has become strong and mighty and bold, 
and spreads out his parchments over the 
whole, and says, 'It is mine.' Stranger, there 
is not room for us both. The Great Spirit has 
not made us to live together. There is poison 
in the white man's cup; the white man's dog 
barks at the. red man's heels. If I should 
leave the land of my fathers, whither shall I 
fly? Shall I go to the south, and dwell among 
the graves of the Pequots? Shall I wander 
to the West, the fierce Mohawk — the man- 



^1 



liL 



490 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



eater — is my foe. Shall I fly to the East, the 
great water is before me. No, stranger, here 
I have lived, and here will I die, and if here 
thou abidest, there is eternal war between me 
and thee." But as it always turns out, the 
strong trampled upon the weak; the red man 
was driven back, and upon the smoldering 
embers of his camp-fire the pale-face erected 
his cabin. He came to this part of the county 
close in the wake of the retreating savages, or 
really before the savages had left for distant 
reservations. The story of his life is one 
thrilling with border romance. It rests upon 
the mind like enchantment, and warms the 
heart with tender ties of sympathy. The old 
gray -haired man and the trembling grand- 
mother spend many a pleasant hour in dream- 
ing of the past, and tell the tale of early suf- 
fering and privation to the eager-listening 
child, who never tires of listening. All are 
eager to hear it, and all keenly enjoy it. To 
these good old people it revives the record of 
a life that has been one of toil and self- 
sacrifice. 

The early history of Jackson Township be- 
longs mostly to that portion now forming 
Jefferson, as already stated. There the first 
settlements were made, and there occurred 
many of those pioneer events which constitute 
the early history of a township, such as the 
building of mills, schoolhouses, the formation 
of church societies, and the first birth, death 
and marriage — events of great importance in 
all pioneer communities. The present town- 
ship holds a kind of secondary place in pioneer 
history, and its settlement is of more modern 
date. The original pioneer of this immediate 
section is supposed to have been Joseph Rus- 
sell. Mr. Snyder, who now lives in Crestline, 
but whose father settled in what is Jefferson 
Township at present, in 1810-17, thinks that 
Russell came here as early as 1820. He located 
about one mile south of Crestline, where JMi*. 



Stine now lives, and was from this State, 
somewhere in the vicinity of Coshocton. He 
moved from here to Hancock County, and was 
living there last known of him. John Doyle 
came soon after Russell, and settled adjoining 
to him. He came from Jefferson County, near 
Steubenville, and, after remaining some years, 
sold out and moved to Indiana, where he died. 
Two other families moved into the same neigh- 
borhood about the same time of Doyle, or 
very soon afterward, whose names are utterly 
forgotten. Mr. Snyder tells a sad story of 
one of them. The gentleman, whose name he 
does not remember, cleared a piece of ground, 
and the neighbors came in and rolled his logs 
for him. He set fire to the log-heaps, and 
was in the habit of attending to the burning 
of them and the brush on the cleared ground 
at night, his wife often going out to assist 
him. Upon a certain night, his wife remained 
in the cabin to do some of her household work, 
and he went out alone to his clearing, which 
was some distance from the cabin. His wife 
finished her work, and, as he had not come in, 
thinking nothing wrong with him, however, 
she went to bed. In the morning, he still had 
not come, when she went to look for him, and 
found him burned to death at a log-heap. 
From appearances, it seemed that, in attempt- 
ing to "mend up" the heap, it had rolled 
down, and a large log had caught his feet 
under it, knocking him down, and, unable to 
extricate himself, he died in that position by 
slow torture, both legs being burned off above 
the knees. 

These four families were the first to settle 
in the township of Jackson, as now bounded, 
and for several years they were the only set- 
tlers in this little division. After them came 
David Ogden, James Lowne, William Snod- 
grass, Philip and Fred Eichern, John Fate, 
Edward Cooper, Samuel Rutan, David Selt- 
zer, John Adam Thoman, Rensellaer Living- 



;Rr 



£i>L 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY 



491 



ston, a negro family, Harvey Aschbaugli, 
Jesse R. Straiighan, Daniel Babst, Jr., Isaac 
Dille and others. Many of these are still 
living in and around Crestline. Straiighan 
was an engineer of the Pittsburgh, Fort 
Wayne & Chicago Railroad, and one of the 
original proprietors of the town. Thoman 
and Livingston were from New York; the lat- 
ter laid out the town of Livingston. Babst 
was from Stark County. Some of these gen- 
tlemen will be recognized as among the lead- 
ing business men of Crestline. 

There are no mills in Jackson Township, 
nor have there ever been any in the present 
township, outside of Crestline. The first set- 
tlers went to mill at Belleville. Later, Mr. 
Snyder, over near Leesville, put up a horse- 
mill, which was a great convenience to the 
people for many miles around. The first 
road through Jackson Township was cut out 
by the Snyder family, as they moved to their 
new possessions in the present township of 
Jefferson. They cut out this road from four 
miles east of Crestline, in Richland County, 
to where Leesville now stands. The present 
road from Mansfield to Bucyrus runs over the 
greater part of that old road; the main street 
of Crestline is also on the same old road. 

In the pioneer days, when everybody within 
a radius of twenty miles were neighbors, no 
invitation was necessary to get help to roll 
logs or raise a cabin. The mere fact that a 
man was ready to "log" or build, was suffi- 
cient invitation to his neighbors, who would 
often go twelve or fifteen miles to render this 
kind of friendly assistance The Indians also 
were very accommodating in this respect, and 
would always go to the assistance of their 
white brethren, and work faithfully all day. 
The " fire-water " that the white man usually 
provided on such occasions was doubtless a 
strong incentive to the Indian to lend his val- 
uable assistance in strengthening the white 



men's foothold in their hunting-grounds, thus 
providing the weapons for their own extermi- 
nation. 

When this part of the country was first set- 
tled, the nearest trading-points of importance 
were Sandusky City and Zanesville, while 
Mansfield and Mount Vernon were places of 
lesser note*; and to these marts of trade the 
settlers in this vicinity hauled the most of 
their produce. With markets at such a dis- 
tance, there could be little incentive to extend 
the productions of the community beyond the 
demands of home consumption, which was 
principally regulated by the amoimt each 
man raised upon his own premises. But 
in this endeavor, they often had more wheat 
than was needed to supply their own wants, 
when it was loaded into wagons and hauled 
to Mansfield, or most generally to Sandusky, 
where it commanded a better price. Said 
an early settler to us recently : " I took a 
load of wheat to Mount Yernon, where I 
was offered 12|^ cents a bushel in trade for it, 
by Gilman Bryant; but I resolved to feed it 
to my hogs rather than to take that price for 
it, so I hauled it to Zanesville, where I got 
15 cents a bushel, and had to take my pay in 
sugar, rice, leather and salt." Thus it was, 
what little surplus produce the settlers had to 
sell was woi'th but little, while such things as 
they were compelled to buy were as high in 
proportion as their produce was low. It was 
with gi-eat difficulty that they could manage, 
by the strictest economy, to raise money 
enough to pay their taxes and postage; the 
latter being 25 cents on a letter at the office 
of delivery, and payable in coin at that. 

The early settlers of Jackson were a God- 
fearing people, and, as soon as a few scatter- 
ing cabins denoted the white man in posses- 
sion of the ten'itory, efforts were made look- 
incr to chm'ch organization. Societies were 
formed and meetings and preaching had at 



Tv 



y. 



493 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



tlie settlers' cabins until time and opportu- 
nity permitted the building of temples of 
worship. But the church history of the 
present township is principally confined to 
the town of Crestline, and will be given in 
that chapter. 

Early in the settlement of Jackson Town- 
ship, the schoolhouse found a place. The 
people entertained great respect for education, 
and the elevating influence it exerted in every 
community. The first school taught in the 
present limits of the township was by Edwin 
Mainley, a Scotch-Irish gentleman. Owing 
to a little trouble he got into with one of his 
female pupils, he abruptly closed his school 
and left the community. Another of the early 
schools was taught by an old gentleman of the 
name of Magill, who is still remembered by 
many of thg older citizens as one of the early 
teachers, and who, in his day, taught in 
nearly every neighborhood in the county. 
He was a teacher of the olden type — one of 
that class who were wont to place the accent 
of such words as geography and philosophy 
on the third syllable, and pi'onounce Michi- 
gan, Mi-shag-in. He was, withal, particu- 
larly fond of a " dhrap of the crayther," and, 
after closing his school on Friday evening, 
was in the habit of indulging in a little spree 
until the taking-up of school again. Hence, 
Monday morning often found him still in a 
muddled condition from his Saturday and 
Sunday potations. It is told of him that 
upon a certain Monday morning, after taking 
up school, and still feeling considerably ele- 
vated from his recent indulgence, he stopped 
one of his scholars in the midst of his reading 
lesson, with a lordly wave of his hand, and, 
"Stop, IVIr. Larwill; stop, sir! You will never 
make a reader in the world, Mr. Larwill! 
Read on, Mr. Larwill." Many pranks were 
played upon him by his larger scholars. 
Schoolhouses then were not such as we have 



at the present day, but built of logs, and 
sometimes large cracks ventilated the build- 
ings. Through these cracks the boys would 
often poke their fun at poor Magill in ways 
more forcible than elegant. The fii'st school- 
house built in the township was on the farm 
now owned by Jacob Sheflfier, south of town, 
in the creek bottom, near the " old orchard." 
As with the religious history, the first schools 
were taught in the vicinity of Leesville and 
Middletown, and, at a later period in the his- 
tory of the township, the school history has 
centered in Crestline. The following statis- 
tics from the last report of the Auditor, shows 
the flourishing state of the schools of the 
township at present: 

Balance on hand, September 1, 1879 |1,963.61 

State tax 382.62 

Irreducible fund 3.40 

Local tax for school and schoolhouse pur- 
poses 758.23 

Total $3,107.86 

Amount paid teachers $831.65 

Other expenditures 119.77 

Total expenditures for the year 951.42 

Balance on hand September 1, 1880 |2,156.44 

Number of schoolhouses in township 3 

Value of school property $2,800.00 

Total number of teachers employed 6 

Average wages paid male teachers $46.00 

Average wages paid female teachers 21.00 

Number of pupils enrolled — Male 69 

Female 45 

Total 114 

Average daily attendance — Male 60 

Female 33 

Total 93 

By these figures, it will be seen that the 
schools are in a healthy condition. Comfort- 
able schoolhouses are provided in each dis- 
trict, efficient teachers are employed, and 
every means used by the board for the ad- 
vancement of the cause of education. 

The great wind-storm of 1820 is an event 
remembered vividly by all who were in the 



■<^ 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



493 



county at the time of its occiu'rence. On the 
17th of May it broke upon the commnnity 
with but little warning, and the destruction 
left in its wake almost beggars description. 
It came from the southwest, and houses were 
blown down and scattered promiscuously, 
forest trees uprooted, fences sent flying in all 
directions, a gi'eat deal of stock killed, and 
destruction and confusion generally followed 
its coui'se. It will be more fully described 
in the chapter devoted to Jefferson Township, 
where considerable loss of property and much 
suffering were experienced. 

Since the separation of Jefferson from 
Jackson Township, the history of Jackson has 
centered almost wholly in the town of Crest- 
line, and, even before the separation of the 
two, the principal part of the history was con- 
fined to this flourishincj villasre. It was laid 
out in 1851, by Rensellaer Livingston, and 
originally bore his name, and by his name 
was platted and recorded. The first plat was 
filed in the Recorder's office, February 17, 
1851, and shows the location of the town of 
Livingston to have been on the west half of 
the southeast quarter of Section 10, Township 
20, and Range 20 west. Several additions 
were made to the town under this name by 
different individuals. On the 17th of Decem- 
ber, 1852, the plat of the original town of 
Crestline was filed for record. This plat was 
made by Jesse R. Straughan, and occupied the 
northwest quarter of Section 15, Township 
20, and Range 20 west. The following ab- 
stract of these two sections, on which the 
town is located, may be of interest to some of 
our readers: Southwest quarter of Section 15, 
Township 20, Range 20, was entered in 1814, 
and patent issued in 1818 to Benjamin Rush; 
northwest quarter of same section was entered 
December 12, 1823, and patent issued April 
12, 1824, to Elias Allen; northeast quarter of 
same section was entered December 8, 18 14? 



and patent issued June 15, 1823, to David 
Bryant. The north half of Section 10, of same 
township and range, was entered June 4, 1816, 
and patent issued July 3, 1817, to Benjamin 
Johns ; southwest quarter of same section was 
entered June 4, 1816, and patented July 3, 
1817; southeast quarter of same section was 
entered December 8, 1820, and patent issued 
on 18th of same month and year. Since the 
laying-out of the original town of Livingston, 
there have been some twenty or thirty additions 
made to it ; and, in the later town of Crestline, 
Livingston has been absorbed, and doubtless 
few at the present day remember that there 
was ever a town in Jackson Township known 
by the name of Livingston, or Vernon Station. 
Crestline is situated at the crossing of the 
Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago, and the 
Cleveland, Coliunbus, Cincinnati & Indianap- 
olis Railways, and is about thirteen miles from 
Bucp'us, the county-seat. It is a railroad 
town, and comparatively a new place, and in 
1860, had a population of 1,458; in 1870, it 
had increased to 2,279, and in 1880, to 2,787 
inhabitants. The raih'oads have made Crest- 
line what it is. Before their day, a town on 
this spot was unthought of, nor, until after 
the iron horse, with his bustle and clatter, 
had passed, did it rise from the mud of the 
surrounding swamps. Men who are still in 
the prime of life, "remember when the site 
was a good place to hunt deer." The follow- 
ing description is given: "It is generally flat 
about Crestline, and it has something of the 
appearance of a frontier railroad town, being 
very muddy, when muddy anywhere, though 
its general elevation is about the average; 
indeed, when laid out, it was thought to be the 
highest point above sea-level in the State, 
hence the name — Crestline." As a proof of 
the modern history of the place, John New- 
man, who lived in the village of Lees vi lie in 
1840, says he was in the habit of coming 



'."Z 



494 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



down into the " big woods," where Crestline 
now stands, to hunt deer, whicli were plenty, 
even at that late day ; also wolves, wild tur- 
keys, etc. Verily, it may be said, that here 
" the rank thistle nodded in the wind, and the 
wild fox dug his hole unscared." The first 
house or cabin built in Crestline, or immedi- 
ate vicinity, was erected just west of the 
" stone-arch bridge," on the Pittsburgh, Fort 
Wayne & Chicago Railroad, near a spring 
which is to be seen yet. Who built this cabin 
and when, is not known, but it was there as 
early as 1833. Just above it, and near the 
street-bridge, at a later day, was operated a 
saw-mill, by a water-power afforded by the 
head-waters of the Sandusky. Years later, a 
man named Harvey Aschbaugh, a Dutchman 
from " over the Rhine," who owned eighty 
acres of land in the neighborhood, including 
the present site of Crestline, built a cabin. 
All that appeared to the Dutchman valuable 
on this tract was the game, the timber and a 
fine sulphur spring, which is at present within 
the corporate limits (the spring, not the game 
and the timber) of the town. A negro family 
OAvned eighty acres adjoining Aschbaugh's on 
the north. Where these "American citizens 
of African descent" came from, what was 
their name, and what became of them, no 
one now seems to know or care. Their cabin 
stood at what is now the west end of Main 
street, and was erected some time after Asch- 
baugh's. About the time the negro cabin was 
built, a man named Samuel Rutan built 
another cabin on an adjoining "eighty," at 
what is now the east end of Main street. He 
had purchased the land from the Government. 
Still f m-ther east of Rutan was the " palace " 
of Benjamin Ogden, while still further east, 
on the Leesville and Mansfield road, stood the 
old log house called " Seltzer's Tavern," " in 
which, for many years, while all was a wil- 
derness around, one Seltzer kept weary travel- 



ers in his rude loft, and fed them on ' corn 
pone ' and venison." This was about the situ- 
ation when the iron horse dashed through the 
thick forest of Jackson Township. 

From a published chronicle of Crestline, 
we extract the following historical facts: 
"John Adam Thoman — a well-known name in 
Crestline — first saw the locomotive coming. 
He could see the headlight through the dense 
woods in the direction of Cleveland, and knew 
it would strike that wilderness, and scatter 
the wolves, deer and timber, like chaff before 
a hurricane, and immediately began his prep- 
arations to meet it and accept the inevitable. 
He purchased the eighty acres belonging to 
the negro family, paying what was then a 
high price, $600, and immediately began lay- 
ing out a town in the woods. The road, how- 
ever, struck the farm of Rutan, at the east 
end of Main street, where the company erected 
a little shanty for a depot, and called it Ver- 
non Station. Rutan sold his place to a man 
named Conwell, who erected the first house 
near the station. It was on Mam street, west 
of the railroad. Conwell afterward sold out 
to Rensellaer Livingston, who laid out a town 
around the station. Here, then, the present 
town had its beginning, and many houses 
were erected around Vernon Station before 
Crestline was thought of. The Livingston 
and Thoman Additions, as they are called 
(though really Crestline is the addition), are 
now the larger part of the town." This was 
the first beginning of the town of Crestline, 
and is what we have already mentioned as the 
town of Livingston. Aschbaugh, the owner of 
the eighty acres of land already noticed as 
including the town of Crestline, did not re- 
main long in the vicinity of the embryo city, 
but sold out, and moved over into Richland 
County, where he died. 

T. C. Hall, Esq., now of Bucyrus, claims to 
have built the first house in the town of Liv- 



:tx: 




"^'vr?'^ 



iX 



|1 



^K-^ 



.-^ 





^c^> 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY 



497 



ingston, and to have opened the first store. It 
was erected on what was called the Mansfield 
road, and was a storehouse and residence com- 
bined. In this building he opened a store in 
the fall of 1850, and continued in business 
there until the fall of 1852, or the spring of 
1853, when he moved over on to the original plat 
of Crestline, it having, in the meantime, been 
laid out as a town. He also claims to have 
been the first merchant in business in the new 
town, as well as in the old. He built the first 
brick house in Crestline, which, like the one 
built in Livingston, was both store and resi- 
dence. The brick were burned by Samuel 
Craig, who burned the first brick kiln in the 
town. This was the second house, and the 
first brick put up in Crestline. Jesse E. 
Straughan built the first house, which was a 
frame, and was put up for a hotel or eating- 
house. It stands just south of the Gibson 
House, across the passenger track of the Pitts- 
bm'gh, Fort Wayne & Chicago Railroad, and 
is now called the " Crestline House." Upon 
its completion it was opened by Jacob Brown, 
as a hotel — the first place of entertainment 
opened in Crestline. The second store was 
opened by John Adam Thoman, and the next 
by E. Warner, and about the same time Will- 
iam Knisely commenced selling goods. The 
first post ofiice was opened in Livingston in 
1850. Livingston was appointed Postmaster, 
but Hall, who was sworn in as deputy, opened 
the first mail-bag in the town. He soon suc- 
ceeded to the office, which he held four years. 
After him, A. E. Jenner was appointed Postmas- 
ter. John Adam Thoman was the first black- 
smith. These, with the usual number of mechan- 
ics, constituted about all there was of the town of 
Livingston, or Vernon Station. IMi*. Living- 
ston, the original pi'oprietor of the place, died 
here about 1850-GO. He was originally fi'om 
the State of New York, and was an enterpris- 
insr man. 



We again quote from the publication we 
have several times alluded to: "The Cleve- 
land, Columbus & Cincinnati Railroad has 
the honor of establishing Crestline. The 
charter for this road was granted in 1830, but 
it was not until 1851 that the road was opened 
for traffic. In 1850, however, trains were 
running as far as Shelby and Crestline. At 
that time the road was a wooden one, com- 
paratively speaking, the improved ' T ' rail not 
having been invented. For thi'ee years Ver- 
non Station had an opportunity to spread 
itself, before it was interfered with by another 
railroad. It grew to be something of a place. 
A post office was established there; a hotel 
was erected, called the ' Ohio House,' kept by 
Michael Hefifeltinger; Messrs. Newman & 
Thoman started the fii'st store, and kept a 
general stock, such as is usually kept in a 
country store. A grocery and provision store 
was also established about the same time, by 
Thomas Hall, who was a contractor, and en- 
gaged in building a section of the Pittsburgh, 
Fort Wayne & Chicago Railroad, then being 
rapidly pushed forward, and who established 
the provision store partly for the pm'pose of 
supplying his employes. Thoman and Liv- 
ingston were busy dmnng these years selling 
their lots, advertising the town, and erecting 
dwelling-houses for the accommodation of 
new residents and the numerous employes of 
the different contractors on the two roads. In 
April, 1853, the Pittsburgh, Foi-t Wajoie & 
Chicago Railroad was opened for traffic fi*om 
Allegheny City to Crestline, a distance of 187 
miles. Unfortunately for Vernon Station, it 
was, for some reason, ignored by this road, 
which crossed the Cleveland & Columbus 
road half a mile or more south of it, and im- 
mediately there was a rush for the junction. 
Thereafter, Vernon Station was ' left out in 
the cold.' 

" Previous to this, a party of gentlemen 



,w 



:l^ 



498 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



concluded that money could be made out of 
this point on the I'oad by laying out a new 
town. The names of these gentlemen were 
Jesse R. Straughan, the chief engineer of the 
Pittsbm-gh, Fort WajTie & Chicago Railroad, 
Thomas W. Bartley, of Mansfield, and John 
and Joseph Larwill, of Wooster — the latter 
gentlemen being well known in the early his- 
tory of Mansfield and this county as surveyors. 
Whether these gentlemen exerted sufficient 
influence to change the direction of the road 
slightly, so that it should strike the other 
road at a point so far from Vernon Station as 
to give room to plat a new town, is not cer- 
tainly known, but may be reasonably inferred, 
from the fact that the Chief Engineer was 
interested in the project, and that these gen- 
tlemen were connected with each other by 
marriage, if not by blood relationship. Be 
this as it may, it was perfectly legitimate. 
They purchased the eighty acres of Harvey 
Aschbaugh, across which it was determined to 
run the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago 
Railroad, and laid out a town at the junction, 
which they called Crestline, and thereupon 
Vernon Station was abandoned. It, however, 
made little diflference to the latter, as the two 
towns soon grew together, and the line be- 
tween the two plats was obliterated. The two 
railroads built a frame union depot, which 
stood there in the mud, a squatty, ugly-looking 
thing, for years." This published record 
of the two places does not agree in every 
particular with the facts as given us, but 
varies so little as to be scarcely noticeable. 
Mr. Hall claims to have opened the first store, 
while this publication credits Newman & 
Thoman as the first merchants, and a few 
other little discrepancies of a like character 
occur. As we have stated, the first hotel was 
built by Jesse Straughan, and opened as such 
by Jacob Brown, and is now known as the 
Crestline House. Brown kept it eight months, 



when Hall took charge of it for one year, 
when Miller & Mertz became the proprietors. 
They ran it for twelve or fifteen years, since 
which time it has changed hands frequently. 

The first lots in Crestline were sold at auc- 
tion, and the first one sold was purchased by 
G. W. Emerson, who afterward sold it to Mr. 
Babst. He erected upon it a hotel, which 
was called the Emerson House — the second 
hotel built in the town. Mr. Emerson kept 
this hotel many years. " In March, 1854, an 
addition was made to the town, called East 
Crestline, which is in the present limits of 
Richland County, the main part of the town 
being now in Crawford County, though when 
platted Crawford County had not been formed, 
and the territory was included within the 
limits of Richland — the line of Richland 
being about four miles west of Crestline." 
This information is, according to om" under- 
standing of the history of this section of the 
county, not altogether correct. The county of 
Crawford was created originally in 1820, and 
formally organized, by act of the Legislatm-e, 
passed January 31, 1826. Hence, when the 
town of Crestline was platted, in 1854, as 
above stated, "Crawford had not been formed," 
cannot be correct, but doubtless allusion is 
made to a strip that was added to Crawford 
fi'om Richland County years after the forma- 
tion of Crawford. 

Thus, a town was laid out, or, perhaps, 
more properly speaking, two towns were laid 
out, and the different classes of business nec- 
essary for the building-up of towns and cities 
were inaugm-ated, and bustling activity was 
the order of the day around the railroad 
crossing. People came in rapidly; stores 
were opened, as the demand for them in- 
creased; mechanics located in the young and 
growing town; shops were established, and 
prosperity seemed to crown all efforts. The 
mercantile business, which to many of the 



^\ 



HISTORY OF CRxVWFORD COUNTY 



499 



pioneer towns of Ohio, was an arduous under- 
taking, in view of the fact that most of the 
goods had to be hauled in wagons from Phil- 
adelphia and Baltimore, was no drawback to 
Crestline, as from its birth it had the advan- 
tages of railroad transportation. By experi- 
ence, it knew nothing of these old-fashioned 
ways, in which towais like Mansfield and 
Bucyrus were brought up. Like the boy who 
was born at the age of fifteen, Crestline may 
almost be said to have been bom in the full 
vigor of manhood. Its railroad, or two rail- 
roads, brought markets to its very doors, 
instead of having to make long, weaiy trips 
to Sandusky, Zanesville and Philadelphia by 
teams, as so many others had to do before 
them. In this chapter, after a sketch of the 
township, we have briefly alluded to the lay- 
ing-out of the village, and the beginning of 



its prosperity and business, the railroads, 
which created a demand for a town, and the 
early history generally of the town and sur- 
rounding community. AVe have followed its 
history from a dense and gloomy forest, 
where the red man was wont to hunt the deer, 
to a floiu'ishing and rapidly growing town, 
and here we take leave of it, to resume its 
histoay in another chapter. There we shall 
chronicle its progress in business, education 
and Christianity; its increase in wealth, its 
growth and extension and general prosperity. 
Crestline, as we have shown, is a railroad 
town, and, in the following chapter, together 
with other matters, the railroad interest will 
be noticed at some length, and also the estab- 
lishment of railroad shops, and the men em- 
ployed by the two roads. 



CHAPTER XV. 

CITY OF CRESTLINE— ITS GROWTH AND BUSINESS— SCHOOLS AND SCHOOLHOUSES— CHURCHES— 

THE WATER WORKS— OTHER INTERESTS. 



A CITY that is set on an hill cannot be 
hid, and the original proprietors of 
Crestline seem to have acted upon this Scrip- 
tural text in the location of their town, as, at 
the time of its laying out, it was supposed to 
be the highest point in the State. Notwith- 
standing it was a flat, swampy country, cov- 
ered with a dense forest, it is so far above the 
level of Lake Erie that no fears are enter- 
tained, by even the most timid of its inhabit- 
ants, of another " Drift Period," or overflow 
fi'om that inland sea. Crestline is highly 
favored as to its geographical location, and 
possesses all the advantages necessary for 
becoming a prosperous little city. It is in the 
midst of as rich a farming community as " a 
crow ever flew over," its citizens are intelli- 



gent, enterprising and industrious, and its 
railroad facilities are unsurpassed in the 
whole country. When all this is taken into 
consideration, there appears no visible reason 
for Crestline remaining down in the mud and 
swamps of the " Black Forest." A healthy, 
rousing business " boom " is all that is re- 
quired to waft it on to wealth and prosperity. 
Some suggestions might be made as to im- 
proving and beautifying the city, and acted on 
with considerable advantage to its general 
appearance. Its architectm-al achievements, 
so far, are not above the average to be found 
in towns of its size and attainments, and, as to 
buildings of merit, there are but few,pei'haps 
none, deserving of special notice, except its 
union schoolhouse. Sidewalks miofht be im- 



500 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



proved as to appearances, and with some 
safety to pedestrians, streets graded, and a few 
of the old wooden buildings replaced with 
substantial bricks. These old wooden build- 
ings, sooner or later, will terminate in a huge 
bonfire, and, as often occurs in such cases, 
destroy" perhaps thousands of dollars' worth of 
valuable property. 

As shown in the preceding chapter, Crest- 
line is thoroughly and decidedly a railroad 
town. It is these great modern thoroughfares 
that gave it birth, and to these it is indebted 
for its existence and growth. Although it is 
situated in a rich farming country, yet, with 
Gallon, Bucyrus and Shelby but a few miles 
distant, there was no special necessity for 
Crestline, except the railroads, and, take these 
away, it would soon become another edition of 
Goldsmith's Deserted Village. Its farming 
community, though prosperous and rich, is 
scarcely sufficient to save it from a linger- 
ing death. The location at this point of the 
shops of the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chi- 
cago Railroad, and the hands employed in 
these shops, have been the life of Crestline. 
The Ohio & Pennsylvania Railroad, which 
was chartered in 1848, as early as 1850 deter- 
mined to make Crestline the western terminus 
of their road. During the same year, the 
Ohio & Indiana Railroad was chartered, and, 
in September, 1852, the Directors of this road 
fixed their eastern terminus at Crestline. The 
consolidation of these two roads and one ex- 
tending from Fort Wayne to Chicago, in 1856, 
formed the present Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne 
& Chicago Railroad, and Crestline still re- 
mained the terminus of two divisions of this 
road, as it had been before the consolidation. 
This caused the erection of large shops at 
Crestline, and at present these shops employ 
several hundred men, under the superintend- 
ence of George W. Lowe. These shops and 
men have been the means of bringing in other 



lines of business, establishing other shops 
and foundries, and adding largely to the 
building-up of the place. Of these may be 
mentioned the Crestline Lock Works, which 
were established in 1870. A subscription of 
$8,000 was made by the people for the piirpose 
of putting up the necessary buildings, on con- 
dition that a certain number of men be em- 
ployer). An excellent building was erected, 
and the works opened under the charge of C. 
A. Faulkner & Co., who ran them one year. 
John A. Thoman & Co. then bought them, 
and operated them until 1874, when they 
failed and went into banki'uptcy. A brass 
foundry was established in 1871, by G. W. 
Dyar, and is still in operation, doing quite a 
large business. 

The Continental Mills, the only institution 
of the kind ever in Crestline, were built orig- 
inally in 1856-57, by Matthew Reed. These 
mills were improved at different times, 
remodeled, and new machinery put in, until 
they ranked among the best mills in the State. 
In June of the present year (1880), they were 
burned to the ground. The loss to the pro- 
prietors, L. G. Russell & Co., was heavy, but, 
nothing daunted, preparations are being made 
to rebuild them, and doubtless work in that 
direction will soon be begun. Since the little 
stores were established by Newman, Hall and 
Thoman, the mercantile business has grown 
to be rather voluminous. Several very large 
dry goods and general stores are now in oper- 
ation upon a sound business basis, while other 
lines of trade, common to a town of the com- 
mercial standing of Crestline, are well repre- 
sented by stirring and energetic men. A 
large and growing business is successfully 
carried on, and, to the casual visitor, there 
seems absolutely nothing in the way of Crest- 
line's future commercial prosperity. 

A bank was established in the town in 1867, 
by Riblet, Hayes & Co., the gentlemen com- 



es — 



1^ 



♦41: 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY, 



501 



prising the firm being Jacob Riblet, William 
Hayes and John Newman, with E. Davis as 
cashier. In 1869, they sold out to John A. 
Thoman & Co., who organized the Citizens, 
Bank, an institution that continued in opera- 
tion until 1873, when it failed. In 1870, a 
bank was organized by Daniel Babst and Jon- 
athan Martin, under the firm name of Babst, 
Martin & Co., J. Babst, Cashier. In June. 
1878, they sold to Daniel Babst, Jr., and 
Jacob Babst, who have since operated it as 
"Babst's Banking House," J. Babst, Cashier. 
In 187G, the Farmers & Mechanics' Bank 
was established by Booth & Stewart. It was 
cari'ied on by these parties until 1878, when 
they sold to Stewart & Son, who continue still 
under the same name. In addition to its busi- 
ness men, the place may boast of a number of 
professional characters, who did, and do still, 
rank high in their respective callings. Of 
the medical profession, Dr. William P. Kerna- 
han is mentioned as the first physician to 
locate in Crestline. He came about 1851, and 
practiced medicine until his death, which 
took place in 1859-60. Dr. A. E. Jenner was 
the next physician. But, as both the medical 
and legal professions are appropriately written 
up in a preceding chapter of this work, we 
will not go into details here. Among the 
gentlemen composing the bar of Crestline, 
Daniel Babst, Jr., is ranked as one of the 
ablest lawyers. He is Mayor of the town, and 
a downright good fellow generally. To him 
we are indebted for the principal part of the 
information and historical data fi-om which 
these chapters on Crestline are written, and 
whatever the reader finds to be -wrong or 
incon-ect in them, he will attribute to Dan; 
whatever is correct and good, we claim as oiu' 
own undis})uted property. 

As Crestline grew in population, wealth 
and im})ortance, it began to dawn upon the 
good people that they displayed sufiicient style 



and greatness to allow of their village being 
incorporated. This movement was effected 
March 3, 1858, and the town was incoi-porated 
under the law regulating such matters. Un- 
der this new phase of affairs, David Ogden 
was elected the first Mayor, and William 
Knisely the first Recorder; William P. Kern- 
ahan, E. Warner, Robert Lee, M. C Archer 
and William Boals, the first Board of Trustees. 
The following is a list of the Mayors who 
have served, in the order named: Next after 
Ogden, Silas Durand, Samuel Hoyt, Jacob 
Staley, Dr. J. McKean, G eorge W.Pierce, Na- 
than Jones, A. E. Jenner, Nathan Jones, Dr. 
Edwin Booth and Dan Babst, Jr., the present 
(1880) incumbent. P. D. Meister is the pres- 
ent Clei'k. 

The first school taught in the town of 
Crestline was by a man named Edgerton, it is 
believed, and was taught in the old log school- 
house. We quote the following on educa- 
tional matters from a published article fiu"- 
nished us by ^Ir. Babst: "In education, the 
town has not been neglected. Before the airival 
of railroads, a district log schoolhouse stood 
about one and a half miles northwest of the 
present site of the town, on the Leesville 
road. This had been svifficient for educational 
purposes for many years, and a school was 
taught there as late as 1850. In 1853. when 
Crestline began to gi*ow, a two-story fi-ame 
school-building was erected in the east part of 
the town, and, shortly aftreward, a similar one 
was erected in the west part. These two 
buildings served the purpose until 1868, when 
the present union-school Iniilding was erected. 
This building, which is an honor and an 
ornament to the place, was designed by Mr. 
Thomas, and built by Miller, Smith & Frayer, 
conti'actors. The Board of Education, under 
whose supervision it was erected, were: Jacob 
Staley, President, D. W. Snyder, John Beny, 
S. P. Hesser, C. Miller, and Nathan Jones. 



[\iL 



503 



HISTORY or CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



As an evidence that the people were satisfied 
with the manner in which the board was 
conducting the work, the two members whose 
terms of service expired before the building 
was completed, were re-elected. The cost of 
the building and furniture, together with the 
two lots upon which it stands, was $30,000; 
and seldom, if ever, was there a better job 
done for this amount of money. It is located 
on Colmnbus, between Union and Cross streets ; 
is of brick, three stories above the basement; 
seventy-two feet in length by sixty-five in 
greatest breadth ; contains eleven schoolrooms, 
besides six smaller rooms, used for ofiices, 
library, etc., and will accommodate 500 pupils. 
This is the third house of the kind, as to size, 
in the county, and the first in point of archi- 
tectural beauty. The children, 2:)roud of this 
gift, were admitted within its walls, without 
formal ceremony, April 12, 1800. Adjoining 
the lots on which the building stands, is the 
school park, which consists of sis town lots, 
and is beautifully diversified by gravel walks, 
evergreens and shade-trees. In the center of 
these grounds, an elegant fountain, topped 
with reactionary wheels, which scatter refresh- 
ing showers, forming miniature rainbows, 
affords illustrative lessons in natural philoso- 
phy, as well as a cooler atmosphere on sultry 
days. Ai'ound the base of the fountain are 
six hydi-ants for drinking purposes. The 
building and its surroundings are, indeed, 
well calculated, with an efiicient corps of 
teachers, to improve the mental faculties of its 
pupils in a superior manner. The members 
of the Crestline School Board fm-nished a very 
important factor to the problem of mental 
culture when they laid out these beautiful 
grounds; and for this, the generation that is 
now entering on school life will ' rise up and 
call them blessed.' " 

The following ai-e the names of the teachers 
now employed in the Crestline schools, accord- 



ing to grade: Mrs. Anna M. Mills, Superin- 
tendent; Joseph H. Snyder, High School De- 
partment; John M. Talbott, Senior Granmaar; 
Nancy Jane McWhii-ter, Junior Grammar; 
Isabella Lovejoy, Intermediate; Emma Scott 
and Laura Stahle, Secondary; Lillie Kuhn, 
Ina Roger, Melissa Culver, Mattie S. Robin- 
son, Pi'imary; J. J. Beichler, Languages, prin- 
cipally German. The present Board of Edu- 
cation of the town: William Robinson, Pres- 
ident; E. M. Anderson, Secretary; Benjamin 
Heffelfinger, Treasm'er, and Reuben Stahle, 
George Stoll and Louis Holcher. 

In concluding the school history of Crest- 
line, we append the following statistics of this 
special district: 

Balance on hand September 1, 1879 $3,761 04 

State Tax 1,314 84 

Irreducible Fund 11 68 

Local tax for schools and schoolhouse pur- 
poses 4,447 78 

Fines, etc 168 91 

Total $9,704 30 

Amount paid teachers §3,249 00 

Managing and Superintending 810 00 

Sites and buildings 314 75 

Fuel, etc 1,152 75 

Total Expenditures 55,-526 50 

Balance on hand September 1, 1880 $4,177 80 

Not only has the intellectual training of the 
children been well provided for, but the 
spiritual needs of the older people of Crest- 
line have been well attended to, there being 
at this time no less than seven chm'ches 
in the town, occupied by as many different 
denominations. The Gospel was introduced 
into the community b}' those pioneer Chris- 
tians, the Methodists. They have the oldest 
organization in the town. In 1844, a society 
of the Methodist Episcopal denomination was 
formed in what was then called Minnerly's 
Schoolhouse(nowMcCulloch's), and, as will be 
seen, some yeai's before the laying-out of 



^jr 



\[ 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



503 



Crestline. The moving spirit in this relig- 
ious enterprise was John Lovitt, and, owing 
principally to his influence, was the organiza- 
tion of a society effected. The church which 
is standing on Thoman street was the first one 
erected by this denomination. It was built in 
1854, through the personal exertions of ]\Ir. 
Minnerly, David Thrush, David Kerr, Francis 
Conwell, IVIr. Howland, Francis Peppard and 
David White, who, with their wives and por- 
tions of their families, were a few of the first 
members. The present membership is about 
250. The Sunday school connected with this 
church is one of the largest and most active 
in the town, with an average attendance of 
over 200. 

The Trinity German Lutheran Church was 
the next in chronological order in formation. 
It is located on Main street, and was organ- 
ized about the year 1851, in the schoolhouse. 
The original members of this society were 
Michael Webber, Henry Lambert, George 
Hass, B. Faltz, John Keller and others. In 
1861, they erected the present church edifice, 
at a cost of |3,000. The first minister was 
the Rev. Mr. Meiser, who was followed by 
Rev. Hatsberger, H. Smith, Haley and Martin 
Berkley, in the order named. The latter. Rev. 
Mr. Berkley, is the present Pastor, and his 
society comprises about seventy members. An 
active Sunday school is connected with the 
church, conducted by the officers, with a mem- 
bership of about sixty. Its organization as 
a Sunday school is coeval with that of the 
church. 

Recently, a division occurred in this chiu'ch, 
on the ground of a difference of opinion in 
some matters of belief or usage. This re- 
sulted in the formation of a new church. In 
1879, Peter Sleenbecker, Michael Reh, Charles 
Chi-istman, C. Morkel and others, becoming 
dissatisfied regarding some matters, we be- 
lieve, of chxTrch government, withdi-ew from 



Trinity Church, and organized a second Ger- 
man Lutheran society, and erected a chiu'ch 
on East Mansfield street, at a cost of $4,000. 
Their first meetings, before the erection of 
their new church, were held in the old Ger- 
man Reformed Chui'ch, which kept its dooi's 
open for them. Rev. IMr. Shultz, of Gallon, 
was their first minister, and was followed by 
Rev. IVIr. Voegele, their present Pastor. Their 
Sunday-school was organized about the same 
time as their church, its present membership 
being about thirty. Numerically, the chm'ch 
is not strong. 

The English Lutherans were the next in the 
field. In 1854, a society of this denomination 
was organized by the Rev. A. F. Hills. The 
original members of this organization were 
David Lichtenwalter, A. W. Stine, William 
Knisely, David Keplinger, E. Warner, David 
McCartel, D. Minich, Jane McCartel, Hannah 
Stine, Elizabeth Warner and Isaac Miller. 
Their early meetings were held in the private 
residences of the members, though the pres- 
ent frame church was erected about the same 
year the organization of the society occmTed. 
Rev. IVIr. Hills was the first Pastor, followed 
by Revs. A. B. Ivtrtland, D. I. Foust, H. K. 
Fenner and B. F. Crouse, the present minister. 
The membership at this time is about 170. 
The Sunday school is large and active, num- 
bering about 160 pui:»ils, under the superin- 
tendence of Heniy Eskley. 

The German Reformed Church was organ- 
ized in 1858, by Rev. M. Stern, of Gallon. 
It is situated in the northwest part of town, 
is of brick, and was built in 1862, at a cost of 
$1,900. Of the original members, we may 
mention David Bluem, Philip and Frederick 
Eichorn, and Joseph Bender. Their meetings 
were held in the English Lutheran Chm-ch 
until the erection of their own building, in 
1862. Their first minister after Rev. Stern 
was Rev. John Rettig, followed bv Rev. John 



504 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



Winter. The present Pastor is Rev. F. W. 
Marcus, and his flooic consists of about 130 
members. The organization of the Sunday 
school was cotemporaneous with that of the 
church, and now numbers 125 pupils, under 
the superintendence of William Lamport. 

The Presbyterian Chiu'ch of Crestline was 
organized February 20, 1855, in a small 
schoolhouse, by Rev. I. N. Shepherd, of Mar- 
ion, Ohio, and Rev. Silas Johnston, of Bucyrus. 
Previous to this, however, Rev. Luke Dor- 
land had collected the Presbyterians of the 
place, and preached to them at various times 
and places for six or eight months. After the 
organization, meetings were occasionally held 
in the different church buildings already 
erected. The principal original members 
were John S. and Jane Smith, Alexander, 
Martha J. and Margaret Patterson, John and 
Mary White, Sampson Warden, John and 
Eliza Jane Banbright, P. and Mary Mansfield, 
and Samuel R. and Isabella Graham. The 
present chm-ch was erected in 1806-07. Rev. 
J. P. Lloyd was the first minister after the 
organization was effected, and continued in 
charge thirteen years. He was succeeded by 
Rev. James Shields, who remained seven years. 
The present Pastor, Rev. W". W. Macamber, 
succeeded Rev. Shields, November 18, 1879. 
The church at this time has a membership of 
about 200. A. M. Patterson is Superintend- 
ent of the Sunday school, which is a large and 
active one, embracing 175 piipils, and was 
organized August 12, 1862. 

The St. Joseph's Catholic Church is located 
on North street, and dates its organization 
back to 1858, though services were held by 
different ministers of the chmrch many years 
befoi'e this organization, in the houses of 
Catholic members. The few Catholics scat- 
tered among the early settlers of this place 
were fi'equently visited in this way, meetings 
held, and their spiritual wants administered 



to before they were gathered into a church. 
The church was organized by Father Galla- 
gher, of Cleveland, who was Pastor at Mans- 
field at the same time. The early meetings 
were held principally in the houses of Mike 
Dunn, Laurenz Raindl, who, with Patrick 
Dunn, Mr. McNamara, J. A. Barrel and Thad- 
deus Seifert, were the original members. 
The present frame church was erected in 
1861, at a cost of $1,000. The membership 
nu.mbers about 100 families, and the Sunday 
school about 200 children. There is a day 
school in connection with the church, with 
170 pupils in daily attendance. 

Those secret and benevolent orders which 
exert so great an influence for good on society, 
are fully represented in Crestline. Freema- 
sonry, the oldest of all the benevolent institu- 
tions, originated so long ago that no history 
tells of its beginning, is highly moral in its 
teachings, its main constituents being, a 
"belief in God, hope in immortality, and 
charity to all mankind." It is represented in 
Crestline by Arcana Lodge No. 272, and Crest- 
line Chapter, No. 88. The former was organ- 
ized under its charter October 26, A. L. 5855. 
This instrument of authority from the Grand 
Lodge of Masons of Ohio, was issued by M. 
W. William B. Dodds, Grand Master, and 
John D. Caldwell, Grand Secretai-y. The 
following are the charter members: J. R. 
Straughan, Erastus S. Spencer, Matthew El- 
der, J. McCluny, E. C. Gregg, J. J. Bening, 
George Bewson, A. P. Cann, John Newman, 
John Franz, John A. Thoman, J. Warden, 
J. E Idington, H. A. Donaldson and H. Gusle- 
man. The fu'st officers were, J. R. Straughan, 
Worshipful Master; E. S. Spencer, Senior 
Warden ; and Matthew Elder, Junior Warden. 
Th.> lodge now numbers sixty-one members, 
and is officered by J .C. Williams, Worshipful 
Master; John Donnelly, Senior Warden; 
Hugh Harrop, Junior Warden; E. T. Cox, 



«^ k- 



>y 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY 



505 



Treasurer; David Ogclen, Secretary; and J. 
J. Kirtlaud, Tiler. 

Crestline Chapter, No. 88, was chartered 
October 15, 1864, by M. E. Thomas J. Larsh, 
Grand High Priest, and John D. Caldwell, 
Grand Secretary. The charter members were, 
M. C. Ai'cher, David Ogden, John H. Berry 
William Boals, Benjamin Eaton, R. Lee, 
John McGraw, William McGraw, Thomas 
Boorman, J. S. Potter, W. H. Shamp, H. W. 
Stocking and J. H. Brewster. The first offi- 
cers were: M. C. Archer, High Priest; David 
Ogden, King; J. H. Berry, Scribe; and Robert 
Lee, Secretary. The Chapter has, in connec- 
tion with Arcana Lodge, an excellent hall, 
well appointed and firrnished. The present 
officers are: David Ogden, High Priest; Nathan 
Jones, King; T. B. Fowler, Scribe; and D. W. 
Snyder, Secretary. There was a Commandery 
of Knights Templar in Crestline at one time, 
but this body has been removed to Mansfield. 

Amici Lodge, No. 279, Knights of Honor, 
was chartered on the 5th of September, 1876, 
with the following charter members: S. R. 
Graham, C. W. Jenner, G. R. Edwards, H. A. 
White, D. L. Zink, W. H. Carlisle, E. S. Bag- 
ley, D. H. Cafi'ell, Daniel Babst, Jr., O. S. 
Campbell, E. M. Freese, G. W. Zint, Truemen 
Daily, B. F. Miller, J. J. Kirtland, C. A. 
Spencer, C. F. Frank, William Jones and R. 
M. Carnes. 

Odd Fellowship, although far more modern 
in its origin than Freemasonry, made its 
appearance in Crestline some time before it. 
Crestline Lodge, No. 237, was instituted under 
charter February 23, 1854 The chai'ter 
members were, John I. Kert, G. W. Keplinger, 
W. P. Kernahan, William Knott, William 
Boals, M. C. Ai'cher, Elijah Johnson, William 
McGraw and Daniel Laugham. The fii'st 
officers were: William Knott, N. G. ; W. P. 
Kernahan, V. G., and G. W. Keplinger, Sec- 
retary. There are now seventy members in 



good standing on the books, and the officers 
are: David Brandt, N.'G.; F. Delp, V. G.; 
George Stoll, Treasurer; W. Ladd, Record- 
ing Secretary, and H. Ogden, Permanent Sec- 
retary. 

Crawford Encampment, No. 187, I. O. O. 
F., was instituted June 15, 1875, by J. W. 
Parch, Most Worthy Grand High Priest. The 
charter members were F. C. Berger, G. G. 
Cruizen, F. Newman, J. W. Sanders, E. 
Davis, John Snyder and J. H. Becker. The 
first officers were: John H. Becker, C. P.; F. 
C. Berger, H. P.; George G. Cruizen, S. W.; 
E. Davis, S. ; John Snyder, Treasurer. There 
are on the rolls the names of twenty members, 
and the following is the list of officers at 
present: D. W. Brant, C. P.; M. Shiunaker, 
H. P.; J. P. Sheelrud, S. W.; J. Taggai-t, S.; 
J. H. Becker, T., and F. Delp, J. W. 

Jackson Lodge, No. 516, I. O. O. F. (Ger- 
man), was instituted July 3, 1872, by Heniy 
Lindenberg, Grand Repi'esentative. The 
charter members were F. Newman, Jacob 
Staley, George Stoll, J. P. Zimmermacher. J. 
H. Becker, Adam Neff, John Bauer, John 
Ecinger and John Cook. The first officers 
were : George Stoll, N. G. ; Jacob Staly, V. G. ; 
J. H. Becker, Secretary, and F. Newman, 
Treasurer. The present officers are: John 
Schart, N. G.; John Herbertshauser, V. G.; 
Philip Grinenstein, Secretaiy, and J. H. 
Becker, Treasurer. 

The people of Crestline take great pride in 
their water-works, and, indeed, it is an enter- 
prise to be proud of. There is nothing like a 
bountiful supply of good, pure water. No 
poison bubbles on its siu-face, no blood stains 
it, nor does its foam bring madness and mm-- 
der. Pale widows and starving orphans weep 
not biuming tears in its depths. But every- 
where it is a thing of beauty, and gleams in 
the dew-(h-op, sings in the summer rain, and 
shines in the free ice gems, imtil they seem 



:?i; 



«^ (5 



,:^ 



506 



HISTORY OF CKAWrORD C0U:N^TY. 



turned to living jewels. And always it is 
beautiful — that beverage of life, health-giving 
water. The tomb of Moses is unknown, but 
the weary traveler slakes his thirst at the well 
of Jacob. The gorgeous palace of the wisest 
and wealthiest of mouarchs, with cedar and 
gold and ivory, and even the great temple of 
Jerusalem, hallowed by the visible glory of 
the Deity himself, ai'e gone, and of the archi- 
tecture of the Holy City not one stone is left 
upon another. But Solomon's reservoirs are 
as perfect as ever, and the pool of Beth- 
saida commands the pilgrim's respect at the 
present day. The columns of Persepolis are 
moldering into dust, but its cisterns and aque- 
ducts remain to challenge our admiration. 
And if any work of art shall still rise and 
flourish, we may well believe that it will be 
neither a palace nor a temple, but some vast 
aqueduct or reservoir, built for the benefit of 
of human kind. And, if any name is deserving 
who, ineverlasting honor, it is that of the man, 
his day, sought the happiness of his fellow-men 
rather than their glory, and linked his name to 
some great work of utility and benevolence. 
In 1871, the necessary legislation was ob- 
tained to enable the town to issue bonds for the 
construction of the works. In September of 
the same year, the work was commenced by 
constructing a dam at the springs from which 
the water is brought. These springs are in 
Eichland County, of the very purest water, 
and in sufficient volume to afford a supj^ly to 
a much larger city than Crestline, the actual 
discharge of the springs being ninety gal- 
lons of water per minute. The water is 
brought a distance of about four miles from 
the springs, through wooden pipes, into a 
reservoir, and supplied by mains laid thi-ough 
the city. The springs are at an elevation of 
about 170 feet above the level of the town, 
which gives sufficient power and pressure to 
carry into the highest buildings, or throw a 



stream over them, through hose attached to 
hydi-ants. The total cost of construction, in 
round numbers, was little short of $100,000. 
There were bonds issued to the amount of 
$80,000, which, with three years' interest, 
increased the cost to very nearly the sum first 
mentioned. 

The enterprise of furnishing Crestline with 
pure water was due mainly to G. H. Lee, 
Henry Shoman and G. W. Pierce, and to their 
energy and exertions the work stands an en- 
diu'ing monument. The average expense per 
annum of fui'nishing this water su2:)ply is 
$450, while the income amounts to about $1,- 
600. Not the least of the benefits accruing 
from this j)ublic-spirited enterprise, is the 
advantage afforded in case of fires, when all 
that is necessary is to attach hose to the hy- 
drants, and a stream of water can be thrown 
far enough and high enough for all practical 
purposes. One of the beauties, if it is no 
special benefit, of the reservoir, is that it is 
well stocked with goldfish. 

The spring that supplies the water to the 
city, as already stated, is in Richland County. 
It is mentioned at some length in Howe's " His- 
torical Collection of Ohio," and also in Butter- 
field's "History of Crawford's Campaign 
against Sandusky." The latter work, in de- 
scribing the march of Crawford's army, thus re- 
fers to it : " Thence they passed near the spot 
where was afterward the Indian village of 
Greentown, in what is now Ashland County. 
From this point they struck across the Bocky 
Fork of the Mohican, up which stream they 
traveled until a spring was reached, near where 
the city of Mansfield now stands, in Richland 
County; thence a little north of west, to a 
fine spring five miles further on, in what is 
Springfield Township — a place now known as 
Spring Mills, on the line of the Pittsbui'gh, 
Fort Wayne & Chicago Railroad, east of the 
town of Crestline, in Crawford Count v — 



19 Hv 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY 



507 



where, on the evening of the 1st day of June 
(1782), the army halted and encamped for the 
night." Thus, to sum up in a word the Crest- 
line water-works, there are few cities, perhaps, 
in the State, as well supplied with water — 
pure water — as the thriving and energetic lit- 
tle city of Crestline. It is not the water from 
some lazy river, reeking with the filth of a 
hundi'ed towns and cities upon its banks, and 
filtered through charcoal and sand to pui'ify 
it, but it is brought pure and fresh from the 
fountain head, as it were, from a flowing 
spring, bursting fresli from the ground. 

The most destructive fire that Crestline has 
ever known occurred in Septeml^er, 1867. 
The entire block from the Continental Hotel 
to Bucyrus street was burned out, and a heavy 
loss entailed upon the property-o^vners of the 
district burned, though the full extent of the 
loss we could not learn. There have been 
numerous other fires, but none so destructive 
as the one just mentioned. The burning of 
the Continental Mills, last summer, was quite 
a blow to the town, as well as to their owners. 
The city has a regularly organized fire depart- 
ment, two engines, with a full supply of hose, 
etc., but, since the building of the water-works, 
the engines are not used, the force of the 
water being sufiicient to throw a stream, when 
hose is attached, 120 feet high. 

The hotel business has been overdone, 
and some of them are standing idle, or 
have been converted to other uses. The Con- 
tinental, kept by Russell & Co., is a first- 
class house. It is heated by steam, lighted 
by gas, manufactured on the premises, has 
every convenience for the comfort of its 
guests, and charges accordingly. One excellent 
feature is the establishment in the building, 
above the gentlemen's waiting-room, of a read- 
ing-room, where the waiting passengers may 
while away a pleasant hour, among the latest 
magazines and papers, in a comfortable room. 



"At present, there are five dry goods 
stores, three drug, one book, three jewelry, 
and a large number of grocery stores and 
saloons; two banks, one publishing-house, 
an iron-foundry, employing half a dozen 
hands, two wagon and carriage shops, one 
planing-mill, five lawyers, six physicians, 
besides the usual number of mechanics in 
every dej^artment of labor. The Continental 
Flouring-mill was erected in 1860 (now 
burned). Two saw-mills were erected in an 
early day (between 1850 and 1856), one by 
Lang & Miller, the other by S. B. Coe; both 
were within the limits of the present corpora- 
tion ; both have disappeared. From these 
observations, it will be seen that the town is 
a live and energetic business place." 

The press of Crestline, the " art preservative 
of all arts," is at present represented by the 
Crestline Advocate. Several other newsjDapers 
have been established in the town, which floiu*- 
ished for a season and then died. The fii-st 
newspaper of Crestline was the Express, a 
weekly paper, and was started in 1853, and 
edited by C. M. Kenton. The office was over 
Brewer's store, and the publication of the 
paper was continued for about six months, 
when for some cause, most probably a lack, 
either of appreciation or financial support, it 
"gave up the ghost." 

The Crestline Advocate issued its fii'st num- 
ber in July, 1869. Its size was 16x20, and it 
was folio in form, edited and published by 
Adam Billow. About six months after the 
establishment of the Advocate, it was enlar^i-ed 
to six columns to a page, and fi'om that to 
eight columns — its present size. It was fii-st 
published in Billow's dwelling, and then re- 
moved to its present quarters, in the second 
story of the Masonic hall building. Adam 
Billow died. May 20, 1876, since which time 
the paper has been owned and conducted by 
D. C. Billow. The press is operated by power 



508 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



received from the water-works. The Advocate 
is independent in politics, has a good pat- 
ronage, is ably managed and conducted, and 
may be termed a flourishing country news- 
paper. 

About the year 1875 or 1876, a Demo- 
cratic paper was established by A. E. Jenner, 
called the Crawford County Democrat. It 
continued about three years, when it followed 
the Express to that "bourne from whence no 
traveler returns." We believe there have been 
one or t^vo other efibrts in the newspaper line, 



in Crestline, but we have no facts of a definite 
character in regard to them. 

The burial of the dead is a sacred duty, and 
in all ages and all countries more or less re- 
spect is shown the memory of the departed. 
Abraham said, " Let us bury the dead out of our 
sight." A cemetery was laid out a few years 
after the laying out of the town. Elforts have 
been made by a few persons to have the 
grounds beautified, but so far, they have failed, 
and only slight improvements have been made 
by private individuals. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

AUBURN TOWNSHIP— DESCRIPTION — SETTLEMENT BY THE WHITES — TOPOGRAPHICAL — EARLY 
PRIVATIONS— PIONEER INDUSTRIES— TOWNS LAID OUT— SCHOOLS— CHURCHES, ETC. 



THE historical investigator, with tireless 
thought, surveys the dusty memorials of 
forgotten years, and endeavors to select from 
tue strange commingling of facts and fancy 
those beautiful life-lessons which exemplify 
the noblest type of human character. There 
is a strange pleasure in rummaging over the 
relics and records of former generations, and 
in scanning the brief period of those lives 
that will be green forever in the memory of 
the world. It affords abundant opportunity 
for the derivation of useful morals, from the 
motives which animate the hearts of the hu- 
man race. The evolution of society and civi- 
lization fi'om primitive man to the present 
time, presents a wonderful volume of instruc- 
tion for human inspection and guidance. The 
rise and fall of nations and the causes, the 
remorseless deeds of an inordinate ambition, 
brothers engaged in fratricidal warfare, in- 
nocence and piu'ity trampled under the iron 
feet of cruelty — all are strangely interesting, 
and stir the heart to its profoundest depths. 
Countless lessons and morals of usefulness 



are found among the dusty archives of human 
progress, from a benighted barbarism to the 
present imperfect state of civilization. This 
gives to history a value and dignity beyond 
any other study within the scope of intellect, 
and presents the hiunan race with ideal lives 
of excellence, well worthy of imitation. 

It often occurs in a neighborhood, that, when 
the question of early settlement is broached, 
different families present rival claims as to 
the first cabin built, the first birth, mamage, 
or death; and numerous instances are met 
with where the descendants of early settlers 
endeavor to surpass each other in narrating 
deeds of peril or hardship through which 
their forefathers passed when the forest was 
filled with wild animals, or when crafty In- 
dians, in war-paint and feathers, watched the 
pioneer's cabin with the eye of a hawk, 
ready, when darkness concealed their move- 
ments, to swoop down upon the unsuspecting 
inmates, who were deemed intruders and 
deadly enemies, to cany them off into hope- 
less captivity, or for purposes of torture more 






fk- 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY, 



509 



heart-rending than those of the Spanish Inqui- 
sition. It thus occurs that numerous interest- 
ing incidents that transpired in the neighbor- 
hood many years before, are wrested from 
falling into the fathomless depths of forget- 
fulness, becoming bright and ever-living me- 
mentoes among the heroic deeds of the past, 
perpetual testimonials of the adventurous 
spirit of pioneers, placed upon the page of 
history through the medium of tradition. 
There is no neighborhood vs^ithout its inter- 
esting legend — no section of country without 
its cm'ious or mysterious incidents, which, 
under the masterly hand of Genius, would 
become as fascinating as the strange myths 
of pre-historic times. On yonder elevation, 
the swift wheel of a busy mill once told the 
passers-by of the presence of the enterprising 
pioneer. That deep ravine, with precipitous 
sides thickly overspread with heavy foliage, 
was once the scene of a mysterious murder, 
that has persistently baffled the truth of the 
maxim, " Murder will out." " This is the spot," 
says an old settler, " where a pack of hungry 
wolves once came mighty near eating me up." 
" Do you see that big tree there ?" asks an- 
other; "that's where I was treed by a bear, 
when that tree was a little sapling." This 
illustrates the common experience of those 
whose lot it is to gather incidents and events 
of early years. Every family that came into 
the wilderness, prepared for any and every 
emergency, has handed down through the 
generations tales of privation and danger — 
trials of courage and hardihood, undergone by 
its members, that have become imperishable 
portions of the family history In this man- 
ner, the more interesting events occurring in 
a neighborhood are preserved and given to 
future generations, that will read of them 
with thrilling interest and wonder as they 
read. There are found those traditions relat- 
ing to social, domestic, or hunting customs, 



to family characteristics, to individual pecu- 
liarities, to personal danger, and to innumer- 
able events that combine to form an attractive 
family or township record. 

Auburn Township, from its being one of 
the first, if not the first, settled in the county, 
presents a veiy attractive early history. Its 
earliest settlers, English from the Eastern 
States, Hollanders from New York, and Scotch- 
Irish from Pennsylvania, were almost wholly 
soldiers in the war of 1812, many of whom, in 
the military expeditions across Ohio, had seen 
the land which they afterward pm'chased. 
As soon as the war had closed, large numbers 
of pioneers arrived and settled in northern 
Richland County, of which, at that time, Au- 
burn Township formed a part, purchased their 
farms, and began to clear them, and to sur- 
round themselves as rapidly as possible with 
schools, churches, and other auxiliaries of 
settled localities. The township was early 
the home of those wandering hunters, the 
advance-guard of settlement, whose greatest 
annoyance seemed to be the approach of pio- 
neers. Their wives and families seemed proof 
against privation and starvation, and cheer- 
fully followed the husband and father into 
the deepest woods, where no white foot had 
yet pressed, and where Indians and savage 
beasts were every-day sights. John Pettigon, 
one of these roving hunters, and the first set 
tier in the to'WTiship — the fii'st resident land 
holder — built a small cabin as early as 1814, 
and began supporting his family almost wholly 
by means of his rifle, in the use of which he 
had but few equals and no superiors. He 
was a very successful hunter and trapper, 
and made no little money in the sale of furs. 
It is probable that he lived in Vernon Town- 
ship for a few years. He was an eccentric 
character, and seemed uneasy when in the 
presence of other settlers, and apparently much 
preferred the companionship of the Indians 



f^ 



510 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



and wild animals or solitude. He had been 
a soldier in the war of 1812, and at its close 
had purchased a small tract of land inAubm'n. 
He cared nothing, however, for real estate, as 
long as the forests were filled with an abun- 
dance of wild animals. It was no trouble for 
him to stalk a deer, and one of his favorite 
" deer licks " was on the farm now owned by 
Capt. Cummins. He killed scores of deer 
at this "lick," the most of them being shot 
soon after dark, when they came to drink. He 
remained in the township until six or eight 
families had settled within as many miles of 
him, when, thinking that the country began 
to look too much like a city, he moved farther 
out into the wilds of the forest. Jedediah 
Morehead was another of these hunters, who 
located for a time in Aviburn and adjoining 
townships. He was a squatter, and roamed 
over vast tracts of country in search of game, 
often being absent from home for weeks at a 
time. He had a large family, and lived a 
few years in Northern Vernon, devoting all 
his time to hunting and trapping, a portion of 
it being spent in the swamps and cranberry 
marshes, within a radius of fifteen miles of 
his cabin. H!is cabin, if such it could be 
properly called, was located on a narrow neck 
of land which extended into the large cran- 
berry marsh lying partly in the township and 
partly in Hm'on County. His cabin was built 
of brush and bark, being in reality nothing 
more nor less than an Indian wigwam, except, 
perhaps, a few artistical finishes of his own 
device, and unknown to the natives, after 
whose habitations the main featui'es of his 
cabin had been copied. The point of land 
where his cabin stood became known as 
"Morehead's Point," a name it yet retains, 
in memory of the old hunter. It is thought 
by some of the old settlers that Morehead 
lived in the township during the war of 1812, 
antl that his cabin was erected just at its com- 



mencement. This, however, is not definitely 
known, although it is quite certain that he 
built the first cabin in the township. 

Among the early residents of the township 
were two singular old bachelors, named Var- 
nica and Wadsworth. They were hermits, 
and lived lonely and solitary lives in rude 
caves dug by themselves in the side of em- 
bankments, the roof being supported by up- 
right posts, standing at intervals within the 
caves. People called them crazy, and the 
eccentricity of the two gave abundant cre- 
dence to the report. They shunned all associ- 
ates except their faithful dogs, and were 
never seen in the neighboring settlements, 
unless called there for supplies or to dispose 
of provisions. Varnica was a German, and 
could handle the glib idioms of his native 
language with a grace and fluency that proved 
his education to be of unusual excellence. It 
became current, and was universally believed, 
that he had been an officer in one of the Eu- 
ropean armies, possibly in that of Napoleon 
Bonaparte. His language and manners in^li- 
cated that he was familiar with military tac- 
tics, and his inability to speak English proved 
that he had not resided long in America. 
Although he lived in poverty, and went di-essed 
in insufficient and even ragged clothing, he 
seemed to have an abundance of money, which 
he kept hid in out-of-the-way places. He 
entered a quarter-section of land, upon which 
he resided until his death. But little money 
was found after this event, until a will was 
found among his papers, bequeathing his 
land, and a few hundred dollars in money, to 
a young man named James Wilson, with whom 
he had lived at the time of his death. The 
secret of this strange man's life was buried 
with him. He was always silent and melan- 
choly, and seemed to have a deep-rooted sor- 
row preying upon his mind, robbing it of joys 
that make life endurable. By the provisions 



J 



.^ 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



511 



of the will, Wilson was made executor, and 
was enjoined to distribute the balance of the 
mL)ney among poor and friendless females. 
This provision was a denouement to some, who 
had noticed that Varnica shunned the oppo- 
site sex as he would the plagues of Egypt, 
his conduct giving rise to the report that his 
life had been blighted by a woman. The will 
disclosed the hiding-place of $2,200 in gold, 
which had been concealed in a gate-post, into 
which a hole had been bored and the gold 
di-opped in, after which the hole had been 
closed with a pin of the same wood as the post. 
He died in 1840, and Wilson faithfully exe- 
cuted the provisions of the will. Wadsworth 
was a graduate of Yale College, and had 
evidently fitted himself for the ministerial 
profession. He lived in a cave on his land, 
and, tliough bent almost double from unknown 
circumstances, was possessed of enormous 
strength. He carried his melons, potatoes, 
and other provisions, in a sack on his back 
from house to house, or to some of the sur- 
rounding villages. He was a recluse, and 
seemed contented only when he could brood 
without molestation over his mysterious life. 
He had rich relatives living in Boston, who 
occasionally visited him and tried to induce 
him to abandon his life of poverty and lone- 
liness, but without avail. A happy smile 
was never seen upon his sad face, and, when 
he at last died, in about 1838, his property 
was claimed by his Eastern relatives. 

The territory comprising Auburn Town- 
ship, like all the land in Western Kichland 
County, was surveyed in 1807, by Maxfield Lud- 
low. It was almost universally the case, when 
the coimtry was fii'st settled, that township 
organizations first extended over large tracts 
of land, one set of officers being elected to 
administer the public aftairs of several town- 
ships. Until April 3, 1820, Auburn was part 
of Plymouth Township, which, at that time, 



comprised two full townships, one of them 
being Auburn. In 1820, Auburn was granted 
the right of self-government, and the first 
officers were then elected. However, while 
the township was yet a part of Plymouth, 
several settlers in Auburn seiwed as ofiicers of 
the combined townships. After 1820, the 
township remained six miles square, until 
changes were made in the boundaries of sur- 
rounding counties by the creation of Wyan- 
dot County. The four tiers of sections on 
the west were then severed from the remain- 
der, and annexed to Crawford County, consti- 
tviting Auburn as it is at present. When the 
township was created, several settlers met to 
decide, among other matters, what it should 
be named. Various titles were suggested, 
among them being Auburn, presented by two 
brothers, Palmer and Daniel Hulse, then resid- 
ing in the township, the name being taken 
from a township in New York, where the 
brothers formerly lived After some discus- 
sion, the name was adopted and bestowed 
upon the township. No tract of land in the 
State is more highly fitted for agricxiltm-al 
purposes than Auburn. The soil is deep and 
black, and contains sufficient sand to furnish 
abundant silica for strengthening wheat and 
oat straw, the want of which is experienced in 
Western States, where a dearth of silica in 
the rich alluvial soil prevents a firm growth 
of the straw, and causes the stalk to break 
before the grain is ripe. The surface is com- 
paratively level, although there is a sufficient 
number of streams to furnish ample ch-ainage. 
The township lies wholly within the Lake 
Erie basin, and its sm'face, therefore, slopes 
gently toward the north. Coykendall Run, a 
small stream named after an early settler, 
rises in the southeastern corner, and takes a 
zigzag com'se, flowing north across the eastern 
tier of sections; and it and its small branches 
drain almost the eastei-n half of the township. 



w 



:l^ 



513 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUXTY. 



Honey Creek rises in a low tract of land, 
formerly a swamp, lying on the boundary 
between Auburn and Vernon Townships. It 
flows north, the greater part of its course 
lying on the western tier of sections. These 
streams give the siu'face excellent drainage, 
although they have not sufficient slope to 
carry off the water so rapidly as to leave the 
soil without the proper degree of moistu.re in 
times of ch'ought. These streams are branches 
of Huron River. A tract of land comprising 
several thousand acres, two or tlu'ee hundred 
of which lie on the northern tier of sections, 
was, in early years, an extensive cranberry 
marsh, being very wet and unproductive, 
except for the berries which grew there in 
great abundance, and remained thus until a 
score or more of years ago, when proper 
sluices were dug to carry the water into 
Honey Creek. Berries no longer grow there, 
the marsh being too dry for them. The drift 
deposits which cover the surface are under- 
lain, in the southern part, by an abundance 
of excellent limestone, which lies too deep 
ever to be profitably worked, except perhaps, 
on the southwest quarter of Section 28, where 
it outcrops on a small stream on the land of 
Samuel Hilborn. The surface, in the south- 
ern part, is quite thickly covered with frag- 
ments of granite bowlders and other stones 
containing a large percentage of quartz, often 
beautifully colored with iron oxides. The 
large quantity of iron in the soil of the drift 
deposits gives rise to many wells of ferriferous 
water. This water is ordinarily found in 
great abundance in the sand of the Waver ly 
group of rocks. 

No township in the county has a greater 
number of interesting incidents of personal 
adventure in early years than Auburn, evi- 
dently from the fact that there are found a 
greater number of the old settlers living who 
participated in those events, and whose recol- 



lection is good, notwithstanding the lapse of 
time. When the first settlers appeared, the 
foi'ests were yet filled with wild beasts, and 
the Indians were found in large numbers, 
camped in small detachments on almost eveiy 
stream. They were mostly Wyandots, though 
Delawares, Senecas and members of other 
tribes were often seen. It frequently happened 
that Indians, who had been reared in the 
woods, and whose life-long education was a 
succession of hunting maneuvers, wherein the 
crafty experience of ancestors, which had been 
handed down through a long period of years, 
had been exemplified and imitated, were less 
skillful and successful in their hunting expedi- 
tions than the white hunters, many of whom 
had passed their early life where hunting was 
scarcely known, and whose education in wood- 
craft and the tactics of the chase had been 
extremely brief. Many of the settlers, how- 
ever, knowing that the time would be unprofit- 
ably spent, because the rapid settlement and 
improvement of the country was destined to 
cut short the brief period when wild game of 
the larger varieties abounded, did not endeavor 
to obtain a profound knowledge of hunting 
tactics. It thus occurred that nine out of 
every ten of the settlers paid no heed to the 
exciting adventu.res with wild animals going 
on around them, except, perhaps, for pastime, 
but devoted their time and labor to the clear- 
ing and cultivation of their farms. Deer 
were occasionally killed by the most unskill- 
ful; but, when venison was wanted, it was 
customary to employ a hunter of known skill 
— often an Indian — to hunt for a few days, 
paying him for his trouble, and taking the 
game he killed. Indian hunters could be 
employed for lower wages than white hunters, 
a small bottle of whisky being considered by 
them as an ample reward for an all day's 
tramp through the woods, whereas a white 
hunter was dissatisfied with less than several 



^1 



f 









'^'y/y/x 



(>JMV\ cl>Ut-LYW( 



hL 



HISTORY or CRAWFORD COUKTY. 



-)15 



gallons. For the first few years after the set- 
tlers had become established, the slaughter 
of deer was carried on so wantonly that the 
more thoughtful and prudent settlers saw 
that those animals were soon destined to be- 
come unknown in the country, unless some 
means could be devised to end the useless 
slaughter. The Indians, who camped on the 
small streams throughout the country, killed 
hundreds of them for nothing but their skins, 
leaving the flesh for the wolves and buzzards. 
During the season when the fawns were 
young, the Indians, in order to kill as many 
deer as j^ossible, were in the habit of what 
was called " bawling iip a deer." They imi- 
tated the bleating of a fawn in distress, when 
the instinct of the doe to protect her young 
was on the alert and paramount; and when 
she ran to protect her offspring, she was shot 
by the Indians. In this manner, large numbers 
of does were slaughtered. After a few years, 
the settlers forbade the Indians coming to the 
neighborhood to kill deer; and on one occa- 
sion, when they disobeyed the command and 
killed a fine doe by the "bawling" process, 
several settlers, among whom were one of the 
Chilcotes, of Cranberry Township, and Enoch 
Baker, informed them emi:)hatically, with a 
significant tap on the rifle, that if the act was 
repeated the Indians doing it would be shot. 
This put a stop to the destruction in that 
direction, and the settlers were requested not 
to slaughter the animals unnecessarily. Ira 
Blair, on one occasion, remained in the woods 
for three days, killing during that time, eight 
deer. It is related by Amos Morse, that, in 
about 1821, Jacob Byers made a contract with 
Rodolphus Morse, the father of Amos, to the 
effect that he could kill more deer the next 
day than Mr. Morse could bring in. The 
bargain was made one evening, dm'ing a heavy 
fall of snow. Byers knew that the following 
day would be an excellent one for the hunt, 



so early the next morning he started out. He 
had an old flint-lock rifle, that had evidently 
seen any amount of service, as the parts were 
tied together in many places with bands of 
tow. But the gun proved very efiective in the 
hands of the experienced Byers, who, during 
that eventful day, killed seven deer, all of 
which were brought in, according to agree- 
ment, by Mr. Morse, except one, which had 
been mortally wounded, and had been followed 
and killed about eight miles east of the town- 
ship. The approach of darkness prevented 
Mr. Morse from bringring this animal in, and 
he therefore failed to live up to his part of 
the agreement. Fawns were often captured 
alive, and after a few days had elapsed they 
would follow members of the family around 
like dogs. Almost every cabin had its pet deer 
or fawn. Bells were hung about their necks to 
prevent them from getting lost in the woods. 
Mr. Baker owned one of these pets, which was 
prized very highly by the members of his 
family. One day, while it was feeding near 
the cabin, Mr. Tyndal. who was hunting in 
the woods, possibly thinking it was a wild one, 
shot and killed it. He also killed several 
others about the neighborhood, when the in- 
dignant owners came to the conclusion that it 
was preposterous to look any longer upon the 
act as a mistake. Enoch Baker became quite 
an expert hunter, and is yet living in the 
township, on the farm purchased by his father 
in 182G. On one occasion, when returning 
late at night, or rather early in the morning, 
from *■' sparking " a neighbor's daughter, he 
barely escaped being devoured by wolves. He 
had left the cabin of his sweetheart and was 
walking along thrt)ugh the forest, swinging his 
cane and whistling, as boys do yet when return- 
ing on similar occasions, when the distant 
howl of a wolf was borne to his ears. The 
howl was repeated, and soon the woods were 
tilled with a chorus of the terrifvincr sounds. 



iFv 



^ S) 



516 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY 



The boy was terribly frightened, and, as he 
had several miles to go before reaching home, 
he started rapidly on the run, hoping to reach 
his father's cabin before the wolves closed 
iipon him. He ran on as swiftly as his feet 
would carry him; but soon the foremost wolves 
were seen bounding along at his right and 
left. He swung his club aloft and shouted, 
and the wolves fell back a short distance, only 
to again approach nearer than before. But 
the panting boy was almost home. He strug- 
gled on, with the wolves about him, and finally 
ran into the clearing around his father's 
cabin, when the animals fell back, and were 
soon out of sight in the dark forest. This 
was a lesson to the yoiith; but it did no good, 
for the next Sunday night he was out late 
again for the same reason. 

On another occasion, William Johns, a 
neighbor, having lost several pigs through the 
agency of some wild animal that carried them 
off one by one on successive nights, offered 
Mr. Baker a dollar if he would kill the ani- 
mal. Baker accordingly established himself 
with his dog in the cabin of Johns, to watch 
for the animal during the night. About 12 
o'clock, the swine were heard squealing, and 
Baker opened the door and told the eager dog 
to go. Away it went after some large animal, 
that bounded off into the woods and ran up a 
tree.-* Baker followed, and saw by the light 
of the moon a catamou.nt crouched on a large 
limb above his head. He fired, and the ani- 
mal fell to the ground dead. The death of 
the catamount stopp3:l the destruction of the 
swine; but Baker refused to take the dollar 
he had earned, being satisfied with the skin 
of the animal. At another time, when return- 
ing from a neighbor's, his dogs treed two 
catamoimts. After a lively skirmish, during 
which he experienced considerable personal 
dano-er, he succeeded in killing them both. 
The woods were filled with squirrels, which 



came by the hundreds into corn-fields, and 
dug up and destroyed the growing grain. 
Hunts were frequently organized to rid the 
forest of these pests, and, often, on such occa- 
sions, hundreds were killed, and for days 
afterward the hunter's families were pi'ovided 
with an abundant supply of choice meat. A 
hunt of this character was projected one day 
by a party of the settlers, among whom were 
Thomas Cooker and Enoch Baker. When 
night came, and the hunters assembled to see 
who had been most successful, it was found 
that almost 200 squirrels had been killed. As 
j each hunter brought into the room the squir- 
I rels he had killed, Baker, to the astonishment 
of all, lugged in a large catamount as the 
result of his day's hunt. It was conceded by 
I all that he had done the best day's work. Mr. 
! Baker is among the oldest and most respected 
1 citizens in the township. He lives upon the 
old farm, and the rise of ground where his 
dwelling stands is the site of an extensive 
Indian cemetery. Indian remains were first- 
j discovered in 1833, when Mr. Baker, in dig- 
srino" a well, havinof reached a depth of about 
eighteen inches, came upon four skeletons, 
lying side by side, two with heads toward the 
east and two toward the west, the heads of 
each couple lying near the lower extremities 
of the other couple. No articles of clothing 
or implements of war were found, and the 
more fragile portions of the skeletons soon 
crumbled into dust. One of the Indians must 
have been a Hex'cules. as the inferior maxil- 
lary, or jaw-bone, was large enough to pass 
entirely over the jaw of an ordinary man; and 
the upper bone of the arm, the humerus, was 
four inches longer than in the average man, 
and had a corresponding thickness. Subse- 
quently, more than fifteen skeletons have 
been plowed up near the house, all of them 
being buried within from a foot to eighteen 
inches of the surface, and all being in an 



-H' 



-f 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



517 



advanced state of decomposition. No war or 
other implements have been found with any 
of the skeletons, a very unusual circumstance 
where Indian remains are unearthed. In 
1866, while digging a cellar, ^Ix. Baker and 
his workmen disclosed nine of these skeletons, 
reposing side by side, some of the skulls to 
the east, and some ' to the west. As many as 
thirty skeletons have been unearthed on the 
farm since 1833, and those discovered in late 
years have been apparently no fiu'ther decom- 
posed than those found in early years, proving 
that the bodies were buried scores of years 
before the coming of the pioneer. The future 
will reveal many more of these skeletons. 

At another time, William Cole, then a boy 
about sixteen years old, called the dogs one 
evening, and started in search of the cows. 
The dogs left his side, and he soon heard them 
barking fiu-iously at some animal that had 
turned at bay. He hiu*ried forward, and saw 
them standing guard over a large hollow log, 
and, from their cautious movements, he knew 
they were confronted by an animal of which 
they were afraid. He stole caiitiously for- 
ward from the rear, and, peering under the 
log, saw the huge paws of a bear. The boy 
was without a gun; but, determining to attack 
the bear at all hazards, he armed himself 
witii a heavy club, and resolutely approached 
the log. "While the attention of the bear was 
diverted to the dogs, which, emboldened by 
the approach of the boy, had renewed the 
attack with great fui*y, he seized it by the 
hind leg and pulled it fi*om the log. Before 
the animal could recover its feet, the boy 
dealt it a terrible blow across the head, repeat- 
ing the act again and again until life was ex- 
tinct. When the excited boy retiu'ned home 
without the cows and related his adventui'e, 
his story was not believed until the dead bear 
was seen. William's brother Daniel re- 
mained one niirht at the cabin of a relative 



near West Liberty, and early the next morn- 
ing, before daybreak, stai'ted for home. He 
was accompanied by a large bull-dog, belong- 
ing to Enoch Baker, and, after going a short 
distance, he was startled by seeing several 
wolves running along in the woods on either 
side of and behind him. He stai'ted forward, 
but had not gone ten paces before a pack of 
eleven wolves, with open mouths, bounded 
toward him from behind. A large one, the 
leader of the pack, was almost upon him, 
when it was seized by the throat by the dog, 
and pinned to the ground. The others fell 
back, giving the boy time to ascend a small 
iron-wood tree, and, after a short fight, the wolf 
escaped the hold of the dog, and together the 
whole pack tiu-ned and disappeared in the 
woods. The boy had been saved by the dog 
from a hon-ible death. One day, Seth Hawks, 
hearing one of his hogs squealing loudly in 
the woods about a quarter of a mile from his 
cabin, hastened out to see what could be the 
matter. A large log lay upon the groimd 
between him and the squealing hog, and noth- 
ing could be seen by the settler until he 
reached the log and peered over. There lay 
his swine upon the ground, while, standing 
over it, with their sharp teeth and claws in its 
flesh, were two large beai-s. The animals 
instantly perceived the inti*uder, and turned 
upon him furiously; but he ran to a small 
tree, and, exerting himself, sprang into the 
lower branches just in time to escape the claws 
of the larger bear, which had swiftly pursued 
him. The furious animal began making des- 
perate efforts to reach the settler. It at first 
endeavored to climb the tree; biit, failing in 
this, it retired a short distance, and, tm-ning. 
ran towai'd the ti'ee with the apparent inten- 
tion of leaping into the lower branches. The 
terrilied ^Ir. Hawks sat on a limb above, and 
regarded with no little concern the eflfoi'ts of 
the bear. He began hallooing loudly for assist- 



-i£ 



,M8 



HISTORY or CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



ance, and the bear increased its eflforts to 
reach its enemy. It soon wore quite a path 
in running to the tree, and would leap high 
enough to seize one of the limbs in its teeth. 
After about half an horn-, Rodolphus Morse, 
who had been apprised by Mrs. Hawks of the 
dangerous situation of her husband, appeared 
upon the scene; whereupon the bears, whose 
fmy had spent itself, apparently realizing 
that it was no longer wise to dispute against 
such odds about the ownership of the hog, 
shambled off through the woods as fast as 
their feet could carry them. Many other in- 
terestinof anecdotes of a similar nature are 
related by the old settlers. 

As was previously stated, immediately after 
the war of 1812, the first settlers began to 
appear in Auburn Township. "William Green, 
a native of Massachusetts, came in 1815, and 
purchased 1(30 acres of land in the southeast- 
ern part. After clearing a few acres and erect- 
ing a rude log cabin, he retm^ned to Licking- 
County, Ohio, where he had left his family, 
I'emaining there until December, 1816, when 
he moved out to the farm. He was the first 
substantial settler, and with his coming began 
the rapid growth and improvement of the 
township. Subsef|ueutly, he increased his 
farm until he owned a section of fine land. 
His sons, Samuel S. and Walter, ai-e yet liv- 
ing in Auburn at advanced ages. Samuel 
Hanna entered a quarter-section of land in 
1815, but did not locate thereon until 1819. A 
man named Deardorff entered a quarter-sec- 
tion of land in 1815, upon which he lived two 
or three years, after which he sold out and 
moved to some other locality. In 1817, Charles 
Morrow and William Cole came to the town- 
ship. But little is remembered of Charles 
Morrow, who remained in the township a few 
years, and then sold out and moved away. 
William Cole, however, remained in Auburn 
until his death. He was an intelligent man. 



and did much in early years to render the 
township a desirable place in which to locate. 
His descendants are among the prominent 
citizens. In 1818, there came in James Coy- 
kendall, Charles Dewitt, John Bodley, David 
Cummins, and possibly three or four others. 
Nothing, comjjaratively, is known of the lives 
of these men, although many of their descend- 
ants are scattered throughout Northern Ohio. 
Coykeudall became quite an expert hunter, 
and, like his brother Ninu'ods, avoided, as far 
as practicable, the irksome duties of clearing 
up and improving his farm, preferring to rove 
the forest in quest of adventure. He killed 
several bears and catamounts, and his advice 
and skill were in demand when hunting top- 
ics were discussed, or when hunts were on the 
tapis. In 1819, there came Rodolphus Morse, 
Samuel Hanna, Adam Aumend, Resolved 
White, John Webber, and several others. Mr. 
Morse became one of the most prominent of 
the early settlers. He took an active part in 
educational advancement, was instrumental in 
organizing many of the early schools, a number 
of which he taught, and did perhaps as much 
as any other man to hasten the tardy move- 
ments of education. It was due to his influence, 
more than to any other, that the establishment 
of a post office was secured in the township as 
early as 1824, and perhaps earlier. This was 
one of the first, if not the first, post offices of 
the kind in the county. Mr. Morse received the 
appointment as Postmaster, and the office 
was established in his cabin, where it remained 
many years. He was a native of Berkshire 
County, Mass., and first came to Hm-on, 
Ohio, in June, 1818. He had served with 
distinction in the war of 1812, and after 
coming to the township was elected Clerk for 
many successive terms. His son Amos has 
for years been one of the most influential of 
Auburn's citizens. He has served twenty-four 
terms as Justice of the Peace, and was also 



■7; 



K 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



519 



Postmaster for a number of years before the 
location of the office at Tiro. IMr. Morrow 
served many years as Postmaster, succeeding 
the elder Morse. It is no longer remembered 
who were the first township officers, except 
that James Coykendall was the first Justice 
of the Peace. While holding this office, he 
married, as early as 1821, Harvey Hoadley to 
Elizabeth Blair, the marriage being one of the 
first in the township. The early settlers, 
almost without exception, were of English de- 
scent, many of whom came from the Bay 
State immediately after the war of 1812, first 
locating in one of the Eastern counties. The 
most of them had served in the war, and Au- 
burn Township was settled by a greater num- 
ber of these ex-soldiers than any other town- 
ship in the county. Resolved White, a lineal 
descendant of Peregrine White, the child born 
in the Mayflower on its journey across the 
Atlantic, purchased a quarter-section in 1819 
of a Mr. Laugherty, who had located on the 
land the year previously, and had erected a 
small log cabin and made some improvements. 
Mr. White returned to New York, where he 
married, and, in 1821, came with his wife to 
their wilderness home. His daiiglitet', Mrs. 
Elizabeth (White) Daugherty, is yet living in 
the township. Adam Aumend was a shoe- 
maker by trade, an occupation he followed to 
some extent after coming to the township. 
He purchased 320 acres in the northern part, 
near the cranberry marsh, of Henry Rief . pay- 
ing $2.50 per acre. How long Mr. Rief had 
lived there is unknown or forgotten. Mr. 
Aumend's son Adam was the first Assessor in 
the township, assessing Vernon, and perlia^is 
other townships at the same time. Within 
two or three years after 1819, there came in 
John Blair, George Hammond, John Sheckler, 
Erastus Sawyer, Jesse Ladow, Nelson S. Howe, 
Daniel Bunker, Jacob Bevard, Richard Tuck- 
er, Seth Hawks and several others. Abel C. 



Ross arrived in 1825, and Joseph Baker came 
the following year. George Hammond was a 
native of the Nutmeg State, and came to Au- 
burn early in 1822. He pxu*chased a qiiarter- 
section of a man named Clark, there being a 
small cabin upon the place and a few acres 
cleared. His son is yet living on the same 
farm. John Sheckler came from Pennsylva- 
nia in 1821, and became a prominent citizen. 
He was skillful with the rifle, and on one 
occasion, in company with IMr. Pettigon, he 
killed three wild-cits, remaining all night in 
the woods. Joseph Baker, a native of the 
Old Dominion, arrived in 1826. He also was 
one of the brave soldiers in the war of 1812. 
His son Enoch gathered cranberries in the 
neighboring marshes for sixteen consecutive 
years. This piu*suit was largely followed by 
almost all the early settlers, many of whom 
made sufficient money thereby to purchase the 
fine farms their descendants now own. Many 
interesting anecdotes are related concerning 
adventures in these marshes. The men who 
finally purchased the marshes experienced 
great difficulty in preventing their neighbors 
from gathering berries without due authority. 
Personal encounters occasionally took place, 
and several law-suits were instituted to compel 
the trespasser to make proper retiu-n for the 
berries he had unlawfully taken. John Blair 
came from New York in 1821, entered a small 
tract of land, and erected thereon a round-log 
cabin, which at first had no floor. Init which, 
after a few years, was fiu'uished with one 
made of })uncheons. He brought with him 
two horses, two cows and eight sheep, seven 
of the latter being subsequently killed by the 
wolves. His son Ira lives on the old place. 
The early settlers of the township were tem- 
perate for that day. drunken men being rarely 
seen. No liijuor. except wine from grapes, 
has ever been manufactured in the towTiiship. 
The settlers usuallv observed Sundav, althouofh 



520 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY 



an instance is related by Mr. Morse where the 
Scriptural injunction of one of the Ten Com- 
nianduiouts was disobeyed. One Sunday, 
liodolphus Morse heard Seth Hawks, who was 
a strict Presbyterian, repeatedly shouting to 
his oxen, which he seemed to be di'iving ; and, 
not undorstaudinir the meaning of such bois- 
terous conduct from such a source on the Sab- 
bath, he went across to his neighbor's to see 
what it meant. There was Mr. Hawks busily 
engaged in di'ivinof his oxen round and round 
upon a puncheon floor, laid down in the open 
air, upon which was a heavy sj^read of grain 
yet in the stalk. He was threshing his wheat, 
and was so intent on his business as to be 
unaware of the approach of Mr. Morse. He 
was asked what he meant by working on Sun- 
day, to which he replied that the day was Sat- 
urday. Thereupon explanations followed, 
much to the discomfitu.re of Mr. Hawks, who 
became convinced that he had violated the 
commandment, " Remember the Sal)l)ath Day 
to keep* it holy." The oxen were unhitched, 
and Mr. Hawks retired to the seclusion of his 
cabin to meditate at leisure over his mistake. 
In about 1827, David Cmnmins built a 
saw-raill on Honey Creek, near the center of 
the township. It was a small frame structure, 
and was run by water-power, the water being 
secured in the usual manner by means of a 
race. It was run until about 1855, having a 
change of owners, among whom were a Mr. 
Ii'ving and a INIr. Brown. The former pur 
chased it of Cummins in about 1845, and, 
after a few years, sold it to the latter, under 
whose management it stopped. This was the 
first mill of the kind in the township. Prior 
to its erection, sawed lumber was obtained 
east toward ^Mansfield, or north on the Huron 
River. There was no great demand for lum- 
ber, as the early dwellings were built of logs, 
and many of the floors were of puncheons. 
Nothing of the kind was required for fences, 



barns or outhouses, and even after the lapse 
of twenty years the demand had not increased 
to any great extent, from the fact that many 
dwellings were constructed of nicely hewed 
logs, which were considered peculiarly fitted 
to make as fine a dwelling as need be desired. 
Two or three years after the erection of the 
Cummins mill, Thomas Millard built another 
a short distance below on the same creek. 
This was also frame, and was run by water- 
power. It became a valuable mill in after 
years, and furnished large quantities of lum- 
ber for the citizens. The building was large, 
and in one apartment was placed a set of 
"nigger-head" stones, for the purpose of 
grinding wheat, corn, rye, etc. Mr. Millard 
operated the combined mills for about twelve 
years, when both were rented to Enoch Baker, 
with the understanding that the latter was to 
have half the profits. But the frequent break- 
ing of the dam prevented steady and profita- 
ble work, and, at the end of a year, Mr. Baker 
concluded to sever his connection with the 
mills. It is said that the grist-mill furnished 
an excellent article of flour. Shortly after 
this, Rufus Page piu'chased the mills of Mr. 
Millard; but, while they were under his own- 
ership, the grist-mill was abandoned as un- 
profitable, though the saw-mill was operated 
with renewed vigor. A short distance above the 
site of these mills, the water of Honey Creek 
has been changed for more than a mile from 
the original channel. This was done by Mr. 
Baker, on his farm, at a cost of more than 
$1,000, exclusive of his own labor and 
time. The object was to prevent the fi-e- 
quent overflowing of the laud, and to reclaim 
the valley of the creek, which, from the zigzag 
course of the stream across the farm and the 
shallowness of the bed, was covered a large 
portion of the year with water. Since the 
construction of this artificial channel, the 
increase in the crops raised in the valley has 



^ 






HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



521 



returned the outlay several times. Extensive 
systems of di-ainage for the cranbeny marshes 
have beeJi adopted, and ere many years these 
rich alluvial basins will be reclaimed. They 
are so dry at present that the peat which they 
contain in great quantity often catches fixe, 
causing much trouble before the fire is extin- 
guished. The peat is not of sufficient purity, 
however, to be utilized as fuel, even if wood 
and coal did not abound. 

The village of Waynesburg, named in 
honor of Gen. Anthony Wayne, was laid out 
and platted in 1833, Aaron Cory and Richard 
Millar being the owners and proprietors. 
Twenty-six lots were siu'veyed, to which no 
additions have been made. The lots were 
offered for sale at public auction, and several 
of the citizens invested, paying some $8 or 
|10 per lot. Enoch Baker, possibly thinking 
that the village was destined to become met- 
ropolitan, bid $10 for a choice corner lot, 
which was "knocked down" to him at that 
price. Nothing fiu'ther was done, however, 
to complete the purchase, and, after several 
years had elapsed, Mr. Baker signified his 
readiness to pay the $10 for the lot. But 
Mr. Cory refused to take the money, saying 
that the lots had risen in value, and that the 
corner one was worth $20. Baker refused to 
pay the price demanded, and hence failed to 
buy the lot. This was the only effort IVIi'. 
Baker ever made to own real estate in a town, 
and his aspirations in that line died out with 
the failure. Soon after the sale of the lots, 
Reuben Frisbee brought a small stock of goods 
to the town. He placed in a small room, built 
for the pm-pose, $560 worth of a general assort- 
ment of merchandise, and also began dealing 
in provisions. He was a close, shrewd finan- 
cier, and at the end of eight years was worth 
$6,000. He had borrowed $500 of his orig- 
inal capital of his brother. This was retm-ned, 
with interest, at the end of the eight years, 



leaving Mr. Frisbee a balance of over $5,000 
as a return for his $60 of invested capital. 
He was extremely close in all his business 
transactions, and always carefully scrutinized 
butter, eggs, etc., before venturing to jjur- 
chaso. It is said that he had a small hole 
bored in the counter, and that he ate only 
those eggs which could pass through. This 
story was intended to convey the idea that Mi'. 
Frisbee ate but few eggs. One day he went 
coon-hunting with Enoch Baker to the cran- 
berry marsh. The hunters intended to be 
gone three days, and took enough provisions 
with them to last that length of time. In order 
that nothing might be wasted, Frisbee counted 
the meals required by the two while away, 
and then carefully measured and cut off the 
necessary slices of ham, of equal size and 
thickness, to last until their return. The 
bread and provisions were measured in a sim- 
ilar manner, and, when all was ready, they 
started. But, for some cause, the hunters 
remained away but one night, catching four 
coons in the meantime. It soon became ap- 
parent that Frisbee was in trouble. He looked 
dejected, and sorrowfully remarked to Baker 
that the food so carefully prepared was des- 
tined to become stale before it could be con- 
sumed. Baker tendered his sympathy, but 
it afforded no relief. The pelts of the coons 
were equally divided, and IMi'. Baker sold his 
two for $1 each. Three or four years after 
Frisbee opened his store, Anderson & Moore 
placed $2,500 worth of goods in another 
building. They made considerable money 
during a period of about fom- years, when, 
finding that Frisbee was rapidly gaining the 
advantage in trade, they sold their stock to 
Rufus Page. Shortly afterward, Frisbee 
went oiit of business, leaving a clear field to 
build up an excellent country trade. After 
continuing eight or ten years. Page sold his 
stock to Baker & Sims. At the expiration of 






ihL 



523 



HISTORY or CEAWFORD COUNTY. 



eighteen months. Baker sold his interest to his 
partner, whereupon the partnership of Sims 
& Son was formed. This firm continued for 
about four years, when the trade became so 
reduced that it was thought best to retire from 
the business, which was accordingly done. It 
was about this time that Bear & Graffmiller 
ventured to engage in the mercantile pursuit 
in the village, and soon afterward Enoch 
Baker began selling goods on commission. 
After about a year, Baker deemed it advisable 
to purchase the stock he was selling; and he 
also soon afterward bought out Bear, who was 
then alone, having purchased his partner's 
interest. Baker closed out his stock at the end 
of a year, having cleared, during that period, 
$1,200. Joseph Kerr kept a small grocery 
for a few years, beginning about 1858. Sev- 
eral others have engaged for short periods in 
the mercantile pursuit in the village. Soon 
after the town was laid out, a petition was 
circulated for signers, praying for the location 
of a post office at Waynesbm-g. The office 
was secured, and James K. Davis received the 
appointment as first Postmaster. Wellers- 
burg was the name bestowed upon the new 
office. Martin Clark erected a small tavern, 
which was thrown open for public reception 
in 1850. The village, in early years, was a 
lively trading-point; but, after the advent of 
railroads in the county, and the subsequent 
gi'owth of villages along its line, the business 
prosperity of Waynesburg steadily declined, 
until the present finds it almost " without a 
habitation and a name." 

After much inquiry and search, the wi'iter 
of this chapter has recovered from old records, 
in the possession of Hon. J. E. Coiy, the fol- 
lowing, which is received too late to insert in 
its proper connection, and which explains 
itself: 

"At an election held at the house of Palmer 
Hulse, in Aubm-n Township, on the 2d day of 



April, 1821, agreeable to an order of the 
County Commissioners, the following persons 
were elected township officers: Jacob Coyken- 
dall. Clerk; Samuel Hanna, Levi Bodley and 
Michael Gisson, Trustees; David Cummins, 
Treasurer; James Gardner and David Cum- 
mins, Overseers of the Poor; Adam Aumend 
and Charles Dewitt, Fence Viewers; James C. 
Coykendall and Lester and Jesse Bodley, 
Appraisers; Adam Aumend, Jr., Constable; 
Michael Gisson, William Cole, William Laugh- 
erty and William Garrison, Supervisors. The 
above officers were severally elected and qual- 
ified according to law. Jacob Coykendall, 
Township Clerk." 

A reasonable inference from this is that 
these officers were the first elected, as the elec- 
tion was held pursuant to an order of the 
County Commissioners. From the same rec- 
ords is also taken the following: 

"Jacob Coykendall's commission as Justice 
of the Peace bears date July 14, 1821. He 
was qualified Aug. 29, same year, and gave 
bond September 7, 1821; James Coykendall 
and James Gardner, bondsmen." 

The second township election was held at 
the house of Jacob Coykendall, on the 1st of 
April, 1822 ; the third, at the house of Aaron 
B. Howe, April 7, 1823. 

AVhen the. Mansfield, Coldwater & Lake 
Michigan Railroad was established in the 
county, a station called De Kalb was located 
in Auburn Township. J. D. Brown secm-ed 
the services of the County Surveyor, and laid 
out forty lots on his land where the station 
was located, from the central part of the west 
part of the southeast quarter of Section 32, 
Township 22, Range 20 west. In November, 
1878, John Hilborn made an addition of 
eight lots to the town. The post office at De 
Kalb, in Vernon Township, was transferred to 
the station, and Ira Van Tilburg was appointed 
Postmaster, an office he yet holds. I. and B. 



dt 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



523 



S. Van Tilburg were the first to bring a stock 
of goods to the town. They began in 1872; 
and, the following year, erected the building 
they now occupy, moving their stock of goods 
in as soon as the room was completed. They 
have a general assortment of goods, valued at 
about $10,000. They ' are also engaged in 
buying grain, at the rate of over $100,000 
worth per annum. William Flavin began 
with a general assortment of di'ugs in 1876; 
but two years later he sold his stock to D. G. 
Jeffrey, who, at pi-esent, has di'ugs valued at 
$1,000. J. D. Brown began in 1878 with a 
stock of groceries worth $8,000, and two years 
later Davis & Mitchell engaged in the same 
occupation, with goods valued at $5,000. C. 
McCounell has a notion store, and Misses 
Crall & Owens supply the neighborhood with 
female apparel. 

In August, 1879, E. R. Wilcox, Grand 
Master of the State Lodge of Odd-Fellows 
organized Tiro Lodge, No. 688, in the vil 
lage, th?re being but seven charter mem- 
bers, as follows: Daniel Howe, Cornelius Fox, 
E. E. Ashley, S. W. Jeffrey, J. R. Hall, Lewis 
Williams and Matthew L'win. The first offi- 
cers elected were: S. W. Jeffrey, N. G. ; J. R. 
Hall, V. G.; Cornelius Fox, Secretary; E. E. 
Ashley, Treasurer. The lodge is doing well, 
and has a present membership of thirty. The 
members have a comfortable hall, and the 
present officers are: E. E. Ashley, N. G. ; Lewis 
AVing, V. G. ; J. O. Davis, Recording Secre- 
tary; Daniel Howe, Corresponding Secretary ; 
G. M. Jeffrey, Treasurer. Although the village 
is yet in its infancy, it is doing a livelier and 
more extensive business than any other town 
in the county of equal or less population, and 
its energy and trade are pei-manent. 

About a quarter of a mile north of Tiro, a 
half-dozen or more families began to congre- 
gate in about 1845. A blacksmith located 
there, and, soon afterward, a carpenter and a 



cooper. No lots were laid out, and yet, to all 
appearances, a village was beginning to spring 
up. People soon began to speak of the loca- 
tion as Meclianicsbiu-g, a name suggested by 
the occupation of the people. In 1856, Jon- 
athan Davis and William Crouse built a frame 
grist-mill in the village (if the term may be 
indulged in), which, after running about four 
years, was taken to another locality. The 
village is not a village, and yet it is a village. 
No stores have honored it with their presence. 
Coykendall & Ladow built a saw-mill in the 
southeastern part, on Coykendall Creek, as 
early as 1836. After a few years, it was 
burned down, but was immediately rebuilt, 
and the mill continued in operation until a 
few years ago, having changed hands many 
times. Though first operated by water-power, 
steam was afterward employed, and the mill, 
in its time, was one of the best ever in the 
township. William Ewing also built and 
operated a saw-mill on the same creek, begin- 
ning about 1S40, and continuing nearly twenty 
years, when the mill was abandoned. Each of 
these mills sawed for either forty cents per 
hundi-ed feet, or one-half the logs delivered 
in good order at the mill. 

According to the best accounts, the first 
schoolhouse was built on Robert Cook's farm, 
in 1821. It was a round-log structure, with 
clapboard roof, door, floor, desks and seats, 
and its external appearance was not inviting 
to the ragged pioneer children. A large fire- 
place, capable of taking in a log of almost any 
dimensions, occupied one end of the room ; and 
a small table was provided at the other to 
establish for the teacher a permanent position, 
from which to pronounce decrees, issue com- 
mands, and ailminister condign punishment 
to offending pupils. The clapboard ceiling 
was so low that a tall man's head was sure to 
get severely bumped unless care was taken to 
stoop low when walking about in the room. 



t 



524 



IIlSTOllY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



A large, quaint chimney, built of a combina- 
tion of innumerable and mysterious materials, 
graced the exterior of one end of the build- 
ing; and the four insignificant apertures 
slanderously denominated "windows" admiih 
ted half-sufficient light for a judicious use of 
the pupils' eyes. A man named Talford was 
the fii'st teacher. He taught during the win- 
ter of 1821-22, and had some fifteen scholars. 
There was nothing in the external appearance 
of Mr. Talford to excite curiosity or appre- 
hension, and yet, when he spoke, his voice is 
said to have been like distant thunder. He 
had a fair education, was a good disciplina- 
rian and a competent instructor. He taught 
what was known as a "loud school," which 
may be understood as one where the scholars 
studied at the pitch best suited to their voices. 
Notwithstanding the din and confusion pre- 
vailing in the room at all times, the stentorian 
voice of the teacher could be easily heard, 
imparting instruction and issuing orders. A 
year or two after the erection of the Cook 
Schoolhouse, another was built on the Ham- 
mond farm. It resembled the other in both 
external and internal appearance. The year 
before its erection, school had been taught by 
a young I'ady named Mary Wilcox, in a rude 
cabin that had been designed for a dwelling. 
The seats in the schoolhouse were of clap- 
boards that had been split out of wood having 
a crooked grain. Mr. Morse, then a boy of 
about five years of age, was assigned a seat at 
the end of one of the long benches, where the 
plank was turned up at an angle of about 
twenty degrees from the horizontal line. 
Here he was compelled to sit hour after hour, 
undergoing excruciating tortures, while learn- 
ing his letters. It was easy enough to occupy 
the seat for a short time without discomfort; 
but, when day after day brought no relief from 
the position, it became tiresome and distress- 
ino". Erastus Sawyer and Daniel W. Ross 



were early teachers * in this house. Rodol- 
phus Morse was teaching in 1824, when the 
house caught fire and burned to the ground, 
consuming the scholars' books and slates. 
The remainder of the term was taught in a 
cabin standing near the school building. Mr. 
Morse was a good teacher, and taught many 
of the early schools. A school building was 
erected on the farm of J. Willford, as early 
as 1824, a young man named John Webber 
being the first teacher. Webber was a wild, 
reckless young fellow, and many thought him 
incapable of imparting proper instruction to 
the scholars. He had conducted the school 
with success for about a month, when Mr. 
Laugherty, the Director, provoked beyond 
endurance by some act of the teacher, went to 
the schoolhouse while school was in session, 
and ordered Webber to leave the room and 
not come back, as his services would no longer 
be required. The teacher instantly saw that 
it was useless to attempt to argue the point, 
as the fiat of the Director was omnipotent; 
so, controlling his disappointment and anger 
as best he could, he made preparations to obey 
the command, and, having reached the door, 
turned, and, it is said, relieved his pent-u}) 
passion and bade adieu to the school, as fol- 
lows: 

" Farewell schoolroom, farewell school; 
Farewell Laugherty, you d — d old fool." 

Two other schoolhouses were built prior to 
1825, one located on the farm of Adam Au- 
mend, and the other on that of Jesse Ladow. 
A number of years afterward one was built in 
the northwest corner, and soon the township 
was supplied with abundant schoolhouses. 
The citizens have taken a strong interest in 
educational advancement. This becomes ap- 
parent from the fact, among others, that there 
are nine schoolhouses in the township at pres- 
ent. These are found to be too many for the 
attendance of scholai's. It is proper to notice 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



525 



in this connection that the citizens have a 
commodious town hall, which is located near 
the center of the township. It was built 
before the last war. 

The early chiu'ch history of the township 
is almost wholly lost in the shadows of the 
past, and many interesting incidents and dates 
relating thereto have faded from the memory 
of the oldest settlers. The Methodists and 
Baptists were the fii'st to organize religious 
societies. Meetings began to be held in the 
cabins, and the services of local ministers, 
from Northern Richland County and elsewhere, 
and of circuit-riders, were secured, as early as 
1818. It was not long ere the propriety of 
building log churches was freely discussed by 
members of the above denominations. As was 
desired, this led to the erection of two round- 
log churches, one for the Methodists and one 
for the Baptists, the churches being built as 
early as 1821. The buildings were both low, 
uninviting structures, judging from their 
external appearance, although the interior 
was commodious and cheerful when the great 
fire-places were glowing with heat, and the 
settlers assembled to renew their devotions. 
These buildings were used but a few years, as 
the members soon became too niimerous to 
be comfortably accommodated, and, moreover, 
the members desired a more imposing temple 
in which to worship. However, before these 
denominations erected new churches, the Pres- 
byterians, Winebrennarians, English Luther- 
ans, and, perhaps, others, organized societies 
and began to worship God in their character- 
istic way. No churches were built by these 
denominations until after 1830. The Meth- 
odist society mentioned above continued to 
thrive until about 1830, when Rev. Thomas 
Millard came to the township from Pennsylva- 
nia, and entered a tract of land, upon a por- 
tion of which the " Good-Will " Methodist 
Church stands. He was a strong churchman, 



with a resolution for the advancement of 
Christianity that ctfuld not be diverted nor 
checked. He at once took the lead of the 
Methodist Church, and did more than any 
other man in early years to increase the mem- 
bership and interest. He gave two acres of his 
land to the chui'ch, with the understanding 
that a building was to be erected thereon. A 
frame church was accordingly erected, in 
about 1835, on the two acres, and "Six. Millard, 
who expended as much labor and money as 
any other man, was employed as the fii'st 
officiating minister. Under this good shep- 
herd the flock multiplied, and did much good. 
The old church was vacated in 1868, when 
the present building was erected on the same 
two acres, at a cost of about $1,500. The 
early organization of the Baptist society was 
not as perfect as the Methodist organization. 
It almost ceased to exist in 1830, but an unex- 
pected increase in the membership gave it 
additional impetus, and, in about 18-10, they 
erected a small frame church on Section 16, 
which was occupied until 1879, when a new 
one, costing 82,500, was erected. Deacon 
Howe was one of the leading spirits in this 
chm'ch in early years, and much of its pros- 
perity in after years was due to his influence 
and guidance. The Rev. Mr. Wolf was the 
founder of the Presbyterian organization in 
the township. This good man had come into 
the wilderness yeai's before the first settle- 
ment, as a missionary among the Indians. 
He had dedicated his life to the cause of relig- 
ion, and his will in his coui'se in life was as 
inflexible as iron. He became '^he founder of 
many of the Presbyterian Churches in North- 
ern Ohio, and was a man whose purity of life 
was unquestioned. His ultimate fate is 
unknown. The Methodists have a church in 
the southern part called "Pleasant Grove 
Church." The society was not organized until 
about 1850. Soon afterwai'd, their chiu'ch 



526 



HISTORY OF CRAWFOKD COUNTY. 



was built, at a cost of about $1,500. A 
Methodist Church was built in the northern 
part as early as 1835, which building was 
aftei-ward sold to the Winebrennarians. 
This denomination, known as the Church of 
God, has since owned the building. The 
United Brethren have a neat little church in 
the southern part, near Tiro, Their present 
church was built in 1878, at a cost of about 
11,600; but, many years before the building 
of their church, these humble people were 
found worshiping in the township. A few 



years ago, when the German Catholics at New 
Washington divided their congregation, those 
living in Auburn Township and vicinity, 
erected a large, fine church, a half-mile north 
of Waynesburg. It is the largest church 
building in the township, and cost about $4,- 
000 (including the parsonage). The church 
is frame, and was completed in 1879. The 
school and church systems of Auburn are not 
siu'passed by any other country township in the 
county, and the citizens are almost wholly of 
English descent. 



CHAPTER XYII. 

SAXDUSKY TOWNSHIP— EAELY ORGANIZATION AND SETTLEMENT— INDIAN AND OTHER INCIDENTS 
—INDUSTRIES AND OTHER IMPROVEMENTS— CHURCHES AND SCHOOLS. 



THE territory comprising this township 
was siu'veyed in 1807 by Maxfield Lud- 
low. It was part of that extensive tract of 
land lying south of the Connecticut Reserve, 
and east of the land known, after 1820, as 
the New Purchase. When this tract of land 
was siu'veyed, a naiTow strip, three miles wide, 
was left over, lying next east of the New 
Purchase, and was called the "Three Mile 
Strip." It was properly surveyed into frac- 
tional townships, six miles long north and 
soiith, by three miles wide. Years before the 
land of the New Purchase was thrown into 
mai'ket, scores of brave pioneers, regardless of 
threatened hostilities from the Indians, had 
" squatted " along its eastern border, design- 
ing to perfect their title to their farms when 
the land became marketable, as sooner or 
later it must. This was a wanton encroach- 
ment iTpon the rights of the Indian tribes, 
and a violation of treaties by subjects of the 
United States. But the pioneers had no 
apparent sympathy for the red man, seemingly 
believing that he had no rights which the 



pale-face was bound to respect. Large num 
bers poured into the Indian reserves, and, 
afterward, before the land had been ceded to 
the Government by the Indians, when com- 
plaints were made of Indian depredations, 
no redress could be obtained, as the settlers 
were trespassers uj^on the Indian lands. In 
1820, when the country was thrown open to 
settlement, hundreds of "squatters" flocked 
to the land offices to secure the farms upon 
which they had been living, in many cases, 
ten or twelve years. Endless dispiites arose 
regarding titles, which were only settled by 
the lapse of time, or by Territorial courts, 
authorized to adjudicate disputed questions. 
Rarely a case occurred where the " squatter," 
delaying to enter his land for several years 
after 1820, found himself supplanted by 
another pioneer, who had secured the land 
which the former had endured so much to im- 
prove. This was a serious hardship, and the 
" squatter " had no recourse but to give up the 
land and locate elsewhere. 

Sandusky Township derives its name from 



"Ft 



HISTORY or CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



527 



the Sandusky River, which takes a serpentine 
coui'se across the southwestern corner. This 
river enters Section 36, coming from the 
south, and takes a northwestern course through 
Sections 36, 35, 26 and 27, flowing, when 
leaving the township, in a southwestern direc- 
tion. Lost Creek, flowing from Vernon Town- 
ship, enters Section 24, and unites with San- 
dusky River near the center of Section 26. 
These streams, together with several small 
tributaries, form a complete di-ainage of the 
southern half of the township. Broken 
Sword Creek, a winding branch of the San- 
dusky River, flows from Yernon into the north- 
ern part, entering Section 1, thence crossing 
Sections 12, 11, 10, and finally leaving the 
township from Section 3. Its tributaries drain 
all the northern half except the extreme 
northern line, where branches of Honey 
Creek convey the water to Lake Erie by way 
of the Huron River. The di-ainage of this 
division of the county is excellent, although 
there is one depressed portion, comprising 
about three hundred acres, lying in Section 1. 
This swampy tract of land, known as " Bear 
Marsh," is noticeably depressed below the sur- 
rounding country, and, in early times, when 
shaded by heavy woods, was covered with 
water the year round. Since the forest has 
been removed, and the streams draining the 
marsh have been cleared of fallen timber, the 
water has been evaporated, or conveyed into 
Broken Sword Creek; and, although the marsh 
is yet wet and unproductive, it affords fine 
pasture land, and is thus used. The surface 
of the whole township is beautiful and roll- 
ing, especially so along the incline which 
forms the valley of Broken Sword Creek. 
The northern elevations are gentle, while 
along the valley of the Sandusky the hills are 
often precipitous, rendering cultivation on the 
sides impossible. Considerable coarse gravel 
and fragmentary bowlders, belonging to the 



di-ift deposits, are found on the surface. 
There have been no extensive quarries in the 
township, although an abundance of Waverly 
sandstone may be found underlying the heavy 
beds of d^ift in the southern part, and has 
been taken out in small quantities on the farms 
of David Wert and Frederick Be4?ch. Con- 
siderable dark brown slate, or shale, is ex- 
posed on Sandusky River, but to which form- 
ation it belongs is uncertain. 

The date of the original creation of San- 
dusky Township has been lost. The township 
was, at first, much larger than it is at present; 
but, on the 2d of June, 1835, a division was 
made, as is shown by the following extract, 
taken from the County Commissioner's report 
of that date: 

"This day came David Reed and filed a 
petition, praying that some relief may be 
given to the inhabitants of Sandusky Town- 
ship, stating that the township is twelve miles 
in length and three in breadth, and requesting 
the Commissioners to divide and alter said 
township and the adjoining townships, so that 
it may be more convenient. Whereupon the 
Commissioners ordered that all the original 
surveyed fractional Township 16, Range 21, 
commonly called the south end of Sandusky 
Township, and the east tier of fractional sec- 
tions in Township 3, Range 17 (A\Tietstone 
Township), viz.. Sections 1, 12, 13, 24, 25 and 
36, and Sections 34, 35 and 36, Township 17, 
Range 21, are hereby organized into a sepa- 
rate township, to be designated and kuo-ttni by 
the name of Jackson. And it is fiu'ther 
ordered, that all the original sm-veyed frac- 
tional Township 17, Range 21, except Sections 
34, 35 and 36, called the northern end of 
Sandusky Township, and the east tier of sec- 
tions of Township 2, Range 17 (Liberty Town- 
ship), viz.. Sections 1, 12, 13, 24, 25 and 36, 
and Sections 34, 35 and 36, Township 18, 
Range 21 (Cranberry Township), shall consti- 



i^ 



'k. 



528 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



tute a separate township, and remain and be 
known by the name and title of Sandusky 
Township." 

The most interesting physical feature in the 
township is the gas and medicinal springs 
on the farm of Joseph Knisely. Samuel 
Knisely, the pioneer, who came to the town- 
ship in 1819, was, j^erhaps, the first white 
man to discover the springs, and, foreseeing 
their value, not only then, but in subsequent 
years, purchased the land from which they 
flow. They are located in the northern half 
of the southwest quarter of Section 26. There 
are eleven springs within an area of four rods, 
and the owner maintains that chemical analy- 
sis shows that each one possesses a virtue not 
found in either of the others. The water of 
nearly all has been analyzed, and the united 
springs are found to contain sulphureted 
hydrogen gas, carbureted hyrogen gas, sul- 
phur, iron, potassium, sodium, magnesium, cal- 
ciiun, traces of siliceous and other matter and 
traces of sulphuric and phosphoric acids. 
These springs are located in a small basin on 
a little rill that flows into Sandusky River. 
Scattered along the creek above them are as 
many as twelve others, and a singular feature 
connected with some of these, is, that they 
contain no traces of sulphur. The Knisely 
Springs are all highly impregnated with sul- 
phm'. and, in some instances, a svdphui'ous pre- 
cipitate is deposited after the water has left 
the spring. From one of them an unpleasant- 
smelling gas is incessantly bubbling at the 
rate of about 100 cubic feet per day. This 
gas is lighter than air, is highly inflammable, 
burning with a light yellow flame, and is evi- 
dently carbureted hyrogen gas, doubtless con- 
taining impurities. Some years ago, a large 
funnel ending in a tube, was placed upon the 
surface of the water, so as to collect the gas, 
which was conveyed by caoutchouc tubing to 
the residence of Mr. Knisely, about 100 feet dis- 



tant, where it was burned steadily for over two 
years. It gave a clear, steady yellow light, with 
occasional fine scintillations, evidently caused 
by burning particles of carbon in the flame. 
One of the springs is very valuable and inter- 
esting on account of its medicinal properties. 
A stone box four feet deep, with the same 
length and width, is sunk over it almost to 
the top of the box, and up through an orifice 
in the bottom, the spring water bubbles as 
clear as crystal. The water is four feet deep, 
and, seemingly, possesses a slight magnifying 
power, as objects at the bottom can be seen as 
plainly as in the open air. The bottom of the 
box is thickly covered with a beautiful pm'ple 
sediment of a chalybeate character. The water 
is a mild cathartic, and possesses valuable diu- 
retic and diaphoretic properties. It is asserted 
by the owner that animals live but a few min- 
utes in this water. Its properties are not fully 
known, but several very obstinate cases of skin 
diseases have been cured. In one instance, a 
man named Mai'r, emaciated, and almost on 
the verge of the grave, from what appeared 
to be consumption, came there to try the vir- 
tues of the water. In four months he gained 
sixty or seventy pounds in weight, and left the 
springs, gi-ateful for his restoration to health. 
The springs have been neglected in the past, 
but a movement is on foot, having some of the 
wealthy citizens of Bucyrus, Galion and Crest- 
line at its head, to erect suitable buildings at 
the springs, and to give their full value and 
virtue to invalids. About forty rods south- 
east of IVIr. Knisely's residence, is a section 
of land several rods square, from which large 
quantities of inflammable gas are continuously 
escaping into the atmosphere. The intention 
is to utilize this gas in the buildings that are 
to be erected. 

The early records of Sanduslcj' Township 
were consumed when a portion of the county 
records were burned many years ago. The 



•^^ 



•W 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



529 



date of the creation of the township, and the 
names of its first officers, together with other 
vahiable records, are inaccessible, if known. 
Thus, those interesting items are necessarily 
omitted from the history of the township. The 
first white settler in Sandusky Township is 
unknown or forgotten. That there was such 
an individual, no one will deny, and that he 
lived in the township at quite an early day 
is proven by a limited amount of evidence. 
Prior to 1820, but a few settlers had appeared, 
but, after that date, and previous to 1830, al- 
most or quite all the land was taken up. The 
flow of emigration into this and adjoining 
townships, came from the eastern and southern 
portions of Richland County, which locality 
had been first settled about 1808. As the set- 
tlements were formed and land became dearer, 
settlers departed for newer localities, where 
land was cheaper, in order to secure as much 
as possible with the means at their disposal. 
Two men are known to have lived in Sandiisky 
in 1818. There were Mr. Ferguson and Mr. 
Ridgely, the former very likely locating on Sec- 
tion 22, and the latter on Section 14. "WTien 
they first came to this division of the county, 
or whence they came, are unknown events, 
which all effort has failed to unravel. Each 
had a number of acres cleared in 1818, and the 
weight of evidence is in favor of their having 
located there in about 1810. This, however, 
is conjecture. Each had a family, which in a 
great degree was supported by the rifle and 
traps of the husband and father. Mr. Ridgely 
had quite a large family of boys and girls, 
the former being indolent and spending their 
time loitering round the Indian camps in 
the neighborhood. The girls were blessed 
with dispositions of an opposite nature, being 
bright, active, and industrious. It is said the 
girls were very much ashamed of the sloth of 
their brothers, and would frequently go out 
into the field with hoes or plows, leaving the 



boys in the cabin chewing "dog-leaf" tobacco 
and loafing. The girls were coiu'ted and w'ooed 
by the young pioneers for miles around, and 
the young men who finally bore off the prizes 
were the envy of their set. The marriage of 
Lucy Ridgely to John Bear, the first wedding 
in the township, occurred during the summer 
of 1822. It was announced that a dance was 
to take place the night of the wedding, and 
all the neighborhood were invited to be pres- 
ent. This was an occasion not to be missed, 
and about thirty persons, old and young, as- 
sembled, and all was merriment and gayety. 
Plays, such as " blind man's buff," and " hiu'ly- 
burly," were played amidst great laughter. 
Sets were formed upon the floor, and the 
" French four " and " Scotch reel " were exe- 
cuted with a gusto that would perplex the 
genius of a modern dancing-master. The 
young men came down on the " double shuffle " 
and cut the "pigeon wing" in a fashion 
that elicited exclamations of delight fi-om 
the older men present. Some of these at- 
tempted the same exploit, but ingloriously 
failed, and were in disgrace the remainder of 
the evening. This marriage is remembered 
by several of the old settlers yet living, who 
were present and participated in the dance, 
and ate of the venison and turkey served at 
the wedding supper. 

In 1818 and 1819, large temporary camps 
of Wyandot Indians were located near the 
present site of Leesville, Jefferson Township. 
For some reason unknown to the writer, ]\Ir. 
Ferguson was known by the Indians as " Gov- 
ernor Ferguson." If any dissension arose 
between the natives and the white settlers, 
" Governor " Ferguson was called upon to 
arbitrate the claims of each. No serious dis- 
turbance is remembered to have occurred. 
A feAV years later, two brothers, Phillip and 
William Beatty, unmarried, came to the town- 
ship. A number of years before their coming, 



«<.j <2- 



530 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COT'XTY 



their parents bad been cruelly murdered in 
the forests of Pennsylvania liy a war-party of 
Indians, who attacked tbeir cabin in the 
night. The absence of the two boys alone 
saved them from the same fate. The hearts 
of the two orphans were full of hatred for the 
red man, and, shortly after their arrival, they 
determined to wreak their vengeance on the 
Wyandots. One dark night, they stole cau- 
tiously to the Indian camp, and, standing- 
just without the fire-light, selected their vic- 
tims, and fired simultaneously. No harm was 
done, but the braves seized their arms and 
darted into the forest in pursuit. The boys 
succeeded in eluding them, and in reaching 
their cabin in safety. The next day, the In- 
dians, with loud complaints, went to Governor 
Ferguson, and demanded that the guilty ones 
be i)unished. Fei-guson said it should be 
done, if the Indians could establish the iden- 
tity of the persons committing the outrage; 
but this they were unable to do, and the mat- 
ter was di'opped. The natives were often 
thievish, apparently not possessing any knowl- 
edge of the rights of property; yet they 
always seemed penitent, and willing to make 
restitution for any wrong committed. If 
they borrowed the settler's gun, which was 
often done, it was promptly returned, in good 
condition, according to agreement. One day 
Samuel Knisely heard a great commotion 
among his swine, which were squealing and 
taking on at a great rate. Thinking that pos- 
sibly a bear might be after them, he seized 
his rifle and ran out to ascertain the cause. 
He discovered three or four Indian dogs, hold- 
ing a large hog, which was bleeding profusely 
and almost dead. He raised his rifle to shoot 
one of the dogs; but at that instant their 
owner appeared, in the person of a tall Indian, 
who leaped in front of the uplifted rifle, and 
throwing up his hands exclaimed: "No 
shoot, no shoot! Me pay, me pay." He cast 



his rifle and tomahawk upon the groiind, offer- 
ing them in payment for the damage done. 
Mr. Knisely refused to take the rifle, but 
kept the tomahawk, which remained in his 
possession for many years. 

In the year 1819, James Gwell came into 
the township. He built a small log hut, or 
" hen-coop," and began clearing and improv- 
ing his farm. In the following year, Mr. 
Elder and Mr. Shull arrived and built their 
cabins, moving their families into them the 
same year. These men were industrious farm- 
ers, and made good citizens; a few of their 
descendants are yet living in the county. Mr. 
Shull owned a saw-mill on Sandusky River, 
in about 1830. It was run by water-power, 
and the water was collected by a large "brush" 
dam, which was washed out a few years later. 
The old mill-race is yet to be' seen. In 1821, 
Samuel Knisely moved his family to the 
"Spring farm," which he had selected and 
partially purchased, in 1819. This man was 
one of the most skillful and successful hunters 
ever in the township. He acquired his knowl- 
edge of wood-craft and of the chase from his 
father, who was one of the most successful 
hunters in Northern Ohio in early years. The 
father lived in Tuscarawas County, and the 
family tradition is, that he made it his practice 
to kill 100 deer every winter, a custom he fol- 
lowed for many years. He was also a success- 
ful bear hunter, killing many of those animals. 
His son Samuel, the pioneer of Sandusky, was 
scarcely less noted, but the larger species of 
game had disappeared before his arrival. An 
occasional bear or panther was found, and the 
woods were full of deer, raccoon and wolves. 
He owned a large dog named "Lyon," that 
was trained to hunt the different varieties of 
game. One evening, his son John, a lad of 
foui-teen, went after the cows, taking the dog 
with him. He had not gone far before the 
dog started ra}iidly in pursuit of some animal. 



^ ^ 

^ 




#*~^ 




MRS. JANE STEWART. 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUXTY. 



533 



which soon took to a tree. The boy ran for- 
ward, and found that the dog had treed a 
large wildcat, which was crouched upon a 
limb about thirty feet above the ground. He 
began clubbing it, and soon the animal sprang 
to the gi'ound, but was instantly seized by the 
dog. But the cat, though pinned to the earth, 
began doing fearful execution with its hind 
claws on the dog's breast. To prevent this, 
the boy ran forward and seized the cat by the 
hind legs, and in a few minutes it was stran- 
gled to death by the dog. He returned home 
di'iving the cows, whistling along, with the 
cat on his shoulder, as though nothing had 
happened. At another time, when Mr. 
Knisely was sick, the dog ran a deer into the 
river near the house. It was a large buck, 
and had tm-ned at bay. Mrs. Knisely ran out 
with the rifle, and, taking aim at the deer, 
fired, but missed it. She reloaded, and fired 
the second time, shooting it through the head, 
killing it instantly. She was unable to re- 
move the body from the water, though she tried 
for some time. At last Conrad Walters, hap- 
pening along, assisted her in pulling it on to 
the bank. These are but common incidents in 
the lives of pioneer wives and childi-en. IVIi'. 
Knisely was a successful bee-hunter, and 
always seemed to know just where to go to 
find an abundance of wild lioney. This was 
collected and packed in kegs, furnished by some 
of the settlers, and taken to Sandusky City, 
or later, to Mansfield. Trees were often found 
containing twenty or thirty gallons. Settlers 
often experienced great difficulty in paying 
their taxes ; but, where they could obtain wild 
honey, or the skins of wild animals, an abun- 
dant revenue for that pui-pose was easily ob- 
tained. One day Mr. Knisely cut down a 
bee-tree, and, as it fell, a porcupine ran out 
from a hole in the trunk. It was instantly 
seized by the dog and killed; but the dog's 
head was filled with quills, and swelled up to 



twice its normal size. About twelve gallons 
of fine honey were taken from the tree. 

In August, 1821, John B. French erected a 
hewed-log cabin on Section 23, into which he 
moved his family. Mr. French had been en- 
gaged in the mercantile business in Virginia; 
but, finding that his health was failing, he 
determined to come to the wilderness of Ohio 
for a home. He purchased a tract of land 
just north of the Sandusky River, and began 
recruiting his health by engaging in pioneer 
piu'suits. But, at that time, the climate of 
Ohio was very damp, and did not agree with 
him, and his condition was not altered by his 
removal from Virginia. The country was 
covered with bogs, marshes and swamps 
which were a fruitful source of various fevers 
and diseases. His health slowly failed, and 
he died in 1830, his death being one of the 
first in the township. He was finely educated^ 
and was naturally a man of great sociability 
and intelligence. He was probably the first 
Justice of the Peace in the township, and was 
also one of the first three Associate Judges in 
the county. He had an excellent judgment, 
and, notwithstanding his poor health, had 
great force of character. Although he did 
not pretend to keep a real tavern, yet his 
cabin became quite a resort for travelers, who 
often traveled out of their way to reach it. 
His wife, strong and clear minded, is yet liv- 
ing in West Liberty. The Wyandot Indians 
had temporary camps on the French farm, and 
often came to the cabin to beg, or out of cm'i- 
osity, or, perhaps, to cultivate a spirit of so 
ciability. Often, when ]\Ii-s. French was alone 
in the cabin busily engaged with her house- 
hold duties, she would look up to encounter 
the keen eyes of an Indian hunter watching 
her thi'ough the little window, or else she 
would suddenly become aware of their pres- 
ence in the cabin, where they came without 
warning or invitation. They would seat them- 






\ 



,u 



534 



HISTORY or CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



selves before the fire without a word, take out 
their pipes, and fill them with pinched-up 
tobacco leaves from a little pouch hid myste- 
riously about their persons. The pipe, after 
being lighted, was handed to IVIrs. French, 
who, to express her good-will and friendliness 
toward the Indians, would coolly take a few 
pufifs and hand it back, maintaining the same 
imperturbable silence. Her husband had a 
sword, a relic of the war of 1812, hanging on 
the cabin wall. The Indians often took it down 
and brandished it furiously in the air at some 
imaginary foe. Mrs. French's nerves were 
equal to the emergency, she viewing the war- 
like actions without a tremor. One day she 
was engaged in boiling sugar-water, in a large 
iron kettle hanging over the fire. The In- 
dians sat watching her, occasionally stepping 
up to see how the boiling progressed. When 
the sirup had been "stirred off" and had 
cooled, and the sugar had settled from it, she 
gave each a small portion to eat. One old 
brave, named " Dave Hill," ate his in silence, 
and ]\Irs. French asked him if it was not good. 
He looked at her a few moments without utter- 
ing a word, and then, drawing himself up to 
his full height, while a look of supreme dis- 
gust swept over his tawny features, he haugh- 
tily said: "Ugh! French's squaw no make 
sugar like Indian's squaw." It is uncertain 
whether this was intended as a compliment to 
Mrs. French, or whether Mrs. David Hill was 
a superior sugar-maker. Among the Indians 
that stopped at the cabin was a tall, wiiy fel- 
low, named Blacksnake, who was looked upon 
with distrust by some of the settlers. He often 
became quite loud, especially after he had 
taken whisky, and would then proudly boast 
of his former exploits. He had in his posses- 
sion quite a lai'ge nvunber of scalps, which, he 
boasted, had been taken from the heads of 
white men by himself. He said he had 
ninety-nine, and must have another to make 



the even hundi'ed. He soon afterward left 
the neighborhood, going west, and very likely 
kept his word. The settlers often received 
invitations to attend some of the peace dances 
of the Indians, or to participate in some of 
their great feasts. These invitations were 
usually accepted, not only to retain the good- 
will of the Indians, but because they afforded 
no little sport and excitement. Shooting 
matches would be announced, but, notwith" 
standing the superior vision of the red men, 
the white hunters generally bore off the 
prizes. These usually consisted of a nicely- 
dressed deer, wolf, fox or bearskin. Some 
of the Indians were gi'eat runners — one, named 
Eagle Feather, outstripping his companions, 
or any of the white settlers. The frontier was 
not without its excitement in the way of shows, 
several of which pushed out into the wilder- 
ness with commendable enterprise. In 1829, 
a large menagerie encamped for the night close 
to French's cabin. There were several lions, 
an elephant, two or three camels, besides a 
multitude of small animals, including baboons 
and apes, otherwise known as the ancestors of 
the human race. Before the arrival of the 
show, as it was passing through the woods a 
few miles north, the lion began to roar very 
loudly. A man named Bailey, chopping in 
the woods out of sight of the wagons, heard 
the ominous sound, and became tembly fright- 
ened. He started on the run for a neighbor's 
cabin, distant about half a mile, and, coming 
up to it, he told the owner "the devil was 
coming; he had heard it roar." The neigh- 
bor laughed at him, but, thinking there might 
be some wild animal in the woods, took his 
rifle, and went with the frightened man. 
When they saw the caravan, the fears of IVIr. 
Bailey were dispersed, greatly to his relief. 
In 1823, Jacob Dull, Jacob Ambrose, and 
Benjamin and William Bowers came to the 
township. The last two named wex'e brothers, 



^c 



^ 



HISTOliY OF CRAWFOED COUNTY, 



535 



and. soon after their aiTival, erected a large, 
hewed-log, two-storied cabin on Lost Creek, 
not far from its mouth, designing it for a saw 
and grist mill combined. This mill, in time, 
became the most extensive ever in the town- 
ship. The creek had considerable fall where 
the mill was located, and first-class water- 
power, though limited in extent, was secured 
in the usual way by means of a race. The 
nearest mills of any note, prior to this, were 
eight or ten miles away. There was one near 
Broken Sword (now the village of Annapolis, 
or Sulphur Springs), and one or two in the 
adjoining townships, but all could not be sup- 
plied from these mills, though they were run 
day and night, diu'ing the sawing season. The 
home demand for lumber was gi'eater than the 
mills could supply, so that, even after the 
erection of the Bowers Mill, many settlers 
were obliged to go to distant mills, or do 
without lumber. The Bowers Mill, though 
its capacity was limited, did a fair business, 
sawing all the better varieties of wood on 
shares. Excellent black walnut timber, that 
to-day would command almost fabulous prices 
in the Eastern States, was sawed and burned 
with a prodigality that appears reckless, when 
viewed from the present. Entire houses were 
built of the finest black walnut timber to be 
found in the forest, and rails by the thou 
sands were split from the same wood. The 
grist-mill was a rather weak concera, and was 
probably designed for no other purpose than 
to furnish ground com and rye for a distilleiy 
that was afterward erected as an addition to 
the saw and gi-ist mills. It could gi'ind corn 
and wheat after a fashion, and was patron- 
ized whenever it obviated the necessity of 
going to mill through bottomless roads dm'- 
ing the wet seasons. However, if a settler had 
a large grist to be ground, he usually deferred 
going until the roads were in good condition, 
when he took his grain to a distant and better 



mill. As has been said, the Bowers brothers 
built an addition to the mill, designing it for 
a distillery, in which they placed a large 
copper still. They did not succeed in manu- 
facturing more whisky than was required for 
home consumption. About this time, a man 
named Weaver was found dead in Lost Creek. 
He had no marks of violence about his person, 
and some thought he had imbibed too freely, 
and, in trying to cross the stream on a log, had 
fallen into the water, and, because of his help- 
less condition, could not get out. Others 
declared there had been foul play, and one of 
the neighbors, with whom Weaver had had 
some trouble, was pointed out as the guilty 
one. It is likely that the former cause was the 
correct one. A sort of saloon was kept in 
connection with the distilleiy, and became a 
resort for convivial spirits. This was the only 
distillery ever in the township. The mills 
and distillery ran for about ten years, and 
were then removed. The old race and a few 
scattered ruins may yet be seen on the site of 
the old mill. It was near this mill that quite 
an exciting adventm'e occurred in about 1838. 
The neighbors had assembled to erect a school- 
house, and had completed the work shortly 
after dark. William Wert had been present, 
and, while he was passing through the woods 
on his way home, his dogs treed some large 
animal and began barking furiously. Wert 
hiuTied forward to see what was the matter. 
The animal was up a small tree, and Wert, 
believing it to be a catamount, cut the tree 
down with his ax. But the animal, though 
stunned by the fall, scattered the dogs in a 
hurry, stretching one of them lifeless on the 
gi'ound with a blow of its paw, and ran up 
another tree. This was also cut down, with 
the same result. Wert's blood was then uj), 
and, detei'mining to kill it at all hazards, he 
cut the third tree do\vn. which, in falling, 
pinned the animal to the ground like a vice. 



"IV 



536 



HISTORY or CRAWFORD COUNTY 



The night was as dark as pitch, so that the 
settler could not see what kind of an animal 
it was, and was, therefore, unable to shoot it. 
The only remaining dog dared not go near it. 
The animal could be heard moaning and 
struggling to get up, and Wert, realizing for 
the first time its situation, started resolutely 
forward to dispatch it with his ax. When 
within a few feet of it, he saw its head faintly 
outlined against the ground, and, watching his 
opportunity, he struck it with all his strength 
on the head, killing it instantly. He struck 
a light, and saw with astonishment that he 
had killed a panther of the largest size. Its 
hoad was filled with the quills of a porcupine, 
upon which it had feasted a few days previ- 
ously. His family at home were no little 
frightened when he came staggering into the 
cabin with the huge animal on his back. It 
was evidently a straggler, and but for the 
fortunate circumstance of its being pinned to 
the gi'ound by the tree, would have escaped. 
It had killed one of the dogs, and badly 
wounded another. The neighbors flocked in 
the next morning to view the panther, and 
to tell stories of hair-bx'eadth escapes of their 
own in the past. 

In 1825, James Tarns, Capt. Joseph Smith, 
Nelson Tustasou, William Matthews and Will- 
iam Hanley came in, and erected their cabins 
in different parts of the township. The 
last three located in the northern part, near 
the celebrated "Bear Marsh," which was 
named by the Indians before the advent of 
the white settlers. These men became prom- 
inent citizens in the township. Tarns entered 
a quarter-section on the western tier of sections, 
upon which he built a hewed-log cabin. He 
was a blacksmith, the first in the township, 
and, in 1826, built a small log shop a few 
rods fi'om his cabin. He caiTied on his trade 
to a limited extent for many years. Smith 
had been a commissioned officer in the war of 



1812, and, after coming to the township, was 
elected Captain of the muster company, raised 
in this and adjoining neighborhoods. He was 
a graduate of one of the Eastern colleges, 
and, like many others with failing health, had 
come to the forests of Ohio to find what vir- 
tue there was in the rugged life of a pioneer. 
A few years after his arrival, he died of con- 
sumption. Tustason was well to do, and be- 
came an extensive land-holder, finally owning 
several sections near the central part. He 
purchased a portion of his land of Benjamin 
Johns, a speculator, who had entered consid- 
erable land in the township, in 1814. Johns 
did not live on his land, however, but sold it 
to the different settlers who located in this 
division of the county. Matthews and Han- 
ley deserve special mention, as being the 
first settlers in the northern part. No settlers 
are known to have come in 1827, to this divis- 
ion of the county. In 1828, quite a number 
came in, among whom were Charles Burns, 
John Ruth, Peter Long, Isaac Beck, Joseph 
and William Cox, Dewey, Cove and others. 
Within the next five or six years, almost or 
quite all the land in the township was taken 
up. During this period there came in John 
Mclntire, Isaac Hilburn, Isaac Davis, Isaac 
Hemy, Abel Dewalt, John Ramsey, James 
and William Dickson, Lewis and Peter Rutan, 
Benjamin Lobe, John Kaler, John Luke and 
others. In 1835, there were as many as thirty 
or forty settlers in the township. Industries 
and improvements began to multiply; markets 
became better and nearer; excellent floiu' and 
meal could be obtained within a few miles; 
Bucyrus and Mansfield were the principal 
trading-points; money became plenty, and 
the settlers attained a degree of prosperity 
unknown to them before. Ruth erected a rude 
shingle factory, in about 1836, riving them 
out by hand, and doing the sawing with a 
large whip saw, run by two men. Blocks of 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



537 



straight-grained timber, about two feet long, 
were sawed, and the shingles, about an inch 
in diameter, were split from these. The work 
was slow and tiresome, and, after a few years, 
was -discontinued. Better shingles could be 
obtained for less money ^rt the saw-mills on 
Sandusky River. Isaac Beck owned a " one- 
horse" saw and grist mill on the river, in 
about 1835. He followed the occupation for 
about four years. Isaac Darling dressed 
skins for a short time, about 1828. John 
Lobe opened a public house in 1884. He 
followed this calling for nearly twenty years, 
and made considerable money from it. John 
Mclntire was a weaver, and had a large loom 
in one end of his cabin. He carried on the 
occupation when not otherwise engaged upon 
his farm. John Kaler was a cobbler, who 
traveled from house to house during the win- 
ter, mending shoes. He carried a small box, 
in which were leather, and all the necessary 
tools for his trade. Hilburn was a pi'omineut 
citizen in the northern part. When he reached 
the township, he was in poor circumstances, 
but immediately began mauling rails, and was 
soon prosperous. One year his taxes became 
due, and he found himself unable to pay them. 
He would maul rails in the woods all day, 
and, when night came, would go coon-hunting 
with torches in the woods. One dark night, 
while thus engaged, assisted by his son Rob- 
ert, a lad thirteen or fourteen years old, he 
was suddenly attacked by a pack of hungry 
wolves. He quickly placed the boy in the 
hollow of a large tree, and, standing in front 
of him, waved his fire-brand to frighten away 
the wolves. They came dangerously close, 
snapping and snarling, but were afraid of the 
fii'e, and soon went scurrying off into the for- 
est. Coon-skins brought 25 cents each, and, 
when well di-essed, as high as !^1. This 
money was used in paying taxes. Industi'i- 
ous and skillful hunters could make good 



wages, especially in the winter. They could 
penetrate the neighboring bogs and marshes, 
and catch large numbers of mink, foxes, coons, 
etc., whose furs, at that time, were valued 
very highly in the Eastern States. Between 
1830 and 1840, large fur companies were 
established in various fur-bearing: regions in 
the United States and Canada, and fur hoods, 
cloaks, tippets, etc., were highly prized by the 
fashionable world. Thus, a valuable som'ce 
of revenue was opened to the pioneer, and the 
result was that a vigorous crusade against all 
fur-bearing: animals was begun and carried on 
so extensively that, in a short time, the forests 
became deserted by these animals, which were 
shot or trapped or driven to some remote I'e- 
gion not yet penetrated by the pioneer. But 
the result was advantageous to the settler, 
and, strange as it may seem, the fashionable 
world of that period deserves the credit and 
honor, if such they be. 

In the year 1827, a United Presbyterian 
Church society was organized in the central 
part of the township. A few years previously 
itinerant preachers had begun to visit the 
neighborhood, calling a number of the settlers 
together and preaching to them in the cabin 
of one of the settlers. These visits brought 
the desired result, and the preachers were 
called upon to organize numerous religious 
societies. The Presb^-terian society became so 
strong that, in 1830, a rude church was built. 
It was constructed almost wholly of clap- 
boards, which were split out by Patrick Mc- 
lntire, one of the early car[)enters. Adam 
Stone, also a carpenter, prepared the mold- 
ings, door and window casings, etc. Elder 
Cratty visited and labored with the society for 
many years, and was one of the men to 
organize it. It became the sti'ongest chiu'ch 
in the townshi}), although it was not the first 
religious society established. A Sunday 
school was organized at the time of the erec- 



538 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



tion of the clmrch, and, from the start, had a 
large membership. The great vahie of these 
societies to the citizens cannot be estimated in 
figures. They strengthened a sentiment of 
sociability and charity, that bore an abundant 
fruit of jnire lives and morals in after years. 
In about 1850, a new church was built to take 
the place of the "clapboard" church, which 
was removed, and is now used as a barn by 
William Stone. As early as 1822, a Method- 
ist Ejiiscopal society was organized in John 
B. French's cabin. John O. Blowers was one 
of the earliest preachers. An 'Englishman 
named Mai'tin, a resident of Holmes Town- 
ship, often took charge of the meetings. Re- 
vivals were held in the cabins of French, 
Knisely, Henry and others. Great earnest- 
ness afid enthusiasm were manifested by the 
members, and every family in the neighboi'- 
hood was invited to come into the " ark of 
safety." In about the year 1840, the Luth- 
erans organized a society and built a church 
on Lost Creek. The society is in a prosper- 
ous condition. The religious world had lonof 
looked upon the duskj^ savage as a deserving 
subject for Christian enlightenment, and, with 
commendable enthusiasm and energy, had 
early sent missionaries into the wilderness to 
teach them the way of eternal life. But the 
zeal of religious people and the earnest efforts 
of Chi-istian teachers have been baffled by the 
natural perversity of the red race. They are 
to-day as crafty, cunning and revengeful as 
when the English landed at Jamestown. 
Like the Chinese, they have steadily resisted 
the advances of a higher type of civilization. 
But Christian teachers have been persistent, 
and exceptional cases are found where the 
aborigines have yielded to religious influences. 
Early missionaries visited the Wyandot In- 
dians in Sandusky Township. A young lady 
named M(>linda Hunt, filled with religious 
enthusiasm, established herself on the San- 



dusky River, and paid regular visits to the 
natives. She was always welcomed, and th© 
untutored children of the forest loved to listen 
to her voice, while she told the " story of the 
Cross." There were rumors that, when she 
was a child, her parents had been murdered 
by the Indians, and that, instead of cherishing 
vengeance, her heart had gone out in Chris- 
tian love for them, and she resolved to devote 
her life to their souls' salvation. She was 
kind, zealous, self-sacrificing, and was beloved 
by every one. Her heart was wrapped up in 
her work, and her labors were continued until 
the Indians left the neighborhood. She fol- 
lowed them westward, and what finally be- 
came of her is unknown to the people of the 
township. Under her teachings, the Indians 
began to attend the meetings at the cabins of 
the settlers, and to take great intei'est in the 
early camp-meetings. In 1831, one of these 
meetings was held on the French farm, and 
was largely attended. As many as sixty fam- 
ilies of settlers erected tents, and just without 
their encampment more than one hundred 
Indians established themselves in their wig- 
wams, and took an active part in the exei'cises. 
Many of these were converted, but they soon 
went back to their old way of living. Among 
the ministers in attendance were Elders Pren- 
tice, Bell, Palmer, Chase and Havens, the lat- 
ter being a man of great spirit and enthusi- 
asm. Lines of tents wex'e erected so as to form 
a square, inclosing about half an acre, and, 
within this inclosure, rude seats and a rude 
rostrum made from clapboards or planks, were 
placed. Three exercises were held each day, 
one in the morning, one in the afternoon, and 
one in the evening. The ministers took turns 
in presiding. Supplies of food were brought 
to the grounds, and the cooking was done in 
the tents. Horses were picketed in an adjoin- 
ing grove, and cows were kejit on the grounds 
to furnish fresh milk. Tobacco, candies, fruits. 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



539 



melons, etc., were sold at tents erected without 
the inclosure. When the services began, the 
Indians assembled and sat together, with faces 
upturned, listening soberly to the words of the 
" man of God." Occasionally some dvisky 
face would light up with the fire of the occa- 
sion, and its owner would begin to manifest 
all the outward signs of sincere conversion. 
The most of them understood English sviffi- 
ciently well to get an idea of what was being 
said. Large numbers of whites were con- 
verted, and the churches were greatly strength- 
ened by additions made thereto. The Indians 
were in the neighborhood only temporarily, 
and, when the camp-meeting closed, at the 
end of three weeks, they journeyed westward 
to more fruitful hunting and trapping grounds. 
The citizens in the township have always been 
temperate and moral. 

It is likely that the first school in the tovsois- 
ship was taught during the winter of 1820-27, 
in a small i-ound-log cabin, used as a dwelling, 
on the farm now owned by Alexander Smith, by 
Miss Jane Hogan, who afterward became IVIrs. 
Smith. The cabin, though small, and having 
but one room, with a solitary window, through 
which a few shaded rays of light came, was 
divided off into two apartments, not in reality, 
but only in name. Into one of these, hastily and 
rudely improvised seats and desks were placed, 
and this was the pioneer schoolroom in San- 
dusky Township. The young lady teacher, who 
was handsome and quite well educated, taught 
three months, receiving a small subscription 
for her services in endeavoring to teach the 
few children under her charge from scarcely no 
books or slates or apparatus. Often when 
classes were called to the floor to read, one book 
was required to serve the whole class, each 
member taking it in turn and reading, while 
the others stared idly about, or mischievously 
snapped bits of wood across the room at some 
fellow-student. In early years, two or three 



terms at such schools as the one just described 
wei'e considered amply sufficient for any one 
not desiring a collegiate education, and the 
young men and women were graduated in 
accordance with the prevailing opinion. The 
childi'en were not sent to school until they had 
attained the age of about fifteen years. Here 
was held the first spelling-school, and here the 
neighbors — men, women and childi-en — came 
to see who could " spell the school down." But 
the "going home with the gals" was what 
afibrded the most pleasm'e, and all the diff"erent 
degrees of com'age were exhibited by the pio- 
neer boys, when it came to the " asking " 
point ; and the long walk by moonlight thi-ough 
the forest paths, arm-in-arm, when the spell- 
ing had ended, was a memorable event, for 
" Here maidens were sighing, and fragrant their sigh, 
As the flower of the Amra just oped by a bee ; 

And precious their tears as that rain from the sky 
Which turns into pearls as it falls in the sea. 

Oh! think what the kiss and the smile must be worth, 
When the sigh and the tear are so perfect in bliss, 

And own, if there be an Elysium on earth, 
It is this, it is this." 

Miss Hogan also taught the following sum- 
mer in the same cabin, but her school was 
thinly attended. Dm-ing the winter of 1S27- 
28, IVIi-. Dewey taught a term of thi-ee months 
in his own cabin. His cabin was twenty by 
thirty feet, and was sufficiently large to accom- 
modate between fifteen and twenty children, 
who came to him for instruction. The inte- 
I'iorof his cabin was arranged similarly to the 
one described above, though it was lighted in 
a much more satisfactory manner. There 
were three windows, each containing fom* 
panes of glass, and these, in connection with 
the ruddy light of the great fire-place, afforded 
what was considered abundant light to enable 
the children to read, write and cipher without 
fatiguing the eyes. IMr. Dewey was a well- 
educated man, and he has the reputation of 
havincr tausrht an unusually successful school. 



540 



HISTORY OF CRAWFOED COUNTY. 



He continued to teach in his cabin until the 
first (schoolhouse was erected, in which he 
afterward taught many terms. Miss Mary- 
Ann Higljy taught a : hort term in Dewey's 
cabin dm'ing the summer of 1828. She after- 
ward taught many terms in Sandusky and 
adjoining townships. Several of the old set- 
tlers think that school was taught in the 
township two or three years before 1826, but 
they are unable to give the date, the name of 
the first teacher, or any incidents or circum- 
stances connected with such schools. In the 
absence of any definite evidence, those early 
schools, if such there were, must remain in 
doubt as to their existence. Several of the 
earliest settlers were men of fine culture, who 
could appreciate the blessings and advantages 
of education. They had large families of 
children, in whose rapid intellectual and moral 
progress they were deeply interested. This 
would seem to imply that schools were taught 



as early as accords with the opinions of the 
eai'ly settlers. It was not until 18)30, that a 
hewed-log schoolhouse was built, on the cor- 
ner of Isaac Henry's farm. Who the first 
teachers were, and the incidents connected 
with the first sessions of school, are items no 
longer remembered. This building was used 
about fifteen years, when a frame one was built 
to take its place. The second schoolhouse 
was built south of the river, in 1838. The 
whole neighborhood turned out, as was the 
custom in those days, and the building was 
designed and erected in one day. This house 
was used many years, and it has only been 
comparatively late that another was built to 
take its place. Another schoolhouse was built 
in about 1842, in the northern extremity of 
the township. Average wages have been paid 
teachers, and the school system has been in- 
ferior to that of no other country township 
in the county. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

WHETSTONE TOWNSHIP — SANDUSKY PLAINS— EARLY SETTLEMENT AND INCIDENTS — PIONEER 
IMPROVEMENTS— GROWTH OF VILLAGES— CHURCH AND SCHOOL HISTORY. 



THE human mind delights in novelty and 
variety, and the whole being demands a 
change of pursuits. Nature's countless designs 
are never frustrated. Harmony and logical se- 
quence are found everywhere pervading the 
laws of nature by both theologian and atheist. 
The appetite, cloyed with continual sweets, 
loves the relief afforded by bitterness. The 
traveler becomes weary with the sight of un- 
ending plains or a continuous range of eleva- 
tions, and loves to see small vales encircled 
with hills and cloud-capped mountains. Wear}^ 
with the long journey through the tiresome 
forests of Ohio, the early settler was attracted 
to the Sandusky Plains, in Whetstone Town- 
ship. In early years, they were the most no- 



ticeable feature in the township ; but, since the 
surrounding woods have been partly cleared 
away and the Plains in many places have be- 
come covered with foi'est trees, it requires care- 
ful scrutiny to detect prairie from woodland. 
The Plains originally comprised fully the west- 
ern half of the township, extending far down 
the Scioto Valley, and, on the boundary lines, 
were irregular, sending off long spurs into tlie 
woods, and being pierced in turn by long, 
knifelike projections of forest land. Some 
portions of considerable extent are free from 
trees, though generally the surface is dotted 
here and there with " lone trees " or small 
groups varying in size from half a dozen to 
several hundred. The plains extend largely 



IV 



HISTORY or CRAWFORD COUXTY. 



541 I 



over Bncyrus and Dallas Townships and far 
down into Marion County, covering quite an 
extensive tract of land. In Whetstone Town- 
ship the}' are generally flat, though the monot- 
ony is relieved by knobs of clay and gravel, 
deposited with the drift formations. Many of 
these knobs were originally covered with trees. 
It is observable that all the trees growing on 
the plains are comparativeh" small, having an 
approximate age of fortv or fifty years. This 
seems to indicate that before the advent of the 
white settlers the plains were swept over b}' 
fires, which kept down the growths of forest 
trees. But, after the land was purchased by 
the pioneer and the Indian had disappeared, 
the destructive fires were avoided and the trees 
began to grow. The plains were early covered 
with tall, rank grass and weeds, that furnished 
an excellent hiding-place for wild animals. 
When the grass was dr}^ and the wind blew 
heavil}', the Indians were in the habit of set- 
ting out fires on the windward side, and then 
posting themselves to leeward, shot down the 
game that fled before the burning grass. The 
earliest white settlers did the same ; but it was 
soon necessary to avoid the fires, as the cabins 
and grain were in danger of being burned. 
Many years after the first settlers arrived, 
while the Wyandots were still on their reserva- 
tion, they were in the habit of establishing 
their camps outside their own lands, wherever 
the hunting or trapping was good, and where 
the}' did not give too much oflTense to the set- 
tlers. They were cuiming, and adopted this 
course to save the game in their reservation. 
Whenever they approached a settlement, they 
were accustomed to give the whip to their 
ponies and come in on the gallop, with '• whoop 
and halloo," as some of them said, " to scare 
white man." They were notorious beggars, 
rivaling the modern "tramp" in skill and ex- 
pediency. When the settlers ftiilcd to respond 
liberally, strategy was adopted. A cabin was 
watched until the husband and father had 



gone, when the Indians presented themselves 
with scowling faces, exhibiting an array of 
weapons that were an "open sesame" to the 
woman's lavish generosity. A small encamp- 
ment was located one fall near the center 
of the township, on Whetstone Creek. An old 
Indian, named " Crum," was among them with 
his squaw and a " new " papoose. Several 
young women in the neighborhood went one 
day to view the little stranger, that lay 
wrapped in blankets and furs, swinging in its 
cradle of deer thongs strapped to trees. The 
young women went forward and began raising 
the garments to see the face of the little one, 
but they were interrupted by a burst of laugh- 
ter from Mr. and Mrs. Crum, who pointed to 
the other extremity of the Iiundle. signifying 
that the face could be found there. The young 
women, though confused at first by their mis- 
take and the laughter of the Indians, soon 
recovered sufBciently to join in the merriment 
at their own expense. The young women's 
descendants are yet laughing at the mistake of 
their grandmothers. 

The date of the creation of Whetstone Town- 
ship is uncertain, though the old settlers say 
that it was very probably in 1824. The land 
was surveyed in 1821 or 1822, and the township 
then received its appropriate range and num- 
ber. It took its name from the principal sti-eam 
draining it, and its name was the one suggested 
by the settlers when they petitioned for the 
creation of the township. The township, as 
originally created, was six miles square ; but, 
in 1835, when Sandusky and Jackson Town- 
ships were altered, the eastern tier of fractional 
sections became a part of the latter township. 
Bat, some time previous to this event, these 
sections had been annexed to Sandusky Town- 
ship, as can be seen by reading the extract taken 
from the report of the commissioners in 1835, 
and given in the history of Sandusky Township, 
which appears in this work. After 1835 and 
until 1845, the township of Whetstone was five 



^ Ul 



'k» 



543 



HISTORY OF CRAWFOED COUNTY. 



miles square ; but, at the latter date, when Wy- 
andot County was created, and nearly all the 
townships in Crawford Count}- were altered, the 
fractional tier of sections mentioned above, was 
re-annexed to Whetstone Township, of which 
it has since formed part. There were also added 
to this township twelve sections — two tiers — 
from Marion County, thus making Whetstone the 
largest township in the county. At present, it 
comprises fort}- full sections and eight fractional 
ones, and has an area of almost 28,000 acres. 
There is no existing account of the names of 
the first officers. The township is favorably 
situated, none of its territory' being farther than 
eight miles from either Bucyrus or Gallon. 
This gives the citizens the boon of a choice of 
markets, which the}^ greatly prize. 

Much of the soil of the township, especially 
on the flat prairie land, is deep and black, and 
is largely composed of deca}' ing vegetable mat- 
ter. Numerous banks of drift clay and gravel 
are found along the course of the shallow Olen- 
tang}'. The water of the creek is turbid, pre- 
senting a faint, milky appearance, evidently 
caused by many small sulphur springs that feed 
it. As has been said, the Olentangy is the 
principal stream. It flows from Polk Town- 
ship, entering Section 13, thence flowing across 
Sections 35, 26, 27, 22, 28, 33, 5 and 4 on the 
lower extremity, and leaving the township from 
Section 8. It and its branch, Mud Run, drain 
about two-thirds of the surface. The latter 
stream has its source in Section 17, and flows 
across Sections 20, 19, 30, 31, and enters Bucy- 
rus Township. Most of the surface north of 
the Gallon road is drained by small branches 
of Sandusky River. This river flows across 
the extreme northwestern corner of Section 0. 
The beautiful Scioto River has its source in the 
western part of the township. This division of 
the county is thus situated on the Ohio water- 
shed, as part of its water reaches Lake Erie, 
and part the Ohio River. It has a few flat 
portions poorly drained, but generally the town- 



ship has excellent drainage, and the soil is kept 
in fine working condition. 

The name of the first settler is lost in the ob- 
scurit}- of the past. The settlers began to ap- 
pear before the land became marketable ; and, 
so great was the rush after 1820, and before 
1827, that as many as thirty families had set- 
tled in the northern part. There were but few 
Germans at first, though many of those genial 
and hospitable people known as " Pennsylvania 
Dutch " came with the New Englanders, who 
composed the majorit}' of the earliest settlers. 
Looking from the present, it would appear wise 
for the first settlers to select the prairie land, 
which could be cultivated almost immediately ; 
but this they did not do, parti}' because there 
was no market for grain, and partly because the 
settlers imagined that within thirty or forty 
years the timber would be largely destroyed, 
which led them to select fixrms covered with 
heavy groves of black walnut or oak, and to 
leave the prairie land for subsequent settlers, 
using it in the meantime to supply themselves 
with ha}' and with pasture for the few horses, 
cattle and sheep that had been brought in from 
the East. The ambition of the early settler was 
to live well, and to secure as much as possible 
of the land that was being taken up so rapid 1}' 
around him. He raised a small crop of corn 
and potatoes, pulverizing the former in mortars 
made from an oak block, and roasting the lat- 
ter in the ashes of the capacious fire-place. 
Joseph Stewart, now an old man of fourscore 
years, remembers of going to bed many a night 
with no supper except roasted potatoes and milk. 
The corn-meal prepared with the mortar and 
pestle was coarse ; but, when eaten under the 
stimulus of long fasts (a common occurrence for 
the early settler), was greatly relished. The 
cows of the settlers furnished them with milk — 
that all-important factor in domestic economy. 
Horses and cattle suflTered severely from mos- 
quitoes, that came in clouds from the surround- 
ing marshes. This harassing annovance, and 



^k 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUXTY. 



543 



an insufficient quantity of grain, swept off the 
liorses of the settlers, though the tough little 
Indian ponies lived on and enjoyed life as well 
as Indian ponies could. Deer, prairie chickens, 
ducks, squirrels and swine furnished abundant 
meats. In a few years, swine in large num- 
bers ran wild in the woods, and fed upon 
•' mast" — beech and hickory nuts and acorns — 
that covered the gi'ound in the fall of the year. 
They were often quite fat, some of them weigh- 
ing 200 pounds, though usually they turned the 
scales at from seventy-five to one hundred and 
fifty pounds. These " hazel-splitters " bore but 
little personal resemblance to the well-bred and 
shapely Berkshire and Poland-China swine of 
to-day. Their legs were long and strong, and 
their snouts were abundantly ample for all prac- 
tical purposes. Some of the tusks on the male 
gender attained a length of five or six inches, and 
were formidable weapons in the hands (or rather 
the snout) of an enraged sus scro/a. Unless 
they had some distinguishing ear-mark, the 
swine were considered the property of those who 
could capture them. There was quite a demand 
for pork, as earl}'^ as 1823. Judge Merriman, 
then doing a general mercantile business in 
Buc3^rus, bought live or dressed hogs on com- 
mission for men living in Sandusky City. He 
was authorized to pay cash, or to give goods in 
exchange, for pork, paying about $2.50 per hun- 
dred for dressed hogs, and about $2 per hundred 
live weight. This was considered a good price, 
as the rearing and fattening of the swine cost 
nothing, not even in the winter. The result was 
that during the fall of the year, when hogs were 
fattest, the settlers turned out with dogs and 
horses to drive them in from the woods. Several 
of the settlers made considerable money by 
driving droves of thirty or forty to Sandusky 
City. 

The northern half of the township was settled 
eight or ten years before the southern half 
This was because a location near Bucyrus was 
desirable, though, in a few years, the settlers 



began to build their cabins near Whetstone 
Creek, where springs of pure, living water were 
found. As near as can be ascertained, the set- 
tlers came into the township as follows : In 
1820, John Kent, Seth Holmes, Joseph Young, 
Noble McKinstry, Ralph Bacon and a Mr. Wil- 
louby ; in 1821, John King, Philander and Eli 
Odell, Samuel Parcher, Asa Howard, Zalmon 
Rowse, George Hancock and a few others ; in 
1822, Hugh Stewart and his five sons, William, 
John, James, Hugh and Joseph, all over twenty- 
one and all unmarried, Phillip dinger, Samuel 
Van Voorhis, John Stien, Henry Harringer, 
John Beckwith, Benjamin, George, John and 
Lyman Parcher, brothei'S of Samuel, who had 
come out the year before, Christopher Bear, 
Heman and Abner Rowse, William Hamilton, 
Archibald Clark, John Campbell and several 
others; in 1823, Hugh Trimble, George Poe, 
Cornwallis Reese, Daniel Jones, James Faloon, 
James Armstrong and others ; in 1824, Robert 
Reed, Charles Chambers, James Henderson, 
Isaac and Casper Eichelberger and others ; in 
1825, Adam Keifer, John Lininger and Robert 
Walker ; in 1826-27, many came in ; in 1828, 
David Savage, John Heinlen, John Brehman, 
Isaac Boyer, Robert Walker, Oliver Jones and 
others. Many more came in during the years 
that have been mentioned, but their names are 
forgotten. The majority of these settlers 
were fi'ora New England or the Middle States, 
and, with but few exceptions, located on the 
three tiers of sections on the north. Among 
the most prominent of the early settlers 
was the family of Hugh Stewart. This man 
had come from Ireland, and had lived many 
years in Cumberland County, Penn. In 1821, 
he left Pennsylvania, and traveled twenty- 
four days with his family in a wagon drawn by 
four horses, arriving at .Mansfield, Ohio, where 
his family remained, while he went to Whet- 
stone Township, Crawford County, Ohio, to 
select a farm. Favorable reports were in cir- 
culation at Mansfield as to the fertile land and 



>> 



544 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



valuable forests in the New Purchase, and the 
reports, reaching the East, induced thousands 
of intelligent and wealthy farmers to go to 
the West, where the price of a load of wood to- 
day would purchase an acre of land, covered 
with heavy walnut or oak forests. The reports 
were so favorable that Mr. Stewart went to 
Whetstone Township and selected 240 acres, 
Avhich he entered at Delaware for $300. This 
land was on Section 8. The family remained 
near Mansfield until the next spring, renting, in 
in the meantime, a small portion of land 
owned by James Hedges, and putting in a 
small crop of corn and potatoes on shares. 
While the family remained at Mansfield, the 
father and sons went to Whetsone and built a 
round-log cabin, twenty feet square, having one 
room, one door and one window. The logs on 
the inside of the cabin were roughly hewed off, 
the door was hung on wooden hinges, and the 
family' were proud of the distinction of having 
a window which contained four panes of glass. 
In this rude cabin, they began life in the back- 
woods. Mrs. Stewart was in feeble health, and 
the family had brought with them a widowed 
lady, named Betse}^ Anderson, upon whose 
shoulders fell much of the household duties. 
A few calves and sheep were driven from 
Pennsylvania, and these wore carefully guarded 
and fed. The calves, when four years old, were 
driven to Sandusky City and sold for $10 per 
head ; but the sheep did not thrive so well. 
They all died, except two, from eating some 
poisonous weed growing in the woods or on 
the plain. One of these two was so badly 
poisoned that it swelled up to twice its natural 
size, but was saved b}' a lavish dose of whisk}-. 
The fomil}' brought with them a small copper 
still, wliich was sold soon after their arrival. 
The sons in after years occupied many positions 
of honor in the township and county. James 
Stewart served as one of the three Associate 
Judges of the county in al)out 1830, and, at 
one time, was ^Mayor of Buc3rus. Himself 



and other sons of the family served frequently 
as Justices of the Peace. William, the eldest 
son, went to Kentucky, and what became of 
him is unknown to his relatives now living in 
the county. John, James and Hugh are dead, 
and Joseph is the only child of Hugh Stewart, 
Sr., left living to tell the tale of hardships and 
privation of his long and eventful life. The 
mother died a few years after reaching the 
county, and her death was one of the first in 
Whetstone Township. 

The Parcher ftimily, in early times, was 
among the most prominent. Samuel came to 
this division of the county in 1820, with the 
family of Ralph Bacon. He had been employed 
b}' Bacon to drive an ox team from Painesville, 
Ohio, to Whetstone Township. Bacon entered 
240 acres of land, partly in each of the two 
townships. Whetstone and Libert}^ and his 
cabin was erected in Liberty. Immediately 
after their arrival. Bacon emploj'ed Parcher to 
maul 10,000 rails, for which he was to receive 
$50. The next year, Samuel's four brothers, 
named above, came on, and the brothers to- 
gether entered considerable land on Section 3, 
and began improving it. Benjamin was the 
only married one of the brothers, and one large 
cabin served as home for all. Samuel was em- 
ployed by Judge Merriman to haul the first 
stock of goods to Bucyrus. This was in 1821 
or 1822. After the goods had arrived, the re- 
port became current that the stock consisted of 
nothing but a half-dozen handkerchiefs and a 
few pounds of powder ; but the reader is as- 
sured that this report was probably erroneous. 
In about 1828, the Parcher brothers built a 
saw-mill on their farm. It was a small affair, 
with an " up-and-down " saw, and was run by 
horse power. At the same time, they began 
the distillation of whisky, and ground their 
grain on a small horse-mill, with the usual 
" nigger-head " stones. Neither of the mills 
nor the distillery proved profitable, and, after 
running two or three vears, the three were dis- 



K 



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d±. 



HISTORY OF CEAWFORD COUNTY 



545 



continued. Their copper still was bought at 
Sandusky City. A few descendants of the 
Parcher family are 3'et living in the county. 

The Rowse family were among Whetstone's 
earliest and most intelligent citizens. Their 
family history accompanies this work. It is 
more than possible that John Kent located in 
the township in 1819, as he had an acre or more 
cleared around his cabin in the summer of 1820. 
During that summer, and for a few subsequent 
years, Seth Holmes lived in a small log shanty 
in Kent's dooryard. He was an old bachelor, 
and had the care of an aged father and mother 
on his hands — a task he performed with filial 
love and devotion Eli and Philander Odell 
were among the earliest settlers. Eli was a 
cabinet-maker, and began manufacturing a lim- 
ited quantity of rough furniture as early as 
1826. Between 1840 and 1850, he gained great 
notoriet}' as being prominently connected with 
a well-traveled underground railroad. He pub- 
licly avowed it to be the moral and social duty 
of every man to assist the runaway slaves in 
escaping to Canada, and to render obnoxious 
the law requiring a rendition of escaping slaves 
wherever found. He made no concealment of 
the fact that he fed and carried every runaway 
that came to his dwelling to the next point 
nearer the slave's earthly paradise — Canada 
He was careful, however, not to be caught in 
his acts, and thus escaped the clutches of the 
law. The slaves were brought to him b}' Peter 
West, who lived near New Winchester, and who 
also openly avowed his belief in the sin of 
slaver}^, and his intention to thwart the laws he 
believed to be unjust and unholy. It is likely 
that these men assisted dozens of slaves in es- 
caping to Canada. Just where the slaves were 
convej-ed from Odell's house is a myster}^ that 
has not yet been cleared up, but was probably 
to some citizen at or near Annapolis. 

Settlers who located near the center of the 
township, were unusuall}' careful to build their 
cabins near springs of good water. This was 



an important item in early jears, when pure 
water was a rarit}', and when the surface of 
the country was covered with multitudes of 
marshes and swamps of stagnant water. Wells 
were dug with great difficulty, and, when readj^ 
for use, were largely filled with surface water, 
that could not be kept out. Some settlers pre- 
ferred to locate near promising villages, regard- 
less of water, trusting that time would furnish 
them with an abundant supply of the purest. 
Others chose their farms from the proximity of 
valuable springs, regardless of the remote- 
ness of their land from villages. They 
were not ignorant of the fact that their 
houses were in a country where ague and 
fevers were the certain result of the infectious 
climate ; and, with all the knowledge and skill 
at their command, they endeavored to guard 
against the distressing effects of malarial 
diseases. Doctors came to Bucjrus at an early 
day, and were the ones employed by the set- 
tlers of Whetstone. Calomel and quinine were 
dealt out in quantities that are incompatible 
with the medical logic of to-da}', which requires 
that the desired results be attained bj' the use 
of the least possible quantit}- of medicine. 
These medicines were found abundantl}- in 
ever}^ cabin, and were universally- regarded as 
an unfailing panacea for all the various types 
of disease. In early springtime, the cabin that 
did not contain a case or two of " shakes," be- 
came a conspicuous object. Pioneers with frail 
constitutions, who came West, hoping that 
"roughing it " would soon bring them the price- 
less boon of good health, found to their sorrow 
that sickness alone, repaid them for the trouble 
until death came to relieve them of earthly 
tribulations. Often during the cold, dreary 
month of March, ever}- member in large fami- 
lies was ailing ; and it was not uncommon to 
see whole families " shaking" at the same time 
as they bent over the roaring fire-place. This 
was true of all Ohio, which, at that time, was 
termed by the settlers the " shakers' paradise." 



iJ± 



;1^ 



546 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



But, after many years, the forests were opened 
to the sunlight and heat, and the stagnant 
water was turned into the nearest streams. 
Ague and kindred afflictions largely disap- 
peared, and good health, with all its attendant 
blessings, prevailed. 

John Campbell, Sr., located near the center of 
the township, on Section 28. Greorge Hancock 
had squatted on the same farm the year before, 
and continued to remain there for several years 
after Campl)ell had purchased the land. At 
the end of the first year, Campbell had cleared 
eight acres, a portion of which was on the edge 
of the prairie, and required but little labor to 
prepare it for the plow. He planted a crop of 
corn and potatoes, and, in a few 3'^ears, had saved 
money enough to purchase more land. He se- 
lected his land, and made preparations to start 
for Delaware to enter it. Jacob Bowers and 
Henry Lininger had their eyes on the same 
piece, and employed Henry Remson, an early 
school-teacher, to prepare the necessar}' papers, 
giving a description of the land. When they 
reached Delaware, they discovered that their 
documents did no-t accurately locate the land. 
They started back to correct the error ; but 
Campbell, in the meantime, had obtained the 
necessary papers, and had gone to Delaware, 
entering the land about the time the others 
reached home. When the latter learned what 
had transpired, they were greatly mortified. 
Quite an extensive settlement was formed near 
Mr. Campbell's cabin. Van Voorhis, Hamil- 
ton, King, dinger, Poe, Clark, Jones and several 
others settled near the Olentangy, where ever- 
flowing springs furnished an unfailing supply of 
pure water. These settlers were mostly Scotch- 
Irish, from the Kej^stone State, and nearU' all, 
when they came, drove in small herds of cattle, 
sheep or hogs. 

Several manufacturing enterprises and trades 
arose in early years, to supply the settlers 
with much-needed articles used in farm and do- 
mestic economy. Barney and David Eberhardt 



erected a frame saw-mill on the Olentangy. It 
ran from 1830 to 1844, changing owners sev- 
eral times, and was, perhaps, in early years, 
the best mill of its kind in the township. The 
dam was constructed of mud, brush, stones, 
logs and whatever ofiered sufficient resistance 
to the flow of the water. The capacity of the 
mill, though great at that day, cannot compare 
with the circular mills of the present. The mill 
had an up-and-down saw, and often ran so 
slowly that the owner ventured to tread for 
houi'S on the large overshot wheel that fur- 
nished the saw with motion. It did good work 
for many years, but finally fell into the hands 
of careless owners, who allowed the dam to 
break, which ended the career of the mill 
George Sweney was one of the owners, run- 
ning it successfull}'^ for five years. Paul Hed- 
dick also owned a saw-mill on the Olentang}', 
which was erected about the time the Eber- 
hardt mill was built. It ran for twenty-five 
years, and was well patronized. It was near 
the Eberhardt mill that a murder occurred soon 
after 1830. Two wealthy men of the East, 
named Hammer and Bender, had come out 
West as far as Mansfield, Ohio, looking for 
land. While the}' were stopping at the hotel 
in Mansfield, it became known that each had in 
his possession several hundred dollars in gold. 
After stopping for several days and making in- 
quiries about the land farther west, they jour- 
neyed on as far as Gallon, and were accompa- 
panied by two strangers, who had joined them 
soon after leaving Mansfield, and who seemed 
quite social and friendl}'. The party, now in- 
creased to four, took dinner at Gabon, and trav- 
eled on until they reached a lonel}^ place on the 
Olentangy, near the Eberhardt mill, when one 
of the strangers suddenly- drew a pistol from 
his pocket and shot Bender through the head, 
killing him instantly. At the same instant, the 
other stranger struck Hammer a terrible blow 
on the head with a heavy cane, stretching him 
senseless on the ground. The murderers im- 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY, 



547 



mediatel}- left the scene of the tragedy- without 
taking the gold of their victims, leaving the 
pistol and an overcoat on the ground. It is sup- 
posed that they became frightened by hearing 
the voices of the men at the mill, who were 
driving the oxen. The murderers escaped, 
and subsequently could not be traced. Bender 
was dead, but Hammer soon recovered con- 
sciousness and roused the men at the mill, who 
began scouting the woods after the murdex'ers, 
but without avail. Hammer conveyed the body 
of his friend East, where it was buried. 

^lichael Nye owned a small horse-mill on his 
farm in 1838 or 1840. Abraham Holmes also 
owned one about the same time. These mills 
did not pretend to compete with the extensive 
flouring-mills on Sandusky River. Their as- 
pirations were modestly confined to the grind- 
ing of a coarse grade of corn-meal, and were 
run more as an act of accommodation than as 
a scheme to make money. They continued a 
few years and were then discontinued. In the 
year 1824, James Armstrong built the first 
cabin having a shingle roof. Where his shin- 
gles were obtained, like many other early events, 
will probably remain locked forever in the jew- 
eled casket of the muse of history. The 
chimney was not in keeping with the roof, as 
it was built of sticks laid cross-wise and mor- 
tared together with clay mud. The inference 
is that Mr. Armstrong soon saw the incongruity 
of the arrangement, as, in the spring of 
1826, he burned a small kiln of brick and tore 
down the old chimne}^, substituting bricks in 
the place of the clay and sticks. Another in- 
ference is that he was a progressive man and a 
lover of neatness and oi'der. His bricks were 
the first burned in the township, if not in the 
county, and his chimne}'^ was the first of its 
kind, and soon excited the envy of his neigh- 
bors, all of whom wanted brick chimne3's after 
the fashion was fixed. The remainder of the 
bricks were sold to unknown neighbors for an 
unknown price. Mr. Armstrong did not con- 



tinue the brick business. His neighbor, John 
Boyer, did, however, although he burned but 
two or three small kilns. It was about this 
time or soon afterward that a brick house was 
built, which is yet standing on the John Bo3'er 
farm. Phillip dinger dug many of the early 
wells, and finally lost his life from injuries re- 
ceived by falling into one of them. John 
Boyer and William Fitzsimmons kept tavern 
in the township as earl}' as 1830. Boyer was 
located on the G-alion Road, and his tavern was 
known fjir and near as the " Blue Ball Tavern." 
On the top of a high post in front of the door 
was fastened a huge round ball which had been 
painted blue. This gave name and fame to 
the tavern, which had an extensive patronage, 
and was the source of a large income to the 
owner. It was located on the farm of John 
Holmes. Fitzsimmons' tavern received a fair 
patronage. It was located on the route lead- 
ing from Bucyrus to Delaware, which, in an 
early day, was well traveled b}- pioneers west- 
ward bound. 

In November, 1840, the village of Olentangy 
was laid out. The projectors and proprietors 
were Paul J. Heddich, George Sweney and Wm. 
Snyder, Fort^'-seven lots were laid out on the 
northern half of Section 26, on the Gallon Road, 
and the little town began to grow. A Mr. 
Shreck brought in a small, general assortment 
of goods, and was afterward succeeded by 
Mr. Codger and others. Sweney and Heddick 
opened a tavern ; and a blacksmith and carpen- 
ter established themselves in the village, which, 
at that late da}', began making the effort of 
competition with the lai'ger towns of the 
county. The town was soon destined to sink 
into hopeless obscurit}'. It was located mid- 
way between Gabon and Bucj'rus, each of 
which had a population of several thousand, 
and was growing rapidly. The Gallon Road, 
that had been surveyed in 1822 or 1823, was 
a well-traveled thoroughfare, uniting the two 
cities like Siamese twins. The most that Olen- 



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:Ul 



548 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



ttingj' ever did was to accommodate the neigh- 
borhood and the traveling pul)lic. Business 
enterprises paid but little more than a living, 
and wei-e soon transl'erred to localities more 
highly favored. Fifteen or twenty years ago, 
the lots were thrown into the adjoining 
farms, and but few are now occupied by lot- 
holders. 

The southern half of Whetstone is almost 
like a separate township. Until 1845, the two 
lower tiers of Sections belonged to Marion 
Count}', and the interests of the citizens natur- 
all}^ centered at Marion, the county seat. They 
usually went to market to G-alion or Bucyrus, 
and, after their annexation to Crawford County, 
were better satisfied than when under the " fos- 
tering wing" of the older count}^ of Marion, 
from the fact that they were nearer the county 
seat. It was not until about 1828 or 1830, that 
the settlers began to pour into what is now the 
southern half of Whetstone Township. As 
many as twent3'-five or thirty families, mostly 
from the thrifty Keystone State, located within 
two miles of New Winchester, and began to 
clear up and improve the country. Between 
1828 and 1836, the following men and their 
families appeared : Frederick Wise, Samuel 
Winter, William Stuck, Abraham Steen, John 
Albright, Moses Dale, John Conn, Charles 
Gilford, Jehu Harlan, John and Peter Weidner, 
Jacob Keister, George Deibler, Nicholas M^^ers, 
Christian Null, Jacob Dupps, Samuel Crow, 
Jacob Hauck, John Roberts, .John Kaun, Adam 
Bear and several others, whose names are not 
remembered. Very soon the land was all en- 
tered, and the little cabins, built of round and 
hewed logs, dotted the surface of the township 
with evidences of civilization. The first set- 
tlers were luckiest (in one respect), as they had 
choice of land and location. Land, covered 
with valuable forests of walnut and oak, from 
which flowed one or more springs of pure 
water, was most highly prized and was first 
selected. Subsequent settlers took what was 



left, after entering land that lay concealed be- 
neath weeds and water. 

After 1835, the village of New Winchester 
became the central point, around which the 
southern half of the township revolved. The 
reader will observe that a majority of the 
smaller towns in the count}' were laid out be- 
tween 1830 and 1836. A sort of an epidemic 
for town-making swept like a wave over the 
county between those dates ; but most of the 
villages were destined to remain small, or to 
sink into total obscurity and extinction. New 
Winchester was surveyed and laid out in 1835. 
The land from which it was originally laid out 
was owned by four men — Benjamin Fisher, 
Henry Wise, William Stuck and Samuel Lech- 
ner — whose farms lay at the intersection of two 
roads. The first cabin had been built by Will- 
iam Stuck, a few months before the village 
came into existence under its present name. 
Soon after the town was founded, Israel Wise 
built the second cabin, and Samuel Winter the 
third. All three were built of hewed logs, and 
were fully up to the standard of excellence es- 
tablished b}' custom in the township. It was 
not long before eight or ten of these rude 
structures were erected, and the villagers be- 
came clamorous for a store and post office. At 
last. Samuel Crow, 3-ielding to entreaty, placed 
$500 worth of goods in a log storeroom erected 
for the purpose. Patronage was solicited and 
obtained from the surrounding neighborhood ; 
l)ut it did not pay, and Crow suddenly retired 
from the business. He was urged to continue, 
but — 

" Alas! in truth, the man had changed his mind ; 
Perhaps was sick, in love, or had not din'd." 

It was well that he retired, as his capital was 
limited, and his knowledge of mercantile pur- 
suits insufficient. In 1838 or 1839, Judge 
Merriraan, then in business at Bucvrus. estab- 
lished a branch store at Winchester. He began 
with $1,500 worth of goods, and continued a 
number of years, making money rapidly, and 



W 






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f. ' 



y/^^^^^O -^^^^pJ^/^JZ^^C^ 



I 



4 



'.^ 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



551 



investing tlie surplus in outside speculations. 
He was succeeded by Henry Clark, who, with 
the exception of Merriman, had the largest and 
best stock of goods ever brought to the town. 
He made considerable money, but, at the end 
of six years, sold to Plodner & Timson, who, 
after running a few years, dissolved partner- 
ship, disposed of their stock, and engaged in 
other pursuits. George Cox opened a saloon 
a few years later, keeping also a small stock of 
groceries. He soon sold to Abe Conklin, who 
also sold, within five years, to Henry Rorick. 
Rorick sold to Charles Haughn, who, after a 
few years, left for more fruitful fields. The 
last two named kept groceries and dry goods. 
John Beard, Fred Wise and Henry Aiker sold 
liquor at different times. William Stuck was 
the first blacksmith. He was followed b}^ John 
Rexroth and Henry Aiker. Samuel Winter, 
whose shop was erected in 1835, was the first 
carpenter. Jacob Cressinger followed the same 
calling. At the same time the village was laid 
out, John Kaun was operating a saw-mill about 
a mile west. Though it changed hands several 
times, and was altered and enlarged, the same 
mill is yet running, after the lapse of almost 
half a century. Formed}- it was operated by 
horse-power, but at pi'esent by steam, and is 
owned by John Keeter. Abraham Steen oper- 
ated a saw-mill for twenty years, a few miles 
north of town, beginning about 1838. The 
village has been the home of numerous physi- 
cians, the more noted being Beard, Brougham, 
Black, Millison, Coover, Millard, Haughn and 
the present doctor, C. W. G. Ott, a graduate of 
the Columbus Medical College. Ague and ma- 
laria stood no chance before such an array of 
medical erudition. The post office was secured 
the next year after the village was laid out, 
through the influence of Frederick Wise, who 
became the first Postmaster. After it had been 
in operation nearly twenty-five years, it was 
removed, but, two years ago, was re-established 
through the influence of Josiah Keeter and 



George Timson. The mail is now tri-weekly, 
and the postal route extends from Bucyrus 
through New Winchester and Latimberville, to 
Caledonia, in Marion County. Josiah Keeter 
is the present Postmaster. 

At an early day, Adam Bear built a grist-mill 
on the Olentangy, about half a mile north of 
the village. Though located on the stream, it 
was at first operated by horse-power. It has 
continued running with but few short stoppages 
until the present day. Alterations and improve- 
ments have been made from time to time, steam 
taking the place of the old sweep, and different 
owners succeeding each other, among whom 
were Henry Wise and Peter Wert. One of the 
three sets of stones now used was purchased in 
Philadelphia over forty years ago, and is the 
best set now in the mill. E. A. Binfield is the 
present miller, and has the reputation of furnish- 
ing as good flour as that ground at Bucyrus. 
The mill, valued at $3,000, has an extensive 
patronage, and is owned by Roberts, Fink & 
Binfield. Peter Wert was the miller for many 
years, and, while in this connection, was also 
conductor on the underground railroad. He 
was a strong anti-slaverj' man, and alwa3's took 
the liberty of expressing his opinions, regard- 
less of the consequences. It is asserted that 
he was often seen to take little negro children 
up on the street, toss them in his arms, and 
kiss them. He never tired of talking of the 
sin of slavery and the great wrong done to the 
unfortunate black man. He was so intense in 
his convictions as to be fanatical. He made 
many enemies, but all belonged to the ranks of 
those who favored slavery, and were opposed to 
the enfranchisement of the negro. He was re- 
ligious, and was accustomed to introduce Scrip- 
tural evidence to prove the wrong of slavery. 

In March, 1861, the village of North Robin- 
son was laid out by Horace Martin, the Craw- 
ford Count}' Surveyor. The land was owned 
by J. B. Magers, and the lots were laid off from 
the southeastern part of the southern half of 



^'. 



552 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



fractional Section 12, Township 8, Range 17 
east. As originally surveyed, the town con- 
sisted of seventeen lots, to which one or more 
additions have been made, until the village at 
present comprises about eighty lots of different 
sizes. The additions have been made by Ebert 
Price and others. The village derives its title 
from a famil}-, named Robinson, that came to 
the township in about 1831, the members 
becoming prominent and influential citizens in 
after 3'ears. Several descendants are yet living 
in the township and in other parts of the 
county. A number of dwellings had been 
built in the town before it was laid out, and, 
as soon as Mr. Magers oflfered the lots for sale, 
quite a number were taken by those desiring a 
residence or place of business in the village- 
After the sale of lots had become quite large, 
and dwellings and industrial buildings, of 
various kinds, had been erected, it became 
known that the land, from which the lots were 
laid off, was heavily covered with mortgages. 
This created a panic, and the lots were mostly 
vacated by those who were in doubt of having 
a legal title to their land. They moved across 
the line in Jefferson Township, and established 
themselves on land owned by J. P. Robinson, 
who made an addition of lots to the village, and 
had them properly recorded. After the title to 
the originally laid out lots became quieted, 
business men and property-holders, generally, 
returned to the original town, which began to 
grow quite rapidly. Frederick Newman, the 
first merchant in the town, began with a small 
general assortment of goods, which was slowly 
increased until the capital invested amounted 
to more than a $1,000. There are, in town at 
present, one general store, two drug stores 
and one provision store, and all are doing a fair 
business. Liquor has been sold in the village 
since its origin. There was no hotel until five 
years ago, when W, P. Deam, the present land- 
lord, erected suitable buildings and began enter- 
taining the public. He has the reputation of 



keeping a first-class country hotel. John and 
William Burwell were the first resident black- 
smiths. A schoolhouse was built early in the 
history of the village, which, though small at 
first, has been enlarged since its erection, until 
it is now large, commodious and comfortable, 
and capable of accommodating an attendance 
of nearly one hundred busy children. The 
school is graded, H. H. Fate teaching the 
higher department, and Miss Ida Traul the 
lower. The building was erected in 1873 ; but, 
prior to this event, the children in the village 
were obliged to attend the neighboring schools 
in the country, much against the wishes of 
several citizens in the village, who became con- 
vinced that it was time to become independent 
of the country schools. The attendance has 
been large, and the school has been of vast 
benefit to the village. One of the best steam 
saw-mills in the county is located in town, and 
is owned and operated by Warden & Tracht. 
The mill has enormous capacity, and can turn 
out as excellent work as any of the county 
mills. Unlike some sawyers in the State, the 
operators have the reputation of being able to 
furnish more lumber from a given number of 
logs than any other mills in the county, except, 
perhaps, three or four. Their mill is circular. 
In April, 1880, Sickman, Fate & Co., of Crest- 
line, erected a steam tile-factory, which is oper- 
ated by the latest improved steam-driven 
machinery. They have several kilns, each 
having a capacity of 12,000 tiles of all sizes, 
from two to ten inches. Mr. Fate has charge 
of the factory, and finds ready sale for all the 
tile he can manufacture, which speaks well for 
the interest manifested by the farmers and other 
land-holdei's in draining the wet and marshy 
land in the neighborhood. The tiles are dried 
wholly by steam, and the process of drying is 
slow, to avoid the serious loss of allowing them 
to crack and break. Samuel Landes is oper- 
ating a cooper-shop in the village, and is doing 
good work. Ten years before the town was 



"^ <i 



:^ 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



553 



laid out, J. B. Magers, "William Brown and 
William McGee leased a small piece of land 
of Mr. Robinson, upon which they erected a 
steam saw-mill. Brown and McGee soon after- 
ward retired from the enterprise, but Magers 
continued, and placed in one apartment of the 
mill two sets of buhrs and other suitable ma- 
chinery for grinding grain. The mill did a 
good business, changing owners several times, 
and was finally burned to the ground. It was 
not afterward rebuilt, and, since the fire. North 
Robinson has been without a grist-mill. Soon 
after the establishment of the Pittsburgh, Fort 
Wayne & Chicago Railroad in the county, J. 
P. Robinson secured the location of a post office 
on the site of what afterward became North 
Robinson. Mr. Magers was appointed Postmas- 
ter. The present post oflftce oflflcial is George 
Railing. In 1 873, Mr. Magers erected a three- 
storied frame elevator at a cost of about $3,000. 
After a year or two, Magers failed in business, 
and the elevator was sold at public auction to 
Porter & Robinson, who conducted the business 
successfully for a few years. The building is 
now owned by Russell, Dailey & Co., of Crest- 
line, a wealthy business partnership, which 
buys and ships quite a large quantity of grain. 
In 1862, John L. Caskey and Lewis Helcker 
erected suitable buildings and began the manu- 
facture of carriages. The business was con- 
tinued by the partnership until 1873, when Mr. 
Caskey obtained entire control, and has since 
owned and managed the manufactory, emplo}'- 
ing steadily from six to ten employes, though 
his trade has been greatly injured by the large 
numbers of cheap Cincinnati carriages, sold 
throughout the county at a less price than he 
can aflTord to sell. However, he is doing a fair 
business, which is on the increase. A large 
English Lutheran Church was built in the town 
about four 3'ears ago. It is a nice, tastefully 
arranged edifice, and is a credit to the Christian 
people of that denomination living in the town 
and neighborhood. The United Brethren, also. 



have a church in which thej" are wont to 
assemble. Prior to four or five years ago, 
their church was about half a mile south of 
town. The}' have quite a strong membership. 
Dr. Frank Duff was the first physician in the 
town. Several others have practiced the pro- 
fession. C. R. Sheckler is the only resident 
physician at present. There are butcher, shoe 
and other shops, and the village is slowly 
increasing in population. 

A school cabin was built just south of the 
Campbell farm during the spring of 1828. It 
was a large rough-log structure, with one door 
hung on wooden hinges, and two windows, each 
containing two or three panes of glass. Eliza- 
beth Bear taught the first term in this cabin 
during the succeeding summer, and had between 
fifteen and twenty scholars enrolled. It was 
while this school was in session, that the great- 
est storm ever in the county, since the coming 
of the pioneer, passed across the township. It 
occurred about 2 o'clock in the afternoon of a 
June day that had been extremely hot, and en- 
tered the township southwest of New Winches- 
ter, taking a northeasterly course, and leaving 
from Section 25. Those old settlers who recol- 
lect seeing the storm, describe it as wonderfully 
gi'and and awe-inspiring. Before its coming, 
all nature was hushed in ominous silence. Not 
a leaf rustled, and the birds ceased their songs 
and sought the seclusion of the deepest woods. 
The few cattle gathered in herds in sheltered 
spots, and quietly awaited the coming of the 
storm. Great banks of black clouds appeared, 
almost touching the earth, and the vivid light- 
ning and startling thunder awoke the echoes 
of the forest, and added wildness and sublimity 
to the scene. The roar was frightful, and the 
rain fell in torrents, accompanied with hail as 
large as hen's eggs. The path of the cyclone 
was from one to two miles wide, and wherever 
the circling cloud struck, ever^-thing was leveled 
before it, like grain before the reaper. Large 
trees were uprooted ; others were snapped off 



;Rr 



554 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY 



like willow branches, and carried aloft in the air. 
Not a tree was left standing in its path ; but, 
strange to say, though stock and a few cabins 
were in its way, not one is remembered to have 
been injured. One man's cow was in its course, 
and, when found, was hemmed in so securely by 
fallen trees, that a clearing had to be made to 
release her. The schoolhouse was on the edge 
of its course, but was uninjui'ed, though the 
teacher and scholars were greatly frightened 
when large limbs, covered with ice, evidently 
frozen on while high in the air, struck the build- 
ing. Its course across the township is known 
to this day as the " windfall." 

Henry Remson taught the second term in 
the Campbell school cabin the following winter. 
Like many of the early teachers, he made a 
specialty of penmanship, and was himself an 
excellent scribe. He was a severe disciplin- 
arian, never hesitating on account of the size of 
the scholar. One day, he gave John Hamil- 
ton a severe whipping with a large hickory 
stick, for coupling the teacher's name with a 
"good, round oath," while on the pla3^-ground. 
" Round " oaths went out of fashion thenceforth. 
The attendance at this schoolhouse became so 
large that the school was divided, part of the 
scholars going for three or four years to a va- 
cant cabin, located a mile and a half northwest 
of New Winchester. Remson taught two or 
three terms in this cabin. In 1 840, a larger 
schoolhouse was built a short distance east of 
Mr. Campbell's residence, to take the place of 
the other, which had become too small to ac- 
commodate all the scholars. It was a large 
building, and was used as a meeting-house for 
all denominations of Christians. Conflicting 
opinions often wrought disturbance, though all 
serious outbreaks were happily averted. The 
present schoolhouse of the Campbell District 
was built in 1860, at a cost of $500. About six 
years after the early Campbell school cabin was 
built, another was erected across the Olentangy, 
on the Snyder farm. This answered the purpose 



until 1855, when the present one was erected, 
at a cost of nearly $500. The Snyder and 
Campbell schools were not the earliest, how- 
ever. The intelligent and enterprising settlers 
in the northern part began holding schools as 
earl}' as 1824, in the cabins of the settlers. 
Suitable clapboard furniture, or, at least, that 
which answered the purpose, was placed in one 
end of the cabin, sufficient in amount to supply 
the few scholars with seats and desks. The 
other end of the cabin was occupied by the 
culinary department, and was tabooed ground 
to the urchins during moments of intermission. 
The housewife would not brook the nuisance of 
having the children interfering in her domes- 
tic affairs. So far as known, the first school 
was taught in John Beckwith's cabin, dur- 
ing the winter of 1824-25. Who taught it 
will, doubtless, ever remain part of the unwrit- 
ten history' of Whetstone Township. School 
was taught here continuousl}^ until the winter 
of 1826-27, when the first session was held in 
a round-log schoolhouse, that had been erected 
the summer before, on Joseph Young's farm. 
A teacher from Bucyrus, named Moses Arden, 
taught one of the earl}' terms here, and some 
say he taught the first. In the absence of any 
evidence to the contrary, Mr. Arden should be 
accorded the honor. When teachers were 
wanted in early years, Bucyrus responded to 
the call, and could usually furnish the desired 
number and sex. In the fall of 1828, another 
log schoolhouse was built on the Ludwig farm. 
But little is known concerning the schools 
taught here, though two of the early teachers 
were Elizabeth Bear and Jonas Scott. The 
schoolhouse was so near Bucyrus, that the 
larger scholars preferred going to the latter 
place, though school was still taught in the 
schoolhouse for the benefit of the smaller chil- 
dren, who were unable to walk through the bad 
roads, during the winter months, to the village 
school. It was not long before the town- 
ship was divided into school districts, and soon 






:sr 



-£. 



HISTORY or CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



555 



afterward each could boast of the historical 
log schoolhouse. 

The most important school in Whetstone at 
present is the one at New Winchester. The 
first school in the village, like all the early 
schools, was taught in a log schoolhouse. The 
building was erected in 1835, near the northern 
limits, and was used for about fifteen years, 
when another was built in the eastern part. 
The latter was a frame structure, having a shin- 
gle roof, and was sided with poplar lumber, ob- 
tained at the saw-mill in Osceola. This build- 
ing was used about ten years, when another took 
its place, the latter lasting until two years ago, 
when the present fine, brick structure was erected 
at a cost of $1,700. The school is graded, and 
has an average attendance of about ninety- 
five scholars. It is one of the largest school 
edifices in the county outside the three largest 
towns, and reflects great credit on the citizens 
of southern Whetstone for interest in educa- 
tional affairs. 

The citizens of Whetstone early felt the need 
of churches, and, as early as 1824, meetings 
were held around at the cabins b}' the more 
prominent church denominations. The churches 
of the county were many years a part of what 
was known as the Richland Circuit, and many 
of the earlier ministers came from the vicinity 
of Mansfield, where churches had been founded 
several years before the war of 1812. It is dif- 
ficult to realize the trials under which the early 
church people labored. The circuit-rider has 
passed into history in Ohio, although farther 
west on the frontier, where the first settlements 
are being made, that well-known character 
meets with a hearty welcome at the fireside, 
where the Bible is often i-ead, and where its 
precepts are taught and followed. Crawford 
Count}' remained for many years a part of the 
Richland Circuit, and hence the preachers who 
first appeared in Whetstone Township came 
from Mansfield. John 0. Blowers and his 
brother William, residents of Liberty Town- 



ship, became known throughout the county as 
preachers of considerable power. They were 
.Alethodists, and were full of magnetic force, 
and were among the most successful of the 
early revivalists. They were the first to con- 
duct meetings in Whetstone. Solomon M^^neer 
was a prominent Methodist circuit-rider, who 
traveled for months at a time. A circnit-rider 
that could collect from his congregations $40, 
during a year of incessant traveling and preach- 
ing, was deemed lucky by his less fortunate 
fellow-ministers. Having preached in a cabin 
or a schoolhouse one night, the rider would 
travel the following day to another neighbor- 
hood, where he would again preach. Rev. 
Myneer traveled over Delaware, Monroe, Craw- 
ford, Richland, Hardin and Morrow Counties, 
and was almost two months in making the 
round. The Campbell Schoolhouse was used 
as a church, or, rather, it was built as a com- 
bined church and schoolhouse. It was \;sed by 
different denominations, and, while it was thus 
used, conflicting opinions often arose as to what 
denominations should or should not occup}- it. 
In about 1852, the Whetstone Disciple Chui'ch 
was built, at a cost of $500. The society soon 
became quite strong, but the members soon 
found that Bucyrus, with its fine churches, was 
too near, many of the citizens who would other- 
wise have joined it preferring to attend those 
in the town. This fact became a serious draw- 
back to the growth of the society. The build- 
ing was occupied, however, until four years 
ago, when it was abandoned, and, during the 
past year, has been sold to private parties. The 
Methodists built a chui'ch in the northern part 
as early as 1832. Cornwallis Reece was a 
prominent man in this society for many years, 
and was one of the men to organize it. Robert 
Reed was the Class-leader through a long series 
of years. 

The German Reformers organized a church 
in the vicinity of New Winchester at an early 
dav. No church was built, however, until 



556 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



1847, when a building was erected about thirty 
rods west of the vilhige at a cost of some 
$000. Rev. James Keller was the first officiat- 
ing minister. lie did more than an^- other 
man to arouse enthusiasm in the church, and 
to increase its membership by the addition of 
intelligent Christian people. He was a fine 
scholar, and preached in either the German or 
the English language. The church soon had a 
strong membership ; Sundaj- schools were or- 
ganized, and much interest was manifested. 
Two 3'ears ago, the church was remodeled and 
improved. The building is at present owned 
by the United Brethren, and the minister in 
charge is Rev. J. V. Potts. The German Re- 
formers, living about a mile and a half north 
of the village, built a church as early as 1835, 
in the yard of which they began bur3ing their 
dead. Many costl}' monuments are standing 
in memoriam of loved ones. The building was 



used until 1859, when a large brick structure 
was erected to take its place. This church is 
called " The Reformed St. John's Church." 
There is but one finer church in the township. 
The most of the Reformers, living in the vicinity 
of New Winchester, who formerly belonged to 
the church there, are at present members of the 
St. John's Church. A United Brethren Church 
society was organized quite early in the vicinity 
of North Robinson. A church was built about 
half a mile south of the village ; but, after the 
town was laid out, the building was moved 
there. The finest church in the township, one 
that would be no discredit to a city, was built 
a few 3'ears ago in the village b3' the English 
Lutherans. The building cost several thousand 
dollars, and its arrangement on the interior is 
elegant and costly. It has a large congrega- 
tion, and is among the best churches in the 
county. 



CHAPTER XIX.* 

LIBERTY TOWxXSHIP— DESCRIPTION AND TOPOGRAPHY— EARLY SETTLEMENTS— EARLY PRIVA- 
TIONS AND INDUSTRIES— SCHOOLS AND SCHOOL[H)[;SES— CHURCHES— THE VILLAGE. 



LIBERTY TOWNSHIP is situated in the 
center of Crawford County, and the geo- 
graphical center of the county lies in Libert3' 
Township, about one mile southwest of the 
township center. In the survey made b3' the 
Government, Libert3' is known as Township 2, 
of Range 17 east, and its limits at the present 
time are the same as when it was laid off b3' 
the Government surve3'ors. In 1835, the 
Count3' Commissioners, at their June session, 
formed two townships from the territory em- 
braced at that time within the limits of San- 
dusk\% and to the northern township, which 
bore the original name, the3' attached the 
eastern fractional sections of Liberty, viz., 1. 
12, 13, 24, 25 and 36. These fractional sec- 

*Contributed by Thomas Hopley. 



tions continued as a part of Sandusky several 
3'ears, when the3' were again permanently at- 
tached to Liberty Township, which is at the 
present time six miles in extent from north to 
south, and nearl3' five and one-half miles from 
east to west ; containing a few acres less than 
thirty-two and three-fourths square miles of 
territory. Libert3' is bounded on the north b3' 
Chatfield and Cranberry, on the east b3- a small 
portion of Cranberr3' and Sandusk3-, on the 
south by Whetstone, and on the west by 
Holmes. The Sandusky River enters the 
township near the southeastern corner, and 
winds along toward the west, bearing to the 
south until it leaves Libert3f at the southwest- 
ern corner. The Broken Sword Creek, which 
rises in this township, flows through the north- 



:T 



tiu 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



557 



em portion. Bull Run, a smaller stream, 
which aids in forming the Broken Sword, is 
the natural water-course of the eastern and 
central lands of Liberty, while many of the 
farms of the western part are drained by Bran- 
dywine Creek before it enters Holmes Town- 
ship. The Sandusky River and these small 
creeks form the water-course by which the 
township is drained. When Liberty was first 
settled, the lands were covered by a dense for- 
est, which contained a luxuriant growth of 
underbrush, weeds and wild grass, and the 
lands were wet most of the year. The indus- 
trious and energetic race who have occupied 
the township during the past sixty years, and 
cleared away the forests, cut down the under- 
brush and improved the farms, have also 
perfected the natural water-course by construct- 
ing numerous ditches, and, at the present time. 
Liberty is one of the best-tilled and most 
productive townships of Ohio. 

The eastern boundary of Liberty is the 
boundary line of the New Purchase, and the 
lands embraced in the township comprise a 
small portion of the immense tract purchased 
by the United States Government from the 
Indians in 1817. Thousands of the early set- 
tlers of the New Purchase, in journeying to 
their new homes, passed through Crawford 
County, and, of the vast multitude, a number 
turned aside and visited the forests and glades 
and glens of Liberty. It is not surprising 
then that many of these remained, and, in a 
few years, all the Government land in the 
township was entered, and most of it by actual 
settlers. The first families were generally from 
New England and the Western Reserve, and 
they entered land along the Sandusky River 
bottom. Shortly afterward came the descend- 
ants of the Pennsylvania Dutch and emigrants 
from Germany. These settled upon the lands 
in the central and northern portions of the 
township. Some of these pioneer settlers who 
first entered the lands at the Government office 



sold out and left for the West, but the greater 
portion of them remained, and their descendants 
are to-day occupying these same farms, and reap- 
ing the harvest their ancestors sowed a half-cent- 
ur}^ ago in toil and hardship. Liberty, in 1820 
an unbroken forest, without a single white in- 
habitant, contained, in 1830, by the United States 
census, 655 persons. The population of the 
township at each decade since that time was 
as follows: 1840,1,-169; 1850,1,782; 1860, 
1,788; 1870, 1,597; 1880, 1,685. These fig- 
ures prove that there are less people in Libertj'^ 
at the present time than in 1850 or 1860. The 
reason for this decrease in population is, that, 
from 1860 to several years after 1870, many of 
the smaller land-holders sold out to their more 
fortunate neighbors and moved to the West. 

Dr. J. B. Squires, in his pioneer sketch, makes 
the following statements in regard to the char- 
acter of the country and the hardships of the 
early settlers : " Sixty years ago the territory 
of which this township is composed, was one 
unbroken wilderness, traversed by roving bands 
of red men who used it as an occasional hunt- 
ing-ground, though they had no fixed habita- 
tions here. No Indian village or cluster of 
wigwams relieve the unbroken density of the 
forest. The deer, the wild turkey and other 
species of game, was abundant then. Numer- 
ous packs of wolves made night hideous with 
their discordant howls, and an occasional black 
bear was seen by the Indian hunter and early 
settler. The whole land was covered by a 
forest of huge trees, so dense and similar every- 
where in appearance that the early settler was 
obliged to mark his excursions from home by 
blazing trees, that is, cutting a strip of bark off 
the opposite sides of a tree and in sight of that 
tree blaze another, and so on, to mark his course 
in order to find his way home, or be able to 
travel in the same direction at another time. 
In pliysical comforts, the pioneers suffered pri- 
vations of which those who know nothing of 
them can form no adequate conception. Fre- 



;1^ 



558 



HISTOEY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



quently, when the corn-meal was all gone, the 
mother would be compelled to grate enough 
for the supper she wished to prepare for her 
famih'. Occasionally there was a little wheat 
flour in the house, and then short-cake would 
be made for breakfast on Sunday morning. 
Nevertheless, they were quite often treated to 
luxuries which would be enjoyed in this day. 
A lucky shot brought down a fat deer or wild 
turkej', and they feasted thereon and pro- 
nounced it good, and especially after the cut- 
ting down of a bee-tree the fare was deemed 
excellent for a few da3^s. Mortars were con- 
structed for bruising corn into coarse meal, and 
hand-mills were built. When the McMichael 
mill got to grinding, it was a great accommoda- 
tion to the settlers, yet the river was so low 
that it was impossible to grind with it much of 
the year, and horse-mills were constructed in 
various parts of the countr3^ Isaac Rise, a 
comparatively early settler, built one of these 
on the farm where he now resides, which was 
often thronged both night and day by people 
waiting their turn to hitch on their teams, some 
times a yoke of oxen, and grind their grists, 
for they were all anxious to get started for 
home. There were mills running at Mansfield 
and on the Mohican, but these were too far oflf 
to visit frequently at that earl}^ day when there 
were no roads. However some of the settlers 
would occasionally patronize them, but it gen- 
erallj- took two whole days to go to and return 
from the Mansfield mills. The grist was placed 
on the back of a horse, and the man or boy 
walked and led the faithful animal. Fruit- 
trees were earl^^ planted, and soon peaches be- 
came abundant, but apple-trees took a longer 
time to come into bearing. Sheep and cattle 
became plenty after a few years, and milk, but- 
ter, beef and mutton, as well as fruit, were added 
to the material comforts of life." 

Several years previous to the settlement of 
Liberty Township. Johnny Appleseed had 
visited the southwestern portion, and planted 



one of his numerous nursersies on the farm 
afterward entered by the first settler ; but the 
first cabin built in Liberty as a home for the 
white man, the nucleus of civilization, the 
first breaking of ground in that savage wilder- 
ness of nature, was in 1820 by Daniel Mc- 
Michael, who settled upon the 160 acres of 
land comprising the southwest quarter of Sec- 
tion 32. This farm is now owned and occupied 
by Nathan Cooper. 

Daniel McMichael was born in Ireland, and 
near the close of the eighteenth century, when 
he was sixteen years old, his parents emigrated 
to America and settled in Westmoreland County, 
Penn. In a few j^ears, McMichael formed the 
acquaintance of a " Scotch lassie," and they 
were married. The following seven children 
were the result of their union : David, born 
November 30, 1806 ; Mathew, November, 1808; 
William, December 17, 1810 ; Martha, January 
23, 1813 ; Mary, February 22, 1815 ; Daniel, 
March 18, 1817; Allen, July 14, 1819. In 
1820, McMichael removed with his wife and 
family to Crawford Count}^, and settled for a 
few weeks on what is now the northern part of 
Bucyrus corporation. He desired to engage in 
the milling business, and finding a moi'e suita- 
ble location about four miles up the Sandusky 
River, removed his family to the land he first 
entered in Liberty Township. In a few months, 
he commenced work on this new enterprise, 
which was the first mill ei-ected in what was 
then Crawford County. Until it was built, the 
settlers in the neighborhood were compelled to 
visit the Hosford Mill, near what is now Gallon 
— that is, if they desired grinding without going 
over a score of miles. McMichael soon found 
he could not depend upon the Sandusk}^ River 
for water-power to keep the machinery run- 
ning twelve months each j'ear ; the outlook was 
not promising, and, about 1823, he rented the 
establishment to Nehemiah Squires and re- 
moved to Bucyrus, where he died some two 
years afterward, in 1825. 



& — 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



559 



In the fall of 1820, Ralph Bacon arrived in 
the new country with his wife and nine chil- 
dren. Bacon was of Massachusetts descent, 
and had formerly resided in that portion of 
Geauga County which is at the present time 
within the limits of Lake. The family removed 
from Northeastern Ohio to their new home in 
wagons drawn by oxen, and on November 13, 
1820, they arrived at what is now Bucyrus, 
The first night they stayed with Marshall Bea- 
dle, who lived at that time on the land now oc- 
cupied by the residence of Silas Bowers. The 
next da}^ the Bacons moved into a vacant 
shanty, which had been erected upon the land 
now owned by Thomas Hall, in tbe northeast- 
ern part of Bucyrus. and the}' occupied this un- 
til Bacon had constructed a round-log cabin 
upon his land in Liberty Township. In about 
two weeks, their rude home was finished, and 
early in December they removed to it. " The 
exact site of this cabin is now unoccupied by 
any building to mark the spot where it stood, 
In going west from the present residence of 
James H. Kemmis till you cross a bridge and 
ascend a long hill, the first level ground on the 
top of the hill, at the left hand side road of the 
may be recognized as its location." The land 
entered by Bacon was the eighty acres com- 
prised in the east half of the southeast quarter 
of Section 33, of Liberty Township, and this 
farm is at present owned by his son Martin. 
Mr. Bacon also purchased from the Government 
at the same time 160 acres in Whetstone Town- 
ship, and many years later he erected upon 
this a more satisfactory residence than a log 
cabin, which he occupied until he died, on June 
14. 1850, having been a resident of Crawford 
County a few months less than thirty years. 
He was the father of thirteen children, viz.. 
Charles. Sarah. Mary, Martin, Emeline, Minerva. 
Clarissa, Emily, Ralph, Dexter, Caroline, Eliza 
and William. Ralph, the ninth child, was only 
four months old when the ftxmily removed to 
the township, and about seventeen months aft- 



erward Dexter, the tenth child, was born, on 
May 6, 1822. He was the first white male 
child born in Liberty, and is living at the 
present time on the land just west of the eighty 
acres purchased by his father in 1820. In 
September, 1822, Sarah Bacon married Phil- 
ander Odell, and they were the first couple 
married in the township. Bacon's thirteen 
children all lived until they reached maturity ; 
most of them were married and raised large 
families, and the second settler of Liberty was 
the ancestor of manj^ of the enterprising and 
energetic citizens of this township and Craw- 
ford County. 

The third settler to purchase land and erect 
a cabin was Auer Umber field, who came with 
the Bacons in 1820. He drove one of their ox 
teams from Geauga County, and brought with 
him $100 in gold. Land was worth only $1.25 
per aci'e, and the amount he had was sufficient 
to purchase eighty acres. The tract he entered 
lies west of the present home of Dexter Bacon, 
and it is now owned by Mrs. Diana Blowers. 
During the winter, Umberfield boarded with the 
Bacons, but he soon grew tired of being the 
only bachelor of the neighborhood, and married 
one of the daughters of James Scott, who re- 
sided at that time in Whetstone Township. 
This was possibly the first marriage ceremony 
performed in Crawford County. Umberfield did 
not remain in the township many years, but. in 
1835, sold out to Samuel Plants, and left for 
the West. Plants was the father of Judge Jo- 
siah S. Plants, who resided in Liberty a few 
3'ears while he was a young man. In the spring 
of 1821, Thomas McClure settled upon the 160 
acres now owned by George Donnenwirth, and 
built a cabin just south of the Sandusky River, 
but he only lived in the township a few 3-ears, 
and, in 1833, sold out to Michael Nigh, and re- 
moved to Richland County. John Maxfield 
also settled in Liberty during the spring or 
summer of 1821. He purchased 160 acres of 
land, eighty between Umberfield's and McClure's 



'.± 



560 



HISTOEY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



land, and eighty just east of Umberfield's. 
Max field was a Vermont Yankee, but he had 
resided a short time at the Harding settlement, 
some five miles southeast of what is now Gallon, 
previous to his removal to Crawford County. 
Maxfield built a cabin on his east eighty, just 
south of the river, upon the bluff; but being 
ignorant of the exact location of his northern 
boundar}^ line, he unfortunately got his cabin 
upon the land north of his eighty. Shortly 
afterward, a peddler by the name of Richard 
Spicer, came into the neighborhood, and dis- 
covered Maxfield's mistake. Spicer hastened 
to Delaware and entered the eighty acres upon 
which the cabin was standing when he left. The 
actions of the peddler aroused the suspicions of 
the Vermont Yankee, and deciding that, as he 
did not care to lose the improvements he had 
made, the cabin must be quickly removed to 
his own land. He gathered his neighbors to- 
gether, explained the matter to them, and, with 
their assistance, the removal was made in a few 
hours. When the peddler returned to take 
possession, he was chagrined to find that he 
had been outwitted by his Yankee neighbor. 
After residing in Libert}^ about twenty years, 
Maxfield sold out to Dexter Bacon, and re- 
moved to Illinois. About the year 1833, Max- 
field built the brick residence which is still 
standing, and occupied by Bacon. This was 
the first brick house erected in Liberty Town- 
ship. Machinery for manufacturing brick had 
not, in those daj's, reached the present state 
of perfection, and, unfortunately, bi*ick-makers 
could not secure one of the Eagle Foundry Im- 
proved Tiffany Machines. Cattle were driven 
in from the woods and yoked to a " sweep," 
which was attached to an upright. The oxen 
and sweep moved around in a circle. Water 
was poured on the ground upon which the beasts 
were constantly treading, and soon a large mud- 
hole was formed. When this mud reached the 
right consistency, it was molded into brick. 
The cattle were not particular in regard to the 



character of this mud, and frequently other mat- 
ter than mud was mixed up and manufactured 
into bi'ick. Shortly after Maxfield's house was 
finished, Michael Nigh employed men to build 
him a brick residence. In laying the founda- 
tion, the workmen used so much mud for mor- 
tar that Nigh became angry, and turned them 
off, declaring that he wanted a brick house and 
not a mud house. Unfortunately, he built his 
brick wall upon this risk}^ foundation, and the 
result was, when the rain moistened the mud it 
crumbled, the foundation gave wa}', the brick 
wall tumbled town, and " great was the fall 
thereof;" but gi'eater still was the anger of 
Nigh at the bad workmanship of his unskillful 
or dishonest masons. Nigh afterward removed 
to Missouri, and was drowned in the Missouri 
River. 

Henry Couts, of Bucyrus Township, states 
that Christian Couts, his father, moved into 
Liberty, April 11, 1821, with his wife and 
family, composed of three boys and two girls. 
Henry was, at this time, twelve years old. His 
father entered land about one mile south of 
what is now Sulphur Springs, and this farm was 
afterward owned by Pharoh Bell, and upon it 
the Bell Schoolhouse was erected. Mr. Couts 
says that William Huff was the only resident 
in that neighborhood when they arrived. 

John 0. Blowers first visited the township 
in 1821, and purchased 160 acres of land one- 
half mile east of Ralph Bacon. His deed for 
this was dated at Washington, October 8, 1821. 
This land is owned at the present time by Capt. 
S. S. Blowers, son of the man who entered it at 
the land office. Although Mr. Blowers was not 
the first person to settle in the township, he 
undoubtedly deserves the chief place in the 
history of Liberty, if it is proper to accord to 
any of those old pioneer heroes a chief place. 
From the time he removed here in 1822, until 
he died in 1844, he was the acknowledged 
leader in the man}' movements for the advance- 
ment of the intellectual and moral interests of 





i^^^ ^>-^^-^it<2<^ 



liL 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



561 



the community. For many years, the township 
was the home of very many families, who did 
not remain, and many of the men and boys of 
these families were lawless and disorderly. 
They were always dissatisfied with their condi- 
tion and prospects, and although they were 
occup3'ing some of the richest lands of the 
countr}', they soon became restless, and one by 
one these families left for that boundless West, 
in the hopes of finding a country better suited 
to their hopes and aims. Not that all who 
went West had been lawless in Liberty, but of 
many who did leave it can be trul}' said, ''they 
left the township for the township's good." A 
community containing many citizens of this 
character, needed men, who not only had the 
boldness to denounce the evil deeds of the law- 
less and desperate, but who possessed the 
moral force to guide, encourage and oi'ganize 
the better eflforts of the many families who 
desired to do right. Although there were 
others in the township who always rendered all 
the aid they could, to the efforts of their ac- 
knowledged leader, yet John 0. Blowers was 
that leader — the moral hero most needed by 
the community to mold the character and 
shape the destiny of the citizens. His high 
moral worth and courage, which comes from a 
consciousness of correct motives, made him a 
terror to those who were disposed to evil, and 
a leader of the many who wished the township 
governed by the better elements of their crude 
society. Mr. Blowers urged and assisted in 
the construction of the first schoolhouse. At 
his cabin was held the first public religious 
services in the township. He gathered together 
and instructed the first Methodist class of the 
count}', which, in a few months, became strong 
enough to be organized into the first church of 
Liberty Township. He encouraged the weak 
and timid to "stand firm in the faith." He 
assisted in the organization, and became the 
first Superintendent, of the first Sabbath school 
of Crawfoi'd County. As a strict Method- 



ist, his home was the resting-place of all the 
pioneer circuit riders, and itinerant ministers 
of that church who visited the neighborhood, 
but as a Christian he gave as heart}' a welcome 
to the missionaries of other sects, and the 
knowledge that one was engaged in a good 
work was a sufficient pass-word, not only to 
his hospitality, but it was the ke}' that unlocked 
his heart, and those who applied for his assist- 
ance to aid a good cause were never disap- 
pointed, but always obtained not only encour- 
agement, but more satisfactory assistance. 

The Blowers family originally came from 
Vermont, and were descended from the old 
Puritanic stock. John 0. Blowers was born in 
Vermont December 5, 1782. He was married 
May 21, 1810, to S3dvinia Chadsey. When war 
was declared between the United States and 
Great Britain in 1812, Blowers was living in 
Canada, having purchased 200 acres of land 
some twenty miles from Kingston, with the in- 
tention of making a temporar}' home in that 
countr}'. The authorities desired to press him 
into the English service, and he was twice 
drafted, but he refused to bear arms against his 
native land, and after suffering persecution on 
account of his loyaltj- to the Stars and Stripes, 
he forsook the accumulated wealth of many 
3^ears hard work, and with his family sought a 
refuge in his native land, settling at Salt Creek, 
Wayne Co., Ohio, where they remained until 
they removed to Crawford County. In 1821, 
Blowers left his family at Salt Creek and visited 
Liberty Township. Being favorably impressed 
with the countr}', he purchased 160 acres of 
land, upon which he erected a log cabin, and 
until this was finished he boarded with Ralph 
Bacon. In order to secure sufficient help to 
raise the logs, it was necessary for him to visit 
the settlers for ten and twelve miles. He ob- 
tained assistance as far south as what is now 
Latimberville, as far north as Chatfield Town- 
ship, and several miles east. The pioneer 
settlers were always very neighborly, and 



562 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



thought nothing of going ten and fifteen miles 
to assist at a " logging " or log-cabin " raising." 
Blowers told his son in after years that one 
year he put in thirty-one days of his time 
helping his neighbors in this manner. When 
the new homestead of the Blowers family was 
finished, the owner returned to Wayne County 
for his family, and in the spring of 1822 they 
permanently settled in Liberty Township. 
Blowers cleared a patch of ground and raised 
a crop of corn and vegetables during the first 
summer. February 23, 1823, James C. Blow- 
ers was born, but died the same da}', and this 
infant was the first person buried in the town- 
ship. Some four months afterward, on July 8, 
1823, James M. Maxfield, son of John and Joana 
Maxfield, died, aged two years, eleven months 
and twenty da3's, and this was the second death 
in Liberty. Blowers was the father of sixteen 
children, eleven boys and five girls ; most of 
these children died when they were quite young 
— only six, five boys and one girl, grew to ma- 
turity and were married, viz.: Rufus L., Lemuel 
L., John C, Sylvia Ann, Samuel S. and Russell 
Bigelow Blowers. The first four came to Lib- 
erty with their parents in 1822, the fourth being 
a mere infant at the time. Blowers lived in 
the township for nearl}' twent^'-three years, and 
died September 29, 1844, aged sixty-one years 
nine months and twenty-four days. 

In April, 1822, Robert Foster moved into 
Liberty Township, and purchased the 160 acres 
now owned by the heirs of John Crall. Foster 
left Ireland with his wife " Peggy " and four 
children, during the war of 1812. The ship 
they sailed in was an English vessel, and, dur- 
ing the voyage, it was ovei'hauled bj' one of 
the frigates of the United States Navy. The 
American captain, considering that the cargo of 
the English ship, emigrants, would in a short 
time be patriotic citizens, permitted the English 
vessel to continue her vo3'age. Foster resided 
in Richland County for several years, until he 
removed to Crawford. When this joll}' Irish- 



man was journeying through the woods with his 
family to their Western home, he discovered a 
walnut lying among the leaves. Knowing his 
wife was very fond of lemons, he presented it 
to her, explaining to his innocent helpmeet that 
it was her favorite fruit. Not suspecting her 
roguish husband, she took an immense bite, 
and the result was — a hitter disappointment. 
" Peggy " couldn't see the humor of the joke. 
She took after Robert, and, after chasing him 
through the woods some distance, succeeded in 
capturing him, and he then received from her 
the trouncing he justly deserved for fooling his 
innocent wife. The aggressive character of 
" Peggy " was inherited by several of her im- 
mediate descendants, and these became known 
as the "fighting Fosters," who were prominent 
in political quari'cls during the war of the re- 
bellion. Robert Foster died August 9, 1835, 
and was buried in the graveyard northwest of 
Bucyrus. The family of six which left Ireland, 
was increased by numerous additions, and, 
when the census was taken in 1830, the enu- 
merators must have found at least a dozen 
young Fosters. Most of these removed to the 
West, and were the parents of large families. 
In future years, many of the energetic and en- 
terprising citizens of the Great West will be 
numbered among Foster's descendants. One 
of his daughters (Miss Sarah), who was born 
May 22, 1822, was the first female child born in 
Liberty Township. She is now the wife of 
Robert Andrews, Esq. Another daughter (Ann) 
became the wife of Rev. Robert Reid and the 
mother of Hon. William M. Reid, of Bucyrus. 
In the fall of 1822, William Blowers left the 
town of Salem, Washington Co., N. Y., and, in 
thirty days, on November 5, arrived in Liberty 
Township, and settled on his brother's farm. 
He brought with him two of his sisters and 
their husbands, Calvin and Nchemiah Squires. 
The latter was the father of Dr. J. B. Squires, 
of Sulphur Springs. In November, 1823, Sam- 
uel Smalley arrived with his wife, also a sister 



:r^ 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



563 



of William Blowers. Smalley and his wife 
came from Vermont, and, in order to reach 
their new home, they journej'ed 600 miles in a 
wagon. Smalley worked for his brother-in-law 
a short time, and then moved to the Ludwig 
farm, east of Bucyrus. About 1830, he pur- 
chased of Nicholas Singely what is now the 
Crum farm. Singely never lived in Liberty, but 
Smalley and his wife are at the present time 
(August, 1880), residing in the township, at 
Sulphur Springs, having lived in Crawford 
County fifty-seven years, and together as man 
and wife for sixty-two years. 

Dr. Squires, in his pioneer sketch, says : " The 
year 1823 was marked by numerous accessions 
to the early settlers, among whom may be men- 
tioned Ichabod Smith, James McCurdy, Asa 
Cobb, Simeon Parcher, Calvin Stone, Garrett 
Dorland, with his sons James, Isaac and Luke, 
Jacob Grurwell, Mathias Markley, Thomas 
Smith, Benjamin Manwell, Thomas Scott, Sam- 
uel Smalley, Joseph Chandler, John Chandler, 
Charles Doney and Edward Hartford. In 1824, 
the sparse settlement received increasing ac- 
cessions. Horatio Markley, Noble McKinster, 
John G. Stough, John Kroft, and, I think, Rob- 
ert Foster and many others, were added to their 
number." These settlers generally purchased 
from the Grovernment the lands upon which they 
settled, and these lands were exempt from tax- 
ation for five years. The tax duplicate of 
Crawford Count}' for 1830 proves that the lands 
owned at that date by the following additional 
persons must have been entered previous to 
April, 1825 : John Anderson, John Bear, John 
Clingan, James Clingan, John H. Fry, William 
Hufi", Daniel Ketchum, Philip Klinger, Richard 
King, Daniel Kimball, William Little, Richard 
Spicer, Daniel Shelharamer, John Slifer, Asa 
Wetherby, Anthony Walker and Mary Wood. 
Land speculators are not included in the above 
list of seventeen persons, who were actual set- 
tlers of Liberty at an early day. It is possi- 
ble, however, that a few entered their lands 



several years previous to the time they removed 
to the township. 

Death early visited the homes of the pioneers, 
and, February 3, 1823, James, the infant son 
of John 0. Blowers, died just as he commenced 
to live. Five months later, James Monroe Max- 
field passed away, aged nearly three years. 
These children were buried on the Blowers 
farm ; othei's were interred beside them, and 
the spot of ground became known as the Blow- 
ers graveyard, the first started in the township. 
It was, in after years, dedicated and deeded to 
the Methodist Episcopal Church. A short 
time afterward, death visited the settlers in 
northern Liberty, but when, and who were the 
first victims, will forever remain unknown. As 
the northeast corner of Jacob L. Gurwell's 
farm was first used to bury the dead, it might 
have been one of his children. About one 
dozen bodies were interred here, but no tomb- 
stones were ever erected — only wooden boxes 
were placed around the top of several graves. 
When other regular graveyards were estab- 
lished, many of these bodies were removed ; 
but the friends of the balance were in the West, 
and when a road was located across this cor- 
ner, years afterward, their last resting-place 
was desecrated, and, years from now, if in dig- 
ging in this road human bones are found, it is 
to be hoped they will receive a kinder treat- 
ment than these graves did two generations 
ago. When David Simmons died, November 
8, 1829, he was buried on the southwest corner 
of John G. Stough's land, and Thomas Smith, 
who died April 22, 1833, was interred on the 
northeast corner of his own land (the opposite 
corner). Others of the neighborhood were laid 
beside these two when they died, and this land 
has since been set apart as sacred to the mem- 
ory' of these departed ones. This is now known 
as the Crall United Brethren graveyard, but, 
in later years, other land, on the other side of 
the road, has also been dedicated for a ceme- 
tery. About the year 1830, one of Peter 



fe^ 



564 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY 



Whetstone's children died, and the body was 
buried on his farm — now owned by Michael 
Charlton. Since then, about six Charltons, 
nine members of the Chambers family, thirteen 
Conleys and others have been interred in this 
Whetstone bur3'ing-ground. The Roop grave- 
yard, one mile southwest of the Conley Church, 
was also started at an early da}". The Ger- 
mans of the northern part of Libeity estab- 
lished the cemetery at the Reformed Church as 
early as 1832, and the one at the Lutheran 
Church was started about the time the building 
was erected in 1852. It is said that Waugne, 
a tinner of Sulphur Springs, was the first per- 
son interred here. Previous to 1830, a man 
named Wood, father-in-law of Asa Cobb, was 
buried on his own farm, and the Wood- Cobb 
burying-ground was started. Many who died 
in the vicinity of Sulphur Springs were buried 
about one-half mile southwest of the village. 
This little cemetery, on the edge of the woods, 
was started about 1835, when John Slifer 
owned the land. The graveyard on Henry 
Fry's land, near the Union Church, was started 
about the same time. The child of a Mr. An- 
derson died about 1848, and was buried on 
what is now John Adam Klink's farm. A cem- 
etery was afterward regularly established here, 
which is owned by the farmers in that neigh- 
borhood. 

The population of Liberty soon became nu- 
merous enough to secure for the township a 
civil organization under the laws of the State. 
For about four 3'ears, Libert}' was temporarily 
attached to Sandusky Township. This state- 
ment is made for the following reason : Westell 
Ridgley and Joseph Young were commissioned 
Justices of the Peace for Sandusky Township, 
April 15, 1821, and, when their terms expired, 
on election was held May 15, 1824, with the 
following result : Mathias Markley, 22 ; Icha- 
bod Smith, 22 ; Westell Ridgley, 17 ; Dezberry 
Johnson, 5 ; Michael Brown, 4. Markley and 
Smith, the successful candidates, were after- 



ward the first Justices of the Peace of Liberty 
Township, but they were both commissioned 
May 31, 1824, as Justices of the Peace of San- 
dusky, and sworn in as such by Zalmon Rowse, 
Justice of the Peace of Bucyrus Township. 
The Commissioners of Marion County, at their 
March session in 1825, passed the following 
order : " That surveyed Township No. 2, in 
Range 17 south of the base line in the district 
of Delaware be, and the same is hereby organ- 
ized into a new township, by the name of Lil)- 
erty." At this time Crawford was temporarily 
attached to Marion County, and Justices of the 
Peace had been commissioned for only four 
townships. For some reason, Smith received 
another commission, dated June 18, 1825, as 
Justice of the Peace for Liberty, but Markley 
still continued to hold the office by virtue of 
the former election. He was re-elected in 1827, 
and again in 1830, but, after serving for over 
eight years, resigned, and removed to Illinois. 
James S. Gorwell was elected to succeed him 
in November, 1832, and, since this date, the 
following persons have been elected as success- 
ors of Markley, one of the first Justices of the 
Peace of the township : John Slifer, founder of 
Annapolis, in 1835 ; William Woodside, in 
1841 ; William Snyder, in 1847 (resigned after 
six months) ; Horace Rowse, in 1848 ; Robert 
Johnson, in 1851 : Jonathan N. Harmon, in 
1854 ; William H. Hise, in 18U3; Clark Bacon, 
in 1872, but he refused the office, and A. R. 
Briggs was elected the same year. After serv- 
ing for two terms, Briggs was succeeded by 
Squire Hise, the present incumbent, who is 
serving his fourth term. Ichabod Smith was 
re-elected in 1828, but, before his second term 
expired, resigned the office to take a contract 
on the Columbus & Sandusky pike. He after- 
ward removed to Chatfield Township, and was 
honored with the same office. Asa Wetherby 
succeeded Smith, but he also resigned, and, in 
April, 1831, Asa Cobb was elected to succeed 
him. Cobb served fifteen years, for five con- 



^ <i 



;v 



Si v}" 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



565 



secutive terms, and the following were his suc- 
cessors : Charles Keplinger, in 1846 ; Asa 
Cobb, in 1849, for the sixth term ; Joseph Roop, 
in 1852, who served twelve years ; Henry Fry, 
in 1864 ; Thomas Milliard, in April, 1873, who 
resigned after six months, and S. A. McKeehen, 
the present incumbent, was elected in Novem- 
ber, 1873, and is serving his third term. 

Dr. Squires, in his pioneer sketch, gives the 
following incidents in regard to the early courts 
and lawsuits of the township : " Lawsuits and 
litigations were more frequent in those early 
days, when there were few inhabitants, than at 
the present time, notwithstanding the vast in- 
crease in population and the more widel}^ di- 
versified interests of the people. So we con- 
clude that the confidence with which man re- 
gards his fellow-man, and the intention among 
men to treat each other rightfully, has grown 
with the growth of the country. If not quite 
so fast as the country has improved in other 
respects, yet there has been a very manifest 
improvement. Previous to the election of Jus- 
tices for Liberty, a legal process was served on 
John 0. Blowers, who, in 1822, was summoned 
to appear before a Justice of the Peace in Bu- 
cyrus, to answer for indebtedness to one Schultz, 
of Bucyrus, from whom the said Blowers had 
obtained some shot for killing squirrels in his 
corn-field. The defendant appeared, and pleaded 
that the plaintiff had boarded at his house some 
length of time, and that defendant's wife had 
washed his (plaintiflT's) clothes and mended 
them during the time for which defendant had 
received no compensation except the shot, and 
thereupon the defendant was discharged and 
judgment rendered against plaintiff for costs of 
suit. Probably the first lawsuit ever tried in 
Libert}' Township was before Ichabod Smith, 
Justice of the Peace, on a complaint against Asa 
Wetherby for running his saw-mill on the Sab- 
bath day. The defendant brought in testimony 
showing the uncertain nature of the stream ; 
that the water-power was an important item of 



his property ; that it would be wasted and lost 
if not used ; whereupon the defendant was dis- 
charged and the costs taxed up to the com- 
plainant, who, however, appealed to the court 
and had the judgment for costs set aside, it be- 
ing a State case. Another trial of those earl}' 
days took place before Squire Mathias Markley. 
A man by the name of Smith sued Charles 
Dony for pay for grain. The account had stood 
over months, and the defendant refused to let 
plaintiff testify to his account, and defendant, 
on an account against plaintiff, obtained judg- 
ment for $8. But defendant refused to accept 
all of this judgment, saying it was too much ; 
that plaintiff owed him only $2." 

Liberty was undoubtedly fully organized, and 
township officers chosen at the spring election 
in 1825, but there is no positive proof who 
filled the various offices from the date of or- 
ganization until the year 1831, for, if the Clerk 
kept any record of business transacted b}' the 
Trustees, the books containing the minutes 
have all been lost or destro3'ed. From the year 
1831, the records are nearly complete. John 
Gr. Stough thinks that John Kroft was the first 
Clerk, as he held this office for man}- years when 
the township was first organized. Stough says 
he attended the election in the spring of 1827, 
and was chosen one of the three Trustees, and 
James McCurdy was another. Stough also 
served as Treasurer for one or two terms pre- 
vious to 1830. The first elections were held at 
private houses, near the center of the township, 
until the Center Schoolhouse was constructed. 
Isaac Rise states that they voted for (xen. Jack- 
son, when he ran for President, at the cabin of 
James McMannes, who entered the eighty acres 
now owned by Henry Crall, and that Jackson 
received most of the votes cast in the town- 
ship. This was in November, 1828. We learn 
from the records, that, on July 2, 1831, the 
Trustees, Isaac Rise, Elias Chambers and Rob- 
ert Foster, took an enumeration of the house- 
holders of the township, and, at the same time, 



J^fl 



,u 



566 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



appointed John G. Stough Treasurer. In those 
days, men were not anxious to serve as town- 
ship officers, and many paid the fine which se- 
cured a release. Stough refused to fill this ap- 
pointment, claiming that Thomas Smith, who 
had been regularly elected to the office, had not 
received from the Trustees the proper summons 
to appear before them and take the oath of of- 
fice. The Trustees then served the required 
notice upon Smith, and he consented and acted 
as Treasurer. This was the first business trans- 
acted, as shown by the records. March 5, 1832, 
the Trustees met and divided the township into 
road districts, and this was possibl}^ the first 
division of the township for road purposes. 
The first election on record was held at the 
house of Leven Conley, near the center, April 
2, 1832. The Judges were the three Trustees 
previously mentioned, and the Election Clerks 
were John Kroft and Dudley Cobb. The fol- 
lowing persons were chosen to fill the various 
offices : Trustees, Isaac Rise, Robert Foster 
and Jacob MoUenkopf ; Constables, Isaac Slater 
and Frederick Beard ; Clerk, John Kroft ; 
Treasurer, John G. Stough ; Overseers of the 
Poor, Robert Foster and Mathias Markley ; 
Fence Viewers, Samuel Cover, Henry Charlton 
and Frederick Williams. 

In examining the early records of Liberty, 
evidence is found which proves that fifty years 
ago several queer old-fashioned customs were 
practiced which now appear amusing, and it is 
also evident that some of the laws enforced 
in those days, have either been repealed or 
have become obsolete. Among the man^^ in- 
dustrious families who settled in the township 
were a few who, being idle and shiftless, could 
not or would not manage successfully, and the 
result was these frequently became a charge 
upon the community. In order to protect set- 
tlers from roving families of this character, laws 
were enacted, and every year two persons were 
chosen in the township, styled " Overseers of 
the Poor," whose duty it was to examine into 



the cases, and render assistance to citizens who 
were unfortunate enough to need the aid of the 
township. They were also required to warn 
any idle or shiftless persons to leave before they 
had remained a sufficient length of time to 
gain a residence. Many notices of this char- 
acter are found upon the records, the first being 
in 1832. Having learned that Thomas Alsoph, 
a roving character, had appeared in the town- 
ship, the overseers issued the following notice : 

The State of Ohio, Crawford County, S. S. To Isaac 
Slator, Constable of Liberty Township, greeting : 

Wheekas, information hath been given to us, Ma- 
thias Markley and Robert Foster, Overseers of the Poor 
for said township, that Thomas Alsoph has come within 
the limits of the township to be sick, who will be likely 
to become a township charge; you are hereby com- 
manded forthwith to warn said Thomas Alsoph to de- 
part the said township and of this writ make legal serv- 
ice, and duly return it, according to law given under 
our hands this 12th day of March, A. D. 1832. 
Mathias Markley, 
Robert Foster, 

Overseers of the Poor. 

A copy of the above notice was left the next 
day at the house where Alsoph was sta3dng- 
It is seldom that force was used under this law, 
in ridding the community of the poor and shift- 
less, but the warning given was a mere matter 
of form, and, having once been notified in this 
manner, a person could not claim the assistance 
of the township in case he became unfortunate 
enough to need aid. Many times this law was 
abused, and thrifty citizens who settled in the 
community were warned because some joker 
furnished the Overseers the required informa- 
tion. A few did not appreciate the humor of 
the act but deemed the "summons to depart" 
an insult, and they were ver}' mad and indig- 
nant when the notice was served upon them. 
As a general thing, men did not wish to serve 
as Overseers of the Poor, and some paid their 
fine and refused to serve, but it was generally 
conceded by the best citizens of the township 
that it was the duty of each to take his turn 



v; 



:K 



4 



•i±. 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUXTY. 



569 



at serving in this disagreeable position. Occa- 
sionally the sportive elements of the community 
combined and elected some man to this office 
who was in every way unfitted for it. Quite a 
number of these warnings are copied upon the 
records of the township. John B. Morrison 
was notified to leave in August, 1833, and again 
in March, 1836, but in April, 1837, he was 
elected one of the school-examiners for Liberty. 
Either the warnings were an insult or his elec- 
tion as examiner a joke. 

Frequently in the earl}' days of the township, 
poor and shiftless parents would bind their 
children out for a term of yesivs until the}' be- 
came of age, and many notices of these bind- 
ings are found upon the records kept by the 
Clerks of Liberty. The first one is dated Decem- 
ber 31, 1834, and the agreement is between 
Moses Coberl}^, who binds his son Robert, to 
Cornelius Borland for a term of seven years. 
During this time Dorland is to " teach the 
young man arithmetic to the rule of three, and 
keep him in wearing apparel." At the end of 
the seven j'ears, Robert was to receive from 
Dorland "one horse, saddle and bridle worth 
$75, also one suit of broadcloth clothes and one 
suit of home-made or common wearing ap- 
parel." The bond given is $5,000. January 
10, 1835, Moses Coberly also bound his eight- 
year old daughter, Margaret, to William Clin- 
gan for a period of nine 3^ears and ten months. 
Clingan was to give the young lady " one j-ear's 
schooling ; furnish her a good bed and board- 
ing, and at the end of the time supply her with 
one Bible, one bed and bedding of a good qual- 
ity, and also a new spinning wheel and a new 
suit of clothes of good quality." The bond in 
this case was only fixed at $1,000. During the 
same month, Coberly bound a third child, Elijah, 
to John Noise. This old gentlemen, who got 
rid of three children in about thirt}' days, lived 
in the northern part of the township on the 
Loyer farm. The notes in his case are defect- 
ive. It would have been a pleasure for an un- 



biased historian to pen the statement that 
" this old fellow, having given into the care of 
others all his children, yielded up the ghost and 
was buried with his fathers." Although it is a 
satisfaction to learn that the old German after- 
ward moved West, yet it is surprising that the 
records do not show how this "old codger" 
was warned to leave the township under the 
supposition that he might at some future time 
be in danger of becoming a charge upon the 
comraunit}'. The language of these contracts 
is not always the same, for occasionally prom- 
ises were made in them which could not be so 
easily fulfilled. In 1843, the Trustees bound 
Luc}' Wilhelmgriner, an orphan, to Frederick 
and Elizabeth Williams for a term of five 3'ears 
and four months. This young lady was to be 
taught the " art, mystery and occupation of 
common labor " and the}' were to train her in 
" habits of obedience, industry and morality." 
During her term of service, she was to be al- 
lowed " meat, drink and wearing apparel both 
for summer and winter," and at the end of time 
she was to receive " two suits of common wear- 
ing apparel and a new Bible." Most of these 
young folks who were " bound out '' did not 
suffer by changing their homes if they faith- 
fully performed the new duties devolving upon 
them ; frequently' the bond between the child 
and the family was as tender as that of parent 
and child. This old custom, however, is not 
American, and has fallen into disuse, but the 
examples given above will show that it was 
practiced in Liberty Township at one time. 

The first school taught in the township was 
in a vacant cabin on the farm of Daniel Mc- 
Michael during the winter of 1821-22. The 
teacher was John McClure, afterward the first 
surve3'or of Crawford Count}'. The attendance 
was not large, a few families united in support- 
ing the school, and the only person now living 
in Crawford County who was a pupil of McClure 
that winter is Martin Bacon, Esq., of Whetstone 
Township. Dr. Squires makes the following 



'k,. 



570 



HISTORY OF CKAWFORD COUNTY. 



statements in regard to the early schools of 
Liberty : " Educational matters interested the 
settlers at an early day, but, not having the 
advantages of our present school law, every- 
thing devolved upon the individual. Neigh- 
borhoods would join together and build a log 
schoolhouse — chink and daub it, build a stick 
and mud chimney, oil some paper to make it 
translucent and paste it over a hole in the wall 
for a window, and thus secure light enough for 
a beginning. But soon glass could be obtained, 
and low, long windows put in by cutting out a 
log from the cabin and inserting a sash with 
glass to fill the aperture. Such a schoolhouse, 
the first one in this township, was built on the 
northeast corner of John Maxfield's land, north 
of the road, during the fall of 1823. Nehe- 
miah Squire made the window sash for it out of 
a linn-wood puncheon, that had constituted 
part of the chamber floor of an aristocratic log 
cabin the previous winter." This log building 
was known as the Maxfield Schoolhouse, and 
the land upon which it was located is now the 
property of Dexter Bacon. The exact site was 
near the big tree north of the road, about half 
way between Bacon's residence and the brow of 
the hill. Rev. William Blowers taught the 
first school here in the winter of 1823-24. 
Gary Tilbury taught one or two winters at an 
early day, and also Samuel Magers and a Mr. 
Orton. During the fall of 1827, another log 
schoolhouse was built just southeast of the 
present site occupied by the Crall United 
Brethren Church. Sallie Smith taught the first 
school here, and the building was known as the 
Smith Schoolhouse. J. G. Stough says : 
" This building was erected by six families, 
myself, Thos. Smith, Benjamin Manwell, Thos. 
Scott, Samuel Smalley and Prez Hillard. At 
this time no schoolhouse had been erected in 
the northern part of the township." The dis- 
tricts were not laid out as at the present time, 
but there might have been a schoolhouse in the 
Foster- Andrews neighborhood, near Bucyrus. 



When the inhabitants of other settlements in 
Liberty became numerous enough to support 
schools, the same kind of rough, round-log 
houses were erected. Sometimes a vacant 
cabin was used for school purposes, but, when a 
special building had to be constructed, the 
entire neighborhood would turn out and devote 
a day to the intei'ests of education by building 
their log schoolhouse. The tuition was raised 
by a subscription from each family interested, 
or so much each month or term would be 
charged by the teacher for every scholar. After 
the lapse of half a centurj- , it is difficult to ob- 
tain the exact dates at which schools were 
established, or these first buildings erected in 
the various neighborhoods. The Maxfield and 
Smith Schoolhouses were both in what is now 
the Second District, and the Blowers Church, in 
the same territory, was used for school purposes 
many years. In the Foster- Andrews neighbor- 
hood, now the First District, a special building 
was erected as early as 1830. Robert Andrews, 
who came with his father, Samuel, September 15, 
1832, says : " There was a log schoolhouse stand- 
ing when we came, which had been there two or 
three years." In the Third District, the " Sim- 
mons " Schoolhouse was built before 1833 ; the 
Bell Schoolhouse, in what is now the Fourth Dis- 
trict, several years previous ; and schools were 
taught there possibly as early as 1827, for there 
were many settlers in the neighborhood at that 
time. The lands of the Fifth or Center District 
were not entered until other neighborhoods had 
many settlers. In 1825, only 240 acres of this 
territory had been purchased from the Govern- 
ment. The township records state that the 
election held April 7, 1834, was at the Center 
Schoolhouse, and April 7, 1845, at the Conley 
Schoolhouse. The polls were generally kept at 
private houses when the Center District was 
without a schoolhouse, and the first one, erected 
about 1833, was destroyed by fire after standing 
two winters. The children of the settlers were 
then sent to the Smith District for several years 



-il 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



571 



until their second building was erected. In 
what is now the Sixth District, a schoolhouse 
was erected about 1838. Thomas Williams, of 
the Seventh District, says : " Frederick Will- 
iams, Asa Cobb and other early settlers of 
northwestern Liberty, the Smiths, of Holmes 
Township, and Samuel Chatfleld, of Chatfield 
Township, united in putting up a round-log 
schoolhouse, with a chimney built of sticks, 
during the fall of 1830. This building was 
erected near the former site of the German 
Methodist Church, which was destroyed by fire 
during the war. At this time, no other school- 
house had been built in the northwestern part 
of Liberty, or the northeastern part of Holmes ; 
neither at the Center District, or the district 
north of Liberty Center. The only one between 
us and the town was at the Quaker Church Set- 
tlement, in Holmes Township." The Kroft 
Schoolhouse, in the Eighth District, was erected 
before the year 1832. The settlers in the Ninth 
District were not numerous, and possibly the 
last to organize. In the Tenth or Sulphur 
Springs special district, a log building was 
erected for school purposes in 1837, on land 
donated by John Slifer. When these districts 
became better organized, and the country more 
improved, these rough log schoolhouses gave 
place to finer frame buildings, and these in turn 
are now being superseded by brick structures. 
The first of these more durable edifices was con- 
structed for the Seventh or Keplinger District 
in 1876, at a cost of $1,200. The next year, the 
Fifth or Center District expended over $1,000 
on a similar structure. Both of these were the 
work of R. H. Bender. In 1878, the Second 
District erected a brick house, which cost over 
$1,200. This was the sixth building erected 
for school purposes, in what is now the Second 
District, since the Maxfield Schoolhouse was put 
up by those earl}^ pioneei's in the fall of 1823. 

Ministers of the Gospel closely followed up 
the new settlements with that religious instruc- 
tion which had much influence in molding the 



character of the earh' settlers and their de- 
scendants. The ^lethodists, as a church, were 
the first to occupy the field in Crawford County, 
and missionaries of this denomination were the 
first who preached in Liberty Township. Dur- 
ing the 3'ear 1821, the pioneer missionaries of 
Delaware Circuit had pressed into the new 
country as far north as what is now Bucyrus, 
and, were filling regular monthly appointments. 
When John 0. Blowers arrived with his famil}', 
in the spring of 1822, he immediately sought 
out those who could be induced to enlist in 
religious enterprises. Blowers, having learned 
that religious services were being held at 
Buc^'rus, visited the place with his wife, at the 
time appointed, but for some reason the minis- 
ter failed to appear. The next month the ap- 
pointment was fulfilled, and Blowers prevailed 
upon the missionary to appoint services at his 
cabin on the next trip, and, when he again ap- 
peared. Blowers presented him a class of five, 
composed of himself and wife, William Cooper 
and wife, of Whetstone Township, and a German 
named Schultz. This was the first Methodist 
Episcopal class organized in Liberty Township, 
and it was the nucleusof the first M. E. Church 
of Liberty. This minister, who first preached at 
Blowers' cabin, was a man named Bacon. (This 
statement is made on the authorit}- of John G. 
Stough, liufus L. Blowers and Dr. J. B. 
Squires.) Bacon was the right man for such a 
mission. He was social, genial and big-hearted. 
He carried his pockets full of lettuce seed for 
the women, and fishing-tackle for the boys. 
Regular monthly appointments were kept up 
during the summer of 1822, and the next win- 
ter, preaching being held on Sunday at Bucyrus, 
and on Monda}' at the cabin of Blowers. When 
this pioneer settled in the township, he brought 
with him a very fine library' of religious works, 
including most of the standard publications of 
the M. E. Church of that day. He studied 
these volumes of religious instruction, and be- 
came ver}' well read in theology. These books 



^ 



572 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



were loaned throughout the neighborhood to 
other pioneer settlers, many of whom had very 
little reading matter, and they were the means 
of accomplishing much good, as the works laid 
the foundation of thorough religious instruc- 
tion in the mind of many pioneer settlers who 
were anxious to obtain this knowledge. In the 
fall of 1822, Rev. James Monroe was sent to 
this section of the country by the M. E. Con- 
ference, and in the spring of 1823, John 0. 
Blowers and his brother William were licensed 
to preach the Gospel. They were the first 
licentiates of the M. E. Church in Crawford 
County. In the fall of 1823, the M. E. Confer- 
ence marked out a district for itinerant preach- 
ers of their denomination to travel over, and 
give the new settlements regular circuit 
preaching. It is generally believed by those 
who should know, that Rev. James Monroe 
and Rev. William Blowers were the first 
preachers to travel this circuit, but Capt. S. S. 
Blowers states that his uncle William told him 
in 1868, that Rev. James St. Clair rode the first 
circuit with him. Among the early Methodist 
ministers who preached to the pioneers of Lib- 
erty, were Rev. James Gilruth in 1825, Rev. 
Abner Goff in 1826, Rev. Russell Bigelow in 
1829, and Revs. Fenneland, Rennels and S. P. 
Shaw. When the Maxfield Schoolhouse, the 
first erected in the township, was built in the 
fall of 1823, religious services were held there, 
and this building was occupied until the 
Blowers Church and schoolhouse were built 
about 1830. The M. E. Church of Liberty 
Township was for many years in a more flour- 
ishing condition than at the present time. In 
1840, over one hundred persons were subject to 
the discipline of this religious denomination, 
who were divided into two large classes, one at 
Sulphur Springs and one in the Blowers neigh- 
borhood, and also one small class in the McDon- 
ald neighborhood, in the northwestern part of the 
township. TheM. E. Church edifice at Sulphur 
Springs was erected in 1848, and dedicated in 



August of that year. Robert Johnston was 
the carpenter who constructed it. When the 
Sulphur Springs congregation was first organ- 
ized, there were over eighty members connected 
with the Blowers class. Many of these re- 
moved to the great West, and most of the bal- 
ance passed away one by one, until finally the 
Sulphur Springs class became the stronger of 
the two and the minister would hold services at 
that place, but for many years services were 
held at the Blowers Church in the afternoon. 
The Blowers brothers, who were the acknowl- 
edged leaders in the earl}' religious movements 
of Liberty, lie side by side in the Blowers 
graveyard. John 0. died in 1844, but Will- 
iam lived many years afterward, doing good 
service for the M. E. Church, of which denom- 
ination he was an active minister for nearly 
forty years. As the 3^ears passed by, this faith- 
ful preacher of God's truth became old ; when 
his locks were silvered, the active generation 
which controlled the churches demanded 
younger men with modern ideas, and the man 
who, in 1823, traveled the first regular M. E. 
Circuit of this section was retired from active 
service in the church. Feeling that there was 
still some work for him to do, he, in the darkest 
hour of the rebellion — the fall of 1862 — enlisted 
as a private in the One Hundred and Fifty- 
first New York Infantrj^, and it is thrilling to 
relate that this old pioneer hero, at the advanced 
age of sixt3'-six, did active duty for his country 
in the camp and field near Washington City. 
But they prevailed upon him to take another 
position, and he was detailed for hospital duty 
at Baltimore, where he was placed in charge of 
the Seventh Ward in Jarvis Hospital. A min- 
ister at sixty-six enlisting in the arm)' to defend 
his country — such was the character of those 
early pioneer heroes of Liberty Township. 
William Blowers died January 28, 1868. 

A few months after the religious services held 
by the Methodist Episcopal circuit riders had 
been removed from Blowers' cabin to the Max- 



£i 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



573 



field Schoolhouse, the settlers organized in this 
building the first Sunday-school of Liberty. 
This was started in the spring of 1824, and was 
also the first Sunday-school established in 
Crawford County. John 0. Blowers was the 
leading man of this school, and possibly the 
first Superintendent, but Thomas Scott, Jonas 
Scott, Samuel Smalley, Sr., and others also filled 
the same position during the early years of the 
school, the sessions of which were held at the 
Maxfield Schoolhouse until the Blowers Metho- 
dist Episcopal Church was built, in 1830. Al- 
though most of the active workers of the Sun- 
daj'-school were connected with this church, 3'et 
it continued as a union school, supported b}' 
members of other denominations until the 
United Brethren Church started one in con- 
nection with their religious work. The school 
at the Blowers Church was then discontinued, 
but many of the workers united with the new 
school, and the United Brethren Church reaped 
the harvest sown by the labors of those earl}- 
settlers, who for many years continued the first 
Sunday-school of Crawford County. 

The second denomination to send missionaries 
into Liberty were the United Brethren in 
Christ. Ministers of this sect visited the pio- 
neer settlements at a ver}- earl}" da}', and, b}" the 
authority of some, preached in Liberty about 
1827. John Stough says that previous to 1830, 
Revs. Smith and Erit conducted religious serv- 
ices at the cabins of John Shong and Lawrence 
Simmons, and that the congregation was organ- 
ized in the winter of 1830, by Rev. John Cly- 
mer, grandfather of John R. Clymer, Esq., of 
Bucyrus. Among the first members were 
John Shong and wife ; Lawrence Simmons and 
wife ; Betsy Simmons, his sister ; Anselm Ful- 
mer and wife, also a sister of Simmons ; Abra- 
ham Grogg and wife, Anna Grogg. Services 
were held for many years in the old Simmons 
Schoolhouse. Their present church building, 
commonly known as the Crall Church, was 
erected in the fall of 1848, b}- Charles Perse 



and Thomas Smith, carpenters. This edifice 
was enlarged in 1854, repaired about 1870, and 
is at the present time one of the finest country 
churches in the county. The first Trustees 
were Simon Crall, Henry Crall and Abraham 
Grogg. Many ministers have been regular 
Pastors of this charge, among whom ai'e Revs. 
Benjamin Moore, in 1836, Alexander Biddle, 
Francis Clymer, Jacob Newman, Jacob Berger, 
G. Spracklin, M. Bulger, Gideon Hoover, C. L. 
Barlow, — Hubbard, I. T. Kiggins, William 
Neville, John V. Potts, D. F. Cender, Levi 
Moore, S. H. Randebaugh and M. Long. About 
100 persons are at the present time subject to 
the discipline of the church, and Rev. 0. H. 
Ramsey has charge of the work. 

German ministers of the Evangelical Luther- 
an Chui-ch were the next to occupy the field 
and establish a church in Liberty. Previous to 
the year 1830, ministers of this denomination 
held religious services at the log cabins of sev- 
eral early settlers — the first sermon being 
preached by Rev. David Shue, at the home of 
John Stough. The congregation was regularly 
organized by Rev. John Stough, about the j-ear 
1830. At this date, Lutheran services were 
being held regularly at both Bucyrus and Ben- 
ton by Rev. D. Shue. Rev. John Stough, the 
man who organized the church in Liberty, was 
the first Lutheran minister who crossed the 
Alleghany Mountains. He was born in York 
County, Penn., January 25, 1762, and about the 
3^ear 1828, purchased eighty acres just west of 
the quarter-section owned by his son. He was 
then nearly seventy years of age, had labored 
forty years as a minister, and desired to retire 
from active service, but the German settlers 
who were moving into the township prevailed 
upon him to conduct religious services in the 
German language, and he was frequently per- 
suaded to fill appointments when he should have 
remained at home. After living in the town- 
ship upward of fifteen years, he died July 25, 
1845, aged eighty -three years, and in the fil\v- 






RT 



574 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUXTY. 



sixth year of his ministry. Rev. Stough held 
services frequently at the o\d Bell Schoolhonse 
and at the cabins of John (xeorge Klink, John 
Kroft, Jacob Mentzer, George Mollenkopf and 
others. About the year 1836. members of the 
l\e formed and Lutheran congregations united 
in building a hewn-log church, which stood 
near the present site of the Reformed Church, 
and was occupied b}- both sects for" many j'ears. 
In 1852, the German Lutherans purchased a 
a lot about one and one-half miles east of this 
Union Church, and erected their present church 
edifice, which was the work of a carpenter 
called Gen. Taylor. Some seventj' families are 
at the present time, connected with this con- 
gregation, which is in a flourishing condition 
under the chai'ge of Rev. Charles Klessler. 

The Lutheran Church (English) of Annapo- 
lis was organized about the year 1833, by Rev. 
F. J. Rutli, who was the first Pastor, and, at 
the same time, Pastor of the church at Bucy- 
rus. Rev. J. Crouse preached to this congre- 
gation man}' times during the earl}^ history of 
the church. The ordinance of baptism was 
administered the first time on August 17, 
1833, at which time the following persons were 
baptized : Lawrence Simmons, an adult ; Eliza- 
beth, daughter of Michael and Sarah Peter- 
man, and Jacob, son of Benjamin and Louisa 
Sinn. Services were held at private cabins 
until the schoolhouse was built in the village 
of Annapolis. The congregation then occu- 
pied this schoolhouse until their first church 
was erected, in 1848. This building, the work 
of Gen. Taylor, mentioned above, was dedicat- 
ed in June, 1848, and Rev. Ruth was still Pas- 
tor of the charge. Tliis denomination lias the 
finest church in tlie township — a brick edifice, 
built in 187G, at a cost of nearly $5,000. Over 
one hundred persons are at the present time 
members of the congregation, which is under 
the charge of Rev. W. H. Dolbeer. 

When the Lutherans of Liberty erected their 
first hewn-log meeting-house, about the year 



1836, they were assisted by a few citizens who 
believed the doctrines taught by the Reformed 
Church. A covenant was made between these 
two sects which provided that this building 
should be always open for the religious serv- 
ices of either denomination. Possibl}^ the 
first ministers of the Reformed Church who 
preached in the township were Revs. Frederick 
Gottleib Maschop and J. Miller, who were Pas- 
tors* of the congregation at Bucyrus from the 
year 1835 to about 1845. The organization of 
a congregation in Liberty was perfected under 
Rev. Wendel Wasnich, about the year 1848. 
Rev. Abraham Keller succeeded Wasnich, and 
continued as Pastor until he died of cholera, in 
in the fall of 1852. After several months^ 
Rev. Max Stern was placed in charge of the 
Reformed Churches of Crawford Count}', and, 
about the same time, their present church edi- 
fice was erected. Rev. Stern was succeeded 
by Rev. Eli Keller in 1856, who continued 
until the fall of 1861. Since Rev. Keller left, 
several Pastors have been employed who were 
not connected with the Bucyrus congregation, 
and, at the present time, the church consists of 
some seventy members, under the pastorate of 
Rev. W. Gilpin. 

The German Methodist congregation, in the 
northwestern part of Liberty Township, was 
organized previous to 1850, by ministers con- 
nected with the church at Bucyrus. Services 
for several years were generally held in the 
little red schoolhouse erected some years pre- 
vious on the A^an Duzzen farm. About the 
year 1854, their first church edifice was erected 
on land donated by a Mr. Plummer. During 
the war, while the church was under the charge of 
Rev. Phillip B. Weber, this building was almost 
completely destroyed in October, 1862, by a 
mob, who were opposed to the draft. The 
and altar were torn down and windows benches 
smashed because the preacher advised the peo- 
ple from his pulpit the previous Sabbath to 
obey the laws, and drafted men to peaceably 



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liL 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



575 



report themselves to the United States Com- 
missioner. Notwithstanding these outrages, 
the Pastor continued his work during the next 
winter, and the drunken roughs in the neigh- 
borhood, who were guilty of the crime, could 
not force him to discontinue preaching until, 
on the night of May 20, 1863, they set fire to 
the building and it was totally destroyed. 
After the lapse of over twelve months, another 
church edifice was ei-ected one-half mile south 
of the old site. The congregation now num- 
bers about ninety persons, and Rev. John Haas 
is Pastor. 

The Zion Church edifice, commonly known 
as the Conle}' Church, near the center of Lib- 
ert}^ Township, was built about the year 1856. 
It is a union church, and owned jointly by the 
Evangelical Association and the Church of 
God, or Winebrennarians. Rev. William Adams, 
of Plymouth, was the first minister of the lat- 
ter denomination who preached in the town- 
ship, and their services were held several years 
previous to the year their church was erected. 
The first society of the Evangelical Association 
was organized about the year 1848, by Rev. D. 
Swartz, officiating minister. David Pfleiderer 
was the first Class-leader. In 1852, Revs. G. 
Haley and B. Keler perfected the organization 
of this congregation, and, in a few years, Zion 
Church was built. In the year 1879, the 
United Brethren Church, through the labors of 
Rev. Moses Spahr, organized a small congrega- 
tion and erected a neat chapel, near the center 
of School District No. 6. About the year 
1842, a small Baptist Conference was organ- 
ized at Sulphur Springs, which held services 
irregularly for several years. 

In the early days of the township many pio- 
neer settlers could not be induced to lead a 
religious life, and it was difficult to obtain from 
many a promise to lead even a moral one. In 
order to accomplish as much good as possible, 
John 0. Blowers inaugurated at the Maxfield 
Schoolhouse a society called the "Moral 



Society." The members of this association 
pledged themselves to abstain from certain 
practices, and the society was greatly instru- 
mental in checking the spoliation of the timber 
on the Government lands, which crime had 
been carried on to a great extent in the neigh- 
borhood. The first eflbrts in the interest of 
temperance reform were made about the year 
1835. The movement was aided and encour- 
aged by John 0. Blowers, John G. Stough, 
William McCurdy and others. The Parcher 
Distiller}' had just been started in Whetstone 
Township, and efl!brts were made to persuade 
Parcher to quit the business. This establish- 
ment did not run very long, but it is doubtful 
whether it stopped on account of the great 
work of the movement. Temperance meetings 
were held in the Blowers Church, and a society 
formed composed of citizens, from both Whet- 
stone and Liberty Township. Drunkenness 
and fighting were much more common and fre- 
quent in those days than at the present time. 
Log-cabin " raisings " were held every few days, 
and at these all the men and boys of the neigh- 
borhood would assemble. An abundance of 
liquor was general 1}' provided by the host, and 
by the time the}' had raised all the logs, man}' 
men and boys were under the influence of 
liquor. Numerous fights would then follow. 
If no other reason could be found for a quarrel, 
they fought to see " which was the best man," 
and the fame of the victors of these drunken 
brawls would extend for many miles to other 
settlements. These heroes, so-called, would 
visit the "raisings" for miles, accompanied by 
their friends in order to have a trial of strength 
with the general victor of each respective 
neigliborhood. These drunken strifes were not 
only settled at ''raisings,' but on all great 
days — when the settlers turned out to a Fourth 
of July celebration or general muster. When 
the influence of the temperance movement com- 
menced to attect the best class in the township, 
many settlers refused to provide liquor at rais- 



T'^ 



4f 



Jt 



576 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



ings, aud it was also banished from the harvest 
fields and tables. Some substituted, on these 
occasions, a beverage called " metheglin," made 
of hone}' and water, boiled and fermented, and 
often enriched with spices. When one listens 
to stories told by those earl}^ pioneers, he is 
forced to believe that the Temperance move- 
ment has improved the farmers, if it has failed 
to stop the traffic in the cities, towns and vil- 
lages of the nation. The anti-slavery senti- 
ment of Liberty was never organized into a 
society, but there were a few Abolitionists even 
at an early day. 

A very large portion of the wealth obtained 
by the inhabitants of Libert}', since 1820, has 
been the direct result of the many bountiful 
crops gathered from the soil. A few citizens 
have engaged in other enterprises, hoping to 
find an easier and quicker way to financial 
prosperity. Mr. McMichael, the first settler, 
erected a grist-mill a few months after he 
arrived, but the proprietor soon found that, 
owing to the scarcity of the motive-power, 
water, his dreams would not be realized, and 
he rented the establishment, which, during the 
next score of years, passed into the hands of 
many others who, each in turn, hoped to realize 
from the investment what his predecessor did 
not. This old mill, a great accommodation to 
many pioneer settlers, was finally destroyed 
after many years' valuable service. During 
the summer of 1824, Calvin and Nehemiah 
Squier, built a saw-mill on the Sandusky River 
for John O. Blowers, at the northwest corner 
of his farm. After running this mill a few 
months, he sold it to Eli Odell, of Whetstone 
Township, and in 1825, Odell took in Asa 
Wetherby as partner. In a short time, Mr. 
Wetherby purchased the mill, and, after con- 
tinuing the business until 1829, sold out to a 
man named Ball, who, in a few years, trans- 
ferred the establishment to George Fleck. 
Many of these early proprietors persisted in 
running the mill on Sunday, notwithstanding 



the admonitions of John 0. Blowers, who 
finally, in 1834, re-purchased the concern, in 
order to stop Sunday milling. He sold it to 
his brother-in-law, Nehemiah Squier. Previous 
to 1830, a grist-mill was added to the establish- 
ment. Mr. Squier conducted the business many 
3'ears, and then, during the next two decades, 
many other men were proprietors. Finally, in 
1867, J. B. Squier and W. S. Bacon, the own- 
ers, having erected a new steam mill with im- 
proved machiner}' at Sulphur Springs, removed 
the business from the banks of the Sandusky 
to their new building. Mr. Bacon sold out to 
his partner in 1874, and the business at the 
present time is being conducted by the Doctor's 
sons, Edgar A. and Oscar W. Squier. Thus, 
three generations have been interested in this, 
the only mill of Liberty Township. 

A little distillery was started by a man 
named Wood, about the year 1826, upon land 
belonging to Edward Hartford. The distillery 
was just east of the Blowers Mill. Wood, the 
proprietor, got into trouble, left the township, 
and the business was discontinued. A tannery 
was started by David Hawk and Jacob L. Grur- 
well, previous to the j^ear 1 830, near tne present 
site of the LTnion Church, northeast of Annapo- 
lis. In those days bark was plenty, and any 
person having sufficient capital to prepare vats 
could engage in the tanning buisness. David 
Kinter ran one a short distance west of Annap. 
olis, previous to the year 1840, but he did not 
have much business. Several years after, 
Blowers erected the first saw-mill in the Town- 
ship ; other men erected mills. The tax dupli- 
cate of 1832, proves the following parties were 
engaged in the business during that year : 
Cronebaugh & Shafner, George Fleck, Jr., and 
John Slagle. By 1836, six other saw-mills, 
owned by Jas. Decker, Frederick Decker, Aaron 
Decker, John H. Fry, John Kroft and Andrew 
Wingert had been erected. Three of these were 
owned by the Decker famil}-, and Aaron had a 
grist-mill in connection with his establishment. 



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'^Cy\^ 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



577 



The village of Annapolis, or Sulphur Springs 
Post Office, was originally laid out, in the year 
1833, by John Slifer, formerly of Maryland, who 
named the town to honor the capital of his native 
State, but in the early days many people in the 
neighborhood called it Slifertown, as a nick- 
name. The original town plat contained 
twenty acres, comprising the " southern portion 
of the east half of the northeast quarter of 
Section 14." This was part of the 160 acres 
which Slifer purchased from the Government, 
previous to the year 1825. In the year 1841, 
he sold his farm to Judge R. W. Musgrave. 
Through bad management he was soon very 
much reduced in circumstances, and in a fit of 
despondency committed suicide, during the 
summer of 1842, by shooting himself When 
he was buried his body was disinterred by the 
doctors. Slifer, during his life, held several 
minor township offices and was Justice of the 
Peace from 1835 to 1841. He was a good 
scholar, a fine, but exceedingly careless, pen- 
man. The following anecdote is related of 
him : On one occasion, he sent up to the 
Court of Common Pleas a transcript from his 
docket, that was so illegible that Judge Ozias 
Bowen, who then presided, was unable to read 
it. Whereupon the Judge, in a tone of 
mingled dignity and austerit}', exclaimed, " The 
people must be fools to elect such ignorant men 
as Justices of the Peace." Hon. Josiah Scott, 
then a practitioner at the Crawford Count}' 
bar, quietly remarked to Judge Bowen, '' How 
would it be. Judge, if this ignorant Justice 
knew moi'e and could write a better hand than 
any of us?" Whereupon Slifer, who was in 
the court room at the time, came forward and 
called upon Zalmon Rowse, Clerk of the Court^ 
for a pen and sheet of paper, which he promptly 
paid for on the spot. Then he copied the 
transcript in a bold, beautiful round hand, 
almost equaling the celebrated signature of 
John Hancock to the Declaration of Independ- 
ence, and handed it to the Court, who was 



thunderstruck with astonishment. "Why," 
exclaimed the Judge, "didn't you write it that 
way before ? " " Because." answered Slifer, 
with quiet dignity, " Because, sir, I supposed I 
was writing it for the perusal of men and not of 
6o_ys." 

About forty lots were formed from the real 
estate comprised in the original village plat. 
These were listed on the tax-duplicate of 1834 
at $125, and at $550 in 1835. During the 
first year, houses were erected by James L. 
Grurwell, John Bolinger, Jacob Peterman, 
Peter Stuckman, Nicholas Bolinger (and Ben- 
jamin Sinn. In the fall of 1834, ex-Judge 
Enoch B. Merriman opened a stock of dry 
goods in the village, and Daniel Young, his 
clerk, sold the first pound of coffee. In about 
two years, Merriman transferred the store to 
his nephew, Gr. N. Davis, who continued the 
business about two years, when Merriman again 
took possession of what was left, and in a few 
months transferred them to Pomeroy A. Blanch- 
ard. another nephew. Blanchard remained 
in Sulphur Spi'ings several years. In the fall 
of 1836 or early in 1837, Cornelius and James 
F. Dorland started another store in the village. 
Cornelius soon sold out to his brother, who con- 
tinued the business some months afterward. For 
a few months in 1840 and during the year 1841, 
the place was without a store until ex- Judge R. 
W. Musgrave established one, which he sold to 
Horace Rowse, of Bucyrus. in 1844. The latter 
was a merchant of Annapolis until autumn of 
1851 ; his brother Stephen was a partner most 
of the time. Musgrave also started an ashery, 
and shortly afterward another store, which he 
transferred to his brother-in-law. Thomas Gil- 
lespie. About the time Annapolis was laid out, 
Frederick Beard kept a blacksmith-shop a short 
distance west of the place. Winebar, another 
blacksmith, was a character of the village for 
many years. A linseed oil mill was started by 
James Gurwell and Jacob Peterman about 
1839, who transferred it to William Souder, 



■RT 



ik^ 



578 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



and he conducted the business man}' 3'ears. A 
few months after this enterprise was established, 
an attempt was made to run a little distillery 
on the same lot, but this was a failure. A 
small pottery establishment was conducted at 
the same time by the same parties with no bet- 
ter success. John Birk, a hatter, was in busi- 
ness as earl}' as 1838, and John L. Dawson 
started a cabinet-shop in 1S37. William Dicks 
was a shoemaker, and his brother, James Dicks, 
a harness-maker, about 1841. James McKee 
built a saw-mill about 1839, and David Hawk 
started a tannery north of the site now occupied 
by Zarbe's Hotel. John Grrogg put up a log 
house and kept the first tavern about 1836, 
and shortly afterward Cornelius Dorland and 
Robert McKee erected a hotel on the lot now 
occupied by Fry's store. Dr. Turley put up a 
fine building for the same purpose on the lot 
now occupied by the Sexauer Brothers' carriage 
establishment. This building was destroyed by 
fii'e in 184:7. Dr. Daniel L. Kelly was the first 
physician to locate in the place. It is very 
doubtful if he knew much about medicine, as 
he started a saloon and neglected what little 
practice he might have obtained. Dr. George 
L. Zeigler moved to the village in 1842, and 
Dr. J. B. Squier in 1848. Dr. Turley also prac- 
ticed medicine at an early day. The physi- 
cians at the present time are Dr. J. B. Squier, 
Dr. H. S. Bevington and Dr. M. M. Carrothers. 
George Heiby, who removed to Liberty in 1836, 
has been a citizen of' the village for many years, 
and served as Assessor of Liberty Township 
twenty-four terms. Although the place was 
quite a business center, it had no post office 
until about 1843. It is difficult to obtain the 
exact order of those who served as Postmaster 
from that date until 1860. In a small village, 
every one is his own clerk, and so long as he 
secures his mail matter from the stock on hand, 
it does not matter to him who pockets the 
meager stipend paid by the Government. G. 
W. Teel, however, is authority for the following 



order : Horace Bowse, Thomas Gillespie, R. 
W. Musgrave, Dr. George L. Zeigler, George 
Heiby, J. N. Biddle, who was appointed in 
1861 and served until his successor, Al Fry, 
the present incumbent, took the office in 1868. 
Jonas Harmon was Dr. Zeigler's Deputy, and 
for several years the office was kept in Har- 
mon's gun-shop. 

Many different firms have been engaged in 
business at Annapolis during the past forty 
years. The following is a list of the principal 
establishments at the present time : Sexauer 
Brothers, carriage-factory ; J. B. Squier & 
Sons, steam flouring-mill ; George Hummiston, 
steam saw-mill ; Klopfenstein & Co., dry goods 
and general store ; Scott & Keller, dry goods 
and general store ; J. H. Fry, Jr., hardware ; 
Dr. H. S. Bevington, drugs ; Charles Heibert- 
hausen, boots and shoes ; F. Oljendrotb, boots 
and shoes ; G. Seits, magon-maker ; A. Young, 
undertaker and cabinet-maker ; William Haffuer, 
saddler ; John Zarbe, hotel and grocery ; Capt. 
S. S. Smalley, shoemaker ; Jonas Harmon, gun- 
smith. 

The most important manufacturing interest in 
Liberty Township is the caiTiage establishment 
of the Sexauer Brothers, located at Sulphur 
Springs. These young men were born in Bucy- 
rus, and removed to Annapolis many years since, 
where their step-father, Mr. Kinninger, followed 
his trade as a wagon-maker. In 1862, the Sex- 
auei's started their present establishment. The 
character of their work was sufficient to guar- 
antee a ready sale, and they, soon established a 
reputation which extended not only throughout 
Crawford but into neighboring counties. These 
young men, Louis, William, Frederick and Lewis, 
succeeded in a very short time in having a larger 
trade in farm wagons than any other firm in the 
county. Many years since, they commenced 
manufacturing carriages, buggies and light 
spring wagons. The reputation obtained by 
building first-class heavy farm wagons has not 
suflered by the many light, strong, neat and 



r"v 



X, u_ 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY 



579 






stylish vehicles which the}' have made and sold 
since commencing this finer branch of manu- 
facturing. Their work exhibited at county fairs 
has frequently obtained premiums, and carried 
ofl' the first prizes against strong competition. 
The first schoolhouse in the village was erected 
in 1837, on land donated by John Slifer. Pre- 
vious to the construction of this building, the 
children attended the schools taught at the Bell 
Schoolhouse, situated at that time about one- 
half mile south of Annapolis. For some years, 
the citizens of the village and neighboring terri- 
tory had many discussions in regard to the lo- 
cation of their school building, and, in thirty- 
five years, several different special districts 
were formed ; the lines of those adjacent being 
changed frequently, in order to satisfy, if pos- 
sible, all persons interested. Finally, on Octo- 
ber 2, 1872, the citizens assembled, and, by a 
vote of fifty to two, created the present special 
district, embracing " all the fractional Section 
13, Section 14, the northeast quarter of Section 
22, and the east-half of the east quarter of 
Section 15 in Liberty Township." The voters 
then elected the following Directors : C. W. 
Perse for one year, William Sexauer for two 
years and Dr. H. S. Bevington for three years. 
December 14, 1872, it was decided, by a unani- 
mous vote of the citizens, to levy a tax of $3,000 
for the purpose of building and furnishing a new 



schoolhouse, which was erected in 1873 by 
James H. Kemmis, who received $3,316 for his 
services. The building was furnished and pro- 
vided with a bell, at an additional cost of some 
$700, so that the citizens have expended about 
$4,000 for educational purposes, and have pro- 
vided for their children an edifice which is an 
ornament to their little village. It is in very 
striking contrast to the first building erected for 
school purposes in the township. The first 
enumeration taken in the new district showed 
53 boys and 69 girls; total, 122. Robert 
McKee and Jennie Birch taught the first 
schools in the new building during the winter of 
1873-74. 

The only secret society in the village, at the 
present time, is a lodge of the Knights of Honor, 
which is composed of many prominent citizens 
residing in the town and on neighboring farms. 
This lodge was organized January 2, 1878, with 
the following thirteen charter members : Dic- 
tator, H. S. Bevington ; Assistant Dictator, 
Charles Heiberthausen ; Vice Dictator, C. F. 
Sexauer ; Reporter, J. H. Wert ; Financial Re- 
porter, W. K. Evans ; Past Dictator, A. Fry ; 
Chaplain, J. B. Wert ; Sentinel, Henry Heibert- 
hausen ; Guardian, J. H. Fry ; Treasurer, Will- 
iam Sexauer ; Guide, Thomas Laux, John Guiss, 
Jr., and William Heffner. The last two and 
William Sexauer were the first Trustees. 



r'pHF generations of to-day can scarcely real- 
J- ize the hardships passed through by their 
parents and grandparents more than half a cen- 
tury ago. Surrounded as they are with the 
loving endearments of home, and with all the 
pleasures that riches can bestow, they are apt 
to forget at what a cost their enjoyments were 



CHAPTER XX. 

HOLMES TOWNSHIP— ORIGINAL BOUNDARY— PIONEER SETTLEMENTS-EARLY INDUSTRIES-CON- 
FEDERATE X ROADS— UNDERGROUND RAILROAD— CHURCHES AND SCHOOLS 

purchased by their ancestors, who cleared up 
the forests, and, from primeval wildness, cre- 
ated the bright habitations of civilization. 



The dear old father and mother, who are stand- 
ing, as it were, on the brink of the grave, are the 
only ones who love to live over the wild ex- 
periences of pioneer life. To them the remem- 



^ 



580 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



brances are sweet ; and they love to tell of the 
privation and adventure through which they 
passed while the red man was yet an inhabit- 
ant of the woods, and animals of ferocit}' 
roamed unmolested and unseared. They have 
no need to desire a draught of the waters of 
Lethe's stream to drown in forgetful ness the 
miseries of a wrecked and ruined life. No 
remorse can pierce their hearts " like a tooth of 
fire," with sad recollections of kind acts omit- 
ted or left wholly undone. Though their lives 
have been checkered with sunshine and shade, 
and though their lot has been humble and ob- 
scure, yet they have left memorials, more last- 
ing than monumental marble, in the beautiful 
homes reared by their endeavors. 

It is difficult to realize that the township of 
Holmes was once, and but a short time ago, the 
unmolested home of wild animals and wild In- 
dians, and that its pleasant slopes were once 
the sporting grounds of the Mound Builders, 
who followed their peculiar occupations in un- 
known centuries before either white or red man 
became their successors. These strange people 
have left a few evidences of their presence in 
the form of nearly obliterated earthworks along 
the course of Broken Sword Creek, though 
to the passer-by nothing would appear to lead 
him to suspect that the mysterious race, whose 
origin and fate are so perplexing to the archae- 
ologist and chronologist, once lighted his camp- 
fires on the banks of the winding stream, or, 
with war implements of stone or copper, wan- 
dered the forest paths in pursuit of game. 
They have passed awaj', with almost all the 
evidences of their presence, and in their place 
the Indian has reigned for his allotted time, 
and has been succeeded by the white race, 
whose stead}' advancements by superior skill 
and intelligence, have driven back the aborig- 
ines, until but a remnant remains, scattered 
throughout the country, to tell of the once 
happ3' and warlike race of native Americans. 
Will the white race also have its day, and pass 



from the stage of action, giving place to some 
more highly developed order of humanity ? 
Nothing but time can tell the decrees of fate, or 
solve the problem of human destiny. 

The early records of Holmes, like those in 
the other townships in Crawford County, have 
been lost or destroj^ed, and there is but little 
left to guide the historical investigator to the 
numerous items of interest of this division of 
the county, save the traditions handed down 
by the generations of the past to those of the 
present. The memories of the old settlers are 
filled to overflowing with neighboring traditions, 
and, though in matters of detail they cannot 
always be trusted, yet in general their accuracy 
may be depended upon. None of the land in 
Holmes could be purchased by the settlers until 
after 1820, and the western part of the township 
was owned by the Wyandot Indians prior to 
1836, at which date a strip of land on the east- 
ern side of the reservation was purchased of 
the Indians by the Government, and was sold 
at public auction at the date last mentioned. 
That portion of the W3'andot sale that after- 
ward became a part of Holmes Township, was 
something more than two sections wide, and, 
on account of the numerous and inexhaustible 
beds of excellent limestone, has proved of 
greater value to the citizens than any other 
portion of the township. Tlie stone has been 
taken out in large quantities by Nicholas Pool, 
Adam Gearhart and Christian Reiff, and much 
of it has been sold to the citizens for the foun- 
dations of their houses and barns, and the walls 
of their wells, at the rate of from $1 to $2 per 
load. A number of years ago, the town of 
Bucyrus purchased one of the best quarries on 
Broken Sword Creek, consisting of two acres, 
underlaid witli deep, large beds of fine stone ; 
but this quarry has not been worked to any 
extent worth mentioning. Lime has been 
burned since 1838 or 1840, sufficient in amount 
to supply the large demand. 

The township, one of the most attractive and 



:Rr 



?) 



R^ 



HISTOKY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY 



581 



wealthy in the county, received its name from 
Deputy Surveyor Greueral Samuel Holmes, who 
was authorized to make a re-survey of its terri- 
tory in 1836. It lies wholly on the northern 
slope of the Ohio water-shed, and its entire sur- 
face is drained by tributaries of Sandusk}' 
River. The principal stream is Broken Sword 
Creek, which enters the township, coming from 
the east and flowing across Sections 1, 2, 3, 4, 
9, 8, 7, 18 and 19, southwestwardly into Todd 
Township. It has a small valley fifteen or 
twenty rods wide, which in some places ap- 
proaches one side of the stream, thus forming 
a series of low blufls, that in early times were 
covered with a heavy forest of poplar. This 
timber has been highly prized because of its 
lightness and durability, and has been exten- 
sively used in the construction of houses and 
barns. Brandywine Creek, the largest branch 
of Broken Sword in Holmes, flows from Liberty 
Township across Sections 12, 11, 10 and 9, 
uniting on the latter section with the larger 
stream. A small branch of the Sandusky 
River, called Grass Run, flows angling across 
the lower two tiers of sections in a southwest- 
ern direction. These streams, with a few 
small branches, aflbrd ample drainage to the 
township. While the land was yet covered 
with heavy woods, the southeastern third, which 
is almost as level as a floor, was wet and muddy 
the whole year. Having but little or no slope, 
and being thickly covered with fallen logs, 
which lay strewn in promiscuous confusion, the 
flat land retained the water, and even in sum- 
mer time, as related b}^ Joseph Lones, the trip 
to Bucyrus could not be made without walking 
ankle deep in water and mud a large part of 
the way. Sometimes the fallen trees lay so 
thickl}' upon the ground, that, by skipping 
from one to another, miles could be traveled 
without once having Jto step into the water. 
The northern and western parts of the town- 
ship are abundautl}" rolling, and in some places 
the hills are quite long and steep. The surface 



soil has a large proportion of clay, especially 
along the banks of Broken Sword Creek, though 
farther away from the stream ; on the flat land 
in the southeastern part, it contains much de- 
caying vegetable matter, underneath which is 
found a black alluvial earth, very productive 
when properly drained. In the western part is 
an area of about fifty acres, known, since the 
earliest times, as the " Burnt Swamp," from the 
circumstance that, when the first settlers came 
in, the swamp was thickly covered with willows 
and tall weeds, growing from a bed of vegeta- 
tion of about a foot in thickness, and a fire, 
having been lighted by the Indians or settlers 
to dislodge game, swept over the swamp, con- 
tinuing to burn for about a week before the de- 
caying vegetation was consumed. This cir- 
cumstance gave rise to the name by which the 
swamp has since been known. 

Tradition says that a man named Heaman 
was the first settler in the township, having 
located about two miles and a half from the 
southern boundary on what afterward became 
known as the Columbus and Sandusky Pike. 
Quite an extensive settlement had been formed 
in the eastern part of Liberty Township sev- 
eral 3^ears before Heaman located in Holmes, 
and it is probable that this man came originally 
to either that village or to Buc3'rus. The 
boundaries of settlements were gradually in- 
creased, as settlers came in, who purchased 
land on the outskirts, as by thus doing they 
could have a choice of farms. It is more than 
likely that Heaman pushed westward from An- 
napolis, and selected his farm. When he came 
in, how long he remained and what finally be- 
came of him are unrecorded and unknown 
items. Soon after he appeared, William Flake 
built a log cabin on the old Quaintance farm, 
and began clearing his laud, preparatory to 
farming. This man was well known and be- 
came quite prominent in early years. He was 
kind-hearted and charitable to a fault, as nat- 
ural inclination of his heart led him into the 



7i: 



583 



HISTORY OF CRAWrORD COUNTY. 



communistic plan of bestowing his property 
upon others, without expecting or desiring any- 
thing in return. This peculiar characteristic 
caused him to be as free with propei'ty not liis 
own, which procedure finally led him to break 
open a store in Bucyrus, for which he was ar- 
rested, tried, convicted and sentenced to serve 
a number of years in the penitentiary. He died 
soon after his release, and it has been many 
years since an}- of his descendants lived in the 
county. It was as late as 1823 before any set- 
tler located in Holmes Township. That por- 
tion of the township nearest Bucyrus was flat 
and covered with water, and was not the land 
selected by the first settlers. The western and 
northei'n parts were rolling, but were not se- 
lected because they were too remote from the 
" base of supplies" — in other words, the villages; 
and, besides, a portion of the land belonged to 
the Wj'andot Reservation. Notwithstanding 
th^ remoteness of his land from towns, Daniel 
Snydei", or " Indian " Snyder, as he was popu- 
larly known, built a small round-log cabin in 
the northeastern part of the township in about 
1825, into which he moved his family, consist- 
ing of a wife and half a dozen children, appar- 
ently of about the same size. He was called 
" Indian " Sn}' der from the fact that almost his 
whole time was spent in traversing the woods 
in pursuit of deer and other varieties of game. 
He was very skillful and successful in his hunt- 
ing excursions, and was often employed by his 
less expert neighbors to furnish them with ven- 
ison, for which services he was paid $1 per day, 
whether he succeeded in getting anything or 
not. He was gone from home for days together, 
leaving his wife and family- to bear the burden 
of loneliness as best they miglit. He was the 
most expert hunter in the township in early 
years, and his services led him to hunt over 
large tracts of land. He had no regard for the 
Indian's reserved rights, and invaded their 
land without any conscientious scruples, or 
without any apparent fear of danger to himself 



for so doing. He understood the language of 
the Indians quite well, and could converse with 
them. Often when disputes arose between the 
Indians and settlers, Snyder was called upon 
to act as interpreter. Joseph Lones had four 
pigs, which were turned into the woods in the 
spring of 1829, after having been carefully 
marked. They continued to run at large all 
summer, and when fall came, the owner began 
to inquire as to their whereabouts. Daniel 
Snyder reported that he had seen them near 
the "Burnt Swamp," where Mr. Lones went in 
search of them. Three were there, but the 
fourth could not be found, and the owner began 
to mistrust that it had been boiled in an Indian 
stew-kettle. He sent Su^'der as a sp}' into the 
Indian camp on their reservation to discover, 
if possible, what had become of his lost sus 
scro/a. Nothing at the time was found, but a 
few years afterward one of the Indians con- 
fessed of having shot the pig in the woods, and 
of having taken it to " Indian Town," where it 
was devoured. Many swine of the settlers 
w^ere shot and eaten b^- the Indians ; but the 
red men were not the only ones who violated 
the commandment which says, " Thou shalt 
not steal." Swine that had no ear-mark and that 
could not be identified were considered public 
property, and became the propert}' of the pos- 
sessor ; but, usually thej' were marked when 
turned into the woods, and yet, notwitlistand- 
ing this precaution, large numbers were driven 
ofi" and sold to buyei's, who " shipped " them to 
Sandusk}' City. Mr. Lones' three pigs, men- 
tioned above, were shot as soon as found, and 
were conveyed on sleds to the cabin, where they 
were dressed, cut up and salted down for winter 
use. The pigs were a gift to Lones from Fhike- 
The latter told the former to come over and re- 
ceive a present in a sack. The present proved 
to be the pigs, which were then about tliree 
weeks old, and which were carried home in a 
sack by Lones. This is an instance of the 
charitable acts of Flake, for, though to-day 



•^ 



F 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



583 



Lones is surroundecl with tlie comforts of wealth, 
he came to the township iu 1828 with scarcely 
a dollar's worth of property of his own. He 
came from Columbiana County, Ohio, with his 
father-in-law, John Boeman, and was over 
eleven days on the route between New Lisbon, 
Ohio, and Crawford County. Mr. Boeman 
came with his family in a wagon drawn b}' five 
horses, while Lones drove the sixth horse to a 
small empty Dearborn wagon. It was in 
March, 1828, and the route lay through a wild 
countr}" that was almost impassable from the 
fallen timber that la}' scattei'ed upon it, and 
from the muddy condition of the entire route. 
They traveled at the rate of about ten miles per 
day, surmounting almost incredible obstacles 
in the shape of mud and fallen timber, cutting 
their way through the deep woods. They were 
unable to follow the comparatively good roads 
which led to the west fdi-ther south, and the men 
were obliged to walk almost the entire distance 
leading the way with axes on their shoulders, 
ready to cut awaj' any obstruction that could 
be removed with the ax. Finally, after a 
tedious journey, and the usual number of acci- 
dents to men, beasts and wagons, they arrived 
safe at their destination. Lones built his cabin 
on land adjoining the Quaintance farm, and be- 
gan woi'k on the Columbus and Sandusk}- Pike, 
in process of construction at the time. He re- 
ceived $10 per month for his services, and con- 
tinued laboring on the road for about two 
years, paying for the bulk of his land from the 
wages thus received. Not one cent was spent 
foolishl}' during the whole time, but all were 
carefully hoarded to be used in paying for the 
land, and the raembei'S of the family were re- 
quired to forego many of the necessities of life, 
having in view tlie ownership of a home. Mr. 
Lones is yet living in the township, and is one 
of the few old settlers left to tell the tale of 
hardships and privations endured l)}' the pio- 
neers. 

So far as can be learned, the foUowiuii men 



were in the township in the ^-ear 1828 : Will- 
iam Flake, Fisher Quaintance, Isaac Williams, 
William Spitzer, Samuel Miller. David Brown, 
Jonas Martin, Jacob Andrews, Joel Glover, 
Jacob King, Eli Quaintance, Joseph Newell 
and Timothy Kirk. Mr. Flake had cleared, by 
1828, about ten acres, and lived in a round-log 
cabin on the farm now owned by the descend- 
ants of Eli Quaintance. Mr. Black now owns 
the farm where Timothy Kirk located. Kirk 
died at an early day, about 1828, and his death 
was probably the first in the township. Joseph 
Newell, who arrived in about 1826, purchased a 
fine rolling farm on Broken Sword Ci'eek, his 
land then joining the Wyandot Reservation. 
He was an intelligent man, and saw, from the 
rapid settlement of the countr}-, that numerous 
villages were destined to spring up, and that 
county-seats were soon to be established in the 
newly laid laid-out counties of the New Pur- 
chase. A portion of his farm was laid out into a 
town,which Mr.Newell designed would some da}' 
become the county seat of Crawford County. 
The lots were offered for sale ; but, so far as 
known, none were sold, and Mr. Newell soon 
saw that he had made a mistake and that 
Bucyrus was the town to be honored. He also 
laid off half an acre of land, fenced it with rails, 
designing it for a cemetery. It may be stated 
that his cemetery was a success, if his county 
seat was not. xVbout the time Newell appeared, 
a Mr. Spitzer settled on the farm now owned 
by Chai'les Laman. Jacob King was, in a few 
years later, living in a little log cabin on 
Broken Sword Creek, on the farm owned at 
present by Samuel Slapp. James ^lartin was 
in at an early day. He was a sort of a local 
minister, and preached in the cabins of the set- 
tlers, and was probably the first one to preach 
the word of God in the township. There came 
with him from England a young man, named 
Thomas Alsoph, whose father was one of the 
English nobility. The son's mental horizon 
was somewhat clouded, or, in other words, he 



k 



584 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



was no7i cotnpos mentis. Just why he was sent 
from England and plenty to the backwoods of 
Ohio and privation, is an unsolved mystery. 
Some thought he was a monomaniac, because 
of his being perfectl}' rational and sensible on 
all ordinary subjects. This is probably the 
correct view. His manners were refined, and, 
in all his intercourse with the settlers, he was 
as genteel and polished as was customary in 
the polite society of European aristocracy. He 
soon became a favorite with every one. The 
first Sunday schools in the township were or- 
ganized by him, and it was perhaps for the 
best that he became a backwoodsman, thou- 
sands of miles from home and friends. It 
became cun-ent, and was believed by many, 
that he became mad by brooding over disap- 
pointments in love. If this be not true, it 
proves that the reportei-s, Adam-like, were in- 
clined to lay the sin of wrecking the young 
man's life to woman. He taught many of the 
early schools, and, after living in the township 
quite a number of years, returned to England. 
Prior to 1836, the township of Holmes was 
fractional, but, at that date, a portion of the 
land belonging to the Wyandot Reservation 
was annexed to the western side, giving the 
township its present size and shape. The fol- 
lowing, from the records of the County Com- 
missioners, shows the change that was made : 

Resolved, by the Commissioners, that they pro- 
ceed to attach the Wyandot Reservation to the different 
townships adjoining said Reservation, agreeably to the 
provi.sions of an act of the Ohio Legislature, made for 
that purpose, and said territory shall be attached as 
follows: * * * * * * * 

All that part of Township 2, Range 16, as lies within 
said Reservation, shall be attached to Holmes, and 
shall constitute a part of said township. 

This gave to the township thirty-six square 
miles of territory. The names of a few of the 
first officers are remembered, and were as 
follows : Jacob Andrews was the first Justice 
of the Peace, and Joseph Newell was elected 



Clerk. The spring after the township was 
organized and named, at an election held in the 
cabin of John Hussey, an early settler, a total 
of nine votes was polled. At the second 
township election, Joseph Lones was elected 
Constable — lo ! without a dissenting voice. 
Soon after his term of office began, an execu- 
tion was placed in his hands, to be levied upon 
the personal property of Thomas Williams. 
The execution was duly issued by "Squire" 
Andrews, and, when Lones presented himself 
in the presence of Williams, announcing that 
he had come to serve an execution, Williams 
asked to have it read, which was accordingly 
done. During the reading, Williams ap- 
proached and looked over the shoulder of the 
Constable, and, with a sudden movement, 
snatched the legal document and put it in his 
pocket. Lones stormed and threatened, but, 
finding that Williams could not be scared by 
threats of lawful punishment, went for advice 
to the " Squire," who issued another execution, 
and, also, a warrant for the arrest of the rebel- 
lious Williams. It was winter, snow being 
upon the ground, and Lones again went to the 
cabin of Williams with the warrant and execu- 
tion, accompanied by a Mr. McMichael, who 
drove an ox team hitched to a sled. Williams 
was away from home, and without any ceremo- 
ny, Lones and his deputy took a sled-load of 
personal property from the cabin, against the 
violent protests of Mrs. Williams, and conveyed 
them to the cabin of Andrews, who announced 
that they should be sold after a certain date, 
unless Williams paid the execution and costs. 
Williams appeared the next day, paid all the 
charges, which amounted to about $15, and 
was then permitted to take his property home. 
This was the only official business required of 
Lones during his term of office. 

The southern half of the township, in early 
years, was noted from the circumstance that 
no liquor was used at the house-raisings or 
log-rollings. All parties, with few exceptions. 






■i 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



587 



abstained from all drinks, except strong coffee. 
This was a ver}- desirable state of things, and 
was greatly appreciated by lovers of temper- 
ance ; but, after a number of years, when many 
settlers had appeared, the neighborhood fell 
from grace, and whisky was used at the roll- 
ings, as in other localities. 

In about the year 1830, Moses Spahr, John 
Lichtenwalter, Thomas Minich, Jacob MoUen- 
kopf, SaiBuel Shaffner, John McCulloch, Wil- 
liam Roberts, Thomas Williams, John Hus- 
sej', Abraham Gary and several others, settled 
in the southern part of the township. The 
earl} population was about half German and 
half English ; but, in 1828, when the settle- 
ment of the township became quite rapid, the 
German element prevailed. Two distinct set- 
tlements were formed, one in the southeastern 
corner, and the other near the present site of 
Portersville, and the two were made about six 
years apart. The one formed in the northern 
part was almost wholly German, eight or ten 
families coming together from Dauphin Coun- 
ty, Penn., in wagons drawn by horses, in the 
year 1828. Among those that settled in the 
northern part were the families of Michael 
Shupp, Isaac and Abraham Ditty, Henry Fra- 
lick, Jacob Lintner, Jacob Moore, Daniel Por- 
ter, Daniel Fralick and three or four others. 
These families settled near each other in the 
northern part, on or near Broken Sword Creek, 
built their little log cabins, some of which are 
yet standing, and began to clear up and im- 
prove the country. Various industries began 
to spring up to furnish articles only obtained 
by long and toilsome journeys through almost 
bottomless roads to some of the neighboring 
villages. It is hard to believe some of the 
" mud and water " stories told b}' the early set- 
tlers relative to the condition of pioneer roads. 
Who would imagine to-day, in traveling over 
the Bucj'rus & Tiffin road, which is almost as 
hard as pavement, that it formerly took a 
harassing journey of two days to go by wag- 



on from the northern part of the township to 
Bucyrus and back ? And yet the story bears 
all the evidences of truth. A journey of ten 
miles through the swamps and marshes and 
fallen timber was a day's work for man and 
beasts. Land which is now cultivated year 
after year without the least difficulty from 
dampness, was slush in early times, and wag- 
ons sank into it from six inches to the hub, 
and were only pried out after half an hour of 
hard and disagreeable work. And then the 
long journeys to some distant mill, often con- 
suming a week, were multiplied journeys to 
Bucyrus. 

The early settlers in the northern part, as a 
whole, were not willing to relinquish liquor 
drinking, and often went to Bucyrus for sup- 
plies of whisky. If they remained in the vil- 
lage all night, their evenings were spent 
reveling in bacchanalian enjoyments, drinking 
and toasting each other's health, and singing 

"Oh ! landlord, fill the flowing bowl 

Until it has run over. 
Oh ! landlord fill the flowing bowl 

Until it has run over. 
For to-night we'll merry be, 
For to-night we'll merry be, 
For to-night we'll merry be, 

And to-morrow we'll be sober." 

The Indians from the reservations were in the 
habit of joining the revelers, and were very 
fond of what they called " Sandusky water.'" 
When under the influence of liquor, they be- 
came quarrelsome, and it was safest to leave 
them alone until they were sober. Several 
women in the northern part were inveterate 
and disgraceful drinkers, and were frequently 
seen beastl}' drunk, lying by the roadside. 
But this state of things passed away, and the 
citizens have learned to leave liquor alone. 

Probably the first saw-mill in the township 
was built in 1833, on Broken Sword Creek, by 
Jesse Quaintance. It was an " up and down " 
mill, operated b}- water-power, and continued 



^9 



588 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



-^ 



to do good work for nearl}' twenty years. The 
building was frame, being sided with poplar 
boards, obtained after the saw had been in op- 
eration a few months, and was divided by a 
partition into two apartments, into one of which 
was placed the sawing machinery, and into the 
other the machinery necessary for grinding 
grain. Notwithstanding the creek had but little 
fall where the mill was located, excellent water- 
power was secured by extending the race across 
the narrow neck of a large bend in the stream. 
This advantage, together with a large, strong 
brush-dam, gave sufficient fall to the water to 
furnish ample power for the operation of saw 
and stones. Both departments of the mill 
were well patronized as long as they continued 
to do good work. Two years later, Frederick 
Williams built a saw-mill on Brandywine Creek. 
This was also a frame building, and an " up 
and down " saw, and, though he was unable to 
secure as fine water-power as Quaintance did, 
yet he did good work. This mill necessarily 
ran slower than the other, and was continued 
in operation ten years, when Williams sold it 
to other parties, and, four years afterward, 
joined a party of men en route for the gold 
mines in California. The parties who purchased 
the mill, carelessly permitted the dam to break? 
which ended the career of the mill. In the year 
1845, Rodney Poole built the third saw-mill, at 
the " Falls," on Broken Sword Creek. The bed 
of the stream, at this point, has an irregular 
fall of about a foot and a half This, together 
with a strong dam and race, furnished abundant 
power for the rapid running of the saw, and 
was the best site for either a grist or saw mill in 
the township. This mill, like the others, was 
frame, having a long shed, extending out at 
right angles to the main building, in which was 
piled the lumber when sawed. The sawing was 
done either on shares, or at the rate of 50 cents 
per 100 feet. In early years, the mill-dams 
were not as strongly constructed as they are at 
the present day, when large quantities of stone 



can be had at but little cost. They were usually 
built of dirt, stones, brush, logs, etc., piled in 
promiscuous confusion into the bed of the 
stream, the work being done in times of low 
water, and the whole dam being braced fi*om 
the lower side by logs driven into the ground 
in a slanting position. These rude dams were 
subject to continual breakage, the owner being 
uncertain upon going to bed, whether he was 
destined to have water-power the next morning 
or not. The streams were full of muskrats, 
which burrowed into the dams, and were the 
cause of many a breakage. On the occasion 
of heavy rains, the water was held in check by 
the large amount of fallen timber, which often 
resulted in flooding the whole country in the 
neighborhood of the streams. Samuel Shaffner 
recollects of being compelled to swim his horse, 
on one occasion, aci'oss the Brandywine Creek, 
which now, in times of the greatest rains, does 
not acquire a depth greater than two or three 
feet. 

In 1853, Joseph Lones built a steam saw- 
mill on the plank road in the southern part; 
near a small stream called Grass Run. A 
muley saw was placed in the mill, which was 
operated three years and then sold to other 
parties. The mill is yet running, and, since its 
construction, has done a large amount of good 
work. It has been operated by several different 
owners. Two years after the Lones mill was 
built, another was erected in the northern part, 
on Broken Sword Creek, by Fralick & Flickinger, 
and was continued in operation until a short 
time after the war. It was a large frame mill, 
having a muley saw, and was operated by steam 
while it continued running. Several other mills 
have been built in the township at different 
times, furnishing an abundant supply of sawed 
lumber from the various varieties of wood, at a 
reasonable figure. 

The little village of Portersville lies partly in 
Holmes Township and partly in Lykens, and its 
creation and growth, regardless of the location 



ik 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD C0U:N'TY 



589 



of the various industries and dwellings, will be 
given in this sub-division of the county history. 
There are circumstances connected with the vil- 
lage to be detailed in coming pages, rendering 
the annals of the town universally interesting, 
and a matter of wide public interest. In about 
the 3'ear 1830, as has been stated, about ten 
families of German emigrants established them- 
selves in the woods in the vicinity of Porters- 
ville. In addition to those families already 
mentioned, which located in the northern part, 
were those of Robert Knott, John and William 
Shultz, John, Peter and Jacob Shupp, Samuel 
Fralick, Samuel Flickinger, David Scale and 
others. It was more than twenty years after 
this settlement was formed, that the village of 
Portersville was laid out, and the country around 
had become quite thickly populated with emi- 
grants of different nationalities from the East, 
and various industries and improvements had 
arisen, here and there, before that event tran- 
spired. Jacob Lintner, one of the earliest in 
this settlement, erected a blacksmith-shop just 
across the line in Lykens Township, shortly 
after his arrival, though he did not receive suf- 
ficient work to make it advisable to drop all 
other labor, except in the line of his trade. He 
was quite ingenious, and worked considerably 
at the carpenter's trade, acquiring, by practice, 
what little he knew of that business. When the 
log cabins were reai'ed, he was called upon to 
prepare the door and window casings, and to do 
the work requiring gi'eater skill. Jacob Moore 
was a shoemaker, and had a small shop in one 
end of his cabin. His leather was largely ob- 
tained at Bucyrus, and, during the winter time, 
he was in the habit of traveling from house to 
house to ply his trade. Notwithstanding his 
shop furnished coarse shoes at a very low figure, 
many, too poor to buy, were compelled to manu- 
fiicture a rough moccasin from deer or other skin, 
and to wear the same the whole year. It was 
no uncommon thing to see whole suits of buck- 
skin, and many amusing tales are told of the 



efforts made to get into buckskin breeches that 
had been thoroughly soaked in water and then 
dried. It is related that the custom was to 
stand the breeches on the floor near the bed 
(for they were abundantly able to stand alone) 
and to take a flying jump from the couch, care 
being taken to alight in the proper place and 
position, or the effort was abortive, and dire dis- 
aster followed. Whether this is true or not, the 
reader is left to determine. 

William Fralick was a carpenter, and was 
emplo^'ed to build many of the early frame 
houses. Any man with average ingenuit}' could 
design and construct the log cabins ; but, after 
a few 3'ears, when the settlers were in better 
circumstances, carpenters were called for and 
better houses wei'c built. William Spitzer, who 
lived in the southeastern part, was a mason by 
trade, and, when the better class of dwellings 
began to go up, his services were required in la}'- 
ing the foundations and chimneys. He burned 
several small kilns of brick, obtaining his sup- 
plies of clay from large banks in the neighbor- 
hood of his cabin. These bricks were sold to 
the settlers, and were used in building chim- 
neys, etc. Oxen were used to mix the clay and 
sand composing the bricks. The first were made 
in about 1830. 

Samuel Burnison erected a small building in 
the northern part in 1841, designing it for a 
distillery. He owned a small copper still, and 
operated a small horse-mill at the same time, 
to furnish him supplies of ground gi'ain, from 
which an inferior article of whisky was made. 
The enterprise did not pa^', and Burnison en- 
deavored to change the business to that of 
cheese making. He purchased a few good cows 
and made preliminary aiTangements to begin 
the manufacture, but for some reason unknown 
dropped the enterprise at the beginning, dis- 
posed of his cows, tubs, vats, etc., and turned 
liis attention to farming. His was the first, 
last and onl}- distillery ever in Holmes Town- 
ship, which remark is also true of his cheese- 



;r^ 



590 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



factor}'. David Porter owned an ashery in 
about the year 1837, and manufactured black 
and scorched salts from ashes obtained from 
the surrounding settlers. Ashes could be ob- 
tained in quantities from the large heaps of 
logs burned soon after the rollings. The}' were 
hauled loose in the wagons or often in sacks to 
the ashery, where they were made into potash, 
frequently on shares. The supply of ashes 
from the surrounding country, failed to such an 
extent within the next ten years, that the ashery 
was no longer profitable and was discontinued. 
The village of Portersville was not in exist- 
ence when the German settlement was formed, 
and it was a number of years before the first 
cabin was built on its present site. John Brant 
erected the first building. It was a large frame 
and is yet standing. Cyrus Fralick built the 
second, which is also standing, though additions 
have since been made to it. The third was 
erected across the line in Lykens Township by 
Benjamin Fawcett. The town was laid out in 
1852 by the County Surveyor, George M. Wiley. 
Sixteen lots, wholly on the western side of the 
Bucyrus and Tiffin Road, were laid out from 
the northeastern corner of the eastern half of 
the northeastern quarter of Section 4, Township 
2, Range 16. David Porter was the founder 
and owner, and the village was named Porters- 
ville in his honor. Porter did not enter into 
business in his village, but turned his attention 
to his farm near by. William Wingart lived 
just across the line in Lykens Township, and 
was a chair and cabinet maker. He made large 
numbers of very durable chairs from poplar 
and other kinds of wood, and scores of them 
can be seen in the dwellings at Portersville, as 
sound and serviceable as the day they were 
made. He also, though less extensively, made 
cupboards and bureaus, besides other useful 
articles of furniture. About five years after the 
town was laid out, he was employed by George 
Quinby, of Bucyrus, to sell goods on commis- 
sion, and was given about $300 worth to com- 



mence with. These were the first goods sold in 
the town, and the rapidity with which they 
disappeared from the shelves, proved that quite 
an extensive business could be profitably car- 
ried on in the village. Wingart continued to 
sell two or three years for Quinby, and then 
went to New York City, where he purchased 
goods of his own valued at about $800. He 
followed the mercantile pursuit for about ten 
years, when he closed out his stock and, retir- 
ing to his farm, began the peaceful occupation 
of tilling the soil. Two years before Wingart 
retired, Brinkerhoff & Wilson, then doing busi- 
ness in Sycamore with a general assortment of 
goods, established a branch store in Porters- 
ville, and offered for sale about $3,000 worth of 
goods. Daniel Fralick purchased the stock in 
1854, which then invoiced at $2,740, and has 
continued the business from that time until the 
present, sometimes carrying $6,000 worth of 
stock, consisting of a general assortment. Occa- 
sionally, as during the war, considerable money 
was made ; but at other times the sales have 
been small and the business unprofitable. 
Country stores are burdened with the re- 
quirements of competition, and it is only through 
large sales that they are rendered profitable. 
Mr. Fralick has in store at present about $900 
worth of goods. Shook & Ditty have also been 
engaged in mercantile pursuits in the village. 
In 1846, Scale & HoUingshead opened a saloon 
in the village. They sold considerable liquor, 
and, it is said, could perform the miraculous 
feat of selling a half-dozen different kinds of 
liquor at the same time from one bottle. One 
day, several young men, in order to secure a 
public exhibition of the wonderful performance, 
posted one of their number behind the door of 
the saloon unknown to the proprietor, and the 
others retired, and, after a time, came in singly 
asking for liquor not called for by the others. 
The first one called for whisky, and obtained it 
from the big brown bottle ; the second called 
for ale, and received it from the same brown 






'A 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



591 



bottle ; the third asked for gin ; the fourth for 
wine and so on, and all received their potations 
from the same mysterious brown bottle. The per- 
formance became noised about and excited no 
little sport and comment ; but for some reason, 
after the event narrated above, the different va- 
rieties of liquors were sold from as man}' bottles. 
This partnership continued for a number of 
years, and, while in the business, also began en- 
tertaining the public, though they did not pre- 
tend to keep tavern. John Stinerock, a tailor 
by trade, was the first genuine tavern-keeper in 
the village. He kept no bar, and his tavern is 
spoken of as the best and most orderly ever 
opened in the town. No bummers nor loafers 
were permitted to lounge round the premises. 
He was a tailor and worked some at his trade, 
cutting and making suits according to the pre- 
vailing fashions. The building is yet standing, 
and is still under the management of a tavern- 
keeper. In 1868, Elias Shirk built another 
tavern in the town, which is at present owned 
and managed by his widow. Liquor has been 
sold in the village since 1846. 

In 1834, long before the town was laid out, 
William Wingart circulated a petition, which 
was signed by every one, praying for the estab- 
lishment of a post office in the settlement. 
The petition was granted by the authorities, 
and Wingart was appointed Postmaster. The 
postal route established at the same time lay 
from Bucyrus to Tiffin, with intermediate offices 
at Portersville, Benton and Melmore. Daniel 
Fralick is the Postmaster at present, and has 
officiated in that capacity for man}' years. Two 
years after the village was surveyed and named, 
an addition was made by Shupp & Company. 
The addition was on the eastern side of the Bu- 
cyrus & Tiffiin road, and across the line in Ly- 
kens Township, and comprised some forty lots. 
This addition gave great impetus to the growth 
of the town, and the citizens became impressed 
with the thought that some railroad company 
should honor their town with its presence. But 



the years have glided by without bringing the 
desired road, and the citizens are now in despair 
of ever seeing their hopes realized. The Ohio 
Central Railroad has just been built across the 
lower part of the township, but this, instead of 
increasing the population of the town, has les- 
sened it, and has turned the attention of the 
villagers to the more favorable locations along 
the new road. 

Portersville gained national notoriety during 
and since the last war, by being the celebrated 
X Ci'oss Roads, where the fictitious personage. 
Petroleum V. Nasby, first began to chronicle his 
experiences, and to send communications to the 
Toledo Blade and other well-known newspapers. 
Many of the incidents and circumstances nar- 
rated by him, though given with partisan partial- 
ity, actually transpired ; and all the principal 
characters, such as Nasby, Bascom, Bigler, Po- 
gram and others, were taken from fancied resem- 
blances to individuals residing in the village at 
that time. The inquisitorial eyes of the nation 
became centered upon the little town ; and the 
characters drawn have become almost as well 
known to the citizens of the United States as 
those of Dickens or Shakespeare. They have 
become permanent characters in standard 
American literature. It was not long before 
the renowned Nasby sold out at Portersville (if 
the figure may be indulged in), and establislied 
himself at the " Confedrit X Roads, wich is 
in the State of Kentucky." Several of the 
originals from which the principal characters 
were drawn are yet living in the village, or in 
other parts of the county. The legend of 
Nasby's trials in the political world, like that 
of the fanciful Don Quixote, will ever remain 
connected with the unpretentious little village, 
and will atford abundant material for gossip 
for scores of years to come. 

When the village was first laid out and 
named, William Wingart strenuously objected 
to its being called Portersville, and suggested 
Wingart's Corners, as being, in his opiniv)n. a 



7^ 



is 

ifr 



592 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY 



much more euphonious title. David Porter, 
after whom the town was named, positively re- 
fused to have anj- other name bestowed upon 
his protege, except the one selected by himself. 
But Wingart, determining not to be out- 
witted, spread abroad the report that the real 
title of the village was Wingart's Corners, and 
a few years afterward, when he went to New 
York for his goods, he had them shipped to 
Wingarts Corner's, Ohio, via Bucyrus, thus in- 
troducing the town to the attention of the citi- 
zens, at the county seat, under his favorite 
name. He continued this practice and other 
skillful maneuvers, until the village became 
quite universally known as Wingart's Corners, 
a name yet bestowed upon it by the majority 
of the citizens in the count}'. Of late 3'ears, 
it has also been known as "The Confedrit X 
Roads," but this name is not countenanced by 
the villagers, who much prefer either of the 
others. Various physicians have lived in the 
town since its organization, among whom were 
Foutz, Rousch, Zander and the present one, C. 
D. Lea. It is not considered a good point for 
doctors, because the town and surrounding 
country are quite free from sickness. 

Ohio was traversed more than an}' other 
State between 1840 and 1850, b}- large num- 
bers of slaves from the Southern States, espe- 
cially from the large cotton plantations on the 
Red River, on their way to Canada. The runa- 
ways were always welcomed b}' some one in 
every county in the State, although, perhaps, 
the Quaker settlements afforded the surest pro- 
tection against capture by pursuing owners. 
After the enactment of laws making it the duty 
of public officers in the Northern States to ap- 
prehend negroes, found under suspicious cir- 
cumstances, who could not give a satisfactorj- 
account of themselves, it became necessary for 
the escaping slaves, in order to avoid detection 
and arrest, to travel wholly in the night, and 
to lie concealed in out-of-the-way places during 
the day. This procedure gave rise to what is 



known as the Underground Railroad, as the 
runawa}' slaves were not seen publicly, until 
they had reached Canada. For a decade before 
the last war, many of the citizens of Ohio were 
so bitterly opposed to the efforts made by some 
of their neighbors to assist the slaves in escap- 
ing North, that they began a system of espion- 
age to discover those violating the laws referred 
to above. This often occasioned extreme bit- 
terness between neighbors, and even resulted 
in family estrangements. Although Crawford 
County was largel}^ populated with citizens 
who were disposed to prevent the escape of the 
slave, and to even apprehend him, when it be- 
came certain that he was running away ; yet, 
quite a number of the farmers in different parts 
of the count}^ were engaged quite extensively, 
at times, in feeding the slaves, and in convey- 
ing them farther North. A family named 
Jackson, living in the southern part of Holmes 
Township, were known to harbor the runaways, 
and to convey scores of them to some other 
friend in Seneca County. The slaves were 
always brought to Jackson's cabin during the 
night, and usually after 10 o'clock; but who 
brought them is a mystery not yet solved. 
The Columbus and Sandusky Pike, one of the 
finest highways in the State running north and 
south, was extensively traveled by slaves with- 
out guides, as the road was so plain that no 
mistake could be made. But the traveling was 
usually done between 10 o'clock at night and 
daylight the next morning. Isaac Jackson 
and his son Stephen have been seen to carry 
sled-loads of them north into Seneca County. 
At one time, about 1853, they were seen to 
have six or eight negro women and children in 
a sled, which w^as driven rapidl}' north, while 
five or six negro men, unable to get into the 
sled, ran at the side or behind. The night was 
bitterly cold, though the moon shone brightly 
upon the scene, revealing the runaways to the 
people along the road, who were willing to 
jump from their beds in the cold and look from 



"% 



IdL 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



593 



the window or door. The Jacksons are the 
only ones in the township who are remembered 
to have been connected with the Underground 
Railroad. 

It was the custom, for a decade after Bucyrus 
was laid out, for the settlers within a radius of 
three or four miles from that town to refrain 
from erecting school buildings, and to send 
their children to the village schools. The larger 
scholars could walk the distance, even in winter, 
and the smaller ones, if the}^ were proof against 
the sticking qualities of the spring and summer 
mud, could attend during the warmer months. 
These advantages, such as they were, obviated 
the necessit}' of building schoolhouses near 
Buc^'rus until the surrounding countrj' became, 
so thickly populated as to render such a course 
advisable. The result was that schoolhouses 
were built in settlements five or more miles 
from Bucyrus, a number of years before those 
nearer the town. Although the southern part 
of Holmes Township was first settled almost a 
decade before the northern part, the latter 
division erected a log schoolhouse several j'ears 
before the former, and also had several terms 
taught before the school building was erected. 
David Moore, one of the early settlers in north- 
ern Holmes, was an old bachelor, who had come 
into the wilderness of Ohio to secure a home 
for his widowed mother and himself His land 
was purchased in 1828, and during the follow- 
ing 3'ear his cabin was built, four or five acres 
cleared, and a small crop of corn and potatoes 
raised. Everything was then in readiness for 
his mother, who was to preside over this rude 
home. During the succeeding winter (1829 and 
1830), he returned to Pennsj'lvania, and, while 
he was gone, the neighbors converted his cabin 
into a schoolhouse, and the first term in the 
township was taught here by John Bretz, a 
native of the Keystone State, who had come in 
with the German emigration. The attendance 
was quite large, owing in a measure, no doubt, 
to the novelty incident upon attending the first 



school. The following winter, Bretz taught in 
the southern part of Lykens Township, in a 
cabin designed for a dwelling, but into which 
no family had yet moved. He continued to 
teach for a number of years in the German 
settlement and its vicinity, alwaj's having good, 
orderly schools ; indeed, he prided himself on 
being able to govern anj^ school, and from his 
personal appearance his scholars and all others 
were willing to admit the statement without 
cavil. He was over six feet in height, and as 
wiry as a panther, and could handle any other 
man in the neighborhood with ease. His com- 
mands were implicitly obeyed, but he had one 
serious drawback in teaching, as his knowledge 
of mathematics, and, indeed, of all the other 
branches required to be taught, was sadlj' defi- 
cient. He therefore resorted to artifice and 
procrastination when called upon to work 
"sums" beyond his capacity. 

It is probable that the first schoolhouse in 
the township was built on Section 3, during the 
summer of 1833. The first term in this build- 
ing was taught by Edward Porter, who had 
taught one or two terms in the neighborhood 
previously. During the winter of 1832-33, he 
had taught in a log cabin in Lj'kens Township, 
about a mile and a half northeast of the pres- 
ent village of Portersville. In early vears it 
was customary, and was the supreme delight 
of the pupils (and they greatly relish it yet), 
to reach the schoolhouse before the teacher on 
the first day of the term, and to bolt the door 
and bar that dignitary' out for an hour or two, 
or for a half-day, just as the scholars were in- 
clined. Porter, anticipating such a maneuver 
on the part of his scholars, on the first day of 
the term taught the winter of 1832-33, deter- 
mined to outwit them ; so he took Daniel Fra- 
lick into his confidence, and instructed him to 
raise the window at the proper moment, into 
which the teacher would leap with a bound, to 
the disraaj- of the scholars. As was antici- 
pated, upon reaching the schoolhouse the first 



JUJ 



.> 



694 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY 



morning, the teacher found the door securely 
bolted, and, from the suppressed titter within, 
knew that the scholars were expecting any 
amount of sport. The teacher began pounding 
loudly on the door, and, when sure that the at- 
tention of all the scholars was riveted to the 
entrance, he darted to the rear of the building ; 
the window was quickly raised by the watchful 
Fralick, and, ere the guilty students were aware 
of his presence, their teacher stood in their 
midst. The utmost consternation prevailed. 
The door was thrown open, and the fright- 
ened scholars poured from the room into 
the yard, like sheep before a wolf They 
scattered in all directions; and many of them, 
fearing dire chastisement, did not return un- 
til the next day. The teacher was master 
of the situation, and the scholars were no 
little chagrined at being so completely out- 
flanked. The treacherous Fralick, who was to 
blame for the rout, was thenceforth tabooed 
from the confidence of his fellow-students. 

After the schoolhouse on "Section 3 had been 
used about nine years, a much better and larger 
one was erected, a short distance south, to take 
its place. This building was a frame, and was 
almost wholly built of lumber sawed at the 
mills on Broken Sword Creek. It is yet used 
for school purposes. A Miss Margaret Cannon 
taught many of the earlier schools in the north- 
ern part. She attempted many of the winter 
schools, which were attended by large, rough 
boys, but usually succeeded in giving satisfac- 
tion to the patrons in both government and in- 
struction. The larger boys in the early schools 
were required to cut the wood, which was 
usually done while the school was in session. 
When one was tired or was called upon to re- 
cite or get his lesson, another took his place, 
and this excellent respite from study was nec- 
essarily continued a greater part of the day, as 
the fire-places in the old log schoolhouse were 
noted for the consumption of wood. It was 
not until 1835, that a school-building was 



erected in southern Holmes. It was built on 
or near the farm of Mr. Black, and was con- 
structed of hewed logs. A few years later, a 
frame building was erected on the Lones farm, 
which, after being used for school purposes for 
nearly twenty years, was removed, and the 
present one was built at a cost of about $350. 
The township was divided into school districts 
as early as 1836, or thereabouts, and, soon after, 
each was furnished with a school-building. No 
schoolhouse has been built in Portersville. 

As is usual in a new country, early church 
societies were established in Holmes Township 
a number of years before the settlers deemed 
it advisable to build churches. Local preachers 
visited the township from the neighboring vil- 
lages. Itinerant ministers, known as " circuit 
riders," of all the various orthodox denomina- 
tions, stopped in the neighborhood periodically, 
and, as is usual in the history of the human 
race, wherever there are leaders in the cause of 
Christ, there are also followers. Meetings be- 
gan to be held regularly in the cabins of Mi- 
chael Shupp, Daniel Seats and others, until in 
about 1834, an Evangelical Church was built in 
the extreme southern part of Lykens Town- 
ship. Soon after this, the Lutherans and Ger- 
man Reformers erected a log church in the 
northern part of Holmes. Considerable antag- 
onism was developed from the start, between 
the two denominations, growing out of certain 
assumed privileges denied to each sect by the 
other. Much bitterness was manifested for 
several years, until the matter culminated by 
being adjusted in the courts. In 1852, a log 
meeting-house was erected one mile west of Por- 
tersville, by the Protestant Methodists. This 
building became known as the Concord Meet- 
ing-house. Rev. William Brown was the oflSci- 
ating minister during the last war, and, being 
a strong Abolitionist, he incautiously incorpo- 
rated his political views in his sermons, in 
opposition to the protests of many of the mem- 
bers, who, as might have been expected, posi- 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



595 



tively refused to tolerate any such procedure. 
But the tainister persisted in the course begun, 
until finally, one night, a party of men went to 
the church and leveled it with the ground. 
Much the same proceeding was enacted in other 
localities. One night, a man with blackened 
face, went to the store of Daniel Fralick, in 
Portersville, and bought six dozen eggs. That 
same evening, a minister, conducting a revival 
in one of the churches near the village, was 
severely pelted with eggs — evidently the ones 
purchased at the store. Soon after, a church 
on the line between Holmes and Liberty Town- 
ships was burned one night — the result of an 



effort to unite political and religious views. It 
is proper, though unnecessary, to state that the 
better class of citizens had nothing to do in 
perpetrating these outrages. The southern part 
of the township was not without its early 
church organizations. Meetings were held in 
the cabins, until, in about 1840, the Quakers 
erected their church, which is yet standing. It 
is a large, low building, built originally of logs, 
and afterward weather-boarded with poplar 
lumber. It was used continuously until 1879, 
when the building was deserted, and it yet re- 
mains unoccupied. 



CHAPTER XXI. 



VERNON TOWNSHIP— GEOLOGICAI— FIRST SETTLE 
L AGES— CHURCHES AND 

THIS is one of the most attractive and 
beautiful portions of Crawford County. 
It is found within the broad area stretching north 
and south across Ohio, where the Waverl}^ 
group of rocks lies next underneath the drift 
deposits. In almost all cases where wells or 
other excavations have reached a depth of from 
ten to fifty feet, passing through the surface 
deposits, the Berea grit of the Waverly group 
has been reached. In the northwestern corner, 
on Bear Marsh Run, where the channel of the 
stream is worn through the surface deposits, is 
found a slate, or shale, which has a bluish cast 
when exposed to the air, but which, under 
water, is dark brown, or almost black. It evi- 
dently belongs to the Huron shale, and lies on 
the eastern edge of that formation, which 
passes in a broad belt across the count}^ a little 
east of north. West of De Kalb, on the land 
of James Caruthers, the Berea grit outcrops ; 
but, on account of deep beds of overlying 
drift, has never been quarried in any paying 
quantity. It is also exposed on the land of 



MENT— PIONEER INDUSTRIES— GROWTH OF VIL- 
SCHOOLS— SEMINARY. 

James Campbell and Jacob Myers, and may be 
seen on a small creek in Section 19, and in sev- 
eral other localities. The working of these 
quarries has proved unprofitable in the past, 
yet the future will develop rich beds of valua- 
ble stone. 

The township lies on the northern slope of 
the Ohio water-shed, and is, therefore, drained 
bj'^ streams which flow into Lake Erie. The 
principal one is Loss Creek, the name being a 
corruption of " Lost Creek," which, tradition 
sa3'S, was thus named because its source, like 
that of the Nile, cannot be found, or, as other 
reports say, because the mind becomes bewil- 
dered and lost in trying to discover the head. 
Which report is correct will be left to the 
reader to determine. This stream is a tributary 
of Sandusky River, and has its source in the 
extensive flat lands found in the southern part of 
the township. It takes a winding northwesterly 
course until it reaches the center of the town- 
ship, and then turns toward the southwest and 
flows into Sandusky River. The slopes along 



"& "V 



Li 



596 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



its course are beautiful and rolling. Broken 
Sword Creek, one of the principal streams 
in the county, drains the northwestern corner, 
and Honey Creek, one of the head branches 
of the Huron River, drains the northeastern 
corner. The township is bounded on the north 
by Auburn, on the west by Sandusky, on the 
south by Jefferson and Jackson, and on the east 
by Richland County. The southern and east- 
ern portions are flat, and, in early times, were 
covered with water during the entire year ; but, 
as the sun's heat became unobstructed by the 
clearing of the land, and extensive drainage 
was resorted to, the marshy land became suita- 
ble for unlimited production. The soil in the 
southern part is rich, deep and black, and, in 
the western and northern parts, is a light, sandy 
loam with some clay. This clay is yellow and 
tenacious, and is suitable for brick, tile and 
common red potter3^ The western part is bil- 
I0W3', being quite precipitous in some localities. 
The township is six miles long b}- four wide, 
and was created March 9, 1825. Prior to Feb- 
ruary 3, 1845, it was six miles square, and 
formed part of Richland Count}' ; but, at that 
date, four tiers of sections on the west were 
annexed to Crawford Count}', and now form the 
present Vernon Township. It was situated in 
the western part of the Old Purchase^a strip 
of land called the "Three Mile Strip," lying be- 
tween it and the New Purchase. The territory 
composing the township was surveyed, in 1807, 
b}' Maxfield Ludlow, and was then an almost 
impassable forest, covered with swales and 
marshes, and crossed by numerous Indian trails. 
The almost impenetrable swamps in the south- 
eastern third of the township were the retreat 
of many species of wild animals, which fled 
there for safety when pursued by bands of In- 
dian hunters, or b}' the more skillful pioneer. 

The first settler in the township, so far as 
known, was George Byers, who, in 1820, lived 
in a small log cabin, or " hen coop," located on 
Section 17. The exact date of his settling 



there is unknown or forgotten, but was, proba- 
bly, 1818. He had several acres cleared in 
1820, but from the fact that he spent his time 
in hunting and trapping, seeming to despise 
farm labor as a much less dignified pursuit, 
many think his land was cleared by an earlier 
settler of whom he bought. He was a success- 
ful hunter and trapper, roaming the forest and 
swamps for miles around in search of adven- 
ture, or joining the circular hunts of the 
Indians. He became familiar with every path 
in the cranberry marsh northwest of his cabin, 
and was about the only hunter who dared, in 
the night-time, to brave the perils from snakes 
and from the wolves, panthers and bears which 
infested that dreary region. He made large 
wooden traps for wolves and foxes, baiting 
them with deer or other meat attached to 
sharpened sticks which formed the triggers of 
the traps. His traps for fur-bearing animals 
were thoroughly rubbed with asafetida to 
remove any suspicious smell. He is said to 
have caught more than a hundred mink in one 
winter, together with coon, beaver and a few 
otter. Mink skins sold for $4 ; fox for from 
75 cents to $3 ; beaver for $5 ; otter for as high 
as $8. After many years, Byers died and was 
buried in the township. James Richards ap- 
peared in 1821. He was the second settler and 
the first blacksmith, and, shortly after the 
erection of his cabin, built a small round-log 
shop. He made cow bells, prepared iron points 
for plows, hammered out and tempered axes, 
obtaining his supplies of iron from Sandusky 
City. He found much to do in repairing set- 
tlers' wagons that had become disordered in 
the long journeys to the West. At this time, 
there were two roads in the township (if they 
deserve that name). The Columbus and San- 
dusky road, running north and south through 
the township, had been first cut out about the 
year 1818, and was simply a blazed path 
through the forest, from which undergrowth 
and fallen trees had been removed. It was 



■7I" 



i) fy 



^ 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



597 



located on the site of an old Indian trail, and 
was one of the routes traveled by settlers living 
in the central part of the State, on their jour- 
neys to the cities on Lake Erie. The other 
was the Bucyrus and De Kalb road, that had 
been blazed in 1821. Pioneers in their jour- 
neys to the West would follow, as far as prac- 
ticable, Indian trails to avoid the serious delay 
and annoj'ance of having to cut a wagon road. 
These trails afterward became fixed highways, 
and are now among the best roads in the State. 
George Dickson, a 3'oung unmarried man, 
arrived, in 1822, and entered the land upon 
which he yet lives. After clearing a few acres 
and making some improvements he returned to 
the Keystone State, where he married, and, in 

1823. brought his wife to their wilderness home. 
He has ever since been one of the most promi- 
nent citizens in the township. The fourth 
settler was Conrad Walters, who arrived in 

1824, and began working at the cooper's trade. 
Several old settlers are yet in posession of kegs, 
tubs and barrels made by him. Mr. Walters 
was well educated and well-bred, and his case 
was one of those where men of culture left 
the attractions of settled localities for the soli- 
tude and hardships of pioneer life. He was 
apt and courageous, and soon became an 
expert hunter and trapper, learning much from 
his associations with Byers and from the 
Indians. One night, just at dark, while hunt- 
ing in the swamps in the southern part of the 
township, he shot and wounded a large buck, 
which was standing knee-deep in mud and 
water. It fell, and Walters, thinking it was 
dj'ing, rushed in to cut its throat. He seized it 
by the horns and drew his knife ; but the deer 
had only been stunned, and began to struggle 
desperately to get up. It knocked the knife 
from his hand into the water, and Walters, to 
prevent the enraged animal from goring him 
to death, seized him by the antlers, and exerted 
all his strength to prevent it from rising. He 
clung to it until it was thoroughly exhausted, 



when throwing his whole weight on its head, 
he plunged its nose into the mud and water. 
The animal was too much exhausted to raise 
its head and, in a few minutes, was strangled 
to death. Walters' clothing was cut to ribbons 
by the sharp horns and hoofs, and his bodj' 
was covered with bruises and wounds. He 
was ever afterward careful to avoid a hand-to- 
hand struggle with a wounded deer. He 
recovered his knife and, having bled the deer, 
swung its body into a sapling for safe keep- 
ing from the wolves until morning. 

Levi Arnold, R. W. Cahill, William Cleland, 
James Dickson, Charles Warner, Jonathan 
Dickson, Samuel Tarr, David Anderson, Bar- 
net and James Cole, Andrew Dickson, Dennis 
Orton, Thomas Grill, Samuel Dean and a few 
others settled in the northern part prior to 
1830. These settlers were mostly New En- 
glanders, and many of them were the descend- 
ants of Revolutionary soldiers. There were 
probably twent}' cabins erected in northern 
Vei'non prior to 1830, and the fox'ests began to 
disappear. Various industries arose to supply 
articles which otherwise were only obtained by 
long and tiresome journey's to Sandusky or 
some other cit3'. Arnold located where the 
village of West Liberty now stands. He was 
a carpenter, probably the first in the township, 
and began working at his trade. Richards 
planted the first orchard, in 1825. In 1826, 
two births occurred — Andrew Dickson and 
William Cleland. These were liliely the first. 
David Holstein died in northern Vernon in 
1833, and Mrs. Akerman in southern Vernon 
same 3'ear. These, so far as known, were the 
first deaths. Prior to 1830, no settler had 
made his appearance in the southern part of 
the township ; but, between 1830 and 1835, as 
many as twenty families of German emigrants 
came in and erected cabins in the swamps and 
marslies. They were induced to come there 
because the land was cheap, and because their 
finances were impoverished by the traveling 



-^ 



598 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



expenses from the old country. They immedi- 
ately began to clear and drain their land, and 
were frugal and industrious. The surface was 
covered with water, and the prospect for any- 
thing except frogs and ague was gloomy and 
disheartening. The marshes were filled with 
snakes and other reptiles, many of them being 
large and venomous. Near the center of a 
swampy section of land, comprising about two 
hundred aci'es, was a small knob of earth, 
about twenty feet across and two or three feet 
above the surrounding flats, where large num- 
bers of snakes made their dens, and where, on 
sunny days, they would lie and bask in the 
sun. One day, several Grerman settlers wit- 
nessed a furious battle. While they were look- 
ing at the bank, two rattlesnakes, each about 
six feet long, came quickly out of an opening, 
and, throwing themselves into coil about three 
feet apart, raised their heads about a foot high, 
and began swaying their bodies from side to 
side, watching for a chance to strike. Finally, 
one of them struck the other with its sharp 
teeth on the neck. The glistening bodies were 
instantly lashed together like whips, writhing 
and twisting on the ground for some time, 
until at last one freed itself from the hold of 
the other, and, with a rapid movement, darted 
into its den, leaving its antagonist surprised at 
its sudden departure. Large numbers of rat- 
tlesnakes were afterward killed there. Mr. 
Tempy was the first settler in the southern 
part, coming in 1831. Jacob Clahn, George 
Amspaugh, Christian Makerly, Leanderline 
Gosser, Gotleib Schneider and Conrad Ebner 
came in 1832, and John B. Yetser, John 
Weaver, John J. Rubly, John Baumgartner, 
Jacob Reichlin, Jacob Shibly, Fredolin Gosser, 
John Heimgartner, Phillip Akerman and oth- 
ers in 1833. Among those who came in 1834 
were Bowers, Beach, Feik, Keller and Reiter- 
Tempy was a blacksmith, but did not work at 
his trade. Gosser was a shoemaker, and had a 
small shop in one end of his log cabin. He 



did a small amount of tanning, but only 
enough to supply- himself with rough leather 
for patching shoes. He planted a few apple- 
trees in 1832, the first in the German settle- 
ment. Yetser also set out a small orchard in 
1834, and many of the trees are yet standing. 
This man had received an excellent education 
in Germany, and he soon became a leader in 
the settlement. He led in all public enter- 
prises and educational undertakings, and is 
to-day one of the most prominent men in the 
eastern part of the count3^ Makerly was a 
cooper, and began making pails, tubs, barrels, 
etc., an occupation he followed to a limited ex- 
tent for many years. Jacob Clahn had previ- 
ously settled a few miles east. When he 
moved to Vernon, it is related that his wife, 
having a pailful of excellent swill, determined 
not to lose it ; so, taking the pail in her hand, 
she started on foot to carry it two miles to her 
new home. She got lost in the woods, and, 
after traveling nearly five miles, reached her 
destination, and was repaid for her eflbrt when 
the swill was placed before a large family of 
hungry pigs. The wonder is that she did not 
empty the swill on the ground before starting, 
but the German characteristic to save was 
paramount. Beach was a carpenter, and erect- 
ed the first frame houses in Southern Vernon, 
beginning in 1835. Bower worked at cabinet- 
making, although he had not learned the trade. 
He made rough tables, stands, chairs, coflSns, 
etc. The inability of the Germans to speak 
English almost severed their intercourse with 
neighboring settlements except those of their 
own tongue. This resulted in bringing for- 
ward many industries, which made the settle- 
ment an almost independent colony. However, 
the journeys after flour, whisky, powder and 
shot had to be made. Mansfield was the prin- 
cipal trading-point, although liquor was usually 
obtained at the extensive distilleries in Mon- 
roeville. In 1840, one bushel of corn was 
worth seven quarts of whisky ; sheep sold at 



i^ 



:^L 



HISTOKY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



599 



$2.25 per head ; cows at from $12 to $15 ; 
pork at $2 per hundred ; horses at $50. By this 
time, all the larger varieties of wild animals 
had disappeared, except an occasional wander- 
er, and even deer and wolves were scattering 
and shy, and could be trapped or shot only 
with difficulty by experienced hunters. Cata- 
mounts occasionally wandered in, and then all 
the neighborhood turned out with dogs to hunt 
them down. These hunts afforded great sport 
and excitement, often coupled with no little 
danger, before the animal was killed. Coons 
and the Ohio species of porcupine were yet 
abundant, especially the former, which could 
be found in the woods at any time, and which 
were accustomed in the night to feed exten- 
sively in the settlers' corn-fields. The woods 
were also filled with large flocks of wild tur- 
ke3's. For several years, about 1840, much 
consternation had pi-evailed in the southern 
part among sheep owners. A few wolves had 
established themselves in the heavy woods on 
Lost Creek, and, when the shades of night fell, 
would steal into a neighboring sheep-fold, and, 
when the morning dawned, the indignant own- 
er would find eight or ten of his flock killed 
and mangled. Large losses occurred to several 
citizens, and a grand circular hunt was organ- 
ized to rid the neighborhood of the marauders. 
After several trials and a great amount of 
sport, two or three wolves were killed, and the 
others were dispersed to distant localities. 

The first saw-mill in the township was started 
by Samuel Reed in 1836, and was located about 
two miles east of West Libert3^ It was at first 
run by a sweep, but afterward by tread-power, 
and for ten years did a good business. The 
most extensive saw-mill ever in Vernon was 
built on Loss Creek, in 1837, by Isaac Vanhorn. 
It was a water mill, and was enabled to run 
nine months of the year — a very unusual thing 
for mills on small streams. This was possible 
by reason of the vast quantity of water ob- 
structed in its flow from the flats by a large 



amount of fallen timber. The sawing was mostly 
done on shares. A Mr. Kilgore afterward owned 
it, as did Walters and Charles Warner ; the lat- 
ter tore the mill down. Several other mills 
have been run at different times, the most im- 
portant one being a steam muley mill, built by 
Nicholas Fetter, in the eastern part in 1862. 
Previous to 1833, the settlers obtained their 
flour and meal at the large grist-mills on San- 
dusky River, or at Mansfield ; but, at that date, 
Conrad Walters erected a frame grist-mill near 
West Liberty. It at first received the patronage 
of the citizens, but finally lost support, and was 
permitted to run down. Samuel Reed built the 
second grist-mill two miles east of Liberty, in 
1836, in which were placed two sets of stone — 
one, made from " nigger-heads," for grinding 
corn, and the other, a first-class set of French 
buhrs, for wheat. It was run by tread-power, in 
connection with his saw-mill, and for ten years 
did a prosperous business ; but, having lost much 
of its custom, the business was discontinued, 
and the stones removed. These were the only 
grist-mills ever in the township. Conrad Wal- 
ters began making potash in 1834, and Dimmick 
& Gibbs in 1844, the latter firm making as high 
as seven or eight tons per annum. Jacob Kemp 
began burning brick in 1838, and about this 
time brick buildings began to go up. 

The village of West Libert}- was laid out Maj' 
28, 1835, by John Stewart, Surveyor of Richland 
Count}'^, and Thomas Dean, projector and pro- 
prietor. It was located on Section 17, and was 
laid out into twenty-eight lots, to which no ad- 
ditions have since been made. The lots sold 
originally for $25, a higher price than has pre- 
vailed at man}' periods since. The little village 
was ambitious in early years, and apparentl}' 
stood as good chance of becoming populous and 
opulent as its neighbors ; but its dearth of 
manufacturing facilities, and its lack of capital, 
were serious drawbacks to its pretensions, men 
of wealth preferring to invest their means where 
county seats were likely to be located, or on 



A 



600 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COTTNTY. 



large streams where ample water-power Insured 
a permanent future revenue. The town fell into 
the hands of poor men, who began improving it 
as rapidl}' as circumstances permitted. At the 
expiration of a decade, the outlook was promis- 
ing, and, in 1850, the town reached the pinnacle 
of its fame. A Mr. Grillespie built the first dwell- 
ing, in what is now West Libert}', in 1830. It 
was a double log cabin, and was constructed by 
Eli Arnold, a carpenter b}^ trade. The building 
was peculiarl}' constructed, and people spoke of 
it as " stylish." It was probably the most 
elegant (if that is the word) dwelling in the 
township up to that time. Thomas Dean, the 
proprietor of the town, failing in business, trans- 
ferred his interest to Jacob Kemp and Andrew 
Miller, each of whom built a log cabin, obtain- 
ing the material from a large log barn erected 
a few years before by Dean. These were built 
about the same time, and, like the Ark, had but 
one window each. Jacob Kemp, Andrew Mil- 
ler and Samuel Dean, each began with a sepa- 
rate stock of goods in West Libert}^ in 1838, 
and thereb}^ hangs a tale. In the fall of 1838, 
when there were but four or five dwellings and 
no store in the town, a peddler arrived with 
about $500 worth of goods in one of the old- 
fashioned box wagons. He was a boy about 
twent}' years of age, and, to all appearances, 
was as green as grass. In his awkward way, 
the " Green Irish Boy," as he was called, began 
praising the town, quietly insisting that its lo- 
cation was a sufficient guaranty of its becom- 
ing an important trading-point. The citizens 
listened and commented, and the three men- 
tioned above, possibl}' thinking there were " mill- 
ions in it," determined to embark on the mer- 
cantile sea. He sold his entire stock of goods 
to the three men, neither of whom knew that 
the others had bought. When they discovered 
the truth, they were staggered ; but, determining 
not to be outdone by each other, the stock of 
each was increased to the value of several thou- 
sand dollars. But the surrounding country 



could not furnish the trade necessary for tlie 
success of the stores, and, after much contention 
and disappointment, they were closed. The 
" Green Irish Boy " took possession of the stock, 
and considerable land, pledged as security for 
the goods, fell into his hands. This, for a time, 
dampened the ardor of mercantile pursuits in 
West Liberty, and the citizens began to suspect 
that the '' Green Irish Boy " was a " Tartar '' 
and had outwitted them. Fry & Kaler ventured 
to begin about 1845, with a general assortment 
of goods, valued at $5,000. The goods were 
purchased in New York City, and, in 1850. the 
stock invoiced at $8,000. Six years after be- 
ginning, Mr. Fry sold to Mr. Malic, and five 
years afterward Mr. Kaler. having been elected 
County Treasurer, also sold out to Mr. Malic, 
who continued the business alone for about five 
years. Brown & Guiss succeeded him, and soon 
afterward Mr. Gloyd took Mr. Guiss's place in 
the partnership. Brown & Gloyd failed, and 
made an assignment of their goods to J. J. 
Bowers, who yet has a grocery and notion store 
in the town. This has been the extent of mer- 
cantile pursuits in West Liberty. Mr. Wallace 
was the first blacksmith, but the date of his 
location is forgotten. Thomas Gill opened a 
cooper-shop in 1844. He was well educated, 
and taught man}- of the neighboring schools. 
Jacob Kemp built a large two-story frame 
tavern as early as 1833 ; it was one of the first 
buildings erected in the town. It is yet stand- 
ing and has been converted into a barn. Charles 
Warner was the first cabinet-maker in the town, 
beginning in 1830, and continuing about sixteen 
3'ears. He was succeeded by Henry Balsor, 
who, soon afterward, sold to George Parsons. 
In 1844, Gibbs & Main erected a distillery, into 
which the}' placed a small copper still, having 
a capacity of fifteen gallons. The grain was 
ground in a small cast-iron crusher, run by 
horses. About two barrels of whisky were made 
each week. It is said that the whisk}' was im- 
bibed as fast as it was made. Notwithstanding: 



^ a 



-© Js 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



601 



this very satisfactory condition of the business, 
it was discontinued at the expiration of about a 
year. A few 3^ears before this, a Mr. Kile tried 
the experiment of having a raising without 
whisky : not a man came to assist him. Dr. J 
C. Wood, an allopathic physician, located in the 
village in 1842, but died five j^ears afterward. 
He was followed by Dr. Hutchinson, who flour- 
ished for a short time, and by Dr. James Aikens, 
who appeared in 1852. Afterward, in 1873, 
came Dr. Bevier, who left for more fruitful 
fields at the end of two years. The town has 
no physician at present. 

The village of De Kalb was laid out Novem- 
ber 20, 1835, by David Anderson, projector and 
pi'oprietor, the surveying being done by Chris- 
tian Wise. The town consisted originally of 
sixteen lots, and to these Anderson added 
twelve more October 15, 1838. The town was 
located on Section 5, and, since the establish- 
ment of the station at Tiro, business has been 
suspended altogether, or transferred to the sta- 
tion. West Liberty and De Kalb were rivals 
in early years, each striving to surpass the 
other in improvements and industries. 

In 1838, Dr. Peter Carlton, a physician of the 
old school, located in De Kalb. He brought 
with him about 12,000 worth of goods, consist- 
ing lai'gely of drugs, and began selling his 
stock, practicing his profession at the same 
time. David Anderson bought his stock in 
1840, but, after continuing in business for five 
years, sold to (rabriel and Cornelius Fox, who 
disposed of the goods and retired from the bus- 
iness. George Cummings kept a small stock 
about 1840. Elias Cramer opened a grocery 
there soon afterward. To him belongs the 
questionable honor of having kept the only 
saloon ever in the township. Phillip Artz 
brought a stock of groceries to the town in 
1871 ; his widow is still continuing the bus- 
iness. Samuel Hagarman erected a blacksmith- 
shop in 1833. He was succeded by John 
Hanna. The present smith is Christopher 



Norris. Drs. Henry Mack and B. W. Mc- 
Kee succeeded Di*. Carlton. In 1837, Thomas 
Mahan and Samuel Wiggins erected a wool- 
carding and cloth-dressing mill in De Kalb, the 
building being a large, two-story frame edifice. 
Several assistants were employed, and large 
quantities of wool were carded during the first 
few years of its existence. The business be- 
came depressed, and, after fluctuating for sev- 
eral years, died out. John Fulton sunk five 
vats for dressing skins at De Kalb, in 1835 ; 
he continued the business but a short time. 
Charles (xowan also dressed skins there for a 
short time. R. W. Cahill succeeded in getting 
a post office established at De Kalb in 1834. 
The office was called De Kalb, and was first 
located at Mr. Cahill's residence, he being the 
first Postmaster. The office was removed to 
the village in 1839, and David Anderson suc- 
ceeded Cahill as Postmaster. Between 1840 
and 1850, the two villages in the township were 
at the height of their business prosperity. 
All industries were active and thriving, and 
those who had invested capital realized hand- 
some revenues. Before the establishment of 
railroads in the county, all villages on well- 
traveled routes seemingly stood an equal 
chance of becoming populous and wealtlw. 
Villages located at the intersection of well- 
traveled highways or on large streams, could 
boast of superior advantages, and could offer 
greater inducements to men of capital. De 
Kalb and West Liberty were situated on the 
route connecting Columbus and the center of 
the State with Sandusky and other cities on 
Lake Erie. This route was extensively trav- 
eled by settlers Westward bound, many of 
whom were induced to purchase land and settle 
in the township. Industry and sobriety are 
are marked characteristics of the citizens. Ed- 
ucation and religion received an early impetus, 
and have steadily kept pace with the progress 
of the township. Although covered with stag- 
nant water in early years, and subject to ague 



® V 






603 



HISTORY or CRAWFORD COUNTY 



and various types of malarial diseases, the 
township slowly arose from the subsiding 
waters ; rich, dry land appeared ; forests dis- 
appeared ; bountiful crops were grown, where 
erst the songs of batrachians resounded ; im- 
provements multiplied ; toil brought rich re- 
wards to the husbandman ; good health took 
the place of burning fever, and happiness and 
contentment prevailed. The long years have 
developed a superior soil, and the citizens are 
proud of their township — one of the most pro- 
ductive in the State. 

An Underground llailroad, running north 
and south through the State, established two 
or three stations in the township between 1840 
and 1850. The road was exclusively traveled 
by dark men on dark nights, and many a happy 
African, now in Canada or in the Northern 
States, will remember with gratitude the hospi- 
tality and humanity of several citizens of Vernon 
Township. Samuel and David Anderson often 
entertained ebony runaways aiming for the 
North Star. These were guided to the citizens' 
dwellings under cover of the night, and, if 
brought there near morning, were kept con- 
cealed, and feasted during the day, and were 
then conveyed to some station nearer Canada 
and Freedom. Concealment was necessary, 
because, in harboring runaway slaves, the law 
was violated, and many whose sympathies were 
with the slaveholder would not scruple, and 
even rejoiced, to reveal the name of the law- 
breaker. This resulted in concealment, and 
nocturnal pilgrimages by runaways. 

In 18G2, Mr. Bowers, having dug a well, dis- 
covered some daj's afterward that the surface 
of the water was covered with oil. About this 
time, great excitement broke out in Pennsyl- 
vania, on account of the discovery of large 
quantities of coal oil. Vast fortunes were real- 
ized in a few days by lucky individuals, and 
the oil mania spread far and wide. Mr. Bowers 
began to think that Ohio, as well as Pennsyl- 
vania, might be rich in coal oil deposits, and 



began to examine his well and the oil therefrom. 
It was certainly coal-oil, and as fast as it was 
removed from the surface of the water, another 
film quickly took its place. The supply, though 
limited in quantit}^ seemed inexhaustible, and 
exaggerated reports of the discovery spread 
rapidly over the neighborhood. The citizens 
swarmed in to examine the well, and test the 
oil, and all pronounced the discovery valuable, 
and warmly congratulated the lucky Bowers. 
A stock company was formed, pledged for the 
payment of $10,000, should that amount be 
necessary to develop the resources of the well. 
One man bought one-twentieth of the stock, 
paying $500 for it. About $2,000 were paid to 
begin with, and men of experience were em- 
plo^^ed to assume control of the business, which 
the stockholders ardently hoped would soon 
afford abundant returns for the investment. 
But they were doomed to bitter disappointment. 
The supply of oil, instead of increasing, slowly 
decreased, and boring was soon abandoned as 
unprofitable; oil was there, but not in paying 
quantities. 

Itinerant ministers began to appear in the 
township as early as 1827, and to hold meet- 
ings at the cabins of the settlers. They trav- 
eled over large sections of country, and always 
stopped to preach where a few were ready to 
listen. At the close of the services, a collec- 
tion would be taken for the preacher. Many of 
these early preachers were eccentric characters, 
singularly gifted with a rude eloquence that 
fired the hearts of the pioneers. Many had re- 
nounced all social ties, except such as bound 
them to the house of praise and pra3'er. 
With hearts overflowing with love for God and 
humanit}', they had come into the wilderness to 
preach "peace on earth; good will to men." 
They were instrumental in laying the founda- 
tion of countless church societies, which sprang 
up in the fastnesses of the forest. Church so- 
cieties were organized in Vernon Township as 
early as 1827. In 1833, the Dutch Lutherans 






A^ 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY 



605 



and the German Reformers united means and 
built a hewed-log church about a mile south of 
West Liberty- This answered their purpose 
for fort}' years, and the two sects, differing from 
each other in essential particulars, worshiped 
God together in harmony. A few years ago, 
when the congregation became too large for the 
church, they saw proper to divide the member- 
ship and to build two churches, one for each 
sect. The cost of each of the churches was 
about $1,200. and they were located near each 
other, about a mile south of West Liberty. 
The Methodists organized a society in the north- 
ern part of the township as early as 1828, but 
the followers of Wesley were few, and the soci- 
ety only became strong after many years. A 
society of United Presbyterians sprang up near 
De Kalb in 1830, which, at first, was the strong- 
est society in the township. It began with a 
membership of about thirty. Its early pros- 
perity was, in a measure, due to the energy and 
eloquence of Rev. Mr. Thompson, who soon 
afterward became President of the " Boys and 
Girls' Seminary," an institution which flourished 
for a short time, between 1830 and 1840, at De 
Kalb. The membership in these early churches 
was greatly increased by memorable reviv- 
als, which continued for months during the 
long winters. Some years before the German 
emigration into southern Vernon had ceased, a 
Catholic Church society was organized in the 
township. Forty acres of land on one of the 
sections — which, in 1845, when the township 
was divided, was retained by Richland County 
— were purchased, and a large hewed-log church 
erected thereon. This society, though beset 
with numerous difficulties at first, finall}' be- 
came the strongest country societ}- in the 
county. The church was early visited by the 
Bishop, who gave it a strong impetus, and its 
commencement really began then. The first 
priest to locate there was Tschenhaus, who re- 
mained some five or six years, placing the soci- 
ety on firm footing. About twenty years ago, 



the old church building was removed, and a 
large, fine, brick edifice erected in its place. It 
is one of the costliest and most imposing coun- 
try churches in the State, and has a member- 
ship of about one hundred, largely from south- 
ern Vernon. The church, though previously in 
Vernon, is now in Richland County. Many 
citizens of the township are members of it. 
The society has had a Sunday school for about 
forty years. In 1850, Elder William Adams 
organized a society, called the '' Church of God," 
in the northeastern part of the township. The 
early meetings of the society were held in 
schoolhouses. Ten years after its organization, 
it was sufficiently prosperous to warrant its 
building a church, which was done at a cost of 
$800. William Adams, William Shafler and 
David Shriner were among the early Pastors. 
The church is in good condition, and has a 
membership of about thirty. A Sunda}^ school 
was organized in 1852, and Samuel Dean be- 
came the first Superintendent. He was suc- 
ceeded by Solomon Goss, who was re-elected to 
serve in the same capacit}' for many successive 
terms. The other church societies, soon after 
their organization, established Sunday schools, 
and have maintained them with but little cessa- 
tion until the present time. Great efforts were 
made in early years, by the united chui'ches of 
the townships, to end, as far as possible, the al- 
most unlimited use of liquor by the settlers, 
and to inaugurate an era in which intemper- 
ance should be unknown. Several melancholy 
deaths from exposure during severe winter 
weather having occurred while the unfortunate 
debauchee was under the influence of alcohol, 
prepared the way for a vigorous onslaught 
against the traffic. People began to learn the 
true nature of alcohol. They learned that, 
though it might be a valuable re-agent in 
pharmacy, 3'et its abuse was cursing the world 
with wrecked and ruined lives, that had begun 
in innocence at the mother's knee. They saw 
it enter their midst — saw the dark form of In- 



±1 



'k. 



606 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



ebriety come in at the open door with smiling 
face, and remembered, with a shudder, that 
'• Vice is a monster of such frightful mien, 
As, to be hated, needs but to be seen; 
But, seen too oft, familiar with her face. 
We first endure, then pity, then embrace.' 

A temperance society was organized in about 
1838, and much zeal was manifested ; but King 
Alcohol's domain was too strong to be taken, 
and the little party was disbanded, retiring 
quietly from the contest. 

The first school building in Vernon was built 
of round logs, in 1831, and located about half 
a mile south of West Liberty. It was sixteen 
feet square, and had a large, conspicuous chim- 
ney, built of flat stones, picked up at random 
in the woods, and held in their place b}' clay 
mortar. It stood back a short distance from 
the Columbus & Sandusky road, and for many 
years was the seat of learning for the bare- 
headed, bare-footed children of the pioneers. 
Many of the gray-haired citizens of the town- 
ship remember this as 

" The school boy spot 
They ne'er forget, though there they are forgot." 

It was here they learned their A B C's, and 
acquired what little education Dame Fortune 
allotted pioneer children. Mr. Grill was the first 
teacher, and was one of the best instructors 
ever in the township. He was severe in his 
administration of school discipline, but his uni- 
form kindness and sympathy won the hearts of 
his pupils. It was his habit to discard text- 
books during recitations, and to avoid those 
topics of no practical value to the student. He 
anticipated many of the present improved 
methods of instruction. Miss Richards, now 
Mrs. R. W. Cahill, and Mr. Orton were early 
teachers in this schoolhouse. In 1835, a school 
cabin, built of hewed logs, was erected about a 
mile north of West Liberty. Maria Swan 
"kept" school there the first, teaching three 
months during the summer of 1835. John 
Farrell taught the succeeding winter, but was 



turned out of the house the first day by the 
large boys, and went for consolation and advice 
to R. W. Cahill, who was one of the Board of 
Directors. But Mr. Cahill refused to interfere 
with the programme of the boys, who, after hav- 
ing their sport with the " new teacher," became 
docile and obedient. Another school cabin 
was erected a mile and a half east of West Lib- 
erty, in about 1838. Emanuel Warner was 
probably the first teacher. Between 1830 and 
1845, as many as seven or eight school build- 
ings — some log and others frame — were located 
in this division of the county. The southern 
part was behind the northern in all educational 
enterprises, not because the Germans had less 
interest in public improvements, but because 
the northern part was earlier settled, and had 
the start by a decade. They were slower, but, 
as the years passed by, various school build- 
ings arose from the bogs and marshes, and am- 
ple opportunities were given Grerman boys and 
girls to secure the rudiments of an education. 
The Grerman language was taught almost ex- 
clusively at first, and even at the present time 
it is taught in connection with English. No 
teacher is employed who cannot give instruc- 
tion in German, and the rich mother-tongue is 
wisely retained. A frame school building was 
erected in De Kalb in 1841, Mr. Phillips being 
the earliest teacher. This was supplanted a 
few years later by a much more commodious 
one, built near the town, and the old one was de- 
voted to other uses. At an early day, when the 
town was prosperous and ambitious, several citi- 
zens conceived the idea of adding to the attrac- 
tions of the town by the establishment there of 
a seminary. An organization was effected, and 
funds raised by subscription sufficient to de- 
fra}' the expense of erecting suitable buildings. 
A Board of Trustees was elected, and a Presi- 
dent and other instructors employed, and, as 
far as could be seen, the enterprise was destined 
to become highl}' successful. The permanent 
and unquestionable value of such an institu- 






1^ 



±>1 



JL^ 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



607 



tion in the town could not be denied. Several, 
however, shook their heads and looked wisely 
down their noses — thinking, no doubt, a great 
deal, but saying nothing. Arrangements were 
completed, students were enrolled, classes were 
formed, and for two or three years the citizens 
pointed with pride to the spacious building 
with its efficient corps of instructors. The 
school was under the management of the 
United Presbyterian Church, and students of 
both sexes were enrolled, which gained for the 
institution the jocular term of the " Boys and 
Girls' Seminary." But the school was destined 
to die early. A misunderstanding arose, which 
soon widened a gulf between two opposing par- 
ties ; earnest endeavors were made to re-unite 
the opposing elements without success ; mu- 
tual recriminations followed. No one seemed 
to blame, and, as is natural with the majority 
of the human race, each insisted on having his 
own way. No doubt the division arose from 
the looseness of the articles by which the in- 
stitution was organized and managed. It was 
found that views widely differed as to the na- 
ture of the enterprise. Some thought the 
school was designed for both sexes ; others 
insisted that it was established exclusively for 
girls. Important questions arose as to when 
subscribed funds were to be paid. No ill-will 
was displayed, and yet each party insisted in 



ruling, or in quietly abandoning the project. 
It was thought best to follow the latter course, 
which was accoi'dingly done. It is to be la- 
mented that the school, which began under 
such auspicious circumstances, should have 
had such an unexpected and premature death. 
The village was nicel}^ located in one of the 
the most fertile regions in Ohio, and the set- 
tlers who clustered around it were intelligent, 
ambitious and moral, and keenly alive to any 
enterprise to insure their advancement and 
happiness. This was a most desirable state 
of things. Thei'e were over sixt}- scholars en- 
rolled at the beginning, more than man}- of the 
most imposing colleges in the countr}' could 
at first exhibit. The President, Rev. Mr. 
Thompson, was a fine classical scholar, but he 
lacked executive ability, and the management 
became unsatisfactory to its Board of Trustees. 
The institution was closed, to the regi'et of all. 
These facts have long since faded from the 
minds of the people, many of whom know 
nothing of the efforts made to establish the 
" Boys and Girls' Seminary " in the township 
nearly fifty years ago. It i-emains for the his- 
torian to recover the dates and incidents from 
the dust}- records of forgotten j-ears. ^lan}- of 
these records have been destroyed or lost, leav- 
ing an almost barren field to be worked over 
by the "searcher after truth.' 



CHAPTER XXIL 

TODD TOWNSHIP— TOPOGRAPHICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE— ORGANIZATION— FIRST OFFICERS— SRTTLE 
MENT— SOCIAL LIFE— OSCEOLA— RELIGIONS— SCHOOLS, ETC. 



n^HE township of Todd has a local histoi-y so 
-L intimately blended with State and national 
annals that the territory will ever be looked 
upon with an increasing interest by lovers of 
historic lore. The streams, streets, roads and 
village will be suggestive to coming genera- 
tions of some hero or heroic deed of the past. 



The principal stream is the Broken Sword, 
deriving its name, as usuall}' given, from the 
following circumstances : When Col. Craw- 
ford had made good his escape from the In- 
dians, after the engagement, he missed his 
nephew, and, reti'acing his steps, in company 
with Kniijht and others in search of him, he 



^\\ 



.A 



608 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



him to Upper Sundusky, and, in coming to this 
stream, the Colonel drew his sword and broke 
it over a rock on the bank ; hence its name. 
Another tradition is that a broken sword that had 
been dropped b}' the retreating army of Craw- 
ford was found by the Indians upon the bank, 
from which it received its name. This stream 
is put down on some of the early maps of Ohio 
as " Crooked-knife-creek." This stream has its 
most distant source in the southeast of San- 
dusky Township, and, following a southeasterly' 
course, cutting Todd Township diagonally 
through the center. Its entire bed in this ter- 
ritor}^ consists of a shaly limestone rock. There 
are two other streams — Indian Run and Grass 
Run. The former rises in the northeast part 
of the township, flowing to the southwest, 
crossed by the Benton road, two miles north 
of Osceola. Nothing of general interest is con- 
nected with this or Grass Run, which is in 
the south part of the township. The undula- 
ting surface and clay soil of this entire strip of 
land, in comparison with the level plains skirt- 
ing it on the south, present a striking con- 
trast. But a very small per cent of the sur- 
face of the township consists of black soil. 
The body is of a pale claj^ loam, enriched b}' the 
mulch of man}' crops of forest leaves. The 
soil is filled with stone, mostly bowlders and 
their fragments, belonging to the Glacial 
period. 

The bed of the Broken Sword and its banks 
are composed of loosely stratified limestone, 
abounding in well-preserved fossils — fragmen- 
tary corals, and shell indentures distinctly out- 
lining several species of the brachiopods. Of 
the articulates, a small variety of the trilobite 
are frequently discovered by the workmen. 
Messrs. Suavely Bros., the principal workers of 
the quarries in the township, have found many 
of the above specimens. This calcareous soil 
and rolling upland has been exceptionally pro- 
lific in producing a rank growth of timber. 

The rapid advance that the woodman has 



made is astonishing to the early settlers, who 
still live to see the sudden change take place. 
Says James Winstead, the first settler of this 
domain : " There was not a spot in the entire 
township that you could have driven a wagon 
over, so dense was the forest and thick the un- 
derbrush." Now, arable meadows present 
themselves to view at every corner, green pas- 
ture lands, and stock grazing upon the hillsides, 
with an occasional wood-field, making an ideal 
grazing and grain farm. The timber consists 
principally of beech, maple, several varieties 
of oak, sycamore, butternut, poplar. The shell- 
bark hickory and the hazel-bush, so common 
upon the plains, are not found in this near 
neighboring township. Formerly the black 
walnut was abundant. Daniel Tuttle says, that 
many thousand feet of this lumber were sold 
and delivered at Upper Sandusky for $1.25 per 
hundred feet. 

The present Territory of Todd was, previous 
to 1836, included within the Wyandot Reserva- 
tion. In the year 1836, the General Government 
obtained from the W^'andots, by treaty, a tract 
of land known as the " Three-mile strip " off of 
the eastern border of the reservation. In the 
spring of 1837, at a land sale held in Marion, 
the United States sold to private individuals 
this land, which was afterward attached to 
Crawford County, making the full townships, 
range 15, within her borders. The present 
township of Eden, Wyandot County, and 
the territory of Todd, comprised one town- 
ship, at the first survey, and named Leith, by 
Judge G. W. Leith, of Nevada, Ohio, and others, 
in honor of his grandfather, John Leith, a cap- 
tive of the W3'andot Indians for twenty-nine 
years. 

The principal productions of Todd are grain, 
lumber and lime. The pursuit of her citizens 
has been changing from the wood and lumber 
business to wheat-raising and wool-growing, 
and developing the business of lime-burning. 
The great amount of waste timber and burning 



'IV 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY 



609 



of logs in eai'lier years, led to the manufacture 
of potash. William Sigler constructed such an 
establishment in 1841, manufacturing the black 
salts, which were shipped to Republic. This 
trade was carried on for ten or twelve years at 
some profit, as long as the ashes could be ob- 
tained at a trivial price. The manufacture of 
lumber has been a source of considerable revenue 
to this section. " Bishop " Tuttle built a water- 
mill in 1840, which was run in times of high 
water at full capacity for several years. After it 
was purchased by William Sigler, he repaired and 
improved it by new machinery and steam-power. 
In addition to coarse lumber, building-laths, 
shoe-lasts, butter-bowls, " household and kitchen 
furniture too numerous to mention," were manu- 
factured. In later years a carding-machine and 
fulling-mill were attached. The chairs manu- 
factured by Mr. Swinford were delivered at 
Upper Sandusky to Daniel Tuttle, who put on 
the finishing stroke with his paint-brush and 
varnish-cup. 

Their farming and stock-raising is run upon a 
much smaller scale than their neighbors at the 
south and west, but their farms of eighty to 
160 acres are under excellent cultivation and 
fine drainage. Their thickly settled farmhouses 
give the citizens many of the social advantages 
of village life. At the center of Todd is situated 
her only village, Osceola — a hamlet of 300 in- 
habitants. Thei'e is another town upon the 
Ohio Central Raih'oad, that is the town Lemert, 
so prominently marked upon the county map, 
which has yet a few unoccupied lots. But, as 
the demand for produce rises, they will be 
rapidly taken up for potato patches. The citi- 
zens dwelling near this embryo l)urgh enjo}' 
many of the social advantages of rural life. 

The first officers of the township were James 
Winstead and Z. P. Lea, installed and sworn in, 
under bond of $500, as Trustees of the township 
of Leith, by James Griffith, Justice of the Peace 
of Sycamore Township, April 8, 1839. April 
9, Jacob Yost was installed as the third Trustee ; 



G. W. Leith, Justice of the Peace. Stephen 
White, after a few hours' service as Clerk, re- 
signed, and the new Trustees appointed Ozro 
N. Kellogg, who took the oath of office April 
12, 1839. April 13, the Trustees met and ap- 
pointed the following officers : Abram Shaffer, 
Constable ; Mordecai McCauley and Z. P. Lea, 
Supervisors ; Adam Bair, G. W. Leith and Lewis 
Longwell, Fence Viewers ; David Kisor, 
Treasurer. G. W. Leith and David Kisor, also. 
Overseers of the Poor, each under bond of $500. 
The first official business was transacted at the 
cabin of James Winstead May 4, 1839, at which 
time the township was divided into road dis- 
tricts. 

About this date a dissatisfaction arose among 
the German settlers and others in the naming 
of the township. A petition was presented to 
the Trustees, claiming that the pronouncing of 
the word '- Leith " was a difficult matter for the 
Germans. In addition, the citizens were not 
satisfied with John Leith's supposed alliance 
with the British soldiery. Mr. Winstead. for 
the plaintiff and G. W. Leith for the defendant, 
proceeded to Bucyrus to represent the case be- 
fore the County Commissioners. The defend- 
ant lost his case, and the Township Trustees 
were delegated power to make a change in the 
name. In their next meeting of June 23, 1839, 
the name " Center " was substituted for •• Leith." 
as the geographical center of Crawford at that 
time lay within this township. The first election 
was held at the house of Mordecai McCauley. 
Tne first officers of Center were John Horriek, 
James Winstead, John Cronebaugh, Trustees ; 
David Kisor, Treasurer ; and James B. Robin- 
son, Clerk. At the re-division of the county in 
1845, the boundary- lines of Center were so 
changed that the original name would no longer 
be appropriate, and this territory received the 
name of Eden, on the west and the eastern 
strip, embracing Sections 1, 2, 11 — 14, 23 — 26, 
35 and 36, of Township 2 ; 1, 2, 11 and 14 of 
Township 3. Range 15, was named Todd. 



e _ 



:IA 



GIO 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



This embraced a strip of territory nine miles in i 
length and two in breadth, at the west central 
of Crawford ; bounded on the north by Texas ; 
east, Holmes and Bucyrus ; south, Dallas ; and 
west, Eden Township, of Wyandot County, i 
The first officers of Todd were James Win- 
stead, Isaac Miller, Daniel Tuttle, Trustees ; [ 
John Forster, Clerk. (Isaac Miller was also 
sworn in as Treasurer April 7, 1845). F. Gr. 
Hesche, Assessor ; Franklin Rapenow, Consta- 
ble ; John Forster, Clerk of the board ; William 
Andrews, Judge of the Election. The first 
business of Todd was transacted at the house 
of Isaac Miller, of Osceola, which was to levy 
a special tax of five mills for school, road and 
" poor " purposes. The following are the list 
of Justices of the Peace : Gr. W. Leith, com- 
missioned by Wilson Shannon, Governor of 
Ohio, May 20, 1839 ; William Brown, commis- 
sioned by same on the same day ; Daniel Tuttle, 
commissioned by Grov. Thomas Corwin April 
30, 1842-43-44 and '45 ; Robert Andrews, 1846 ; 
Cyrus F. Jaqurth, 1847 ; John Gorden, 1849 ; 
Jacob Steiner, 1850 ; R. M. Hull, Clerk ; Horace 
Martin. 1851 ; James Clegard, Samuel Swisher, 
by Gov. Wood, 1852 ; John Dome, Clerk ; O. 
W. Johnston. 1854 ; Horace Martin, 1857-58 ; 
Seneca Leonard, Clerk ; Fred Wise, 1 857 ; G. 
W. Willoughby, 1860. 

Sold, as was the land of this township, at 
public sale, and all the neighboring laud to 
the east having been improved, for ten or twelve 
years, it met with a ready market, both from 
agents representing Elastern capitalists, local 
syndicates, and private parties. Mr. Howland, 
the principal foreign purchaser, was a son-in-law 
of Humphrey Howland, of Cayuga, N. Y. His 
purchases were 1 ,400 acres, a part of which lay 
in the present territory of Todd. The choice 
and central tract was purchased by the Osceola 
Company, composed of Bucyrus and Marion 
capitalists ; Messrs. Zalmon Rowse, Gen. My- 
ers, Abram Holm, Jacob Shaffer, of Bucyrus ; 
Cox and Young, of Marion County. This sj-n- 



dicate was supposed to have been formed at 
Marion, on the day of the sale, in April, 1837 ; 
but, from subsequent planning and development, 
it was undoubtedly planned and organized pre- 
vious to the sale. The first and principal pri- 
vate buyers were Judge G. W. Leith, James 
Winstead, Daniel Tuttle and Jacob Shaffer, of 
Fairfield County. It is a matter of dispute be- 
tween Judge Leith and the Hon. James Win- 
stead, which were the first to take up their abode 
in this almost trackless forest. We believe, 
however, that it is generally conceded that 
Winstead was on the spot with intentions of re- 
siding one day earlier than anj- other " pale- 
face." Perhaps there were no three parties 
more intimately connected with the official 
proceedings, social customs, and other inci- 
dents of the first settlement of Todd than 
were James Winstead, Judge Leith and Daniel 
Tuttle. These venerable gentlemen still dwell 
in our midst to counsel and advise. Mr. Win- 
stead, the eldest, is the best- preserved phys- 
ically, and his mind is still as active and 
vigorous as a middle-aged man. He and his 
aged companion, his senior bj' two years, at 
present reside in a comfortable frame cottage 
in W3'andot Count}', four miles northwest of 
the village of Osceola. Mr. Winstead was born 
in Shenandoah County, Va., in the year 1801. 
Being of an adventurous turn of mind, he 
started for the new State of Ohio in 1816, and 
took up his abode in Fairfield County that same 
year. Two years afterward, he was married to 
his present bride — he at the age of nineteen, 
and she twenty- two years. 

These octogenarian? have traveled down the 
lane of life together for sixty-two years, twelve 
years beyond their golden wedding. Mr. Win- 
stead removed from Fairfield County to Bow- 
serville, now in Wyandot County, in 1826- 
Here he built a small cabin upon the edge of 
the reservation, and followed his trade of silver 
and copper smith. His principal patronage 
came from the Wyandot Indians, who had in 



-?[< 



rfv* 



:i 



HISTOKY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



611 



their possession much ore that they obtained 
from the Michigan mines. They paid liberally 
to have the silverand copper manufactured into 
rings, bracelets and anklets, beads for the 
chiefs, and many other attractive ornaments 
that would please their fancy. The greatest 
demand was for silver and copper crosses, that 
those of the Catholic faith would have made 
for themselves and their papooses. Those 
crosses, made of copper, would frequently weigh 
five or six ounces, which they wore suspended 
from their necks. His fame as a worker in sil- 
ver and copper spread among the Indians, and 
his trade increased. The Indians wished him 
to move upon their reservation to some more 
central point. This he at first refused to do, 
but they continued to ofler inducements, prom- 
ising him a double log-cabin that had been 
built by some white trader, east of Upper San- 
dusky, with an orchard, all the clear ground he 
wished to cultivate ; in addition, they would 
furnish him meats and give him all the labor he 
could do at his trade. The offer was finall}^ ac- 
cepted, and, in 1829, he moved into their midst, 
and found them strict in keeping their word, 
and treated him with all the civilities that an 
enlightened nation would. Perhaps there is no 
one citizen living that has a better knowledge 
of the Wyandot Indians than Mr. Winstead. 
He traveled with them in their hunting excur- 
sions, sat around their camp fires, traded with 
them, mingled in their religious exercises, took 
part in their social sports, listened to their tra- 
ditions, and it is his testimony that they re- 
spected their words, pledges, and trading agree- 
ments, and less deception and Ijang was used 
to one another than it has been his fortune to 
experience among the " pale faces." 

The story of Mother Cherokee, one of the 
most intelligent of the old squaws, was related 
to Mr. Winstead, concerning Col. Crawford's 
death. Mother Cherokee had been an eye- 
witness to the horrible torture, and frequently 
related it to the younger generation. Her story 



of the engagement and capture does not differ 
materially from that of Walker and others, but 
her story of the execution was " that but one 
white man and Simon Girty were present ; that 
Col. Crawford was not tied to a stake, but his 
hands were bound by a withe over a limb of a 
tree above his head, and left in that position all 
night and the next forenoon, until other war- 
riors could arrive to witness the burning. Quite 
a number slept the night before around the 
same fire, near by that used to torture him. 
All having arrived by noon on the following 
day, they began by taking brands from the fire, 
and touched him fii'st on the toes, his leaping 
causing great amusement for the bystanders. 
When the feet and toes were no longer sensible 
to the fire-brands, they would apply them a little 
above, benumbing the limbs by inches, so that 
the torture might be prolonged and life pre- 
served as long as possible. When this process 
had been pursued until the numbness was ap- 
proaching rapidl}^ his vitals, they cut the withe, 
and Crawford fell forward upon his face. A 
squaw, with a piece of bark, scooped up some 
coals and hot embers, piling them between his 
shoulders, which caused him to immediately 
throw himself over, but he was unable to rise, 
as his legs and hips were entirely benumbed."' 
The substance of the above was so often re- 
lated, and with such accuracy, by "Mrs. Chero- 
kee," that Mr. Winstead thinks it the nearest 
correct account of this horrible execution. 

Mr. Winstead removed from his Sandusky 
home to a quarter of Section 11, in the northern 
part of Todd Township. In the late spring of 
1837, a rough cabin was erected from the near- 
est logs, which had puncheon floors, but his 
first house was ornamented with glass window 
panes. So thick were the woods that he was 
obliged to cut a wagon road to the present site 
of Osceola, before he could get to his farm with 
oxen and wagon. This led to the Perrysburg 
road, which gave him access to Upper San- 
dusky. In the following year, Mr. Tuttle built 






612 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



a water-mill upon the Broken Sword, which fur- 
nished them lumber for further improvement ; 
the first lumber, however, was obtained at the 
old Indian mill, at Upper Sandusk3\ In the 
same year, a number of families settled at 
Osceola, among whom were Mordecai McCau- 
ley, Jacob Yost, Adam Bair, Daniel Tuttle, Z. 
P. Lea, David Kisor and others. Mr. Winstead 
wished to have a clearer road between his farm 
and the village, so that, in the following year, 
a wood-chopping bee was given by him. Says 
he : "I got two miles of road cleared fur a 
gallon o' whisky," a drink that it will be ob- 
served the primitive settlers of this forest were 
partial to. Edward and Ozro N. Kellogg were 
his first near neighbors, who purchased farms 
at the same date as Mr. Winstead, but did not 
move upon the land until 1838. The dense for- 
est and thick underbrush, together with the 
mirj'' ravines, made traveling, other than on 
foot, almost an impossibility for a greater part 
of the year. These few families were obliged 
to be satisfied with the usual fare of pioneers 
for several years after their neighbors to the 
east and south were comfortabl}' fixed. The 
improvements and enterprise on every side of 
them was a great advantage to them in furnish- 
ing them supplies. The stock from the plains 
and other settlements, especially the hogs, 
would wander into these unfenced woods, for 
mast and browsing, which supplied them with 
a change of diet in the fall of the year. 

From these settled districts, this forest be- 
came so supplied with the wild hog that it was 
dangerous traveling without a rifle to protect 
one's self X narrow escape is related by Mr. 
Winstead, concerning Zach Lea. Mr. Lea, in 
company with Mr. Forster, his son-in-law, were 
in search of their winter's meat, in the fall of 
1841. After a short journey, in the northern 
part of this wood, Mr. Forster spied his game, 
leveled his fusee at a swine industriousl}' pl3nng 
her art of cultivating the soil. The ball was 
not fatal, and her unprecedented squealing 



caused Mr. Lea to make his retreat to a neigh- 
boring log, but he was not secure, for her grim, 
bristly mate, being warned of danger, by the 
yells, came dashing through the under-brush, 
with all the rage of an infuriated lion, and 
with a bound, knocked Mr. Lea headlong from 
the log. The timely presence of their bull dog 
turned the foaming boar from his victim to 
self-defense. Had it not been for this, Mr. Lea 
said he could not have escaped with his life. 
Their principal supply of meat came from the 
deer and turkey. Deer were frequently met 
with as late as 1850, and, in recent years, the 
neighboring forests contained flocks of the 
wild turkey. Their ammunition was too ex- 
pensive to waste upon squirrel and quail, so 
that this game became very plentiful. 

G-eorge W. Leith, of Nevada, the historj' of 
whose grandparents, John Leith and Sally 
(Lowry) Leith, are so intimatel}' connected with 
the Indian history, that it need not be recorded 
here. The name of Judge Leith occurs in all 
the official proceedings, in the formation of the 
township. The fruit of his labor and brains 
may be observed in almost every enterprise of 
the township. His intimate acquaintance with 
the Indians for many years gave him a knowl- 
edge of their customs and habits, quite ex- 
tended and varied. " In all their proceedings 
in public assemblies," says the Judge, " they 
were courteous and obedient to their speaker 
and chiefs ; nevei', in all their public transac- 
tions, did I see two attempting to speak at a 
time." This same courtesy was observed in 
their business transactions and social relation, 
and even in their quarrels," as the following 
anecdote will illustrate : " Seated one autumn 
day at the village of Osceola, where the Indi- 
ans were constantly loafing, my eye fell upon 
a very interesting and comical sight. Two 
Indians, having some misunderstanding over 
the ownership of a pair of fine turkeys, fell to 
quarreling ; the one was a large, raw-boned, 
surly fellow with down-cast ej^es, would not 



« 

^ 



;rv 



liL 



HISTORY OF CEAWFORD COUNTY. 



613 



move a muscle ; the other one was of small 
stature, having one leg all drawn out of shape. 
The little lame Indian would bob around his 
adversary like a blue-jay, gesticulating most 
wildly, abusing his opponent with the strongest 
language at his command. When he would 
cease, absolute silence would prevail for several 
minutes, then the large one would reply with- 
out stirring, in equally opprobrious terms. 
Silence again for several minutes, and the lame 
one would commence his bobbing and hopping." 
The great contrast in the two characters, and 
the courtesy of silence between the speeches of 
each, almost convulsed the by-standers with 
laughter. No other citizen, perhaps, did as 
much personal work at the village of Osceola, 
in her different business transactions in the 
first six years, as Daniel Tuttle, better known 
as "Bishop Tuttle," at present, a resident of 
Texas Township. 

Mr. Tuttle came to Osceola late in 1840. 
He was attracted to this location under the 
county-seat " boom," an account of which will 
be given in connection with the village history'. 
Mr. Tuttle's life has been one of great activity 
and wide observation. He was born at South- 
bury, Conn., in 1801 ; was left an orphan at 
three years old. After a schooling of four 
winters, he was bound out to a clock manufact- 
uring company, Jones & Darrow. At twenty- 
six years of age, he became their traveling 
agent in the East, and afterward through the 
Central and Southern States. 

Between the years 1827 and 1840, he had 
traveled from Portland, Me., to New Orleans, 
being a" Yankee clock-peddler" at many inter- 
mediate points. He came first to the intended 
county seat in 1840, when the Osceola road 
was an Indian trail from Bucyrus to McCutch- 
insville. Mr. Tuttle, being in Bucyrus, ob- 
served at what cost her citizens were obtaining 
their lime, hauling it forty miles, determined 
on his return to test the calcareous quality of 
the Broken Sword shale. He stated to his 



friends at Bucyrus that this was the quality of 
stone from which to manufacture lime, but was 
jeeringl}' contradicted. He succeeded in pro- 
curing some fine quality of lime from his first 
trial, and immediately contracted with Bucy- 
rus builders to furnish them lime at 12 cents 
per bushel. In 1841, he constructed a rude 
kiln and employed Lyman King to do the 
burning. 

At the residence of Daniel Tuttle, which 
stood opposite the present dwelling of Mr. 
Wilson, in Osceola, quite a strange incident 
occuiTcd, that would be remembered by almost 
any Eastern-bred family of later day. In their 
first cabin, they were unprovided with locks, 
and scarcely did they ever attach an}- addi- 
tional fastening to the outer door. One night, 
shortly after thej^ moved to their new village 
home, Mrs. Tuttle was awakened b}^ some 
strange noise in the house. As it consisted 
only of one room, and that well lighted by the 
flickering blaze from a huge fire-place, it was 
only necessary in order to search the house to 
lift her head out from under the -cover," and 
inspect matters. On doing so, she was ex- 
tremely frightened at seeing the floor filled 
with sleeping, snoring Indians, none of whom 
had registered " to be called for the early 
train." The involuntary landlord left his easi- 
ly accommodated guests to "sweetly sleep till 
morn." They had been to Bucyrus, indulging 
too freely in their " national beverage," and the 
six-mile trip to Osceola had worn off the ex- 
hilarating effects so that they had taken this 
means of getting a comfortable place in which 
to sober up. This trick was frequently' re- 
peated in after years, not only with Mr. Tuttle, 
but other of the early settlers. The}' were so 
sly and quiet in their nocturnal intrusions that 
it was a rare occurrence for them to be detect- 
ed. After the further opening up of the Per- 
ry sburg road, there was some general travel 
that made a demand for a public inn. Mr. 
Tuttle built a small addition to his house, 



TV 



614 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



which was afterward enlarged into a two-story 
frame tavern, in which he presided as " mine 
host" for several years. He was the enter- 
tainer of the Osceola Company that met in 
this village quite frequently in the first few 
3'ears of its existence to arrange their fiscal 
matters. Mr. Tuttle engaged in the fur trade 
in 1842, and did other tratlicking with the In- 
dians. In the years 1842-43, he was oflfered 
b}' his Indian customers a fine lot c>f venison 
hams, which he purchased and sledged to San- 
dusky City, receiving but 6 cents per pound. 
Mr. Tuttle was the first Postmaster, and re- 
ceived his commission from Postmaster Gen- 
eral Amos Kendall for the years 1841-42-43. 
His remuneration came from the postage, the 
price of a letter ranging from 5 to 25 cents, be- 
ing regulated by the distance transported. The 
mail in those years was necessarily limited at 
rural points, but the paucity of mail matters 
at this post was very marked, there being 
on an average about three letters and two 
papers at each mail, which came once a week 
from the Bast and West. 

Another of the early settlers possessing 
business enterprise was Samuel Swineford, who 
moved to the Broken Sword in 1841 and en 
gaged in the chair manufactory. After three 
years of this business he moved upon a farm 
two miles northeast of Osceola, from there to 
Van Wert, where he is at present engaged in 
the grocery business. John Horrick bought 
eighty acres southwest of Osceola, at the sales, 
and made great improvement in clearing and 
farming his land, at the same time exercising 
his talents in presenting the political issues of 
the da}- to his neighbors, being especially 
earnest in the Harrison campaign. Mr. Hor- 
rick raised a family of two sons and three 
daughters, some of whom are still citizens of 
Todd. He removed to Indiana in 1870. Rev. 
Samuel P. Shaw was one of the most noted 
citizens that dwelt in the land of Todd. His 
education and public labors, together with his 



financial success, have given him a reputation 
beyond his neighborhood and State. He was 
admitted into the Ohio Conference in 1825, 
discharging his pastoral duties for thirteen 
years. In 1839, he moved upon his farm in 
southern Dallas and traveled the neighboring 
circuit in connection with his business. In 
1855, he moved to this present township, where 
he resided, four miles south of Osceola, until 
his death in 1875. The remains of Rev. Shaw 
were interred in the Monnett cemetery, in 
Bucyrus Township. 

It is not definitely remembered who has 
the honor of being the " first-born " of this 
township. It is generally conceded to Mr. 
William Hartman as being the father of the 
first '' bouncing boy. weighing eight pounds," 
August 1838. The whereabouts of this hon- 
ored personage, we were unable to learn. 
The first marriages celebrated in the north- 
ern part of Todd, were Isaac Miller and 
Miss Jane Lea, and Stephen White and Miss 
Mary Lea, 1838, by Zalmon Rowse. One 
of the first altars erected to Hymen in the 
village, was at the residence of William E. 
Brown. William W. Norton, of Big Island, 
Marion County, and Mary Brown, of Osceola, 
were here sacrificed to appease that deity's ire, 
January 8, 1841, by J. C. Stein, Justice of the 
Peace for Bucyrus Township. This ceremony 
is vividly remembered by the latter official, 
who relates some of the circumstances con- 
nected therewith as follows : " I was called 
upon to perform this ceremony at a time of 
year when the most miserable of all roads were 
at their worst. There was sufficient frost to 
make the walking uncertain and the ice on the 
streams unsupportable. It was an impossibil- 
ity to drive from Bucyrus to Osceola in a bug- 
gy, could one have been procured. Allowing 
mj'self plenty of time, I concluded to make the 
trip on foot. After a circuitous meandering 
through the woods, over logs and through 
mud-holes, I arrived at Grass Run, which was 






HISTORY OF CRAWPORD COUNTY. 



615 



quite swollen and bridgeless. The lateness of 
the hour forced me to a hasty decision, which 
was to attempt to cross on rather an insecure 
limb ; but, like a friend in need, it failed to 
furnish its support at the most critical mo- 
ment, giving me an opportunity to rehearse the 
oath before the evening ceremony, in water up 
to my neck, at freezing point. I arrived a 
little late at the village and coolly walked to 
a friend's to brush up a little for the festive 
occasion. The ceremony was performed with- 
out referring to the incident." 

It was not an uncommon thing for the mer- 
chants to transport their goods by pack-horses, 
so miserable was this quagmire between Bucy- 
rua and Osceola, pseudonymously called a road. 
The risk of injury to goods transported over such 
a bog was often equal to the price of the mer- 
chandise, as the following incident will prove : 
Previous to the removal of the Wyandot In- 
dians to their Kansas reservation, Osceola was 
one of their favorite loafing places ; especiall}' 
would they frequent this local it}'^ on the Sab- 
bath Day. Jacob Yost, who kept a supply of 
" goods " on hand that was notoriously' in de- 
mand with the Indians, wished to supplement 
his limited supply for the coming Sabbath's 
trade. Himself, Mordecai McCauley and 
Adam Bair started, on foot, for Bucyrus, with 
two jugs apiece, and were making excellent 
time until they arrived on their return at the 
Broken Sword. McCauley, who was already 
feeling the ground arise before him, ventured 
first upon the ice, and unceremoniously sat 
down between two broken jugs of the " sup- 
plies." His maudlin companions upon the 
bank quoted him several chapters of profane 
history as a reprimand for his carelessness, and 
the proprietor, with an exemplary stride, led 
the way with his precious freight, when sud- 
denly he saw something at the surface of the 
ice, he wanted to mark with his thumb, and, in 
his rush, with his foot, called the attention of 
his comrade, Bair, to the same object. Here 



they remained eyeing one another, while the 
contents of six jugs of "old rye" was running 
around them on the frozen surface, unable to 
get away. They began picking holes in the ice 
with their knives, to collect the valued com- 
modity. As fast as these reservoirs would fill, 
the economical artificers would imbibe the 
contents. They soon became so lush}' that they 
unconsciously fell over and lay there until they 
were dragged to the bank and taken to their 
cabins for repairs. Another incident of a biba- 
cious character occurred under the observa- 
tion of Mr. Winstead. It illustrates, however, 
much more wit than the above occurrence. 
Schierhess, an Indian of some note among the 
Wyandots, came to the village with a limited 
amount of collateral security to procure some 
stimulant for his squaw, who was quite weakly 
and had the care of a papoose. Schierhess in- 
vested all his purse in whisky, but before he 
left had made an inward application of the 
tonic for the strengthening of his own system. 
The bar-tender doing strictly a cash business 
and the Indian's funds exhausted, it became 
necessary to obtain some medium of exchange 
to procure the stimulant. Schierhess addressed 
Jimmy McKane, a white settler, who stood near, 
and asked him to purchase a bee-tree. The bar- 
gain was stated and accepted by McKane, who 
paid 50 cents, the price asked for the bee-tree. 
Schierhess purchased his liquor and went his 
way with it, and McKane, with buckets, ax and 
assistance, started to the spot described, and 
found a hickory sapling, blazed by a tomahawk, 
and, at a distance, a poplar sapling, with a 
similar blazed spot, and, between the two, a 
large oak, all of which had been definitely pic- 
tured out by the Indian. But, upon felling the 
oak, not a sign of bees or honey was to be found. 
A few days after, he met the Indian, whom he 
immediately accused of lying to him. Schier- 
hess looked sternly at McKane, and asked if 
he did not " find the two saplings, blazed bj' a 
tomahawk, and the oak between them," to 



:fK: 



616 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



which McKane assented. " Well," said the In- 
dian, " there were two truths to one lie, heap 
dam better than a white man do," and pulled 
out some money and repaid McKane. Among 
the early industries that have not been men- 
tioned, was the tannery, in 1847, at the southwest 
corner of the village of Osceola. Amos Souder 
" hung out a calf-tail" and offered to pay " cash 
for hides and pelts." Mr. Souder continued 
this business some twelve ^^ears, converting the 
local supply into leather for the Sandusky 
City market. The tan-yard has never been re- 
paired, and at present the township " sports " 
no tan-vats. Another enterprise that has 
ceased to be carried on is the saleratus manu- 
factory. In 1858, R. G. Perry launched forth 
his capital and started to manufacture the car- 
bonated pearl-ash for the man}' matrons in the 
bread-baking business. The fiscal returns 
were too meager to warrant a continuation, 
and this business was followed no more in 
Todd, at the end of four j-ears' trial. The most 
lucrative pursuit for the capital employed, as 
well as the principal source of revenue to the 
village, is the manufacturing of lime. This 
trade, that was opened up b}' Bishop Tuttle's ex- 
perimental burning, has been continually en- 
gaged in until the present date. William 
Miller and the three sons of S. D. Suavely are 
the principal parties now engaged in the traflSc ; 
David, Joseph and Moses Snavely, each run- 
ning kilns, which, with Mr. Miller's, makes in 
all from 200 to 250 kilns that are annually 
burned, realizing, on the average, $50 per kiln. 
They supply the neighboring towns for build- 
ing and gas purposes at $18 per bushel, deliv- 
ered. 

The only grist-mill of any special note, is the 
present Limestone Island Mill, situated in the 
easten edge of the village, upon what was for- 
merly an island in the Broken Sword. It was 
built as a water-mill, in 1854, by David Neely, 
the dam was destroyed in 1860, and the race 
is now " run " out. Mr. Neely sold the property 



in 1862, to A. N. Stonebreaker. After five 
years, it again changed hands, Judd and 
Deck being the purchasers. In 1867, Garrett 
Zeigler invested in the property, and was the 
sole proprietor for four years, when it was 
again sold, Mr. Stull being the buj^er. After 
owning it from 1871 to 1873, he took, as a 
partner, Mr. A. N. Phillips, who is at present 
running the mill at its full capacity, both for 
local custom and general trade. Enough has 
incidentally been mentioned alread}', concern- 
ing the roads of Todd, to give the general 
reader some idea of their former condition. Be- 
ing so densel}^ covered with timber as was 
this township, the roads when once hewn for 
wagon passengers, were scarcely exposed to 
the sun's rays an hour per day, and, when cut 
into ruts, with the exception of the month of 
August, they were not free from water and mud 
the entire year. Various expedients were re- 
sorted to, but the wealth of the township has 
not warranted making any permanent improve- 
ment as yet. The plank road, leading from 
Bucyrus to Osceola, was only temporarily of 
any value. The boards, exposed to sun and 
water, were soon warped and loosened, making 
the board track impassable for vehicles after a 
few years' usage. By an efficient system of 
drainage and grading, the roads for most of the 
year are as passable as those of the neighbor- 
ing townships of greater age and wealth. 

If the couplet, now so trite, of J. (t. Whittier, 
" Of all .sad words of tongue or pen, 
The saddest are these, it might have been." 
ever fell with force upon the ears of mortal, 
it was doubly emphatic to the early settlers 
and organizers of the village of Osceola. That 
which Irving has written concerning the pris- 
tine appearance of a spot, now far more famous 
in history than the stream and surroundings of 
this village, but certainly not more romantic, 
with some modification, would be applicable to 
Osceola. " Wildness and savage majesty reigned 
on the borders of her stream. The hand of 






HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



617 



cultivation had not yet laid down the dark for- 
est and tamed the features of the landscape, 
nor had the echoes of civilized commerce 
broken in upon the profound solitude of the 
ages. Now and then would break forth from 
the banks of the Broken Sword, the notes of 
an innumerable variety of insects which filled 
the air with a strange, but not inharmonious 
concert ; while ever and anon was heard the 
melancholy plaint of the whip-poor-will, who, 
perched on some lone tree, wearied the ear of 
night with his incessant moanings. The mind 
of the pioneer, soothed into a hallowed melan- 
choly, listened with pensive stillness to catch 
and distinguish each sound that vaguely echoed 
from the lonely wood, now and then startled, 
perchance, by the whoop of some straggling 
savage, or the dreary howl of a wolf stealing 
forth upon his nightly prowlings." This beauti- 
ful description is not too highly colored to be 
an appropriate one for the scenes and sur- 
roundings of Osceola within less than a half- 
century past. The capitalists of the surround- 
ing country, attracted by the wild and romantic 
scenery of the Broken Sword, looked with a 
covetous eye upon the possessions of their un- 
civilized neighbors. 

The original plat of Osceola was one of the 
first sections purchased in 1837, as above men- 
tioned, by the Osceola Company, composed of 
Bucyrus and Marion capitalists. Earl}' in the 
following year, a poi'tion of the forest upon the 
north bank of the Broken Sword, in central 
Todd, was measui*ed by the agents of the com- 
pany for the la^ing-out of a new countj^ seat, 
making the main street east and west, ninety 
feet ; and, at the crossing of the north and south 
road, of same width, was left a square, the lat- 
ter deriving its name from the stream it crosses, 
is designated Broken Sword avenue. There 
are six streets running parallel with the avenue, 
beginning at the third one west, as First street. 
The one running with the stream and parallel 
with Main, was christened Water street, and 



the one at the north of Main as High street. 
The village derived its euphonious and poetical 
sounding name from the chivalrous and in- 
domitable chief of the Seminoles — Osceola. 
Dr. Andrew Hetich, Sr., of Bucyrus, being 
an admirer of this valiant chief, and a sym- 
pathizer with him in his tragical death, sug- 
gested his as a very suitable name for the em- 
bryonic city. In latter years, through an 
inexcusable carelessness, the orthography has 
been changed to "'Oceola," omitting the s. 
The Postal Department having written to Mr. 
Garrigus, the present Postmaster, for the way 
it was most commonly spelled, he was obliged 
to give preference to the corruption. Although 
the two orthographies are still used, business 
men and others from a distance use the origi- 
nal spelling, which should be preserved. 

The company employed Mr. Adam Bair, Mc- 
Cauley and others to clear off the underbrush, 
and mark out more distinctly the streets, and 
put up some cabins previous to the public sale 
of lots in 1838. The rise and growth of the 
village can be best understood by listening to 
the story of Messrs. Winstead, Tuttle, Leith and 
others who participated in constructing the 
" citadel and building the outer walls," which, 
in substance, is as follows : " The Osceola 
Company had spared no pains to advertise ex- 
tensively the intended change of the county seat 
to the new and centrally located village of Osce- 
ola, upon the Broken Sword. Young men of 
enterprise and old men with capital were eager 
to invest in the choice lots. It became a matter 
of exciting interest to the neighboring farmer 
who thought himself so fortunate as to be an 
owner of the suburbs of the county seat, so that, 
by the day of sale, anxious bidders, with wise 
looks, hung close to the auction block to be 
first to get corner lots." Some had the num- 
bered lots drawn upon a plat of the village, 
which they would slyly consult. As the crier 
would call out the lucky numbers the}' would 
rush up and invest their all. Lots in suburbs 



V 



^'. 



618 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



sold from $18 to $20, while the corner lots 
reached $195, a sum that would have purchased 
half that many acres within a mile of the site 
before the county-seat boom was let loose. 
" The gulled and inexperienced real-estate dealer 
would urge his less credulous neighbor over 
logs and underbrush to the coveted spot of his 
possession, and expatiate upon his blocks and 
laden store-rooms about to be. Upon the square 
was a well only six feet deep, brimful of water, 
that the future business men and citizens would 
frequent, and discuss the excellent qualities and 
the purity of the liquid as ' sweet as spring 
water.' " Under the excitement the lots were 
all disposed of, the only strange matter being 
that the company did not reserve any real estate 
for future speculation. The Bucyrus capitalists 
were found to have changed their mind shortly 
afterward, and a bill was presented to the Gen- 
eral Assembly to have the counties of Crawford 
and Marion so divided as to throw Bucyrus in 
a more central point, that she might retain the 
count}' seat, and erect the new county of Wyan- 
dot. This was consummated in 1845, which 
punctured the bubble that the Osceoleans so 
credulousl}' believed a reality. The Hon. Mc- 
Cutcheon, then elected to the State Senate, with 
the understanding among his constituents at the 
new village that he would advocate the locating 
of the county seat at their city, was found to 
have voted upon and advocated the opposite side 
of the question. The contents of the well in the 
square, so prominent a feature in the new town 
at the da}^ of the sale, were soon exhausted. Op 
investigation, it was found to have been dug the 
da}- previous by Adam Bair and tilled with 
water carried in buckets from the Broken Sword 
by Bair and Turner. When it was verified that 
" there is nothing covered that shall not be re- 
vealed ; neither hid that shall not be known ;" 
and no further hope of obtaining the " capital," 
Mr. Tuttle, their first merchant and manufiict- 
urer, among others, withdrew to Upper San- 
dusky and other points of more promise, to en- 



gage in business. John Turner was engaged in 
miscellaneous merchandizing until the Mexican 
war, in which he enlisted, and nothing more was 
heard of him. Jacob Yost remained, and con- 
tinued his trading with the Indians. Mr. Yost 
has the credit of having built the first frame 
dwelling-house, which stood upon the lot join- 
ing Mr. (Irubb's store lot. Previous to the 
building of the present town hall, a plain square 
frame building at north central of the town, 
the public business was conducted in dwelling- 
houses and the village schoolhouse. The town, 
having failed to secure the Pittsburgh, Fort 
Wa3'ne & Chicago Railroad, evidently can never 
be a commercial center of any prominence, al- 
though at present, with her rural wealth and 
lime trafltic, she does a thriving local trade. Her 
principal merchants at present are Mr. Grubb, 
who purchased his store building of Rodney 
Pool, the builder and owner of the first store 
building of the village. Richard T. Grarrigus 
owns one of the principal miscellaneous stores, 
at present dealing in dry goods, groceries and 
hardware. Mr. Garrigus has also the postal 
department connected with his store-room, of 
which he is the Postmaster. Samuel Tetreech 
is engaged in the dr}' goods and grocery busi- 
ness. The first and only drug store of the town 
is the present room at the northwest cornier of 
the square, fitted up in the summer of 1880 for 
that business b}' Thomas Kelly, the present pro- 
prietor. 

The first divine services in this village were 
held in the cabins of the devotees of their faith 
soon after the organization of the township. 
Mr. and Mrs. Zach Lea, residents of the northern 
part of the township, led these cottage meetings 
as early as 1838, through whose labors the 
Methodist Episcopal society was establislied, 
which afterward built the first Methodist Epis- 
copal Church in Benton. Edward and Ezra 
Kellogg, neighbors of Mr. Lea, were Universal- 
ists. But no organization of this faith was es- 
tablished in the immediate vicinity, their 



f^ 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



619 



principal place of worship being at Osceola. 
There being no churches in the rui-al portions 
of Todd, her church history is mostly connected 
with that of the village, which is so complex 
and limited that an accurate analysis would be 
of as little interest as profit to the writer or 
the reader. In brief, it is as follows : The 
earl}' history of the denominations, which in- 
cluded, between the years 1838 and 1845, 
Methodist, Campbellite, Brethren, Presbyterian, 
Lutheran and Universalists, with an occasional 
Quaker, shows that they believed more in " fu- 
sion " at this corner of the "moral heritage " 
than is customary for such a variety of '• isms " 
differing so widely in doctrinal dogmas. 

Coming from so man}' sections of the country 
as did these first dwellers, it was not strange 
that their religious views were equally as va- 
rious. But the daily race they had, in common, 
for ''bread and butter," rapidly broke down 
inbred prejudices, and mollified their feelings 
of hostility usually harbored against all creeds 
but their own. No single denomination hav- 
ing the resources to build an ecclesiastical edi- 
fice, they all worshiped for the first ten 3'ears 
in the schoolhouse situated upon the site of the 
present brick school building, which, as the 
citizens say, " Never was allowed to grow cold 
from September till May." School through the 
day, and every night some denomination would 
conduct services therein, and upon the Sabbath, 
as late as 1853-54, two ministers of different 
denominations would hold union services, 
preaching to the same chosen seed. The first 
work wrought in their midst by laboi'ers from 
abroad, was the establishment of a Bible societ}' 
in 1832-40, by Rev. George Reid and J. B. 
Robinson, both of Bucyrus. The first minister 
receiving any salar}' came from Bucyrus, the 
Rev. Mathews, of the Presbyterian faith. He 
began evangelizing this people at stated inter- 
vals in 1845-4G. Jacob Snavel}' and William 
Gordon were the official ■' pillars " of this or- 
ganization. In the same 3'ear, the Methodist 



Episcopal denomination was organized into a 
distinct body, under the preaching of Rev. Royce 
the leading workers being Jesse Jaquith, M. 
Hough, John Welsh. It was incorporated at 
this date into Melmore Circuit, North Ohio Con- 
ference. The following are among the earl}' 
ministers : 

Rev. Henry Warner, preacher in charge, and 
Rev. G. W. Collier his colleague, 1850-51 ; 
Rev. Henry Warner, P. C, Rev. T. J. Monnett, 
Col., 1852-53 ; Rev. Luke S. Johnson, P. C, 
Rev. William R. Kistler, Col., 1853-54 ; Rev. 
Thomas Thompson (supply) ; Rev. William C. 
Heustiss, P. C, Rev. William Spafford, 1854-55 ; 
Rev. Ralph Wilcox, P. C, Rev. Uri Richards, 
Col., 1855-56. 

This Methodist Episcopal preaching point 
was never recognized as a charge, until the 
organization effected by the present pastor, 
Rev. Stephen Fant, under whom the circuit has 
been definitely limited and a parsonage pur- 
chased, and other improvements that give it 
more prestige than at any previous time in its 
history. 

About the time of the organization of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, the United Breth- 
ren Society became a separate body of worship- 
ers, M. L. Simons and Samuel Swisher hav- 
ing organized a class which received preach- 
ing for several years at the frame schoolhouse. 
The early ministers were Revs. Tablor, Wicks 
and Downing. Rev. Long is their present 
Pastor. This society at present is perhaps the 
wealthiest, and has the largest congregation. 

The Campbellites were one of the strongest 
organizations of the village from 1850 to 1860, 
numbering at that time thirty or more members. 
The patriotism of their disciples drew so upon 
the society that they were not re-organized 
subsequent to the war. Their first minister and 
organizer was the talented and educated Rev. 
Andrew Burns, brother of Hon. B. Burns, of 
Mansfield. 

Among the others that are remembered as 



k 



620 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



prominent is Rev. Doeling, of Marion. The 
members of this ftiith at present are united 
with congregations in neighboring villages. 

The Sunday-school work of the township 
and village has been conducted in unison for a 
greater period, and more harmoniously, than 
the other theopneustic labors in the church, the 
first regular Sunday-school having been organ- 
ized and conducted under the leadership of 
Capt. J. Wert in the summer of 1846. For 
seven 3-ears this union Sunday-school was con- 
ducted in the day-school house, with an attend- 
ance var3-ing from seventj' to eight}' pupils. 

In the summer of 1854, the union school 
was transferred to the United Brethren Church, 
shortly after which the Methodist Episcopal 
portion of the school withdrew, and organized, 
with Eli Evans as Superintendent, enrolling, on 
an average, thirty scholars. 

In the winter season, the two denominations 
would conduct union schools, until 1860 ; since 
that date, ])oth denominations have held yearly 
sessions, with an enrollment of thirty to fifty 
pupils each. One of the ablest apostles of ab- 
stinence, who has left an impress upon the 
minds of the early settlers of this section, was 
Mrs. Trimble, of Bucyrus, mother of W. C. 
Trimble, now of Mansfield. Her individual 
efforts i-esulted in some immediate fruits, and 
left a lasting impression upon the minds of her 
hearers. 

The first schoolhouse was situated southwest 
of the village, about one-quarter of a mile from 
the square. The structure had all the pioneer 
provisions and improvements that were then 



attainable ; a roomy fire-place, stick chimney, 
doors and windows, with the true Ruskin arch, 
benches and writing-desks made from original 
designs. 

The first school was opened up and conducted 
by Miss Jane Suavely in the summer of 1839, 
receiving $10 per month. She was succeeded 
in the winter term by her brother, at $15 per 
month. The first building used for school pur- 
poses within the city limits of Osceola, was a 
log cabin, a former domicile of the red man. 
This was used but two short terms, when a 
neat, square-log building was erected, especially 
for school purposes, on the site of the present 
brick school building. This last cabin was re- 
placed, in 1846, by a frame edifice, which served 
for academic purposes until 1855, when the 
Methodist Church purchased the property, and 
another frame building, consisting of two sto- 
ries and three rooms, built by John Dome and 
R. T. Grarrigus, contractors, on the same spot. 
The fine brick structure, with, at present, two 
departments, immediately succeeded the second 
frame. The contractors were Messrs. Kimmis 
& Powers, at a bid of $3,400. The A divis- 
ion enrolls, at present, fifteen males and twenty 
females — Mr. E. N. Jump, teacher. Room B 
enrolls twenty-one males and twenty-one fe- 
males — Miss Mary Jones, of Bucyrus, teacher. 
The interest manifested by the citizens in school 
matters is sufficiently evinced by the fine build- 
ing, considering the limited number of pupils ; 
and the choice of such competent instructors as 
the present corps. 



*^^ 



m^^' 



vm^^ 





^(jj^ Jj^yj:>£^? 




k. 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUXTY 



623 



CHAPTER XXIII. 



CRANBERRY TOWNSHIP — DESCRIPTIVE — EARLY SETTLEMENT— INDIANS — CRANBERRY MARSH- 
INDUSTRIES— NEW WASHINGTON— SCHOOLS AND CHURCHES, 

Andrew Jackson was elected President of the 
United States for his first term, the few settlers 



THIS township derives its name from the 
extensive cranberry marsh lying in the 
southwestern part. As ftir as can be learned, 
the date of its creation was irrevocably lost 
when the court house was burned, soon after the 
organization of the county. The township is 
peculiarly situated, comprising land lying on ei- 
ther side of the eastern boundary of an extensive 
tract of land, known after 1820, as the New Pur- 
chase. The three tiers of sections on the east 
belonged to the " Three-Mile Strip," a narrow 
tract of land lying next east of the boundary 
mentioned above, and the tier of sections on 
the west and the fractional tier lying next east 
of the western tier, were portions of the New 
Purchase. That portion of the township lying 
east of the eastern boundary' of the New Pur- 
chase, was surveyed in 1807, by Maxfield Lud- 
low, but it was not until after 1820 that the 
remainder of the township was laid out into 
sections. In February, 1820, the Ohio Legis- 
lature passed an act to organize a number of 
counties out of the eastern side of the New 
Purchase, and Crawford County was among 
the number organized. These new counties 
were surve^^ed and laid off into townships and 
sections, but the townships were at first known 
only by their numbers and ranges. Afterward, 
when settlers began to come in, the townships 
were christened, so to speak, and the necessary 
officers elected. The boundaries of Cranberry 
have been frequently changed, and, in early 
times, were not as they are at present. When 
it first received its name is indeterminate, 
but it is quite certain that, in 1827. it was 
known as Cranberry, and. at that time, in- 
cluded the present Chatfield Township, and 
perhaps others. This is true, because, when 



in Chatfield came to the cabin of Joshua Chil- 
cote, in Cranberry, to poll their votes, render- 
ing it certain that the latter township had been 
created a year or two previously, and that its 
officers had been duly elected. There were 
some fifteen or sixteen votes cast at the time, 
seven of them coming from Cranberry, and the 
remainder from Chatfield or other townships. 
In the year 1835, when Sandusky Township 
was divided and Jackson Township created, 
Sections 34, 35 and 36 were annexed to Cran- 
berry, and, as near as can be learned, the 
township at that time took its present size and 
shape. It lies wholly on the northern slope of 
the Ohio water-shed, and is drained on the 
northern and eastern sides b}- several leading 
tributaries of Huron River, and on the western 
side by Sycamore Creek, a winding branch of 
Sandusky River. This creek has its source in 
the cranberry marsh. The surface of the 
township is generally flat, though in the north- 
ern half it becomes gently undulating. Here 
are seen evidences of those glacial ridges 
which run east and west across Northern Ohio, 
although they are broken and irregular. The 
soil is deep and black, and largely' alluvial in 
the southern half, while in the northern portion 
it assumes a lighter color, and contains quite a 
percentage of course sand and heav}', tenacious 
clay. This cla}- is excellent for brick, tile and 
potter}', and has been thus used. The soil has 
great strength, and year after year the same 
crop can be raised on one piece of land, with- 
out any appreciable decrease in the quantitv 
or quality produced. The drift deposits are 
deep, and no stream has yet cut through them 



4 



>> 



624 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



far enough to expose the underlying rock. No 
quarries have yet been opened. A few sulphur 
springs and wells are found, though there are 
none of any great value or note. 

The soil, from the earliest times, has sadly 
needed artificial drainage, and it has only been 
comparatively late that the large ponds of stag- 
nant water have been turned into some of the 
neighboring streams. Until about twenty-five 
years ago, the cranberry marsh (or " mash," as 
it was called by the old settlers) was never 
wholly dry, and, during wet seasons, the water, 
in many places, was two feet deep. This is the 
largest and almost the only cranberry marsh in 
the county. It comprises about two thousand 
acres, and was known far and near by trappers 
and hunters in early years. All the varieties 
of game, when pursued by the hunter or his 
dogs, would " take a bee line " for this marsh, 
as its impassable and intricate mazes, like those 
of the Cretan labyrinth, became an exasper- 
ating perplexity to those wishing to get out. 
It was here that many an exciting hunt took 
place in winter time, while yet the Indians 
roamed the forest aisles. This marsh was well 
known to all the early settlers in neighboring 
townships, who came, when the water was cov- 
ered with ice, to trap wolves, foxes, mink and 
other fur-bearing animals. Prior to 1820, the 
larger varieties of animals abounded, and the 
enterprising hunter, if he had the necessary 
courage and skill, could peneti-ate the marsh 
and kill a panther or bear. But the rapid set- 
tlement of the surrounding country, and the in- 
crease in the number of skillful hunters, soon 
drove these animals into regions farther re- 
moved from human habitations. The Indians 
also soon found that they had no interests in 
common with the white race, and they, too, 
turned toward the setting sun, no doubt sor- 
rowfully thinking — 

"Oh, why does the white man follow my path, 
Like a hound on a tiger's track? 

Does the flush on my cheek awaken his wrath ? 
Does he covet the bow at my back ? " 



There were extensive camps of nomadic Wy- 
andots in the northern part of Cranberry as 
late as 1825, but after that their visits became 
less frequent, and, in 1835, had ceased alto- 
gether. A large band of them had, for many 
years prior to 1825, camped, during the hunt- 
ing season, on a small stream in the northern 
part. The location was quite valuable, as, dur- 
ing the winter, the frozen swamps were easily 
penetrated, and afibrded excellent trapping and 
hunting ground. There was an enchantment 
about the circular hunts that was irresistible ; 
and it must have been wildly exciting to see 
several hundred Indian hunters surround half 
a township, and then begin to move toward a 
common center, hallooing and beating up the 
bushes, driving the frightened animals before 
them. Often scores of animals of different va- 
rieties were inclosed within the " magic circle," 
and, greatly frightened by the whooping and 
noise, ran wildly from side to side until com- 
pletely tired out, when they were shot. 

In the winter of 1824-25, about seventy-five 
Indians organized a big hunt, just after a deep 
snow of about fifteen inches. It had thawed 
some the day before, and the surface of the 
snow was covered with a thick crust. There 
had been bitterly cold weather for several 
weeks, and the swamps and marshes were frozen 
solid, and upon this came the deep snow. The 
Indians had foreseen that it would be an excel- 
lent day for the hunt. In order to secure as 
much game as possible, the hunters surrounded 
a section of country about five miles in diame- 
ter, the center of which was the cranberry 
marsh. Five or six white settlers were present 
— Charles Doney, George Byers, possibly one 
of the Chilcotes, and one or two from x\uburn 
Township. The march began about 9 o'clock 
in the morning, and was purposel}^ slow to give 
the frightened animals abundant opportunity 
to become tired by constant running. About 
11 o'clock, the lines were closed enough to 
make it advisable to begin the slaughter, as 



■^^ 



■^ 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



635 



otherwise the animals might break through the 
line and escape. A small herd of deer, seven 
or eight in number, were killed. Several red 
foxes, wolves and wild-cats shared the same 
fate. The hunt was barren of anticipated re- 
sults, and the hunters, one and all, were sadly 
disappointed. Expressions of mortification 
came in guttural tones from all sides. One old 
Indian, the chief of the band, scowled and said, 
" Ugh ! no bear ; hunt no good." The hunters 
had felt sure of several bears and panthers. 

At the time of the hunt, there were only three 
or four families in the township ; but, in 1833, 
the settlement began in earnest. The land was 
wet and unproductive, and the earliest settlers 
who desired farms passed on to drier localities. 
It thus came to pass that adjacent townships 
were settled earlier than Cranberry. But it was 
soon seen that, on account of the rapid settle- 
ment of the country, the low land was destined 
to be reclaimed, and the pioneers began " buying 
for a song " large tracts of swampy land. Even 
the cranberry marsh, which no one at that daj^ 
imagined would ever be dry and finally culti- 
vated, has been cleared and drained, and in a 
few 3'ears more will be turned up with the 
plow. The first settler who purchased the 
marsh (and his name is forgotten) came to the 
conclusion, as he naturally might, that the 
cranberries that grew therein were rightfully 
his, and that whoever came in to gather them, 
without his sanction, was a trespasser and 
could be summarily dealt with. He therefore 
announced that no more berries were to be 
gathered without his permission. As might be 
expected, no one paid the least heed to his 
wishes, but continued to gather even more ex- 
tensively than before. This led to numerous 
quarrels, that only ceased when the berries 
grew no longer in paying quantities in the 
marsh. 

The name of the first settler is so uncertain, 
that conjecture i.s presumptuous. Even the earl}' 
traditions throw no light on the subject. The 



probability is that no cabin was built until after 
1820. A Mr. Bergin settled on the old Cory farm 
as earl 3^ as 1824, and verj' likel}' the year be- 
fore. He built a small log cabin, which was 
raised bj' several settlers from Auburn Town- 
ship, who were his nearest neighbors. By 1826, 
he had cleared a number of acres, and fenced 
them with rails. Aaron Cory, who came to the 
township in 1826, and who Ijecame one of its 
most enterprising and respected citizens, was of 
Scotch descent, and was an ordained minister 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He pos- 
sessed great personal magnetism and an iron 
will, and did a vast amount of good in founding 
and encouraging church and school organiza- 
tions. He came from New Jersey to Tuscara- 
was County, Ohio, in 1802, and, after remaining 
there a number of years, changed his residence 
to Richland and Wa3me Counties. He remained 
in Ci'anberry Township until his death in 1834, 
at the age of sixty years. Since 1826, the 
Corys have been among the most distinguished 
and far-seeing citizens in the northeastern part 
of Crawford Count}'. Thomas, the son of 
Aaron Cory, was a man of great natural prac- 
tical ability, and served with singular fidelit}' 
in various positions of honor and trust. Nor 
have the present generations of the family de- 
teriorated in intellectual vigor or moral and 
social usefulness. One of the count3''s repre- 
sentatives in the Ohio Legislature is James E. 
Cor}', who was the author of several legislative 
enactments, and who is just beginning his ca- 
reer of utility to the countv. The family are 
distinguished for intelligence and uprightness 
of character. 

In the year 1825, Charles Doney built a log 
cabin near the cranberry marsh. He was a 
skillful hunter and trapper, and very likely 
came to that locality for the purpose of trap- 
ping the fur-bearing animals in the marsh. 
There was a long, narrow, winding ridge ex- 
tending out into the center of the marsh. 
This ridge was first brought to the notice of 



¥ 



"IV 



±1 



626 



HISTORY OF CKAWFORD COUNTY 



trappers b}- Mr. Done}-, and soon became 
known us Doney's Point, a name it yet retains. 
If the Indians knew of its existence, they 
never communicated their knowledge to the 
settlers, perhaps for the reason that they did 
not care to have their trapping-grounds in- 
vaded by the white men. Doney had come 
from the Nutmeg State a few years previoush', 
and had first located in northern Richland 
County ; but, having to depend largely upon 
his rifle for a living, and the game having be- 
come scarce and shy in his neighborhood, he 
sold his land and hired a neighbor to convey 
himself and family to his newly erected cabin 
in Cranberry Township. He cleared sufficient 
land to furnish a garden, abundantly large 
enough to satisfy his ambition to labor ; but, 
after it had been fenced, his time was spent in 
trapping, hunting and preparing the skins for 
market. He became well known to the In- 
dians, who did not like the idea of so skillful a 
hunter settling near the marsh. His remain- 
ing there could but result in loss to them- 
selves, and they began to destroy his traps and 
steal the animals caught therein. They con- 
tinued to annoy him for some time, stealing 
many valuable furs from him, and, though he 
began to exercise vigilance and to watch care- 
fully, he was unsuccessful until one morning, 
having visited one of his traps, he discovered 
that an Indian had preceded him, had torn the 
log trap down, and had stolen the animal it 
contained. He started rapidly in pursuit, 
knowing that the thief could not be far away, 
and hoping to catch him before he reached the 
reservation. He was fortunate enough to sur- 
prise the Indian, who turned quickly around to 
see the rifle aimed at his head. The Indian 
made a movement as if about to leap behind a 
tree, but Doney sternly commanded him to 
stand still or be shot. He ordered the Indian 
to cast his rifle and tomahawk upon the 
ground, and the crestfallen redskin reluctantly 
obeyed. Doney was much the larger and 



stronger man, and he determined to give the 
thief a thrashing that would not soon be for- 
gotten. He took the ramrod from his gun, 
and, stepping up, began laying it with all his 
strength across the back of the astonished 
brave. The Indian did not utter a whimper dur- 
ing the whole flagellation, although the blood 
flowed freely from his back. Finally, Doney 
told him to " Go ! " a command that was 
obeyed with greater haste than dignity. The 
traps were not molested after that event. The 
chastisement had wrought a radical cure. 

About the time Aaron Cory located in the 
township, George Myers and Joshua Chilcote 
also came in and built their cabins. Myers 
purchased the land where New Washington 
now stands, and afterward became closely 
identified with the early history of that village. 
Chilcote located about a mile and a half south- 
east of New Washington. He had come from 
one of the Eastern States a few years before, 
and had settled in Columbiana County, Ohio ; 
but, when his land there arose considerably in 
value, he sold out and came farther into the 
unsettled forest in order to purchase a larger 
tract of land with the money at his disposal. 
He had five sons — John, Nicodemus, James, 
Joshua and Heathcote — and two or three 
daughters. These children married and settled 
in the neighborhood of their father's farm, and 
afterward became prominent citizens. The 
father was a man of great energy and decision 
of character. He served at diflerent times in 
nearly all the township offices, and was influ- 
ential in opening up man}- of the early roads. 
His descendants are j'et living in neighboring 
counties. A young man named " Oak " Tj-n- 
dal married one of his daughters in about 
1827. This was probably the first marriage in 
the township. Two yea,Ys later, a young Teu- 
ton named Zipsie came to Squire Boner and 
asked for explicit directions as to the modus 
operandi of getting married. Boner informed 
him of the legal steps necessary, and, about 



'k* 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



627 



two days afterward, early in the morning, be- 
fore the Squire had left his bed, the young fel- 
low again presented himself, accompanied by 
his " future happiness," and said he had come 
to get married. The Squire " tied the knot," 
and the happy couple departed. About a 
week afterward, as Boner was weeding his 
garden, Zipsie appeared and came up to him 
with face wreathed in smiles. He shook the 
Squire cordially by the hand, and exclaimed, 
"Wie gehts, Mishter Boner, wie gehts ! you 
did got me a firsh shtrate wife dot time." The 
Squire congratulated the happy fellow, and in- 
formed him that married life was always the 
happier, to which Zipsie warmly assented. 

James Boner, who served many years as Jus- 
tice of the Peace, settled in southern Cranberry 
about 1828. He was an intelligent man, and 
did much in after j^ears to render the township 
an inviting locality for settlers. Jacob Shafer, 
Jacob Boyer, Christopher Faulk and one or two 
others established themselves near New Wash- 
ington in 1830. Three years later, a large 
German emigration arrived and located in dif- 
ferent parts of the township. Among those who 
came were George Donnenwirth, George Klein, 
Warner Rang, Joseph Worst, John, William 
and Armstrong Irwin, William and Arthur 
Tildou, William Scott, William Hoover, Henry 
Koehler, George Seifert, George Seiter, Jacob 
Sangloff, Fred Weaver, Timothy McCarty, 
George Strohacker, Michael Hartneck, Adam 
High, John Robinson and many others. Nearly 
all these settlers came directly from Germany to 
Cranberry Township. As far as possible, they 
chose the higher lands, but many of them built 
their cabins on the ridges that rose almost like 
islands from the swamps. They seemed to have 
a reckless disregard for ague and the various 
types of malarial diseases. With no hope of 
seeing the land drained for twenty or thirt}' 
years, they went to work to let in the sunlight, 
and to let out the stagnant water. After many 
years, this course brought the desired result. 



but not without all the accompanying hardships 
and self-denials. The settlers were quiet, un- 
obtrusive and industrious. The cranberry 
marsh furnished an abundant harvest of berries, 
and it also furnished to those of sufficient skill 
valuable retui'ns in the wa}' of furs. The cran- 
berries grew on short stems on the under side 
of long, wiry vines that crept over the mosses 
and sedges gi'owing in profusion in the marsh. 
The vines did not grow on the dry ridges, but 
sought the wet grounds, often growing out of the 
mud, which was covered with several inches of 
water. Cranberry picking was extensively en- 
gaged in by all the neighboring settlers, many 
of whom made no little money in the business. 
In 1824, the berries sold for 20 and 25 cents per 
bushel. They steadily increased in value, the 
market for them always being active. In 1835, 
they were worth 75 cents per bushel, and, in 
1850, had arisen to about $2. Those gathering 
the berries — men and women — wore long- 
legged boots to keep out the water, and as a 
precaution against snake-bites. A section of 
plank, from a foot and a half to two feet long, 
and about a foot wide, was taken, and around 
one end was bound a tough band of hickory 
bark, forming a sort of box. The other end 
of the plank was serrated, the teeth being 
about eight inches long. Two handles were 
attached, and the rude implement thus com- 
pleted was used in gathering cranberries. 
The teeth were placed over one of the long, 
slender vines, and the implement was held so 
that, when it was pushed along, the berries 
were scooped into the box at the other end. 
Fifteen or twent}" bushels were often gathered 
in one day with this implement. The cranberry 
season began the latter part of September and 
lasted neai'ly two months ; or, rather, it lasted 
all winter and the next spring. But few were 
gathered in the winter, however, owing to their 
being frozen in the ice. As soon as the ice had 
thawed in the spring, the gathering began 
again, and the berries obtained at this season 

'^ a) 






(i28 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



were considered better than those gathered in 
the full, as less sugar was required to prepare 
them for the table. Whole lamilies turned out 
during the eranl)erry season, and the marsh 
swarmed with settlers, some of whom came 
many miles and remained several days, camp- 
ing in their wagons. When a sufficient quantity 
of berries was gathered to fill the wagon-bed, 
they were taken to Sandusky, or some other 
city, and sold. Some families, desiring to make 
the most of the marsh, picked day and night 
while the season lasted. The berries were 
heaped on some dry mound near by, and a 
member of the familj^ was detailed to guard 
and clean them, while the remaining members 
picked as fast as they could. Although hun- 
dreds of bushels grew in the marsh, the}^ were 
usually all gathered long before the season had 
closed. Several incidents are related where the 
gatherers were severely bitten by rattlesnakes, 
thou gh no cases are recollected where death re- 
sulted from the bite, except, perhaps, the death 
of the snake, an inevitable result of the reptile's 
indiscretion. Joseph Smith and Robert Hilburn 
were one day picking in the marsh, when they 
were startled by a piercing scream near them, 
and, glancing quickly around, saw a woman, dis- 
tant about twenty rods, throw her arms wildly in 
the air and sink fainting upon the ground. They 
ran to her assistance, and, as there happened to 
be no water neai-, Robert plunged his arm down 
into the mud, forming a well after a small pat- 
tern, which was quicklj^ filled with muddy 
water. This was dashed copiously in the face 
of the unconscious woman, who soon revived. 
She said she had been bitten by a rattlesnake, 
and showed a small wound just above the 
ankle. The flesh had already begun to swell, 
and Smith took from his pocket quite a quan- 
tity of ''dogleg" tobacco, and, having moist- 
ened a moderately large "quid," applied it to 
the wound. After a few minutes, this was re- 
moved and another portion applied, and the 
operation was repeated until all the tobacco 



had been used. The woman recovered from 
her nervous shock and arose to her feet. She 
had had enough of cranberr}- picking that day, 
and started for home. Her name has been for- 
gotten. After she left, a large rattlesnake 
was killed about a rod from where she had 
fallen. It was evidently the same one that had 
bitten her. In 1855, the marsh had become so 
dry that cranberries no longer grew there in 
paying quantities. It must be remembered 
that cranberries, when first gathered, were full 
of leaves, moss and grass, and had to be 
cleaned befoi'e thej' were taken to market. A 
sort of ladder was made, having the cross 
pieces about an inch apart. When emptied 
upon this rude seive, the berries fell through 
the slits, and the grass, etc.. was collected on 
the slats. Large quantities of berries were 
cleaned in a few hours by means of this rude 
screen. 

Nothing in the way of saw or grist-millsi 
tanneries, manufactories, schools, villages, or 
churches, was established until after 1830. 
Prior to that time, flour and meal were obtained 
about twenty miles north on the Huron River, 
except, perhaps, small quantities, which were 
obtained at the horse-mills — two or three — in 
Auburn Township. Household supplies were 
obtained at stores in Huron and Richland 
Counties, or, after 1823, at Bucyrus. Some 
where about the year 183G, Nicodemus Chil- 
cote built a log grist-mill on Broken Knife 
Creek, in the northwestern part. Quite a sub- 
stantial dam was made by piling logs and 
brush into the bed of the stream in the fall of 
the year, when but little water was flowing. 
Upon the brush and logs, large quantities of 
earth, as stony as could be found, were heaped, 
and the whole dam was stronglj' braced by 
logs being driven in a standing position in the 
ground and resting against the lower frame- 
work of the structure. Large qunntities of 
water were collected and used economicall}'^ 
as fast as ijrain was brought to be ground. 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY, 



629 



The usual "nigger-head" stones were used, 
and it is said that quite a superior article of 
flour was furnished. How long the mill 
remained in operation is uncertain. It proba- 
blj' ran six or seven years. Mr. Chilcote also 
operated a saw-mill at the same time. The 
two mills were on opposite sides of the race, 
and both were built of logs, although the grist- 
mill was quite a large building. Both stopped 
running about the same time. Jeflerson AVal- 
lace began making cabinet- ware in the southern 
part, as early as 1842. Many of the citizens 
procured useful articles of household furniture 
from him. The furniture was usually made of 
the best walnut timber, and was substantially, 
rather than artistically, made. But little in 
the way of mechanical work was done outside 
of New Washington. 

The earliest settlers went to meeting, and 
sent their children to school, in x\uburn 
Township. It is difficult to realize the trials 
under which the early settlers labored. When 
a husband and wife, having a large family 
of almost helpless children, leave the enjoy- 
ments and protection of settled localities and 
branch out into the forests for a home, where 
no white foot has yet pressed, and, from the 
unending swamps and heavy woods, endeavor 
to make a living, an heroic courage is shown 
which is rarely seen in the present age of 
" sickly sentimentality." Such a course requires 
a superior courage — a courage that is repaid 
in nothing but self-sacrifice and self-denial. 
And yet settlers were happy. They became 
inured to poverty and kindred hardships, and 
the mobile characteristic of human nature to 
derive pleasure from any and all surroundings 
asserted itself Abundant venison was obtained 
at first, but, after a time, this became scarce, 
and often the cabins contained no food for daj-s 
together. Flour and meal were obtained by 
pilgrimages to mill on horseback, and, when 
thus obtained, were necessarily in such limited 
quantities that three or four bakings for a 



large family used the whole of it, and the jour- 
ney had to be repeated, or the family must go 
without bread. 

The central figure in the township, since 
1833, has been the village of New Washington, 
which had its creation at the time of the Ger- 
man emigration into the township, and since 
then has been the principal emporium for the 
citizens. As previously stated, George Myers, 
in about 1826, purchased the land upon which 
the village now stands. His cabin stood near 
the present site of the grist-mill, and was a 
small, unpretentious building, constructed of 
round logs. He was industrious, and instead 
of tr3ang to earn a living by roving the woods 
in quest of game, or by spending his time in 
endeavoring to outwit his neighbors in the 
cranberry business, he began to clear the tim- 
ber from his land, and to cut channels and 
trenches to convej^ the stagnant water into the 
neighboring streams. He was a short, chubby 
man, with heavy whiskers which stood sti'aight 
out from his face, giving him the appearance, 
as some said, of a " chipmunk.'" This fancied 
resemblance procured for him the appellation 
of " Chipmunk" Myers, a name by Avhich he 
was familiarly and universally known. He was 
very energetic, and, in time, broke himself 
down with hard work. By 1833, he had about 
thirty acres cleared, fenced and under cultiva- 
tion, part of which is now the business center 
of New Washington. On the 3d of September, 
1833. he secured the sennces of T. C. Sweney, 
the surveyor of Crawford County, and laid out 
thirty-one lots from a portion of his cleared 
land. He named the village New Washington, 
possibly appending the adjective to prevent 
the world from confounding his protege with a 
town of the same name on the Potomac. The 
sale of lots immediately began, but the growth 
of the town at first was slow. It was sufficient- 
ly removed from any extensive business center 
to insure quite a lively trade, and the result is 
that the town has been blessed from the first 



liL 



630 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY, 



with merchants who were well patronized. Thus, 
business men found it to their advantage to 
keep on hand large stocks of first-class goods. 
Jacob Hoover was likely the next one to erect 
a dwelling in the town. His cabin was located 
near the northei'n limits, and, like that of 
Mj'ers, was built of round logs. Hoover's hab- 
its differed materially from those of Myers. 
He was a great hunter, and, like his brother 
Nimrod, looked down upon work as degrading 
in its tendenc3\ He probably came to the 
township a short time before 1830. In 1835 or 
1836, a Mr. Hussey erected a double log cabin, 
and brought the first stock of goods to the town. 
His first stock, valued at about $800, was 
purchased in Sandusky Cit}'. He kept a gen- 
eral assortment of goods, including whisky, one 
of the supposed "necessities of life." In 1842, 
he traveled north, and, while sailing in a vessel 
on Lake Erie, a heavy gale arose. After sev- 
eral hours of struggling with the mad waters, 
the vessel was wrecked, and Mr. Hussey was 
drowned. His body was never recovered, and 
yet lies entombed in the silent waters of the 
lake. His widow continued the mercantile 
business after his death, and, a number of 3^ears 
afterward, became the wife of John A. Sheets. 
These old people are yet living in the town. 
After his marriage, Mr. Sheets increased the 
stock of goods left by Mr. Husse}^ until it was 
worth several thousand dollars. He filled his 
store with excellent goods and soon had an ex- 
tensive trade. He retired a number of years 
ago, and left his sons in charge of the business. 
They now have about $7,000 worth of goods. 
Volney Powers brought the second stock of 
merchandise to the town. His trade was not 
so extensive as that of Sheets, though he did a 
thriving business. His store was secondary to 
his ashery, which was one of the most extensive 
in the county. He paid cash for ashes, or 
gave goods from his store in exchange for them. 
He made it worth while for the citizens to save 
their ashes, which were brought to his ashery 



in sacks, or loose in wagons. He continued 
making excellent "pearl ash" for about eight 
3'ears, turning out an average of nearly fifteen 
tons per annum. A large farm near the town 
was owned by him, and men were employed to 
cut and burn the timber, preserving the ashes 
for use at the ashery. 

Store-keepers, in earl}' times, could not de- 
pend wholly upon their trade for a living. 
They were usually compelled to engage in a 
variety of pursuits, while conducting their 
stores. They had their tanneries, asheries or 
farms, running them conjointl}' with the mer- 
cantile business. They ordinarily dealt in furs, 
often buying large quantities during the winter 
and shipping them to the East. Man}' specu- 
lated in wool, and, as time went on, increased 
their dealings, realizing failures or fortunes. 
These were the early conditions of affairs in 
New Washington. The names of many of the 
earliest settlers in the town have faded from 
the minds of the present generation. As near 
as can be ascertained, however, there were in 

1836, about seven families living in rude log- 
cabins of divers patterns and sizes. Adam 
High was one of the early residents. He was 
an old man when he arrived and had considera- 
ble money, which was partly invested in real 
estate, and partly put out at interest. His 
cabin was probably built in 1834, and some 
say it was the second in the town. His son 
Valentine opened a blacksmith-shop in about 

1837, and worked at the trade many years. 
He did not confine his whole time to this trade, 
however, but erected suitable buildings, sunk 
five or six vats, and began dressing skins, an 
occupation he followed for about eight years. 
The village had a population in 1840 of nearly 
fifty, to which scarcely no increase was made 
for twenty years. Though small, it was lively 
and prosperous. Robert Robinson was another 
early resident. He was a cobbler, and probably 
built his cabin the summer before the village 
was laid out. He began to manufacture shoes 



-:^. 



i^ 



di 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY 



631 



in 1834, emplo3nng three men and keeping sev- 
eral hundred dollars' worth of stock on hand. 
He was a tanner, preparing his own leather at 
a small building a few rods from his shoe shop. 
He sank five or six vats, and turned out more 
leather than was required in his shop, and sold 
the surplus in Bucyrus. In about 1845, Mat- 
thias Kibler bought Robinson's tannery, to- 
gether with all the apparatus used in running 
it. This man remained in the town until his 
death, a few years ago. He did as much as 
any other man to build up the village and peo- 
ple it with sober and intelligent citizens. The 
tannery, under his management, became the 
most extensive ever in the township. He had 
begun the business about ten years before, a 
mile or two south of New Washington, in a 
small round-log building, beginning with four 
vats. He steadily increased the scope of his 
occupation, after locating in the town, until he 
became widely known as a first-class tanner, 
and his leather commanded the highest market 
price in Bucyrus and neighboring towns. He 
took an active part in hurrying up the earl}' 
school interests, and it was greatly due to his 
influence that the citizens arose from their 
lethargy in educational aflfairs, and erected 
commodious and comfortable log schoolhouses 
in the town, and in neighboring school districts. 
He served in many of the township offices, 
always with credit to himself It was largel}' 
owing to his efforts that the township was early 
divided into school districts — eight in number 
— and the citizens induced to furnish their 
children with ample school privileges. At the 
time of his location in New Washington, he 
purchased a tract of land adjoining the town, 
and, in subsequent years, made an addition of 
lots to the original village. One of the princi- 
pal streets bears his name. When the addition 
was made, and how many lots it contained, are 
not i-emembered. Mr. Kibler was also the first 
Mayor. His death, a number of years ago, was 
greatly lamented by his friends. His son Jef- 



ferson has charge of the tannerj', which has 
about twenty vats at present, and is doing an 
excellent work. 

In the year 1844, William H. Pratt and 
family came to New Washington. This man 
was a skillful carpenter and millwright, and 
has been a prominent resident of the town ever 
since. He erected a large work shop and be- 
came an extensive building contractor. Evi- 
dences of his design and skill are seen through- 
out Cranberry and adjacent townships. He 
was not contented with the idea of plodding 
through life as an ordinary workman ; and, 
imbued with the enviable conceit of believing 
himself made of " sterner stuff," he brought 
intelligence and natural genius to the aid of 
his hands. He has the reputation of having 
been one of the best building contractors in 
the county. Fifteen men were employed to 
work in his shops, and, for about eight years, 
the business was carried on extensively. At 
the expiration of that time, he sold out and 
soon afterward opened a provision store and 
saloon. He began dealing in furs, buying all 
he could obtain. In 1859, he invested over 
$2,500 in skins, which were shipped to Eastern 
cities, and large profits were realized in their 
sale. The business proving ver}' profitable, 
he purchased several well-trained fox and 
coon dogs, and began an active crusade against 
all animals whose skins were worth taking. 
In the winter of 1859, by means of his dogs 
and traps, he caught twenty-seven mink, 
twenty-two red foxes, over a hundred coons 
and several wolves. The mink skins sold for 
$4 and $5 each ; coon skins for from 75 cents 
to $1.50 ; fox skins for from $1 to $2 ; wolf 
skins for about $1, exclusive of the bounty, 
which was several dollars. So extensivel}' was 
the hunt carried on that, in a few years, skins 
could no longer be obtained in paying quanti- 
ties. A few years after opening his provision 
store, Mr. Pratt sold out that branch of his 
stock, substituting in its place about $2,000 



4v 



632 



HISTORY OF CRAWFOllD COUNTY. 



worth of drugs. He continued the drug store 
and saloon for many years, and, in his own 
hinguage, " made lots of money at it." He 
owned and ran a steam muley saw-mill for 
about four years, soon after 1850. The mill 
was afterward owned by Cuykendal, Delancy, 
Lance, Pifer, Bacon and at present by G-eorge 
Hildebrand. In 1871, Mr. Pratt erected a 
large planing-mill, making all the machinery 
and apparatus himself After running ten 
3'ears (until the spring of 1880) it was sold to 
Anthony Harman, who now owns and man- 
ages it. 3Ir. Pratt is yet living in the town. 

In 1850, a number of men with considerable 
capital at their command, concluded to build a 
foundry- in New Washington. This intention 
met the warm approval of all the townspeople. 
All were interested in the success of the enter- 
prise, and looked anxiousl}' for its completion. 
Carpenters were employed, quite a large build- 
ing was erected, and the furnace and all neces- 
sar}- implements were placed therein. Every- 
thing looked bright and promising. But alas ! 
to the disappointment and sorrow of all, the en- 
terprise collapsed ; not a stroke of work was 
done ; the furnace and implements were re- 
moved ; the owners, like the prodigal son, 
" wasted their substance with riotous living," 
and the building, once so full of promise, was 
devoted to other uses. The failure produced 
no lasting impression on the townspeople, ex- 
cept, perhaps, to steel their hearts against 
intemperance and debauchery in any form. 
Various industries have arisen from time to 
time, and it has occasionally happened that they 
proved unprofitable, and the proprietors have 
been compelled to suspend business ; yet not 
one of them has failed so ingloriously as the 
foundry undertaking. The little city, like all 
public mai'ts, has met numerous disasters, and 
has had its " ups and downs." At first, its 
growth was slow — almost at a stand-still — and 
it was not until after the township was well 
settled and improved, and the farmers in pros- 



perous circumstances, that the village began to 
increase in population to any noticeable extent. 
Soon after 1850, quite a number of new houses 
were erected ; several new industries ai-ose ; 
tradesmen began to appear, and business inter- 
ests generall}^ underwent a revival. This was 
not suddenlj^, but slowl}^, during a period of 
about ten years. It was not long before the 
census enumerator discovered that the village 
had over 100 inhabitants, and ten or twelve 
years afterward. 200 were announced. All 
town characteristics had increased in a corre- 
sponding degree, except, perhaps, the liquor 
traffic, which seemed to have taken the lead of 
other business in early years, and meant to keep 
it indefinitely. There has been no time since 
1835, that liquor could not be had — for the 
money. And yet, those who imbibed were usu- 
ally orderly, taking their potations silently and 
enjoying (?) them silently. The population, 
not only of the town but of the township, has 
been largely Grerman. Thus, this division of 
the count}^ was blessed with a quiet, steady, in- 
telligent class of citizens. For a number of 
years, the townspeople have felt the need of a 
grist-mill nearer than the Huron and Sandusk}' 
Rivers ; so, in 1854, a man named Johnson was 
induced to build the present mill, which he did 
at a cost of about $4,000. The necessary 
steam apparatus and three sets of stone were 
placed in the building. Since its erection, the 
mill has had all the grinding it could do. It 
furnished excellent flour, especially of late 
years, and soon commanded a large patronage 
from the surrounding countr3^ It is running 
actively at present, and considerable flour is 
shipped to other localities. The village has a 
large, commodious town-hall, the upper story 
being used b}' the Odd Fellows. It also has 
a jail that is said to be superior, in point of 
strength, to the one at Bucyrus. 

So far as can be remembei'cd, the first doctor 
was Dr. Stouteneour. He was succeeded by 
Mainey, Wandt, Hershiser and Benner. One 






\hL 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY 



633 



lawyer, J. H. C. Elder, has lately made his ap- 
pearance. All the difterent city occupations 
are represented, and the village has a present 
population of 701, and is yet growing. 

The village received its greatest impetus, 
when it became certain that the Mansfield, Cold- 
water & Lake Michigan Railroad would pass 
through the township, and that New Washing- 
ton was sure of a station. Dozens of build- 
ings, both public and private, began to go up 
from all quarters, and some of them costl}' and 
even elegant. Business interests of every kind 
multiplied. The population soon tripled. In- 
creased activity was manifest in all undertak- 
ings. Property rose rapidl}^ in value. Since 
its creation, the town has been increased in 
area, by the addition of more than 250 lots. 
Additions have been made by Mclntifer ; Rob- 
inson; Pratt and Guiss; Rossman; Sharf; Guiss, 
Ailer and Hilburn ; Miller and Kibler. At the 
March session of the County Commissioners in 
1874, a petition was presented, properly signed, 
praying for the incorporation of New Washing- 
ton, and, on the 4th day of the same month, 
the following action relative thereto was taken, 
as shown by the records : 

"The County Commissioners, after heai'ing 
said petition and being satisfied that at least 
fifty qualified voters actually reside within the 
limits described in the petition, and that said 
petition has been signed by a majority of them ; 
that said limits have been accurately described, 
and an accurate map or plat thereof has been 
made and filed ; that the name pi'oposed for 
said incorporated village is proper, and suffi- 
cient to distinguish it from others of a like 
kind in the State, and that, moreover, it is 
deemed right and proper, in the judgment and 
discretion of this board, that said petition be 
granted, and the}' hereby make and indorse on 
said petition, an order to the effect that the in- 
corporated village, so named and described in 
the petition, be organized." 

Immediately after the incorporation of tlie 



village, the following officers were elected ; 
Matthias Kibler, Mayor; Lewis Donnenwirth, 
Clerk ; John Miller, Treasurer ; Lewis Feith, 
Marshal ; J. H. Miller, Jacob Stouteneour, 
William Aschbaugh, Jacob Sheets, William 
Donnenwirth and John Tribolet, Councilmen. 
The village is numerically the fourth in the 
county. 

As far as can be learned, no school was 
taught in the township until after 1833. Prior 
to that time, no settler had deemed it advisa- 
ble to go to the expense of erecting buildings 
so little needed and so little thought of The 
earliest settlers had no time to devote to mat- 
ters that could be postponed. The}^ were 
isolated from any settlement, or rather were 
on the outskirts of the Auburn settlement and, 
as a consequence, they were fated to endure 
loneliness, as well as privation and lack of edu- 
cational and religious privileges. If their 
children went to school, it was to the rude 
buildings in Auburn Township. In the winter 
of 1833-34, school was taught in a small, for- 
bidding structure in New Washington. The 
building had been built for other uses, but had 
been opened for school purposes. The few 
parents had seen with concern that their chil- 
dren were growing up around them with no 
school advantages, and with but little, if any, 
moral training. So they rented the building 
referred to, and employed some person, whose 
name is forgotten to teach the first school in 
town, and, perhaps, in the township. After 
that term, school was taught there every win- 
ter, until 1839, when a large log schoolhouse 
was built about a mile southeast of the village. 
This was attended by the town children until 
about 1842, when a log schoolhouse was built 
in the town. This building served the pur- 
pose until 1855, when the present schoolhouse 
was built at a cost of nearly $2,000. The 
names of the first teachers of these schools 
have been forgotten. At the time of the rapid 
growth of the village, when the railroad was 



:£. 



634 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



established, and when the great increase in 
population filled the small schoolhouse to over- 
flowing with children, a new school building 
much larger and finer, suited to the populous 
condition of the town, was planned, but, for 
some reason, its erection has been postponed 
until the present. A tax has been levied, and 
arrangements are being perfected, looking to 
the early erection of this much-needed build- 
ing. At the time of the erection of the school- 
house in the village, several others were built 
in different parts of the township. So far as 
known, all the earliest ones were constructed 
of round or hewed logs. One was built near 
the present Tabor Church in 1840, and another 
in the northern part about the same time. 
Two or three years later, one was built near 
the eastern limits. These early buildings were 
used usually about twenty-five years, when the 
present ones were erected. 

The First Lutheran Church society in Cran- 
berry Township was organized in the spring of 
183-i, by the Rev. Mr. Stanch, who afterward 
visited the society and preached to it six times 
per year. His periodical visits were anxiously 
looked for b}- the little society, which counted 
the days until his appearance. Among the 
first members were the families of Adam High, 
John Seifert, George Donnenwirth, Conrad 
Seiter, Phillip Gangloof and Mrs. Hesse. They 
met for worship in the cabin of Adam High, 
who was probabl}^ the first Lutheran to locate 
in the township. At the expiration of two 
years. Rev. Mr. Maschop succeeded the first min- 
ister, and the members of the society deemed 
themselves fortunate in being able to secure the 
attendance of their minister once per month. 
That was much better than to be visited only 
once in two months. Rev. John Krauss was 
the third minister, visiting the society from 
1839 until 1845. During the summer of 1840, 
a log church was built in the eastern part of 
New Washington ; but, prior to its erection, 
church was held in schoolhouses, and in the 



cabins of the members. After the erection of 
the church, which, though rude and small, was 
sufficiently large to contain the little congrega- 
tion, the society was placed upon firm footing, 
and it soon began to gain accessions to its 
membership. During the first few 3'ears of Mr. 
Krauss' ministration, he preached to the society 
once per month ; but soon after the church was 
built he began visiting it every alternate Sun- 
da,j. This state of things was very satisfactory 
to the membership. Rev. Mr. Grraetz took 
charge of the organization from 1845 until 
1850, preaching every Sunday and occasionally 
on week days. This aroused such an interest 
in the society, which had become large and en- 
thusiastic, that, in 1853, the members resolved 
to erect a new and larger church, which was ac- 
cordingly done at a cost of $2,700, including 
the bell and organ. Prior to 1852, the society 
was known as a union of the two denominations, 
German Lutherans and German Reformers ; 
but after that date the Lutheran branch of the 
organization became so strong, that the title, 
" German Evangelical Lutheran Church," was 
bestowed upon the society. At the time of the 
erection of the new church, the membership 
consisted of about sixty families, mostly of 
German descent, many of whom had come from 
Alsace and Wui-temberg. The church was 
dedicated in October, 1854, and, at that time, 
the councilmen were George Donnenwirth, Val- 
entine High, Jacob Utz, George Leonhardt, 
John P. Walter, Jacob Weil, Michael, Margaret 
and John A. Sheetz. Since 1854, W. Schmo- 
grow, H. F. Belzer, Charles Clessler and E. A. 
Boehme have been the presiding ministers, the 
Rev. Mr. Belzer officiating from 1859 until 
1875. In October, 1879, the society celebrated 
the twenty-fifth anniversary of the dedication 
of the church, and the following statistics were 
read on that occasion : 

Number of baptisms since 1835 892 

Number confirmed since 1837 507 

Number partaking of tiie sacrament since 1835, 10,202 



:r^ 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



635 



Number of couples married since 1855 112 

Number buried since 1845 289 

Present number of communicants 366 

Present congregation 640 

Male membership over 21 years 115 

This is one of the strongest church organiza- 
tions in the county, and the membership is on 
the increase. 

The Catholics did not organize a church in 
the township for many years. There were 
many of this denomination, however, among 
the early settlers, but they belonged to a 
church located on the Columbus and Sandusky 
Turnpike, in southern Seneca County. This 
church was distant but about six miles, and 
the settlers preferred attending it rather than 
undergoing the expense of establishing a sepa- 
rate society and building a separate church. 
The Catholics in Cranberry had increased to 
such a number in 1844, that it was deemed ad- 
visable to sever their connection with the Seneca 
County church for the purpose of organizing 
one of their own, which was accordingly done. 
There were sixteen families that first organized 
themselves into the societ}', among which were 
those of Peter Young, John Alt, Peter Gulong, 
Paul Miller, Jacob Streiger, John Delaver, John 
Buger and Timothy McCarthy. A small frame 
building was erected just east of where Hil- 
burn's Tavern stands, at a cost of about $600. 
This building was used until 1868, when the 
present imposing structure was built at a cost 
of $25,000, exclusive of the gratuitous labor 
of the members. The church is brick, with a 
large square spire that rises in the air almost 
a hundred feet. The interior is very beautiful 
and costly, the walls being painted in imita- 
tion of mottled marble, and arranged in the 
form of an arcade, with a background of hard 
cement, relieved by groups of triple columns, 
crowned with capitals after the Corinthian order 
of architecture. The marble altar, over which 
stands the life-sized statue of the Virgin Mary 
and her child, cost almost $1,500, and fairly 



represents the costliness and elegance of the 
interior. The church is yet incomplete. A 
brick parsonage was erected on an adjacent lot 
in 1875, at a cost of $4,000. The church has 
had a membership of one hundred and forty 
families. At present there are about eighty 
families belonging. A few years ago a divi- 
sion was made in the congregation, those fami- 
lies living east erecting a large frame church in 
Auburn Township. Rev. P. F. S. Bruner or- 
ganized the society in 1844, since which time 
more than a dozen priests have had charge of 
the organization at different times. Rev. 
Michael Baker is the officiating priest at pres- 
ent, receiving his appointment in 1865. 

The Protestant Methodists organized a so- 
ciety as early as 1850, and, for a number of 
years, met at schoolhouses to worship. Jacob 
Johnson was a prominent member. Finally, 
in 1854, a frame church was built on Section 
27, where before they had assembled in a log 
cabin. The church was built by subscription, 
and cost about $1,400. Services are held 
every three weeks, and the present minister is 
Rev. Mr. Grrimes. In about 1844, the United 
Brethren began holding class meetings at the 
residence of George Keller and others. The 
society was organized and began to grow. 
Between 1848 and 1852, the members met in a 
log schoolhouse near where their church stands. 
During this period, a large increase was made 
to the membership ; so much so, that it was 
thought best to build a church, which was ac- 
cordingly done during the 3-ear last mentioned, 
at a cost of about $800, including individual 
labor gratuitously given. Among the first 
members were the families of Peter Lash, 
Nicholas Whittle, Conrad Cragle, Charles Ha- 
german, George Keller and others. Rev. 
John Smith was one of the first ministers. 
The church is located on Section 24, and has a 
congregation, which, if not large, is doing 
much good in the township. The present 
minister, Rev. Mr. Ramsey, holds services every 



±1 



636 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY 



alternate Sabbath. A Methodist Episcopal 
Church has just been built in the northern 



part, in the Pugh settlement, at a cost of 
$1,200. The membership is rapidly increasing. 



CHAPTER XXIV.* 

J RFFERSON TOWNSHIP — DESCRII'TION — TOPOGRAPHY — SETTLEMENT — SOCIAL LIFE — PIONEER 
INDUSTRIES— INCIDENTS— SCHOOLS AND CHURCHES— VILLAGES. 



JEFFERSON TOWNSHIP is a recently or- 
ganized portion of Crawford County, and 
lies near its eastern borders. The land which 
comprises it was surveyed in 1807 by Maxfield 
Ludlow, and, at one time, prior to 1842, the 
eight eastern sections were a part of Richland 
Count}'. Twelve sections west were a part of 
what was then known as Sandusk}' Township, 
which was twelve miles long h\ six miles wide. 
In 1835, a petition was presented to the Com- 
missioners of Crawford County, praying that 
the township of Sandusky be divided on account 
of the great inconvenience attendant upon its 
length. The petition was granted, and, accord- 
ingly, fifteen sections were formed into a new 
township, bearing the name of Jackson. When, 
in 18-42, a four-mile strip was added to Craw- 
ford from Richland County, eight new sections 
were added to Jackson Township, thus giving 
it an area of twenty-eight square miles. How- 
ever, in 1873, the residents of the twenty western 
sections manifested their dissatisfaction regard- 
ing the unequal distribution of offices by the 
township as those of the eastern sections, in- 
cluding Crestline, controlled the matter, and 
gobbled the " loaves and fishes " of office. On 
a petition being presented, a division was made, 
converting twenty sections of the old township 
into a new organization, which was named Jef- 
ferson, in honor of the great apostle of the 
American Democracy. By this division but 
eight sections were left of the old township of 
Jackson. The present township of JeflTerson is 
bounded on the north by Sandusky and Vernon 

* Contributed by F. B. Gossncr. 



Townships, on the east b\' Jackson, on the south 
by Polk, and on the west!)}' Whetstone Town- 
ship. It is composed of eight sections of Town- 
ship 20, Range 20 west, and twenty sections of 
Township 16, Range 21 west. 

The land comprising this division is well 
drained by the Sandusk}' Ri\'er and its numer- 
ous tributaries. This river rises in the borders 
of Richland County, and flows through this town- 
ship in a northwesterly direction. Spring Run. a 
tributary, so called because of the springs 
forming it, takes its rise south of Middletown, 
and flows north, emptying into the Sanduskj' 
near Leesville. Allen's Run has its source in 
the eastern portion of the township, and enters 
the Sandusky east of Leesville. Another small 
stream rises on the Snyder farm, and, flowing 
north, also empties into the Sandusk3^ Other 
small streams there are in diflferent parts of the 
township, and form a very complete natural 
S3'stem of drainage, and were all in earl}' days 
utilized for water power by the pioneer. The 
surface of a portion of the township is such as 
requires artificial drainage to a limited extent ; 
but the eastern part is naturally rolling, though 
not what could be termed hilly. In the vicinity 
of Leesville there is an abrupt rise of land 
comprising an extensive ridge of gravel, com- 
monly called the " Hog's Back,'' and here are 
also frequent knolls of varying height, made 
up of gravel and stone, and continuing along 
the banks of the Sandusky and Spring Run. 
The channels of these streams are in many 
places dug through solid masses of rock. At 
the quarry of James Morrow, in Section 1, the 



"7 c 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



637 



banks of the river take a precipitous rise of 
sixty-eight feet six inches from the surface of 
the watei". Thirty-five feet of tliis ascent is 
composed of solid rock, belonging to the Wa- 
verh' sandstone group. This gravel ridge is 
situated in the eastern part of the township, 
extending a trifle east of north and south for 
about a half-mile. This has been in use for 
over twenty years, during which time thousands 
of car-loads of gravel have been taken out by 
the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago Rail- 
road, and the Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati 
& Indianapolis Railroad, in the construction 
and repair of their respective roadbeds. That 
portion which still remains, rises full forty feet 
above the level of the surrounding countrj'. 
The soil of the township is good, being a cla}^, 
mingled in some places with gravel and sand. 
On the whole, it is well adapted for farming 
purposes, being excellent for both wheat and 
corn, and has been brought by its owners into 
a high state of cultivation. 

There was in early day a heavy growth of 
timber covering most of the land, comprising 
the usual varieties common to this section of 
the State, such as oak, beech, maple, elm, wal- 
nut and ash. Through the southwestern part 
of the township, the timber is not of such 
heav)' growth as in the northern part. This is 
owing to the effect produced by a cyclone 
which passed through this section in 1820, com- 
pletely destro\'ing the forests in its pathway. 
This section has ever since been known as the 
"windfall," and since the occurrence a new 
growth has come up which nearly equals the 
surrounding forests in size. 

The township of Jefferson is admirably situ- 
ated for farming or commerce, but there are 
no manufacturing establishments within its 
boundaries. The majority' of its citizens are 
honest tillers of the soil, and there is some 
attention paid to the raising of stock. The 
stone quarries at Leesville are the most impor- 
tant commercial interest, a number of tlie citi- 



zens of Leesville and vicinity finding employ- 
ment here. The Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & 
Chicago Railway passes through it east and 
west and is of great value, owing to the splen- 
did shipping facilities it aflTords. Leesville is 
the largest village in the township limits, while 
the old village of Middletown is situated just 
below it. A portion of North Robinson is also 
in this township, lying on the western boundary 
line. With this preliminar}^ description of the 
township, its topography and configuration, we 
will turn now to other matters connected with 
its history. 

Westell Ridgely was one of the first settlers 
in what is now Jefferson Township. He squat- 
ted where the Leesville & Bucyrus road crosses 
the Sandusky, about the year 1816 or 1817. 
A large family, consisting of four sons and a 
like number of daughters, accompanied him. 
These fair daughters, as the country settled up, 
became a great attraction to the young men 
for miles around. The marriage of Lucy 
Ridgely was the second marriage solemnized 
in the township, and was a great social event 
A man named Ferguson and J. S. Griswell were 
almost cotemporary with Ridgel}^, and Peter 
Bebout settled some time after, immediately be- 
low them. Thomas Ferguson was quite a char- 
acter among the Indians, who called him Gov- 
ernor, and evinced for him considerable rever- 
ence. He was often called upon to settle 
disputes and differences that arose among 
them, and between them and the whites. 
Jacob Fisher, a native of Pennsylvania, came 
to Ohio in 1810. He settled in what was then 
Richland County but is now Jefferson Town- 
ship, at a point immediately south of the gravel 
ridge, on land which now belongs to Daniel 
Weider. He purchased considerable land, pa}'- 
ing for it $1.25 per acre. He came here in a 
two-horse wagon, bringing his household effects 
and a family of eight children. He built a rude 
cabin of round logs. 18x20 feet, which was 
probably the first structure erected by a white 



638 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



man in the present limits of Jefferson Town- 
ship. Fisher lived here until 1860, wlien he 
went to Missouri, where he has since died. 
Regarding him, the early settlers do not speak 
in high terms. He was hard-working and in- 
dustrious, but, at times, very dissipated, and 
always malignant in disposition. It is related 
of him that, in an eax-l}' day, when other families 
moved in, he would engender strife among the 
women, the wives of his brother pioneers. To 
do this, he would present one woman with a 
pound of tea, and then tell a neighbor woman 
that if she would fight and whip the other, he 
would give her a pound of tea also. This often 
brought on encounters in the neighborhood, 
that were not altogether pleasant. Fisher would 
watch this unfeminine sport with the greatest 
pleasure. Several depredations were ascribed 
to his hand ; one, that he girdled a young or- 
chard ; and that he burned a year's crop of 
wheat for Daniel Krieder. He picked a quar- 
rel with William Mitchell, an Englishman, and 
during the tight which ensued, bit a piece out 
of Mitchell's cheek, leaving a scar which the 
latter carried to his grave. Ridgely, who had 
a distillery on his farm, also became an object 
of Fisher's enmit}', and his grist-mill and dis- 
tiller}^ were both burned one night, and a large 
copper kettle stolen and hid in the forest. 
Fifteen years afterward, it was plowed up by 
Kreider, and returned to Ridgel3^ Fisher re- 
marked that he, too, could have plowed it up 
if he had been so inclined. 

Christian Snyder came to the township in 
1817, and settled near the eastern boundary 
line, in Section 17, buying 160 acres of land of 
Jacob Fisher, and paying for it $3 per acre. 
Snyder's family comprised himself and wife 
and eleven children. He came from Westmore- 
land County, Penn., in a two-horse wagon, also 
bringing along with him some twenty head of 
cattle, a drove of swine, a yoke of oxen and 
an extra team of horses. They were compelled 
to cut a road through from Mansfield to their 



destination, and this occupied almost a month. 
Jacob Snyder had been sent on ahead to erect 
a cabin for their accommodation. Persevering 
and pushing onward in the midst of difficulties, 
they at last arrived at their future home, ex- 
pecting to enter a cabin and be comfortably 
installed at once. Their disappointment can 
be imagined when, instead, they found on their 
arrival that only the foundation had been laid, 
and a rude puncheon floor constructed. Ac- 
cordingly, tired out with the long journey, the 
whole family lay down to sleep upon the bare 
floor, with no other covering than the clouds. 
They awoke in the morning to find themselves 
covered with six inches of snow, which was not 
in the least conducive to their comfort. They 
went bravely to work, however, and soon had 
their cabin completed. It was constructed of 
round logs, and stood on the site of the brick 
house on the present Snyder farm. The Wy- 
andot and Seneca Indians, who were their 
immediate neighbors, aided them in their work 
and also kept them well supplied with game and 
necessary food. The family grew up within the 
township, and several of Mr. Snyder's descend- 
ants are still living in the county. Among them 
is Peter Snyder, an old and respected citizen of 
Crestline, and for many years a resident of Jef- 
ferson. To him we are indebted for many facts 
concerning the earl}' history of the township. 
John Adrian was a very early settler, and came 
soon after Snyder. He lived on what is now 
the Samuel Freese farm for a number of years, 
and here he operated a rude distillery. He 
came from France ; raised quite a family of 
children, who are scattered far and wide. Of 
this Adrian, it is reported that his strength was 
such that he could pick up a whisky barrel 
nearly full, and drink from the bung-hole, as 
others would drink from a jug. This being 
either true or mythical, one thing is maintained, 
that he was a man of wonderful strength, but 
very dissipated. He did not continue his dis- 
tillery long, and what whisky he did make was 



<?^"^ 





J^(U07y^ ^a><^?7.Z^ (^7liriry^-r:t-un^ — 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



641 



of a veiy inferior quality. Many of the bibu- 
lous settlers of that da}' often remarked that 
they would rather go to Adrian's for their 
whisky, as it was so weak that they could drink 
a great deal of it without becoming drunk. As 
a rule, however, the liquor of that day was a 
good article, and sold as low as $7 per barrel. 
Nearly every one was inclined more or less to 
its use, and it was a common accompaniment 
to all social gatherings. Jacob Sn3'der, already- 
mentioned, was for many years a resident of 
the township, and at one time owned the land 
on which Leesville now stands. He constructed 
the first house in the town after it was founded, 
and also started a blacksmith shop, the first in 
the township. After 1820, the immigration 
was rapid. Disbree Johnston and his family 
came from Virginia and settled in the southern 
part. His sons are still living in Polk Town- 
ship. Daniel Miller came from Pennsylvania in 
1822, and settled on what is now the Simon 
Snyder farm. This man Miller was a great 
hunter, and had an Indian's instinct and love 
for the forest. Many stories are related con- 
cerning him b}' many of the old settlers which 
prove that he was quite a character. He died 
in the township about ten years ago. In about 
1825, came Henry Hershner, from Westmore- 
land Count}', Penn., and settled near Middle- 
town. He was a man of considerable intelli- 
gence, and his whole life was actuated by Chris- 
tian principles. He was the founder of Middle- 
town, and opened the first store there. After 
continuing it for some time, his son John came 
from Penns3'lvania and took charge of it. He 
was also the organizer of the United Brethren 
Church, one of the first, if not the ver}- first 
church, organized in the township. 

In 1828, Rev. Robert Lee, Sr., came to the 
township and bought 160 acres of Jacob Sny- 
der, and, the following j'ear, laid out the town 
of Leesville, justly named after its founder. 
This gentleman is deserving of especial men- 
tion. He was the son of Thomas Lee, and 



was born in Donegal, Ireland, February 9, 
1770. He emigrated to this country in 1787, 
and settled in Washington County, Penn. He 
received his education at Cannonsburg Semi- 
nary, and was licensed to preach. His minis- 
terial career was mostly confined to the State 
of Pennsylvania, he being one of the original 
members of the Presbytery of Erie. After 
coming to this township, he was instrumental 
in the progress of the town which bore his 
name, and also for the cause of religion. He 
died February 9, 1842, and his remains lie in 
the cemetery at Leesville. His last words 
were, "If it be Thy will, Lord Jesus, come 
quickly, that I may be at rest." A life-long 
friend writes thus concerning him : •■ As a 
preacher, and in his address and manner, he 
was a fair model specimen of the preacher of 
the West. In this county, he assisted in the 
organization of man}- of the early churches, 
and, before the erection of church buildings, 
his voice was lifted up in the barns and cab- 
ins of the pioneers, and often in God's first 
temples — the groves of the surrounding coun- 
try." 

After the birth of Leesville, a tide of emi- 
gration flowed steadil}' into the present limits 
of Jefferson Township, and especially in the 
vicinit}- of the town itself Hon. Robert Lee, 
Jr., came to the place with his father, and 
erected the first business house in the new vil- 
lage. He commenced in business here and 
continued for several years with good success. 
He did much to promote the welfare of the vil- 
lage and surrounding country, and has been a 
prominent man in the State and county. He 
was twice elected Probate Judge, and served 
with efficienc}'. He is now living in retire- 
ment at Buc^-rus, an honored and respected 
Christian gentleman. Newton Ashcroft, living 
south of Middletown, came to the township in 
1828, with his father's famil}-, and settled on 
the present Ashcroft property. The father 
was a native of England, and had emigrated to 



'J,l 



Ik. 



642 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



Westmoreland County, Penn. He was an early 
school teacher, and a man of good education, 
being one of the best mathematicians ever in 
the county, having a natural aptitude for that 
branch of stud}-. In about 1830, Joseph 
Gledhill and family from England, settled 
about a mile south of Leesville, on the south 
side of the gravel ridge, which at one time was 
his propert}', and was sold by him to the rail- 
road company. Here he built a rude log 
cabin and commenced farming, and continued 
until his death, several years ago. His son 
Joseph is still living in Middletown, and is a 
successful farmer and respected citizen. Col. 
William Robinson came in 1 830, and purchased 
the land on which North Robinson now stands, 
paying $1.25 per acre. He was a native of 
Pennsylvania, and a soldier of the war of 
1812, in which struggle he received the title of 
Colonel. He was a tall, portly and fine-look- 
ing gentleman, and well versed in military 
matters. He lived in the neighborhood of the 
town which bears his name, until his death. 
He was throughout life a man universally es- 
teemed. For eighteen years, he was Justice of 
the Peace, and during all that time he never 
had a case tried before him, it being his rule 
to efiect a compromise between the parties 
whenever possible. His son James is a resi- 
dent of the southeast portion of the township, 
and is an able and distinguished gentleman. 
He has held several county offices, and has 
represented the county in the Legislature. 
Another son, J. P. Robinson, lives in the vicin- 
ity of the village (Robinson), and is an intelli- 
gent and respected citizen. After 1830, sev- 
eral families came into the township, among 
whom was Dr. John McKean, who is now a 
resident of Crestline, but was for many years 
a citizen and physician in Leesville. Alexan- 
der Cannon came about this time, as did also 
Rickson Lewis. Samuel Porter Lee, a brother 
of Judge Lee, came with his father's family, 
and for many years lived in the town, but is 



now a resident of Jackson Township. Igna- 
tius Shonebaugh, Robert Parks, Elisha Castle 
and Peter Wert were others who came in about 
the same time and settled in Leesville, which, 
at that time, was a better trading-point than 
Gallon. Abraham Littler bought the Ridgelj' 
farm in 1832, and removed on it with his fam- 
ily. He was a native of Hardy County, Va., 
where he was born, June 24, 1780. He lived 
in Jefferson Township until his death, which 
occurred August 10, 1844. His son Lewis is 
a respected citizen of Sandusky Township, and 
has been a prominent official in the affairs of 
the count}'. In about 1835, a number of Ger- 
man families came into the township, many 
from Pennsylvania, and a number from the 
Fatherland, and at present a considerable por- 
tion of the population is German. Charles 
Kunkle came in that year, and settled in Sec- 
tion 19, where he still lives. Adam Shumaker 
came about the same time, as did also the 
Beck family. Morrison came at a compara- 
tively early day, and is living on the borders 
of the township. The Laughbaums were early 
settlers and settled in Jefferson, but are now 
residents of Sandusky. 

" Man is a sociable animal," says Byron, and, 
indeed, it behooved the early settlers to be 
sociable and friendly. There existed between 
them a bond of union and sympathy which 
made them brethren in the wildei'ness. To 
relieve the monotony of every-day life and toil, 
social gatherings were often held in the rude 
homes of the pioneers. When the darkness of 
evening set in, the floor would be cleared and 
the tuning of the fiddles gave warning of 
what was to follow. Many a merry set was 
danced on the rough puncheon floor of the 
primitive cabins, and a feeling of greater and 
more genuine pleasure prevailed than is com- 
mon now at our modern parties. Corn-h askings 
and log-rollings usually wound up with a mer- 
ry dance in the evening. Mr. James Nail, one 
of the oldest settlers now living in the county, 



it- 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



643 



was often a fiddler for these social gatherings 
in the vicinity of Leesville and Gallon. The 
domestic life of those days was plain and prac- 
tical, but none the less dear to the people. 
The first birth in the township occurred in 
1819, in the family of Jacob Fisher. The 
hand of death was firs laid on Jacob Snyder 
in 1820, who died of diphtheria. In the year 
following the first marriage was solemnized 
and was an affair of great social importance to 
the whole community for miles around. Eli 
Foglesang, of Pennsylvania, was joined in holy 
wedlock to Hannah Snyder, and the event was 
celebrated with considerable demonstration. 

In early days, rattlesnakes and other reptiles 
were ver}^ common, and were also troublesome 
and dangerous. " Snake stories " are generally 
received with little credulity, but the following 
can be vouched for : Mrs. Jacob Synder 
dispatched a large rattlesnake one morning be- 
fore breakfast, using an iron poker, and no 
sooner had she done so than others appeared 
on the scene of action and shared the fate of 
the first, until nine had been dispatched. 

The past history of Jefferson does not show 
that it was ever destined to become noted in 
national affairs, or to be the scene of an}- famous 
occurrence. Yet within its borders quite a 
century ago, there were enacted several scenes 
in the drama of Crawford's memorable campaign 
against Sandusky, that give it a place in history. 
About 2 P. M. of June 2, 1782, the American 
army under Ci'awford halted in their march to 
the Wyandot town, for half an hour on the banks 
of the Sandusky, where Leesville now stands. 
They then continued on their course in a south- 
westerly direction, and encamped for the night 
in Jefferson Township, near to the eastern border 
of the Sandusky Plains. After the battles of 
Sandusky and Olentangy and the capture and 
death of Col. Crawford, the American army 
under Williamson retreated in much the same 
path. By nightfall, after the battle of Olentangy, 
the command reached the same spot on the 



Sandusk}' where they had halted on first enter- 
ing the county. Here they encamped for the 
night. The Indians and British rangers had 
followed them from the last battle, and con- 
stantly harassed the rear. Howevei", at night- 
fall, the two forces encamped within a mile of 
each other, the Americans taking ever}' precau- 
tion to guard against surprise. In the morning 
the retreat was renewed, and the enemy soon 
commenced a fire on the rear. Two soldiers 
were here captured and immediately toma- 
hawked. Directly north of Leesville was, at 
the time of this memorable campaign, a camp of 
Delaware Indians, it being the temporary abode 
of a noted war chief called Wingenund, and a 
few of his tribe. It was on the land now owned 
by Joseph Brown and John Newman. Strange 
to say, this camp was not noticed by either 
Crawford or Williamson, they both passing to 
the south of it in their march. 

Another important event occurring from nat- 
ural causes, the scene of which was in Jeffer- 
son, was what is commonly called the Windfall, 
a fierce and destructive cyclone which passed 
over a portion of the township May 17, 1820. 
Peter Snyder, of Crestline, was a boy of six- 
teen at the time it occurred, and from his 
statement we have gained the facts concerning 
it. On the day of this event, Mr. Snyder was 
in the field plowing, when he beheld a heavy 
black cloud in the west, which threatened com- 
ing danger. He unhitched the team and put 
them in the barn, during which time the roar 
of the whirlwind was increasing. Much fright- 
ened, he clambered upon the joists of the bara, 
but was there but a short time when the roof 
was carried away. Letting himself down to 
the floor, he had no sooner reached it than he 
was struck on the back with a falling beam, 
inflicting a painful wound, the scar of which 
he carries to-day. A sudden darkness had 
spread over everything, and when Mr. Snyder 
had extricated himself from the fallen timbers 
of the barn, and it had become lighter, he 



'.I. 



644 



HISTOKY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY 



looked in the direction of tlie house, but saw 
that it too was in ruins. Rain and hail accom- 
panied the storm, which continued for full}^ 
half an hour. The remainder of the family 
were also in a drenched condition. Other fam- 
ilies living on the tract, however, fared no bet- 
ter, and a scene of desolation took the place of 
what was before a picture of industry and 
prosperity. The settlers were glad to escape 
even with their lives and lose all else, as msLuy 
of them did. The provisions were all destroyed 
or unfit for use. Starvation stared them in the 
face. Potatoes which had been planted a few 
da3's previous were dug up and eaten. The 
nearest towns and settlements afforded no 
corn, and Mr. Snyder relates that he went as 
far as Coshocton in search of food, and there 
he was fortunately able to buy two bushels of 
corn at $4 per bushel. On returning with this, 
the greater pai't of it was made into meal and 
hominy for food, and a portion of it planted. 
The forests passed over by this terrible storm 
were leveled to the ground, and the effects can 
still be seen in the new growth of timber 
in the district still known as the " Windfall." 
Cabins and barns were blown down ; horses 
and cows were swept away and killed. A 
great amount of misery' and privation was en- 
tailed upon many living in the township by 
this unusual occurrence. 

Still another affair, which caused considera- 
ble excitement at the time, was the supposed 
murder of a man named Weaver, by Ridgely, 
who employed him as stiller in his whisky es- 
tablishment. There had been a quarrel be- 
tween Weaver and his employer, and it was 
supposed that he became engaged in a broil 
with Ridgely, and, during the melee. Weaver 
was killed. Nothing, however, was certainly 
known concerning it, although many of the 
earl}' settlers considered Ridgel}' the criminal. 
Several of them pretended, or actually believed, 
that Weaver's ghost had appeared to them, and 
had told in detail the whole affair. From these 



mythical stories it appears that Weaver was in 
the still-house with Ridgely one evening after 
dark, and that in some manner their quarrel 
was renewed, when angry words followed and 
Ridgely became greatl}" incensed. In his hast}' 
madness, he seized a heavy club and struck 
Weaver over the head a fatal blow. He then, 
horrified to see what he had done, dragged the 
body to an out-of-the-wa}' place, and, covering 
it with leaves, left it, and told it around that 
Weaver had quit his employ. The bod}^ of the 
murdered man was found, but ever}' attempt to 
find the criminal was futile, and no one was 
ever brought to justice. 

In the days before the war, the abolition of 
slavery had a hearty supporter in the person of 
Peter Wert, a wagon-maker of Leesville. He 
was commonly known as " Black Pete," and his 
house was one of the depots of the underground 
railroad. He aided the cause to a considera- 
ble extent, and many an escaped black had 
cause to remember old " Black Pete," of Lees- 
ville Cross Roads. He moved to Missouri sev- 
eral years ago, and, when last heard of, was still 
living. 

As the country became more thickly settled, 
industries began to spring up in various places. 
Taverns for the accommodation of travelers, 
saw-mills, grist-mills, tanneries and distilleries 
were soon put in operation. The first tavern 
in the present township limits was kept at Lees- 
ville, by Robert Lee, Jr., then a young man of 
twenty-four. It was built in 1829, and was the 
first house erected in the place. Mr. Lee did 
not long continue the business, but soon sold it 
to Elisha Allen, who carried it on for several 
years. Henry Hershner, at Middletown, also 
gave accommodations to the traveling public 
for a number of years. These " wayside inns " 
were great places of resort in early days, and 
were also welcome places of rest to the emi- 
grants traveling further westward. 

The corn which the pioneer farmer raised on 
his few acres of cleared land, must be gi'ound 



'Tl 



i) f^ 



^1 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



645 



for food, and, as a necessity, among the earliest 
of pioneer industries was tlie grist-mill. At 
first, horse-mills came into vogue and were 
soon followed by water power, the brooks 
being valuable aids to this industr}'. The first 
horse-mill was owned by Christian Snyder and 
was located just east of Middletown. The old 
millstones of this rude institution are now lying 
at the gateway of Joseph Gledhill's yard, in the 
village, and are suggestive of the da3'S when 
they were revolved by the sturdy strength of 
some farmer's horse, and when almost the life 
of the settlers around depended on them for 
sustenance. This mill of Snyder's did an ex- 
tensive business. People came for miles with 
their loads of grain, and were often compelled 
to wait two and three days before they could 
obtain their "grinding," and goon their way re- 
joicing. Oftentimes when the horses gave out 
or were not to be had, a yoke of oxen would 
turn the sweep. The mill was kept in motion, 
when business demanded it, day and night. 
The flour made was coarse and uninviting in 
appearance, the settlers being compelled to bolt 
it by hand. Westell Ridgely erected a grist- 
mill in connection with his distillery at a very 
early date, and, it may be, a short time before 
Snyder, but the fact is not established. This 
was on the banks of the Sandusky, on land 
now owned by John Long, of Mansfield. It 
was burned in early days, however, as was sup- 
posed by Fisher. Jacob Snyder also built a 
saw-mill just east of Leesville, but did not 
long continue as its owner. It was bought by 
Robert Lee, Sr., who added a grist-mill, also a 
fulling-mill and carding machine. He con- 
tinued in this for many years, assisted by his 
sons, Robert, Jr., Porter and Joseph. Henry 
Hershner erected a saw-mill on the banks of 
Spring Run, near Middletown, and did consid- 
erable sawing. These industries continued for 
several years and were a source of profit, but 
the water dwindled in the channels of the 
streams, until they were no more available. 



As stated heretofore, Westell Ridgely and 
John Adrian were the early distillers of the 
"ardent" in this township, and the fii'st named 
made a fair article, and whisky had a good 
sale. Jonas Hassinger started the first tannery 
in the township, near Leesville. These early 
industries, from small beginnings, have grown 
into lai'ger corporations of wealth. Roads 
were one of the necessities of earl}- settlement, 
and a blazed road winding in and out among 
the trees of the forest was ver^' common. 
There were ui an early day, two Indian traces 
or trails, passing through this township, one 
leading from near the present site of New Phil- 
adelphia, in Tuscarawas Count}-, to the Indian 
town in Wyandot. This passed through the 
camp of the Delaware War Chieftain Winge- 
nund about the time of Crawford's Campaign. 
Later than this an Indian trail passed through 
the village of Middletown, east and west, and 
led from Mansfield to near Bucyrus. After 
the settlement by the whites, however, roads 
were laid out as most convenienced the pio- 
neer, and they were necessaril}- crooked, being 
constructed on the high places to avoid the 
building of bridges. Evidences of this fact 
still exist in the crookedness of many of the 
present roads in Jeflerson Township. In about 
1830, the first State highway, called the Colum- 
bus and Cleveland road, was laid out through 
Middletown and Leesville, and nine miles of 
it was cleared and constructed by the citizens 
as an encouragement to tlie enterprise and an 
aid to their own convenience. Another State 
road and mail route was from Mansfield to 
Bucyrus and passed through Middletown. In 
the course of time, other local and county roads 
wore laid out, and to-day tlie roads of the town- 
ship are convenient, but there is not a single 
pike here nor elsewhere in the county, and in 
the winter tlie travel is well-nigh impossiitlo. 
Fords then, instead of bridges, were common, 
and it was some time before bridges were con- 
structed. The first was over the Sandusky at 



j<r. 






(14 



TIISTOKY OF CRAWFOliD COUNTY. 



Leesville, and was built by the citizens of the 
surrounding country. It w;is made of logs 
crossed and fastened down for abutments and 
heavy trunks of trees were thrown across. 
This rude structure has been replaced by a 
magnificent stone arch bridge, and many others 
of this kind are in the township. 

As already stated, the first village within 
the borders of the present township of Jefferson 
was laid out by Rev. Robert Lee, Sr., and called 
in his honor. Leesville. It was located on a 
quarter-section of land, bought of Jacob Snyder, 
and was laid off" in lots which sold for $25 to 
$50 at private sale. Soon after the village was 
founded, which was in 1829, by the efforts of 
Mr. Lee, several mechanics were induced to 
come and settle here and engage in their I'e- 
spective pursuits. Robert Lee, Jr., was the first 
business man in the town, and was for many 
j'ears proprietor of a general store. Alexander 
Cannon came early and started a chair-factory 
on a small scale, and employed Rickson Lewis 
as a painter. Dr. John McKean came in about 
1830, and remained for many 3'ears. Of late 
years, however, he has made his home at Crest- 
line. He was a physician of merit and was 
very popular and highly esteemed by all who 
knew him. John Lewis kept public house 
here, succeeding Robert Lee, Jr. Elisha Castle 
was the first shoemaker in the community, and 
Peter Wert was the first wagon-maker and 
blacksmith. John Teel was another early 
blacksmith of the township, and also started 
the first saloon. The first merchants were 
Robert and Porter Lee, who kept a general store 
for a number of years and were very successful. 
Nearly every branch of industry was repre- 
sented here in a short time, and the town bid 
fair to become a place of some commercial con- 
sequence, and was for some time a better trad- 
ing-point than any of its sister towns. The 
railroad, however, changed the channels of 
trade. Leesville has lost ground of late years. 
Judge Lee was the first Postmaster, and re- 



ceived the appointment from Gen. Jackson. 
He held this office for several years. William 
DeWalt is the present incumbent of the office, 
having a provision store in connection with it. 
Upon the opening of the stone quarries, a new 
branch of industry sprung up, and new houses 
were built in the village. Tliese valuable 
quarries are ou land originally owned by John 
Newman, and are now owned and worked by 
Heckert, Rupp and others, who are engaged in 
quarrying and shipping vast quantities of stone. 
The products of these quarries are said to be 
equal to the celebrated Berea sandstone. A 
number of men are employed, and make their 
homes in Leesville. This is the most valua- 
ble branch of industry connected with Lees- 
ville, and bids fair to increase in importance. At 
present the village contains a blacksmith-shop, 
a cabinet and shoe shop, three saloons, two gro- 
ceries and one general store. It has about 
300 inhabitants, and has grown but little in 
the last few years. There are two churches — 
the United Brethren, organized in 1835, and the 
Lutheran, organized somewhat later. A new 
schoolhouse is in process of erection, and when 
completed will be an ornament and honor to 
the commu^it3^ .Middletown has become indeed 
a " deserted village," recalling to mind the 
lines of Goldsmith : 

" Sweet smiling village, loveliest of the lawn, 
Thy sports are fled and all thy charms withdrawn. 
Amidst thy bowers the Tyrant's hand is seen, 
And desolatioa saddens all thy green." 

The village was laid out in about 1835, by 
Henry Ilershner, on land belonging to the Ash- 
crofts, the Snyders and Hershuer himself 

It was intended that this village should some 
day become quite a metropolis, and one of the 
oldest houses in the place, now occupied by 
Joseph Gledhill, was built without windows on 
its south side, as the intention was to build a 
large block some time in tlie near future. Lots 
were disposed of at good prices, and Heurj^ 
Hershner himself opened the first store, and was 



:r^r 



_^< 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY 



647 



succeeded by bis son Jobn. Wasbington Modie 
opened a blacksmith-sbop, and Jacob Hersbner, 
a cabinet-maker, followed bis trade, botb witb 
good success. For awbile it seemed as if 
tbere would soon be quite a village, but grad- 
ually it went down, its mecbanics left for better 
towns, and now not a business bouse is in op- 
eration. Tbere are two cburcb buildings, tbe 
Metbodist Protestant and tbe United Brethren. 
A portion of North Robinson lies on tbe bor- 
der line of tbis township, and comprises tbe 
store of Morrison Brothers, the saw-mill of 
Worden & Fetter, tbe restaurant of D. C. 
Spitzer, the Village Hotel of W. P. Deam, and 
tbe tile-factory of Sickman & Fate. An ex- 
tended history of North Robinson will be found 
in the chapter on Whetstone Township. 

Much, indeed, can be told of a township and 
of its people, by their church buildings and 
schoolhouses. These are always indices of its 
morals and intelligence, and convey to the 
stranger an idea as to the class of citizens. 
Whei'ever rises a modest church spire, one may 
find evidences, of Christian culture that speak 
for themselves. Schoolhouses, well kept up, 
also denote tbe intelligence and enterprise of 
a community, and, considering Jefferson Town- 
ship from this standpoint, she is in many re- 
spects a favored township. After tbe early 
pioneei's had built themselves cabins, the mat- 
ter of Christianity and religion was not neg- 
lected. Early after bis settlement, Henry Hersb- 
ner organized a congregation of the United 
Brethren, and for many years the services were 
held at bis own house, after which a church was 
erected in Middletovvn, which is still standing, 
and of which Rev. Potts, of North Robinson, 
is Pastor. The church was one of tbe earliest, 
if not tbe earliest organization in tbe county. 
There was a church erected in about 1835, on 
the land now belonging to John Smith. It was 
for many years known as the '' Smith Church," 
but has long been torn down,and naught remains 
now but a small cemetery. The United Breth- 



ren Cburcb of Leesville is the oldest church or- 
ganization in tbe village, and is in charge of Rev. 
Aunmiller, of Bucyrus. The English Lutheran 
Church was oi'ganized a short time after tbe 
first mentioned, and is in charge of Rev. Mil- 
ler, of G-alion. Both churches are strong and 
self-supporting. In about 1860, the Methodist 
Protestant Church was organized at Middle- 
town, by tbe efforts of Mr. Newton Asbcroft 
and others, and a neat, substantial edifice erect- 
ed. Rev. Grimes is the present Pastor. 

The German Reformed organization have a 
church in tbe southern pai't of the township, 
under tbe Pastorate of Rev. Lober, of Gallon. 
Thus tbere is a church for every four miles of 
territory in Jefferson Township, while a num- 
ber of the citizens are connected witb the 
churches at Crestline, Gallon and Robinson. 
In early days. Rev. Joseph Van Deman, of 
Delaware, a Presbyterian preacher, was well 
known throughout this section, and was instru- 
mental in the organization of several churches 
in the county. Rev. Robert Lee, Sr., though 
he held no Pastorate after his removal here, yet 
did considerable in the cause of his Master, as 
did also bis sons, who have always been devot- 
ed Christian workers. Jacob Newman was an 
early preacher, most of his services being held 
in tbe homes of tbe settlers. Tbe first Sunday 
school held in Crawford County was organized 
near the northern boundary line of Jefferson 
Township, by David Wert, one of tbe pioneers 
of that section. One of tbe earliest Sunday 
schools in Jefferson was held at the home of a 
man named Worden, in about 1832. Soon after, 
like organizations were made in Leesville and 
Middlotown, and have been continued ever 
since. 

"Education is the hope of a Republic," is 
tbe motto of some truthful writer, and when we 
survey the substantial school buildings in the 
different parts of the State, and mark what 
progress is being made in education, we are 
ready to subscribe to the same motto. The 



r^ 



Ai 



648 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



early pioneers of Jefferson were men of fore- 
sight, and deemed education necessary to pro- 
gression. But few families had settled in the 
township, when a rude schoolhouse was built 
about 1824, south of Leesville, near the " Hog's 
Back." It was constructed of round logs, and 
was in size about 20x24 feet. There was a 
large fire-place in one end, and oiled paper 
served as windows. The floor was a rude 
puncheon affair, and the seats were hewed 
slabs with four legs. For a writing desk, a 
slab was placed against the wall in a slanting 
position and supported by wooden pins driven 
into the logs. In this rude structure taught 
and ruled the first schoolmaster of the town- 
ship, David Dorn, of Pennsylvania. He was of 
limited education, and his pronunciation was 
none of the best, but rather broken. He had 
at first an attendance of nine pupils, for which 
he received 75 cents apiece per month, thus 
making his salary $6.75 per month, the term 
continuing four months. Soon after this, a 
schoolhouse was erected on the Tracht place, 
and this was taught by David Gill. Leesville 
erected a schoolhouse some time after, and soon 
there were several in the township. A very 
earl}' school was held on the farm of John 
McClure, in his own house. It was taught first 
one week by himself and another by Mr. 
Akers, thus continuing alternately to the end 
of an ordinary term. The father of Newton 
Ashcroft was an early teacher, and had taught 
considerable in Pennsylvania before coming to 
Ohio. He came in 1828, and spent several 
years teaching, and was a mathematician ex- 
celled by few. It was customary in those days 
for the teacher to "board around" with the 
families whose children made up his little 
kingdom, governed by that most righteous 
scepter, the ferule. As a rule, the school- 



masters of that daj' were strict and severe in 
their government, using the ferule extensivel}^, 
with full faith in the Scripture doctrine, that 
" sparing the rod will spoil the child." Many 
a large pupil was pummeled promiscuously 
when he became a transgressor of the law. It 
was customaiy at Christmas for the teacher to 
" treat," and, if not so inclined, he was " barred 
out" of the schoolhouse. Oftentimes the 
larger boys made it rather lively for him, and 
were often encouraged by their sires. Old Mr. 
Ashcroft was once teaching a school where the 
pupils were determined that he should treat or 
stay out of the schoolroom. Accordingl}', they 
barricaded the door, and upon his arrival he 
was refused admittance unless he would ac- 
cede to their demands. He was a man of 
great determination, and made up his mind 
not to be balked by a set of unruly boys. So, 
clambering on the roof, with several clapboards, 
he placed them over the chimne}^, a large fire 
being in progress in the fire-place below. In a 
few seconds, the whole school came out like a 
swarm of bees, and with tearful eyes. They 
were "treated" enough and resigned them- 
selves to their usual work. Since those da3's, 
with the progress in farming and the general 
improvement in the township, the old rude 
buildings where education was dispensed to 
the rising generation have given place to new, 
substantial and convenient structures, which 
are creditable to the communit}'. 

These schools are the outgrowth of intelli- 
gence and prosperity, and, as such are the bul- 
warks and defenses of our Republic. Jefferson 
Township may well be proud of her schools 
and churches. The first, the guardians of 
knowledge ; the last, the guardians of morality, 
two elements that aid each other in the ad- 
vancement of the human race. 



@ w_ 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



649 



CHAPTER XXV. 

CHATFIELD TOWNSIIir— INTRODUCTORY — FIRST SETTLEMENT — INCIDENTS OF THE INDIANS- 
INDUSTRIES— GROWTH OF VILLAGES— SCHOOLS AND CHURCHES. 



THE charms that cluster like gems around 
the mysteries of the silent past, do not 
cease with the beginning of authentic his- 
tory, but linger with multiplied beaut\' around 
the strange m3't}is and fairy tales that come to 
us through the lapse of unknown centuries. 
Ethnology, archoeolog}' and philology reveal to 
the present age, that, thousands of 3'ears before 
the Christian era — unknown centuries before a 
means of recording human events had been in- 
vented — -the human race lived a quiet, nomadic, 
pastoral life in Central Asia. Their homes and 
haunts became the source of many a legend or 
poetic tale, which reveals that primitive man 
was beset with the same temptations that have 
infested the existence of every succeeding gen- 
eration. Every known field has been care- 
fully searched to clear up the darkness that 
antedates recorded histor}^ ; but the sacrifice of 
time and labor by the historical investigator, 
has been almost wholly fruitless, and has met 
with but little reward except disappointment 
and defeat, and the earl}^ mythical traditions 
are yet believed to be an imperfect account of 
what actuall}' transpired in pre-historic times. 
Since the origin of writing and printing — the 
most valuable invention ever given to the 
human race — remarkable strides have been 
made in intellectual and moral advancement, 
notwithstanding the countless events of vital 
importance that have been left unrecorded. 
History is but a record of human experience, 
which fact renders it of the highest importance 
to the race, because the probable events of the 
future can only be foreknown b}^ an accurate 
knowledge of the detailed affairs of humanit}' 
in the past. Men or nations are wise only as 
they can look into the futui'e and anticipate 



coming events which cast their shadows before, 
and this can only be done from analog}' with 
what has taken place in the past. " The proper 
stud}' of mankind is man," and histor}^ is such 
a study. This places the historian in the light 
of a public benefactor to succeeding generations ; 
but a prophet — one that can anticipate the 
future — labors on without the respect or honor 
of his own country and age. 

It might, at first glance, appear that the his- 
torian has an easy time in rummaging through 
dusty memorials or following some Jack-with- 
the-lantern tradition that constantly eludes 
him ; but he knows that the weight of the re- 
sponsibility of recording the truth, giving to 
each item its appropriate and comparative 
degree of importance, leaving no path partiall}' 
neglected or wholl}- unsearched. resisting the 
demands of bigots who insist in having their 
names enrolled high on the page of honor, 
rests upon his shoulders like the sphere of 
Atlas. Nothing but patient labor brings the 
desired information. It thus occurs that, in 
looking over Chatfield Township, much diffi- 
cult}' is experienced in accumulating its past 
history. Traditions are vague and unsatisfac- 
tory, and an accurate knowledge of all the 
facts is out of the question. It often occurs 
that no two men who are questioned give a 
similar account of the same event, thus adding 
much to the perplexity of the historian, or 
passing altogether beyond a successful solu- 
tion. A cheerful readiness to tell everything 
known, and to volunteer much information of 
events of doubtful occurrence, is met with 
everywhere. Men yet living, who were in the 
township at the time of its creation, cannot re- 
call such time nor the incidents connected 



M'. 



650 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



therewith. It is not accurately remembered 
wlio were the first township officers, and in- 
numerable events of great interest and impor- 
tance which occurred in early years have 
passed beyond the recollection of the oldest 
settlers. Among the earliest settlers were Si- 
las and Oliver Chatfield, after whom the town- 
ship was probably named, although this is not 
defmitely known. These brothers, like all the 
earliest settlers, erected their cabins on the 
Columbus & Sandusky Turnpike, as early as 
1827. They were intelligent men, of English 
descent, and, during their stay in the township, 
occupied its different offices. Silas Chatfield 
was elected one of the Trustees in 1833, and 
Oliver was elected Treasurer. After a number 
of years, the}' sold their farms and moved into 
some of the counties in the State farther west. 
It is likely that Jacob Whetstone, a very suc- 
cessful hunter, who also worked by the day for 
the settlers, assisting in clearing their farms, 
was the first to build a cabin in the township. 
He had a wife and family, who were supported 
at first almost wholly b}' the rifle ; but, after 
game became scarce and da}^ laborers were in 
great demand, he worked a number of years 
for the neighboring settlers. But this life did 
not suit his acquired inclination to roam in the 
forest, which soon caused him to sell his acre 
of land and journey farther into the wilder- 
ness, where an abundance of game was yet 
to be found. He was one of those wandering 
hunters who swept over Ohio in advance of the 
earliest white settlers. He had been raised in 
the solitude of the woods, and found greater 
pleasure and profit in hunting and trapping 
than in those pursuits at which he was a nov- 
ice. He often said to the settlers that came in 
after himself that he was the first man to build 
a cabin in the township and to live therein with 
his family. He was in the township several 
3'ears before its creation, and he is remembered 
to have said on several occasions that the town- 
ship would have been named Whetstone in his 



honor, but for the fact that there was one Whet- 
stone Township in the county already. He lived 
about a mile and a half northwest of llichville 
until about 1838, when he moved West, and what 
finally becaiue of him is unknown to the citi- 
zens of the township. George Stuckman must 
have located in the township soon after Whet- 
stone. He was also a professional hunter, and 
was often employed b}^ the early settlers to hunt 
deer for them. The majority of the earliest 
settlers were directly from the East, and had 
been x-eared in localities where deer and other 
wild animals were rarely seen. They knew 
nothing of stalking a deer, and many of them 
did not know how to properly keep and load a 
gun. They must have deer meat, however, and 
hence they were accustomed to employ hunters 
of known skill and experience, often paying 
them as high as $2 per day for their services, 
and often receiving, by waj' of return for such 
outlay, five or six fat deer, besides a large num- 
ber of squirrels and other small game. Stuck- 
man was a squatter, and did not own a foot of 
land, and yet his family lived well, as far as 
food and clothes were concerned, and were 
quite intelligent people. He made a great deal 
of money out of furs, which were usually sold 
at Sandusky City, where a much better market 
was found than at Bucyrus. He also lived a mile 
or two northwest of Richville, until the popula- 
tion became too dense to suit him, when he 
moved farther west. John Henr}' was an early 
hunter, who had come to Eastern Ohio about 
the beginning of the nineteenth century. He 
lived there for several years, and afterward, at 
diflferent times, kept moving westward, until he 
finally located in Crawford Count3^ This must 
have been as early as 1824, at which time Whet- 
stone and Stuckman must have also appeared. 
He was a tireless hunter, and gained great no- 
toriety, not only as to his ability to bring in 
large quantities of fur and game, but also be- 
cause of his inordinate propensity of appropri- 
ating swine and other domestic animals of his 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



651 



neighbors. The enormity of the crime, at that 
period and under the existing circumstances, 
was not as great as it is at present, because 
hundreds of hogs wandered in the woods with- 
out any ear-mark or known owner, and were 
slaughtered by whomever wanted fresh pork. 
Henry, however, was accustomed to overstep 
these bounds and to take hogs with or without 
ear-marks, often pursuing them to the cabins 
of the owners. He salted down considerable 
pork, which was kept for sale to the settlers. 
It very likel}^ often happened as was observed 
one day by Richard Davidson to his wife. He 
had purchased a barrel of pork from Henry, 
after whose departure Davidson remarked, " We 
are buying back our own pork." Henrj- lived 
man}^ years in the township, but finally moved 
farther west. In about 1828 or 1830, there 
came in Richard Davidson, David Tipton, 
John Robinson, John Hamilton, David Clute, 
Ichabod Smith, John Armitage, Luther C. 
Flint, David Kimbal, George Champion, John 
Mitchell, Ira Chase, David Shaffstall, Thad- 
deus Kent, William McPherson and several 
others. These men were almost wholly of 
English descent, most of them coming from 
some of the eastern counties, where they had 
first settled after having come from New En- 
gland. They were mostly farmers, and entered 
their land along the Sandusky Turnpike. This 
was a desirable location, as the road gave them 
an outlet both north and south. The conse- 
quence was that the land along the pike was 
entered first, and afterward, as the road became 
lined with rude log cabins, built in small clear- 
ings in the deep woods, the land farther back 
was taken. Ichabod Smith was Justice of the 
Peace in 1833, and Richard Davidson was 
Township Clerk. John Mitchell and David 
Clute were two of the three Trustees. The 
records prior to this date are missing. 

The early hunters, who came mostly south 
from Seneca County, lived in tlie northwestern 
part of the township. They chose this location 



because the land was higher and dryer than 
much of that in surrounding neighborhoods. 
The western part of the township is quite roll- 
ing, and, since the forests have been largely 
cleared away, and the eye has a chance to 
roam about, there is no finer appearing country 
in the county. Those extensive glacial ridges 
which extend across Northern Ohio from east 
to west, are found crossing Chatfield, giving 
the township long but not precipitous slopes. 
These give the township splendid drainage, a 
thing that was greatly appreciated iu earl}' 
years. S3'camore Creek drains almost the 
whole township, although the northern part is 
drained by small streams, which flow across 
Seneca County into Sandusky River, and the 
southern part by the northern branches of the 
Broken Sword Creek. The soil is very similar 
to that in other parts of the county, being 
largely alluvial in the eastern part, and com- 
posed of more cla}^ in the western. The bound- 
aries of the township were changed in 1845, 
although there was no increase or decrease of 
territory. The eastern tier of sections was an- 
nexed to Cranberry, while the eastern tier of 
Lykens became part of Chatfield. This change 
gave the township its present boundaries and 
territory. Every foot of land can ))e cultivated, 
a statement that cannot be made of but two or 
three other townships in the count}'. 

Many interesting incidents are told concern- 
ing tlie characteristics of the Indians, who 
camped in the township as late as 1830. They 
came every autumn and built rude wigwams in 
the southeastern part, near the cranberry 
mai'sh, the western edge of which touches Chat- 
field. They came there at the commencement 
of the cranberry season, and often remained all 
winter, the squaws, meanwhile, gathering the 
berries whenever the weather was favorable 
while their lords and masters engaged in the 
manlier pursuit of hunting and trapping. After 
the berries were picked, they were loaded on 
ponies and taken to Sandusky City, where they 



052 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



were sold, and the proceeds invested in calico, 
trinkets and " Sandusky water." Many years 
before the pioneers came to the county, the In- 
dians had begun picking the berries, which 
wei-e then taken to villages in the northeastern 
part of the State. They soon found it very prof- 
itable, and labored at it as extensively as 
agreed with the Indian's constitutional indol- 
ence. When the settlers arrived and began to 
domineer with the usual arrogance of the white 
man over the Indian, and to prohibit him from 
gathering berries in the marsh, contests occa- 
sionally ai'ose, usually settled in favor of the 
white man at the expense of his red brother. The 
Indians left the marsh with regret, lingering in 
its vicinity until necessit}' forced them to leave. 
They were largely members of the Wyandot 
tribe, and temporarily located in the township, 
coming from their reservation. One day sev- 
eral Indian squaws, on their way from the marsh 
to their reservation, saw some large, fine pump, 
kins in Richard Davidson's yard, and, through 
the ordinar}' process of Indian logic, came to 
the conclusion that they wanted a few. So, 
stopping at the cabin, they began making the 
usual unintelligible signs, and uttering the ordi- 
nary incomprehensible gibberish, characteristic 
of none but the native North American. The}' 
were offered flour, meal, pork and various com- 
modities, but each time their heads were shaken 
impressive!}^ to signify (strange as it may seem) 
that the offering was not wanted. At last, an 
old squaw seized Mrs. Davidson by the hand, 
and led her out into the 3'ard where the pump- 
kins were, where, with sundry signs and grim- 
aces, she intimated her desire of loading a half 
dozen or so on the backs of her ponies. Mrs. 
Davidson bowed assent, and the pumpkins were 
taken awa}'. Davidson owned a fierce dog 
which appeared to detest the Indians, as it 
would not let them approach the cabin. One 
day an Indian youth of about seventeen, evi- 
dently on a begging visit to the cabin, unaware 
of the unfriendliness of the dog, came into the 



yard before that animal was aware of his pres- 
ence. At the sight of the boy, the dog bounded 
toward him, but the young Indian nimbly 
caught a branch and swung himself into a tree, 
while the animal bayed in great fury at its foot, 
making it evident that the youth had had a 
narrow escape. After a few minutes elapsed, 
the family came to the door, wondenng what 
was meant by the noise and commotion outside. 
They laughed as the sight of the treed boy met 
their gaze, but he did not seem to enjoy or ap- 
preciate their levity in the least, for he sat 
eyeing the dog with no little concern, evidently 
speculating as to the best means of escaping 
the sharp teeth of the enraged animal. The 
dog was quieted and the boy descended from 
the tree ; but the famil}^ had all they could do 
to prevent the animal from throttling the youth, 
who, as quick as possible, sought the protec- 
tion of the cabin. It is also related that one 
day a party of Indians, mounted on their po- 
nies, came upon a logging party of settlers in 
the northern part. The two parties began 
amicably exchanging greetings and tobacco, 
the latter being extensively used b}' the red- 
men, and even more so by the settlers. At 
last, one of the settlers, whose name is 
forgotten, and who had acquired a great repu- 
tation as a wrestler, declared that he could 
throw down any Indian in the band, which con- 
sisted of about ten. After some communica- 
tion among themselves, one of the Indians — a 
stalwart young fellow with an enormous chest 
— accepted the challenge, and each began pre- 
paring for the struggle. A circle of settlers 
and Indians was formed, inside of wliich the 
two wrestlers took their respective positions, 
and the sport began. The wrestle was the fa- 
mous shoulder-aud-clbow grip, and, for a long 
time, each contestant tugged and strained to 
throw his antagonist on the ground by main 
strength, or by the less tiresome sleights known 
to the professional wrestler. They were quite 
equally matched in point of strength, and for a 



HISTORY or CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



653 



long time the issue was uncertain. At last, 
when the Indian was off his guard, the settler 
made a feint of tripping him, but changed his 
design just in the act, and with a sudden, pow- 
erful strain in the opposite direction cast him 
upon his back. He was on his feet in an in- 
stant, and began loudly exclaiming '' No good, 
heap no good,'' but he was assured by all that 
he had been honorably vanquished by his an- 
tagonist. 

As in all new countries, where settlements 
are made, various industries began to arise in 
different parts of the township. David Shaff 
stall built a saw-mill on Sj'camore Creek, as 
early as 1834. The building was a frame struc- 
ture, sided with rough walnut and poplar plank 
sawed at the mill. It was run by water-power, 
and was located at a place where there was 
quite a slope of the land toward the mill on the 
opposite side from the stream. Often in winter, 
when the ground was covered with ice, advan- 
tage was taken of the slope and the slippery 
condition of the bank to roll the logs down near 
the mill. Woe unto the man who got in the 
way of one of these descending logs. Mr. Shaff- 
stall operated the mill for nearly twenty years, 
when it was sold to Frederick Hipp, Jr., and 
his brother-in-law, Simon Neffzer. These men 
added some improvements, and, after running 
the mill for about ten years, sold it to other 
parties, when it was soon afterward abandoned. 
A Mr. Johnson built a steam saw-mill a short 
distance south of Richville in 1855. in which 
was an up-and-down saw. This mill did good 
and extensive work. Sawing was done at the 
rate of 37 cents by the hundred, or on shares, 
one-half being taken by the sawyer. After 
running about fifteen years, it was removed to 
the vicinity of Bucj'rus. The Tiptons began 
burning brick as earl}^ as 1840. Several kilns 
were burned and sold to the citizens. Ira Chase 
also burned brick about the same time, but not 
quite so extensively. Richard Frisbee and Na- 
than Anthon}' began keeping separate taverns 



on the turnpike, about a mile north of Richville, 
as early as 1832. It was about this time that 
a large emigration came directly from Germany 
to the township, and began entering the land so 
rapidly that within about half a dozen years all 
was taken up. Among those who came in at 
this time were Adam Fouser, Henry Durr, John 
Gr. Long, John Gr. Karg, Sidney Holt, Frede- 
rick Hipp, Greorge Brown, Jacob Regala, Peter 
Welter, Peter Reidel, E. Biggs, David ShaflTstall, 
Nathan Robbins, George Widdle, Harrison Gar- 
ton, Jonas Yingling, Lorenzo Bartimess, John 
Fissell, Samuel Foote, Jacob Gross, Abraham 
Harmon, Timothy Park, John Scott, Nathan 
Rich, Jacob Nigh, Benjamin Lindsley, Daniel 
Brindle}', Jacob Bright, Benjamin Hilliar, John 
Hekenlivly, Hugh Goshorn, Spencer Moffltt, 
James McKintrj', John Burghacher, Geoi'ge 
Caruthers, Thomas Timony, William Koenig, 
Benjamin, John and Ephraim Clements, Truman 
Wilkinson, William King, Benjamin F. Royce, 
John Scott and his sons Isaac, Solomon, George, 
William and John H., and many others whose 
names are forgotten. These settlers located in 
different pai'ts of the township, and it was not 
long before scores of small log cabins were 
erected, and the forest began to disappear be- 
fore these sturdj' pioneers. The two taverns 
referred to above were located near together 
on opposite sides of the turnpike. Both build- 
ings were two-story and frame, and, it is said 
they were excellent houses. They had a splen- 
did patronage, notwithstanding the fact that 
they were located far from any town. There 
was an enormous travel along the turnpike b}' 
settlers in the central part of the State, who 
came with droves of hogs or cattle, or with wag- 
ons loaded with the different kinds of grain, on 
their wa}' to the large towns iu the northern 
part near Lake Erie. This gave an excellent 
patronage to the two taverns that often were 
called upon to furnish accommodations for a 
score of men, besides their teams and stock. 
Garton Frislen also opened a tavern in 1833, 



654 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



about a mile north of the southern boundar}' 
of the township. Another was built in the ex- 
treme northern part. This gave the township 
an abundant supply of taverns. All these tav- 
erns kept open bars, and several stories are in 
circulation as to criminal conduct on the part 
of those who frequented the one on the northern 
boundary. It is related that disreputable men 
were in the habit of assembling at this tavern 
to gamble and carouse during the night. It is 
also alleged, though probably without grounds, 
that it was a rendezvous for a band of counter- 
feiters, who had several secret haunts in south- 
eastern Seneca County. A detective came into 
the neighborhood, where he remained for a 
month or more, evidently endeavoring to dis- 
cover the whereabouts of the law-breakers ; but 
he was unsuccessful, or perhaps he was success- 
ful in discovering that there were no grounds 
for the reports. However, after a number of 
years, when an old shed near the tavern was 
removed, a number of implements, undoubtedly 
designed for use in the manufacture of counter- 
feit coin, were found buried under a heap of 
rubbish. This seems to imph' that there is 
truth in the report. A distillery was connected 
with the tavern. Two copper stills, whose 
united capacit}' was about thirty gallons, were 
placed in a frame shed-like building, and whisk}' 
of an infei'ior grade was furnished to those ad- 
dicted to the use of that drink. The ground 
grain was purchased at Sandusky City or Bucy- 
rus. The distillerv and the tavern, with its evil 
reputation, were conducted for about ten years, 
when the landlord found it to his advantage to 
sell out and depart for another locality. Rich- 
ard Frisbee was quite an intelligent and promi- 
nent man. Somewhere about 1833, he circu- 
lated a petition, which was signed by all the 
neighborhood, praying for the establishment of 
a post office at his tavern. The prayer was 
granted, and Mr. Frisbee was appointed Post- 
mast(!r. This was the first post office in the 
township, and, after remaining at the tavern 



until a 3-ear or two after Richville was laid out, 
it was removed to the latter place. This re- 
moval took place in about the year 1843, and 
Dr. A. B. Fairbank received the appointment as 
first Postmaster in the town. In 1837, Jacob 
Reidel built an asher^' near Richville. After 
running moderately for about ten years, it was 
discontinued. Those who made potash found 
it to their advantage to keep a small stock of 
goods on hand to be exchanged for ashes, as 
money was quite scarce ; and, the S3^stem of 
exchange necessarily adopted in the backwoods, 
obviated, to quite a great extent, the want of 
that medium of exchange. It thus occurred 
that a majority of the asheries were run in con- 
nection with stores. 

Great trouble was experienced in early years 
from the fact that stock wandered away in the 
deep woods and was lost be3^ond hope of re- 
covery, or remained away so long that its 
familiar appearance was no longer distinguish- 
able bj^ the owner. The settlers, therefore, 
soon learned to cai'efully mark their swine and 
cattle, as the following taken from records in 
the possession of Mr. Hipp shows : 

" Thomas Johnson's ear-mark for his cattle 
and hogs, is a square crop oflf the left ear and 
a slit in the same." 

" John Davidson's ear-mark for cattle and 
hogs, is a swallow fork in each ear." 

" Adrian Hoblitzell's ear-mark for cattle and 
hogs, is a slit in both ears." 

The following is a transcript of a portion of 
the records of the Township Clerk, written in 
1833 : 

" Silas Chatfield and John Mitchell and Lloyd 
Ady and Jacob L. Gurwell and Jacob Bunce, 
and all apeared before me, James Adams, and 
was dul}' qualifide within the allimitad time." 

The following is also quoted from the same 
record : 

'• The Trustees of Chatfield Township mot on 
the nth of November, 1833, and laid off the 
township into three school districts, commenc- 



"(5) "V 



£^ 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



655 



ing at the northeast corner of the townsliip and 
taking a strip two miles wide across the town- 
ship west, called District Number 1 ; Number 2 
takes the two center tiers ; and Number 3 the 
two southern tiers." 

In 1837. the township was laid otf into six 
Road Districts, three on the eastern side of 
the turnpike, and three on the western side. 
Changes have since been made in both school 
and road districts. There are at present living 
in the township about two hundred families, 
190 of which are of German descent, and the 
other ten English. Many of the Germans, 
though raised in the township, can speak and 
understand but little or no English. About 
two hundred votes are polled when all the 
voters turn out ; 1 80 ballots are cast for the 
Democratic candidates, and the other twenty 
for the Republican candidates. It is the banner 
Democratic township in the count}'. About 
ten years ago, there were but eight Republican 
voters. The citizens are thrifty and indus- 
trious, and the present valuation of personal 
property is about $109,400. 

The Scotts were prominent settlers in the 
northern part. The son, John H., had been one 
of the contractors on the turnpike, and besides 
receiving considerable money for his services, 
also received a deed for quite an extensive 
tract of land adjoining the road, given him by 
the turnpike company as part payment for his 
labors. The Scotts lived in the northern part 
for many years, were industrious citizens, and 
were instrumental in adding greatly to the sub- 
stantial growth of the township in business in- 
dustries and general intelligence. After many 
3'ears, they sold out and moved West. It was 
in about the year 1838 that Martin & Hilliar 
erected suitable l)uildings in the northern part, 
and began carding wool. The building was 
frame, and was two stories in height ; but the 
enterprise did not advance to the next higher 
step in the business — cloth-dressing — but con- 
fined itself wholly to wool-carding, which was 



continued quite extensively for eight or ten 
j-ears, when the project, for some unknown rea- 
son, was abandoned, and farming was adopted, 
as a more profitable pursuit. A])Out two 3-ears 
after the wool-carding building was erected, 
John Lucas, a gentleman of English descent, 
assisted by his daughter, Mrs. Sarah Breston, 
a widowed lady, began the unusual occupa- 
tion of rearing silk-worms from eggs obtained 
in Eastern cities and brought with them into 
the wilderness with the view of manufacturing 
silk. Long sheds wei-e erected with suitable 
shelves on the sides, whereon were deposited 
the eggs, and the rooms were heated to that 
degree of temperature necessary for the hatch- 
ing of the caterpillar and its subsequent life. 
Here could be seen the wonderful metamor- 
phoses of the different changes from the egg to 
the repulsive larva or caterpiller, then to the 
apparently lifeless chrysalis, and finally to the 
perfect insect, or imago. A small worm, or 
caterpillar, was hatched from the egg by the 
tropical temperature, kept day and night in the 
room, and then began its life of usefulness un- 
der the care and inspection of Mrs. Breston. 
Seed of the black mulberry {moms nigra) was 
planted in boxes, to be used when the plants 
were several inches or more in height, as food 
for the larva, which fed upon the leaves. A 
few mulberry trees were found growing in the 
woods, and the small leafy branches were 
clipped and taken to the rooms, where they 
could be kept fresh for several weeks by being 
planted in moist earth. The most serious dif- 
ficulty in the successful management of the 
enterprise was found to be tlie propagation of 
mulberry plants, without which the larvre could 
not live and thrive. IMuch of the seed when 
planted did not grow, and the neighbors were 
asked to assist in the cultivation of the plants, 
to be paid for their labor and trouble in money 
or silk thread. This was attempted by many, 
but there it ended. After the larvoe became 
full grown, they began to spin their cocoons of 






'-iL 



656 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY 



silk, preparatory to passing into the chrysalis 
state of development. Thousands of larvae 
were reared, and set to work at that most im- 
portant and useful industry of manufacturing- 
silk, of which quite a large quantity was spun. 
A sutlicient number of the healthier chrj^sa- 
lides were permitted to reach the imago or 
perfect state with a view of the propagation of 
eggs ; but the majorit}' were destroyed, as their 
lives of usefulness terminated with the spinning 
of the cocoons. These cocoons were taken, and, 
after being moistened, the silk thread of which 
they were composed was unwound, and then 
rewound on small spools. Hundred of spools 
of excellent silk thread were thus prepared and 
taken to Bucyrus or Sandusky City, where 
they found a ready sale. No cloth was manu- 
factured, although neck-ties and ribbons were 
woven by Mrs. Brestou. The enterprise was 
something ver}' unusual for the backwoods, and 
soon attracted no little interest and attention 
fi'om surrounding neighborhoods. Employ- 
ment was given to some half-dozen girls, who 
were intrusted with the care of the insects — no 
light responsibility — and instructed to place 
within their reach an abundant supply of fresh 
mulberry leaves, as the usefulness of the larvae 
depended upon their healthy growth, which was 
rapid and desirable in direct proportion to the 
degree of their power of consuming food. 
Loads of people came from miles ai'ound to see 
the useful little insect pass through its various 
transformations, and to see it spinning its co- 
coons of shining silk. After the enterprise had 
been conducted for about twelve years, it was 
abandoned, because tlie returns realized were 
not commensurate with the outlay. The build- 
ings were located in the northeastern part of 
the township, near the western boundary. Mrs- 
Breston was a lad}- of unusual culture, and her 
people were well bred and well educated. They 
afterward sold out. and left the neighborhood, 
and the buildings were torn down and the lum- 
ber devoted to other uses. Thus ended one of 



the most useful industries ever begun in the 
township. 

Two villages have arisen in the town hip, 
although their present appearance and condi- 
tion are widely dilferent from Vvhat they were 
in earl}- years. At one time, they both were 
promising towns, where men of push and energy 
resided, but now they are almo t wholl}^ de- 
serted by enterprises of a business character. 
North Liberty was the first laid c it, and it was 
among the earliest in the count} It was one 
of the many laid out between 1830 and 1835, 
at which period a sort of epidemic for town- 
making spread over the county. It was sur- 
ve3'ed and platted in May 1834, by Thomas C- 
Sweney, County Surveyor, and John Henry, 
proprietor. It was laid out from land on the 
north half of the southeast quarter of Section 
19, Township 1 south. Range 17 east. Forty- 
oue lots were laid out, partly on the east side 
of the turnpike and part on the west, and soon 
the little village began to grow. Several yeai's 
before, a man named Demetr}^ had built a small 
frame dwelling, on what afterward became the 
site of the village. John Henry, the proprie- 
tor of the laud and town, except one lot owned 
by Demetry, also built a small frame dwelling 
before the town was laid out. These were the 
onl}^ buildings in town before it was surve^^ed 
and laid out, although immediately after that 
event, Jacob Bibble and John Winterholder 
erected two dwellings, into which they moved 
their families. Soon afterward, two other fami- 
lies came to reside in the town, and, when this 
is narrated, almost the whole history- of the 
village is known. No store nor tavern ever 
honored the town with its presence, although 
much talk was freely indulged in, in early years, 
at a total loss to those participating. Thirty- 
five will cover the population of the village in 
its palmiest days. This was something un- 
usual — a flushed condition, so to speak, which 
could not last long; for ordinarily, the village 
enumerated less than a dozen souls, and some- 



"71< 




^„„ 



^crl^i^ JLc££- 



I 



±'. 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY 



659 



times was reduced to less than a half-dozen. 
However, in about 1839, a man named Kronen- 
bach erected a small building about a quarter of 
a mile south of the village on the turnpike, divid- 
ing the lower story into two apartments, and 
placing in the front one about $300 worth of 
notions. The citizens of the village, when 
away from home, were accustomed to speak of 
this store as though it was in town, a privilege 
which was not denied them by Mr. Kronen- 
bach, who was evidently willing for them to 
get as much satisfaction out of the statement 
as could be expected. But the statements 
could not disguise nor conceal the fact that the 
village was without a store. It was not deemed 
profitable by mercantile men to place a stock 
of goods in the town when a rival establish- 
ment was doing a fair business a few rods 
south. Perhaps Mr. Kronenbach had an ob- 
ject in resisting the invitations of the villagers 
to move his stock of goods to the town. It is 
very likely that he adopted the practical phi- 
losophy of Mohammed reversed, thinking that 
the town should come over to him instead of 
the opposite. Both parties were disappointed, 
however, as the village remained where it was, 
and the store continued to do a fair business a 
few rods south. Mr. Kronenbach purchased 
his goods at Bucyrus, and his stock was in- 
creased until it was valued at about $600, dry 
goods and groceries being added to the original 
stock. After continuing the pursuit for about 
twelve years, Mr. Kronenbach was taken sick 
and died, whereupon his stock of goods was 
closed out and the enterprise abandoned. This 
was the first stock of goods brought to the 
township. The only noteworthy business en- 
terprise ever in North Liberty, was Jacob 
Iteidel's asher}^, heretofore mentioned. The 
village is universally, though vulgarly, known 
as "Hog Town," which title was bestowed up- 
on it from the following curious circumstances : 
John Henry, the proprietor of the town, was 
the man previously referred to, who was in the 



habit of illegally appropriating his neighbor's 
hogs. He soon obtained an ill-repute, which 
clung to him wherever he went, like Sindbad's 
burden. The stigma of disgrace could not be 
shaken ofi", though there is no evidence show- 
ing that Henry tried very hard to accomplish 
that result ; on the c<jntrary, he apparently' was 
not concerned in the least by what his neigh- 
bors might think of him. He seemed to have 
enough to do in packing his neighbors' pork 
without their consent, to undertake any such 
new and unusual occupation. Finally, the 
neighbors began speaking of him as "Hog" 
Henry, a name he adopted without a murmur 
of disapprobation, even being heard to speak 
of himself as " Hog " Henrj-. One day, Joseph 
Hall and several other settlers were hunting in 
the woods near the cranberr}' marsh, when they 
suddeul}' heard the loud report of a rifle about 
a quarter of a mile distant. The hunters 
started toward the spot where the report had 
sounded, and, when within a few yards of that 
locality, the^- glanced through the foliage of 
the trees, and saw a man bending over the 
body of a hog that had just been shot. The 
man had a sharp knife in his hand, and was 
already busil}' engaged in flaying the dead ani- 
mal. The hunters stopped immediately when 
they recognized the butcher. It was "Hog" 
Henry, who was undoubtedly up to his unlaw- 
ful depredation of slaughtering and appropri- 
ating his neighbor's swine. One of the hunters 
was so incensed at the flagrancy and audacity 
of the act, that he raised his rifle and shot 
Henry through the thigh. The wounded man 
fell prostrate upon the animal he had shot. 
The hunters ran forward to assist the fallen 
man, upon whom had fallen a swift and merited 
retribution. He was taken home, his wound 
was dressed, and after a few months he was out 
again, as active as ever in his old occupation. 
After this, the people began calling the village 
which Henry had laid out "Hog Town," a 
name it yet retains in honor (?) of the deeds of 



- l9 

r 



^ L^ 



660 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



its illustrious founder. The village is now 
almost wholly deserted. Its early lack of pros- 
perity was, in a great measure, due to the ill 
will of the neighbors toward Henry. This 
man moved West, and has been dead many 
years. 

Richville has had a different history. It 
was laid out and platted in May, 1840, by the 
Crawford County Surveyor, and by Nathan 
Rich, the projector and proprietor. Nineteen 
lots were laid out on the southeast quarter of 
Section 18, Township 1 south, Range 17 east ; 
and the village immediately began to grow and 
thrive, notwithstanding its proximity to North 
Liberty. Mr. Rich had erected a frame dwell- 
ing one and a half stories in height about three 
years before the town was surveyed. This 
building is yet standing, though deserted and 
unoccupied. Mr. Rich was an intelligent man 
of English descent, who had moved to the 
township about the time his dwelling was 
erected. Several buildings went up imme- 
diately after the laying-out of the town. John 
Robbins built the second, and John Pugh, the 
third. Pugh was a shingle-maker, and erected 
suitable shops wherein to ply his trade. When 
business at his shop became dull, he traveled 
around to the houses of the citizens, soliciting 
engagements for the manufacture of shingles. 
He made excellent ones from poplar and other 
wood, charging from 25 to 50 cents per 
hundred, sawing, splitting and shaving them 
out from the rough wood. He prepared 
a limited quantity of siding in the same man- 
ner, first splitting the rough clapboards out, 
and afterward shaving them down to the 
desired thickness. He continued the business 
for a number of years and then moved West. 
Pugh had a boy who was immoderately indo- 
lent. He refused to perform manual labor of 
any kind, although often flogged severely for 
such refusal. The youth was incorrigible, but 
soon developed an unusual power of acquiring 
knowledge. He outstripped his fellow-students 



at school, learning his lessons without any 
apparent effort. All that is known of the fami- 
ly after moving West is, that the bo}' who was 
so lazy in Oliio, arose by steady degrees 
through various positions of honor until finally 
he was elected to represent his district in Con- 
gress. This incident is not related with a view 
of encouraging indolence; neither is it insinu- 
ated that idle bo3's make Congressmen. The 
obvious moral to be drawn is, that, if the 
youth's physical energy had been proportion- 
ate to his powers of mind, he might have be- 
come one of the greatest statesmen in the 
country. Bo3's should be cautioned, in read- 
ing this incident, not to make the mistake, 
that idleness is one of the cardinal virtues. 

About the time that Pugh built his dwell- 
ing, Thaddeus Kent, a settler, had come to 
Crawford County, locating near Bucyrus, as 
early as 1822. This man, who has been one 
of Chatfield's most distinguished citizens, is 
yet living in Richville. He is a cooper, and 
has followed his trade for many years. Nathan 
Rich, the founder of the town, kept the first 
stock of goods in Richville, consisting of about 
$75 worth of notions, used to exchange for 
ashes, for Mr. Rich owned one of the most 
extensive asheries in the county, manufact- 
uring as high as twenty-five tons of excellent 
pearl-ash per annum. He purchased large 
quantities of ashes from the neighboring set- 
tlers, paying at the rate of from 3 to 5 
cents per bushel for the same, or giving 
notions, at the same rate, in exchange. Hun- 
dreds of tons of pearl-ash were transported to 
Bucyrus or Sandusky City, and sold, and hand- 
some profits were realized. The same year 
that Richville was founded, Mr. Rich erected a 
large two-storied frame building, in which was 
placed one set of " nigger-head " stones. The 
grinding of any other grain but corn was not 
attempted, and even the latter was not ground 
to any great extent. In one apartment of the 
mill was placed a large " up-and-down " saw, 



\^ (5" 



f 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



661 



and here an excellent and fii'st-class business 
was done. The services of an experienced 
sawyer were obtained, and large quantities of 
sawed lumber were furnished the neighboring 
citizens. The real growth of the town began 
with the erection of the mills and the com- 
mencement of the manufacture of pearl-ash. 
Dwellings began to go up in the village, trades- 
men began to appear, and the outlook seemed 
promising. Life and activity were seen in all 
undertakings. John Robbins kept the first 
real store in town. He began in 1840, with a 
general assortment valued at about $800, and 
continued the business for six years, when he 
sold out and went to Wyandot County. He 
was succeeded in 1846, by a man having the 
same name, John Robbins. This merchant kept 
the lai'gest stock but one ever in the town. 
He sold a general assortment of goods, realiz- 
ing fair profits therefrom, and at the expiration 
of ten years sold out and removed to some 
other locality. John Quaintance opened a 
saloon in town soon after it was laid out. It 
is said that his stock of liquor, on hand at any 
one time, could be contained in a single jug. 
Several inveterate topers, living in the neigh- 
borhood, were in the habit of frequenting this 
saloon, where their earthly tribulations were 
drowned in the flowing bowl. Some of these 
tribulations were excellent swimmers, jiulging 
from the quantity of liquor that was drank. 
Mr. Quaintance kept a small stock of groceries, 
among which was coflee. He had in his em- 
plo}' a youth of about sixteen years of age, 
who, it is said, knew enough to take 3 cents for 
a drink of whisky, and there his stock in 
knowledge failed. One day Mr. Quaintance, 
who was engaged in buying paper-rags of the 
citizens, left the boy in charge of the saloon, 
while he went to Bucyrus for another jng of 
whisky. A neighbor came in with a sack of 
rags, the worth of which he told the bo}' he 
would take in coft'ee. The youth, with that 
ready confidence which is often found abundant- 



ly where knowledge is lacking, weighed the 
rags, and announced that there were some fif- 
teen pounds. He then weighed the same num- 
ber of pounds of coflee, tied the same up, and 
gave the package thus prepared in exchange for 
the rags. All this was done with that read}' 
assurance which distinguishes the man of ex- 
perience — one who has tied up thousands of 
pounds under the same familiar circumstances. 
When Mr. Quaintance came home and learned of 
the transaction, his faith in the experience and 
mental skill of his confidential clerk was hope- 
lessly shaken. He even attempted to point out 
to the unsuspecting youth a serious error in 
the exchange ; and such conduct on the part 
of the emploj^er was not tolerated by the indig- 
nant clerk, who announced his intention of 
leaving the saloon, if such presumption was 
again attempted. He did not leave, and the 
presumption is that he overlooked the repre- 
hensible conduct of his employer in doubting 
the wisdom of the clerk and the financial bene- 
fits of the exchange. Mr. Quaintance con- 
ducted his saloon for a number of years, and 
then closed out his stock and retired from the 
business. Mr. Kaler opened a saloon soon after- 
ward, but did not continue long at the occupa- 
tion. Liquor has been sold in the village dur- 
ing the larger part of its history. Lorenzo 
Bartimess, a man of great push and enterprise, 
erected suitable buildings in 1880, and began 
the distillation of whisky and brand}' on quite 
an extensive scale. He placed in the building 
two copper stills : one, the larger, with twice the 
capacity of the other, containing about eight 
barrels, and the other four. This became the 
most profitable distillery ever in the township, 
turning out a fair sample of whisky and brandy 
at the rate of from ten to thirty gallons per 
day. Mr. Bartimess understood the business 
thoroughly, being a practical distiller of wide 
experience, and he commanded an extensive 
patronage from the surrounding country, and 
also sold considerable in neighboring villnges. 



662 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY 



The enterprise was continued, with the excep- 
tion of several stoppa£i;es, until a few years ago, 
when it was discontinueil by the direction and 
through the intervention of United States offi- 
cials. The distillery buildings were located 
just east of the village, where the water of 
S^'camore Creek would be easily obtained for 
cleansing purposes. Scores of men living in 
this and adjacent townships, were accustomed 
to visit the distillerj^ where liquor free from 
strychnine and other alkaloid poisons could be 
obtained for less mone}^ than the impure arti- 
cles then circulating in commerce. Jugs were 
taken and filled, and when the supply had 
failed, another visit was made for more. The 
greater portion of the liquor manufactured was 
consumed at home. 

In the year 1864, Hipp & Robinson erected 
the present store building in the town at a cost 
of $600, and placed therein $6,000 worth of 
goods. They made a fair profit the first year 
on the investment ; but, when the fictitious 
prices, created during the war, began to de- 
cline, often going down 20 per cent within as 
many days, large losses were incurred, and at 
the end of five years the partners sold their 
stock to Markley & Durr for $3,000, and re- 
tired, having sunk several thousand dollars in 
the enterprise. The latter partnership contin- 
ued in business for several years ; but the un- 
dertaking was not profitable, and was discon- 
tinued within four or five years. Other parties 
have engaged in the mercantile pursuit at dif- 
ferent times. Frederick and William Asch- 
baugh, for a number of years, kept about 
$2,000 worth of a general assortment of goods 
for sale. Jacob Buckman also engaged in the 
same pursuit with $3,000 worth of goods. In 
a small building a short distance south of the 
village, George Maltz, beginning in 1854, cai-- 
ried a stock of goods valued at $2,500 for 
about ten years. He was wise enough to close 
out or sell out just before the prices began to 
decline, having received the full benefit of the 



rise of goods in value. Michael Hall followed 
him for about four years, but heavy losses de- 
cided his closing out his stock. This has been 
the extent of mercantile pursuits in Richville. 
Several of the stores commanded a wide patron- 
age, furnishing large profits to the owners. 
Shortly after the town was laid out, the post 
office was changed from Frisbee's Tavern to 
Richville. x\s was previously stated, Dr. A. B. 
Fairbanks, the first physician of an}- note in 
the town, received the appointment as Post- 
master. This office has been in the village ever 
since, and has alwaj'S been kept in some of the 
stores. Dr. Fairbanks had a partner in his 
profession — a young man named Detwiler — and 
this partnership was not dissolved for about 
fifteen years, enjoying in the meantime an ex- 
tensive practice. They have been followed by 
Drs. Pitzell, Urias Tupps and Zeigler, the pres- 
ent resident ph3'sician. The village has seen 
its best days, and nothing is likely to arise to 
modify, inci'ease or change its present condi- 
tion of inertness. Frederick Hipp, or " Squire " 
Hipp, as he is more familiarly known, has done 
a great deal in the past to add to the material 
prosperity and growth of the town. He has 
been elected term after term to the office of 
Justice of the Peace, and in the private walks 
of life has commanded universal respect and 
influence. 

One of the most melancholy events falling 
upon the historian to record occurred in Sep- 
tember, 1879, making a deep impression upon 
the minds of the citizens of the township. 
David Kalb had, living at his house, a niece. 
Miss Mar}' Long, about seventeen 3'ears of age, 
quite pretty and attractive. She had several 
admirers, among whom was a 3'oung man 
named George Swab, who worked for her uncle 
upon the farm, and who professed for her the 
most ardent love and devotion. It is not posi- 
tively known whether the 3'oung lady recipro- 
cated his aftection, although the evidence seems 
to impl}' that their love was mutual. But the 






HISTORY or CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



663 



relatives of the 30ung lady, who were quite 
wealthy, objected to the match, and discouraged 
the devotion of the lovers in every possible 
way. The uncle dismissed the young man 
from his service ; but love was not to be 
thwarted, and the lovers continued to meet at 
the residences of the neighbors. The young 
man spent one Sunday evening in her company 
at Henry Klink's, and what transpired at this 
interview will never be known. The following 
Monda}' evening, he went to the residence of 
the uncle, when all the famil}-, except the 
young lady and hired man were absent, and, 
having gained admittance to her room, delib- 
erately shot her through the heai't with a re- 
volver, killing her instantly. He then cooll}^ 
went to the barn, and, having detached the 
reins from the harness, took them and hung 
himself on a cherry tree in the yard. The 
hired man was so frightened that he made no 
efforts to ascertain the cause of the report. Re- 
ports of the murder and suicide were soon in 
swift circulation, and hundreds of the neigh- 
bors ari'ived on the scene of the tragedy to 
learn more full}' of the affair, and to view for 
the last time the pale faces of the dead lovers. 
Some think that the young man was rejected 
by her he loved on the previous Sunday night, 
and that, all hope having died out of his heart, 
he determined to take his own life and that of 
his loved one. Others think it was a precon- 
cei'ted plan of the lovers, who had resolved to 
die together rather than live separately. The 
truth will probably never be known, until the 
light of God's mercy shall smile upon the world 
with a kiss of heavenly forgiveness. 

The first school in the township was taught 
during the summer of 1834, by Mrs. Elizabeth 
Thompson, in her own dwelling, in the village 
of North Liberty. She taught a term of three 
months, and had enrolled some twelve or fifteen 
scholars, who paid $1 each for the term. A 
mystery, which the gossips of the village vainh- 
endeavored to unravel, was connected with this 



lady's life. She stated that she was the wife of 
Hon. John Thompson, a Representative in the 
Ohio Legislature, from Hamilton County, but 
nothing of her former life, or how she came to 
be in the village, was revealed, any attempt at 
discovery being kindl}^ and politely avoided. 
She was lad3'-like in all her manners, and was 
well educated, giving excellent satisfaction to 
the patrons of the school. She taught several 
terms, and finally left the neighborhood. In 
1836, a frame school-building was erected on 
the turnpike, near Richville. This building is 
yet standing, although, since the erection of the 
new brick schoolhouse, it has stood unoccupied. 
John Fissell was one of the first teachers in the 
old house. He taught many terms outside of 
the village after the school buildings had been 
erected in surrounding districts. Within two 
or three years after the Richville schoolhouse 
had been erected, two more were built, one 
about a mile northwest of the village, and the 
other about a mile and a half south on the 
turnpike. The one in the northern part was 
located in the "wind-fall," on Section 7. When 
the settlers first came to the township, a strip 
of timber about half a mile wide, extending 
across the northwest corner, was quite small, 
none of it being more than a foot in diameter, 
and the ground was thickl}' strewed with de- 
caying timber lying in all conceivable positions, 
showing that a tornado had swept down the 
trees some twenty-five or thirty vears before. 
The schoolhouse was built in this fallen timber. 
The names of the first teachers are forgotten, 
but, after a number of years. ]Mrs. Sai'ah Bres- 
ton taught several terms. It was not long 
before the township was divided into school dis- 
tricts, and soon afterward each had a frame 
schoolhou.se. Chatfield had perhaps fewer log 
schoolhouses than any other township in the 
county, obviously from the fact that thej- were 
built comparatively late, and at a time when 
sawed lumber could be easih' obtained, thus 
avoiding the necessity of using logs. The 



G(J4 



IILSTOHY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



township schools are taught largely in the Ger- 
man language, several of them ruling out the 
English language entirely. The schools of the 
township are more thorough than might be ex- 
pected. John H. Davidson has taken an active 
interest in educational aftairs, and has done 
much to better school advantages. He has 
taught frequently, and was the iirst teacher in 
the new brick schoolhouse. Richville has edu- 
cated and furnished to this and adjacent town- 
ships, some twenty teachers, some of whom 
have acquired a wide reputation as skillful and 
etBcient instructors. 

As early as 1832, the Methodists began 
holding meetings in those homely and incon- 
venient, though pleasant places — the cabins of 
the settlers. Ministers of all the commonest re- 
ligious denominations, came from Bucyrus and 
surrounding townships to organize societies for 
the benefit of the settlers' morals. The German 
Lutherans and German Reformers organized 
societies immediately after the arrival of the 
German emigration from the old country. 
The meetings were held in cabins until 1837, 
when the two last mentioned societies obtained 
a large log cabin intended for a dwelling, and, 
having sided it with black walnut lumber, dedi- 
cated it to the service of God. It was used for 
man}' years, but was finally abandoned by the 
religious denominations and is at present de- 
voted to German school purposes. In 1844, a 
Baptist Church was built on the turnpike in the 
southern part. This building is ^et standing, 
and near it is a quiet little cemeter}' where 
beautiful marble shafts mark the last resting- 
place of Chatfield's earliest and most beloved 
citizens. 

Across the road, on the opposite corner, 
is a fine new schoolhouse — one of the best 
in Chatfield. The two German Church so- 
cieties referred to above erected at an early day 
a building in which to worship, locating it in the 
northwestern corner in the windfall. The build- 
ing was a large, almost S(|uare structure with 



one door and four windows, and was constructed 
largely from black walnut lumber obtained 
at one of the saw-mills in Seneca County. This 
became one of the best churches in the town- 
ship. An early revival increased the member- 
ship to such an extent that the building was 
scarcely capable of containing the congregation 
that gathered there on almost every Sabbath. 
A Sunday school was organized and the chil- 
dren were instructed regarding Biblical truths, 
as seen from the standpoint of German Reform- 
ers and Lutherans. These two denominations 
continued to worship together until a few years 
ago, when it was decided to divide the con- 
gregation, one faction to keep the old church, 
and the other to erect a new one in the northern 
part of the turnpike. This division was made 
for two reasons : one being that the house was 
too small and homely for the congregation, 
and the other that the two denominations 
thought it better for each to own a church of 
its own. The division was therefore made, the 
Lutherans retaining the old building, and the 
Reformers erecting a new one of more imposing 
appearance a short distance east on the turn- 
pike. The Dunkards erected a church just 
across the line in Seneca Count}-, near the 
northwestern corner, which obtained many mem- 
bers from Chatfield Township. It was built 
about 184G, and, after remaining there for many 
years, was moved across the line in Chatfield. 
A number of years ago the old building was 
succeeded by a new one erected near the resi- 
dence of John Burgbacher. The Methodists 
have a large, fine church in Richville, which has 
a larger membership than any other in the 
township. Chatfield boasts of having five 
churches, two of them being brick. The Co- 
lumbus and Sandusky Turnpike has ever been 
the great aortic artery of the township. It has 
been of the greatest value, especially in early 
years, attbrding an easy outlet either north or 
south, and for many years it was the only road 
in Chatfield. It divides the township into two 



~^, 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



665 



unequal segments, passing north and south a 
short distance west of the center, the course of 
the road lying a few degrees east of north. It 



is extensively traveled by the citizens of the 
county, and by those in the center of the State 
on their way north by wagon. 



CHAPTER XXVL 

TEXAS TOWNSHIP— EARLY CONDITION— FIRST SETTLERS— PROGRESS AND IMPROVEMENT— BENTON 

—CHURCHES AND SCHOOLS. 



FOR many years, both before and after 
Crawford County was created, much of 
the land adjoining the Wyandot Reservation 
was wild and uninhabited, and was unfre- 
quented, except by professional hunters, who 
were accustomed to wander there in pur- 
suit of the more dangerous varieties of wild 
animals. Frontier life is peculiar, and, to men 
of splendid physique, whose health never suf- 
fers from hardships or privations, nor from the 
almost countless ills and annoyances besetting 
the path of the unconcerned frontierman, it 
possesses a singular fascination, impossible to 
be resisted by the sturdy natures that delight 
in the inclemencies incident to so obscure and 
wild an existence. The hard}' natures of some 
men delight in ceaseles;; activity, and only find 
a happy and suitable field in which to labor, in 
the combined triumphs and trials, self-denials 
and self-imposed perils, that the wilderness pre- 
sents, as an obstruction to the encroachments 
of civilization. Men do not voluntarily exile 
themselves from social contact with their fel- 
lows, unless, in some new field of activity, 
greater enjoyments are found and realized. 
Man is a social being, happy in social inter- 
course with others, but despondent and filled 
with sorrow, when act or accident consigns him 
to loneliness and solitude. Alexander Selkirk, 
cast by the mad waters of the ocean upon the 
bleak and uninhabited shores of the remote 
island of Juan Fernandez, is supposed to have 
cried out, in sorrow : 



" Oh! Solitude, where are thy charms, 
That sages have seen in thy face ? 
Better dwell in the midst of alarms. 
Than reign in this horrible place. 

" I am out of humanity's reach; 

I shall finish my journey alone; 
Never hear the sweet music of speech ; 
I start at the sound of my own." 

Yet, notwithstanding the social chain that 
binds mankind together, the restless natures of 
some men impel an advance to the frontier, 
where social contact with wild animals and with 
the strange and innumerable forms of nature 
usurps, in an incomprehensible manner, the de- 
lights of communion with civilized man. It is 
here that his rugged nature finds companion- 
ship and agreeable societj-. It is here that sol- 
itude is unknown to the strange genius of the 
pioneer, who communes with Nature and her 
countless laws, and enjoys protracted interviews 
with inanimate creation. Byron, whose Orphic 
utterances charm the heart and understanding, 
and whose almost divine genius correctly in- 
terprets the language of solitude, sings : 

" There is a pleasure in the pathless woods, 
There is a rapture on the lonely shore, 

There is society where none intrudes, 
By the deep sea, and music in its roar: 
I love not man the less, but Nature more, 

From these our interviews, in wiiich I steal 
From all I may be, or have been before. 

To mingle with the Universe, and feel 

What I can ne'er express, yet cannot all conceal." 



666 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



The pioneer, gifted with a like insight into 
nature's masteries, also '• steals " out into the 
wilderness to " mingle with the universe," and 
to seek those pleasures which are in unison 
with his peculiar characteristics. 

Texas Township was early the home of those 
wandering hunters who kept moving westward 
as the tide of settlement advanced, and whose 
practical training in woodcraft and in the 
chase could furnish pleasure onl^' in the depths 
of the dark, wild forest. They remained 
longer in the vicinity of the Wyandot Reser- 
vation, which was not subject to settlement by 
the whites until 1845, for the reason that the}^ 
could invade the forbidden ground without 
danger of detection or prosecution, and find 
game that had wholly disappeared from newly 
settled localities. Small cabins were erected, 
in which were domiciled their wives, who. 
to all appearances, were capable of living with- 
out any visible means of support, and who 
were frequently left alone in the cabin for 
weeks together, while the husband and father 
was off on a long hunting excursion. The 
whole famil}^ were inured to privation, and, if 
the cabin did not contain the needful supply of 
food, it was no unusual occurrence for the 
mother to go out into the surrounding woods 
and bring down a deer or a squirrel or some 
other animal that would appease the vigorous 
appetites of the famishing children. This was 
true not only of the families of the profession- 
al hunters who came to the most remote front- 
ier, but also of families living in localities 
where considerable advancement had been 
made in settlement and civilization. A skillful 
hunter often made by the sale of flesh and 
furs upward of a thousand dollars during the 
hunting and trapping season, a large share of 
which, instead of being used in purchasing 
land or in providing much-needed comforts for 
the family, was squandered at neighboring 
grog-shops and distilleries. Many of these 
hunters were rough characters, who possessed 



no apparent knowledge of the rights of prop- 
erty, and who were in the habit of appropriat- 
ing swine and other domestic animals that 
came in their way, regardless of the wishes of 
protesting owners, and careless of any result- 
ing consequences for so doing. A family of 
this kind lived in Texas Township ver}^ early, 
and after their depredations had gone on until 
"forbearance had ceased to be a virtue," the 
neighbors assembled, and informed them that 
it was time for them to migrate farther out 
into the wilderness. The husband and father 
protested, saying that his children were almost 
naked, and that all his time would be needed 
to clothe them before cold weather set in ; 
whereupon the neighbors returned to their 
homes, and soon afterward again presented 
themselves with suitable wearing apparel for 
the children, who were soon comfortably 
clothed. But the father, no doubt overwhelmed 
by so charitable an act, declared his unwilling- 
ness to leave a locality where neighbors were 
so kind to the poor and unfortunate, and an- 
nounced his intention of remaining where he 
was. But he was given to understand by un- 
mistakable signs and language that it was best 
for him to depart, and he departed. As a rule, 
the huntei's were notoriously laz}^, and it was 
almost always the case that their families eked 
out a miserable existence, undergoing priva- 
tion and starvation which, if dominant to-da}', 
would soon depopulate the township. Another 
early family in the township lived in a cabin 
having no door nor floor, in one end of which 
was a pen for a family of swine, while the 
other was devoted to the use of a family of 
eleven persons. The most degrading squalor 
and discomfort were everywhere apparent. It 
is said that the children's bodies were so thick- 
ly covered with scurf and dirt as to render 
them as swarth\^ and dark as those of the 
negro, and that the mother, when asked why 
the children were not washed, complacently 
replied, "The water is so skase hereabouts." 



^qr* 



(2 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



667 



These were exceptional cases, however, as 
many of the earliest families — those of the 
more enterprising frontiermen — were intelli- 
gent, and were surrounded with many pleas- 
ures and comforts unknown to-day in long- 
settled localities. 

Texas is the smallest township but one in the 
county. It is located in the northwestern cor- 
ner, and comprises twelve square miles of ex- 
cellent farming land. It originally belonged to 
Sycamore Township, of which it formed a part, 
until Wyandot County was created in 1845, 
when the township, as it now stands, came into 
existence, and received its name from the fol- 
lowing curious circumstance : In 1844, Polk 
and Dallas had been nominated at the Balti- 
more Convention of the Democratic party, for 
President and Vice President of the United 
States, and, about the same time, David Tod 
was running for Grovernor of Ohio. The most 
important question before the country during 
the Presidential and Gubernatorial canvass at 
this time, was that of the admission of Texas 
into the Union. There was also another ques- 
tion before the people of Crawford County 
during this period, which was the change made 
in its boundaries and territory, and the creation 
of four new townships. It occurred to the 
county authorities to name these townships after 
the questions then agitating the minds of the 
citizens, and the significant titles — Polk, Dallas, 
Todd and Texas — were bestowed upon them. 
Texas is six miles long and two miles wide. 
Buckeye Creek, a small tributary of Sandusky 
River, flows westward and across the northern 
tier of sections, and its small affluents drain the 
second tier of sections from the north. Sj^ca- 
more Creek, one of the most important streams 
in the county, flows westwardl}' across the sec- 
ond tier of sections from the south, and it and 
its branches drain the southern two-thirds of 
the township. One of its branches, called Big 
Run, flows across the lower tier of sections. 
These streams furnish ample drainage to the 



township. The land in the northern and in the 
southern parts is quite rolling, especially so 
along Sycamore Creek, where the hills rise in 
some places 100 feet above the bed of the 
stream. The central portion is quite level, yet 
it is sufflcientl}^ well drained to make it the 
most fertile territory in the township. 

The first settler, so far as known, was George 
Bender, who entered a tract of land in the 
southern part in 1824, and erected a round-log 
cabin thereon. A few years afterward, proba- 
bly about 1827, he built a rude dam on S3'ca- 
more Creek southwest of the present village of 
Benton, and employed a man named McGrew to 
construct a saw-mill from poplar boards, sawed 
while the machinery was operated in the open 
air. John Hazlett, who became a resident of 
the township in 1829, discovered that Bender's 
mill had been erected on the land of the former ; 
whereupon notice was given to Bender that all 
claims to the mill property must be relin- 
quished. One year after such notice, Hazlett 
took charge of the mill, which was continued 
in operation until 1834, when a sudden freshet 
washed away the dam, thus rendering the mill 
inoperative. No repairs were attempted, and 
the Bender Mill soon became a thing of the 
past. A short time after Bender had been de- 
prived of his property, he built another mill 
farther down the creek on his own land, which 
after being operated a few 3'ears was discon- 
tinued. Bender also followed the occupation 
of farming, his team consisting of a large bay 
horse and an ox. In driving this strange team, 
the like of which was often seen in early years, 
he bestrode the horse, as by so doing he was 
in a much more satisfactory position to admin- 
ister a flogging to the ox, which had the now 
well-known habit of holding back. He had 
one of the old-fashioned wide-track wagons, 
and was often seen in Bucyrus with his oddly 
consorted team. He became well known to the 
subsequent settlers, who engaged his assist- 
ance in looldng up their farms. An addition 



"?! 



(f~ 



ht. 



668 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



was made to Bender's cabin, a long shed built 
of rough boards, which was used as a combined 
swine, cow and horse stable. His cabin had 
two doors, hung on wooden hinges, one on each 
side of the building, and the large fire-place 
filled one entire end. The horse was often 
used in drawing huge logs into the cabin, which 
were afterward rolled into the fire-place. The 
following year after Bender entered his land, 
there came in Anthon}^ Detray, Robert Roberts, 
Charles Morrow, Adam Miller and Robert 
Ma3S, who located in the southern part, and 
Dodridge Paul, Eli Adams, Joseph Nedray, 
David Palmer, Alva Trask and Laban Perdew, 
who selected farms in the northern part. There 
also came in, prior to 1830. William Gregg, 
James Grrifflth, Lewis Lemert, Washington 
Duncan, John Hazlett, Arthur Andrews, 
Charles Dickens, John Henry, A. L. Westover, 
John and Finley McGrew, Martin Holman, 
William Pennington and others, who established 
themselves in diflferent parts of the township. 
Those settlers who located in the northern half, 
with scarcely an exception, came from Seneca 
County, where large emigrations of New En- 
glanders have settled, many of them before the 
war of 1812. After most of the land in Seneca 
County had been entered and improved, the 
settlers, who continued to come in large num- 
bers, were compelled to journey on farther west 
or south, where farms as fertile and beautiful 
as any in Ohio could be purchased for $1.25 
per acre. It thus came to pass that, between 
1820 and 1830, pioneers by the thousands lo- 
cated in surrounding regions, and the wave of 
colonization rolled down from the north into 
Crawford County to meet the one of even greater 
strength that swept westward from Mansfield 
and vicinity. The two waves of settlement 
met in Crawford County, and it thus occurred, 
that the first settlers in the northern part of 
Texas Township came from Seneca County, 
where they had arrived in search of homes, 
while the southern part of said township was 



settled and improved by those who came from 
Mansfield through Bucj^-us. The land in the 
central part was not entered at first, for the 
reason that it was flat and wet, and the settlers 
preferred the Avell-drained hills along the 
streams. Many, when they arrived in the 
township, had nothing with which to begin 
their forest life except good health and bound- 
less resolution. A man or woman with feeble 
health had no business in the backwoods, 
where robust health was an invaluable auxiliary 
to success. Many, however, with feeble con- 
stitutions came out, hoping to prolong their 
existence, but most of these were soon con- 
signed to the nearest churchyard. Cases are 
often found where, when the question is asked 
some gray-haired old man or woman, " How did 
you manage to live during the early 3'ears ?" 
the only answer, like the one received from 
Martin Holman, is an exhibition of wrinkled 
and calloused hands. And that answer is suf- 
ficient and true ; for man}' an old man and 
woman now living in the township and in other 
portions of Ohio, who are surrounded with com- 
forts purchased b}' a bountiful expenditure of 
wealth and with loving children, grandchildren 
and friends, came into the wilderness more 
than half a centur}' ago with nothing to meet 
the adversities of pioneer life except strong, 
honest hearts and hands. When Adam Miller 
reached Texas Township, his money and credit 
amounted to the sum total of 12^ cents. He 
owned an ox and a rifle, and his wife had a few 
cooking utensils, and with these they began to 
clear and improve their farm and supply them- 
selves often with barely sufficient food to sus- 
tain life. 

The Wyandot Reservation afforded abundant 
opportunity for observing the -'noble red man," 
who was in the habit of visiting the cabins of 
the settlers for divers purposes, the chief being 
that of begging. The}' solicited alms from the 
settlers, who often, if they gave anything in 
charity, were obliged to give the last they had. 



y\: 



HISTORY or CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



Several one day presented themselves at the 
cabin of Holman, and, pointing to their abdo- 
mens with downcast look, pitifully said, "Me 
sick, me sick," intimating that they were al- 
most famished with hunger. They were fed, 
but their appetites were so vigorous and their 
capacity for food so prodigious, that the stores 
of the pantry, though large at first, were soon 
reduced to a minimum. But a radical cure was 
effected by this treatment, and the Indians left 
the cabin with happy hearts. One da}^, when 
John Hazlett and Nicholas Ulary were hunting in 
the woods, they overtook a wounded deer, which 
they shot, and, just as they had dressed it, several 
Indians presented themselves and claimed the 
animal. The white hunters at first refused 
to give it up ; but, when the Indians pointed to 
the Avound on its shoulder and then to them- 
selves, shaking their heads in the meantime, 
and making threatening demonstrations to the 
effect that trouble would ensue if the animal 
was retained, it was relinquished without a 
murmur. John Hazlett was one of the most 
successful resident hunters ever in the township. 
The largest part of his time was spent in hunt- 
ing in the deep woods, and he remembers of par- 
ticipating in man}' an exciting adventure. The 
Hazlett brothers thought it strange unless they 
succeeded in killing a hundred deer during the 
winter months, for a numl)er of years after 
coming to the township. John one day wounded 
a deer, which fell, apparently dead, upon the 
ground. He kneeled over its body, intending 
to cut its throat, but, with a sudden movement, 
it leaped to its feet, at the same instant kicking 
him sprawling on the ground. It came at him 
with head down, but he seized a large club and 
began beating it across the neck and head with 
all his sti-ength. By dodging around trees, he 
succeeded in avoiding the antlers of the angry 
animal until at length, bj' a lucky blow, he dis- 
located its neck, whereupon it fell to the 
ground and was quickly dispatched. At an- 
other time, wlien out late one bitterly cold night 



in winter, when the ground was thickly covered 
with snow, a large animal leaped out of the 
bushes near him, and bounded off through the 
woods, as though possessed b}^ the spirit that 
once took refuge in a herd of swine. It gave a 
piercing scream at every bound, and, when off 
at a considerable distance, Hazlett plucked up 
enough courage to answer it, whereupon the 
animal ceased its cries and came rapidl}^ back 
toward the hunter. Hazlett could hear it 
treading on the snow near him, and occasionally 
a sniffling or wheezing sound was heard. He 
was too much of a hunter not to know what 
the sound meant. The animal was a panther, 
and at the thought his blood ran in icy cun'ents 
through his veins, and, as related by himself, 
his hair stood erect on his head, so that the 
weight of his cap could no longer be felt. He 
involuntarily placed his hand on his head to see 
if it bore its accustomed wearing apparel, 
which was found to be in its proper place, which 
fact in a measure re-assured the hunter. He 
was terribly frightened, and, scarcely knowing 
wliat he did, he called out at the top of his 
voice for it to come on, as he was ready for it. 
But the animal seemingly declined his invita- 
tion, as it tui'ned, and was soon out of sound 
and sight. Very early the following morning, 
Samuel Grregg, who had just butchered, was 
roused from his bed by the same sniffling 
sound that had frightened Hazlett. He took 
his gun and went out, when a large animal ran 
out of a small shed in which the meat was 
hung, and bounded off through the woods. It 
was undoubtedly^ the same animal that had 
disturbed the nocturnal ramblings of Hazlett. 
Other interesting and exciting incidents are re- 
lated by several of the earliest settlers j^et liv- 
ing in the township. One is related of Robert 
Clark, who had just come from the East, and 
who was a novice in all the ways of pioneer 
life. His cabin was built and entered, though 
it had no door except a blanket suspended from 
above. It is said that one night, soon after their 






^: 



'1l 



670 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



arrival, the family became terribly scared b}^ 
strange cries around the cabin. Surmising that 
some dangerous animals were meditating an 
attack upon them, Mr. Clark hurried his wife 
and children into the loft, while he, with ax in 
hand, stood guard all night at the door, ready 
to brain any animal that attempted to enter. 
It was afterward learned that the famil}- 
were frightened by the screechings of the owls. 
At another time, Washington Duncan, who lived 
in a cabin much like the one owned bj^ Clark, 
was aroused from his sleep one night by an un- 
usual noise in the room. A few dying embers 
in the fire-place cast a faint glare over the sleep- 
ing inmates, and revealed to the apprehensive 
Duncan what appeared to be a large bear, 
standing in the shade on the opposite side of 
the room. He whispered to a companion lying 
near him, "Lie still, John, till I get the gun." 
He reached for the rifle which stood in one cor- 
ner of the room, and was on the point of firing 
at the supposed animal, when it suddenly arose 
to an erect position and called out in alarm, 
" Heah, Massa Wash, what yo' doin' ? " The 
supposed bear proved to be nothing but a 
negro, who was thouarht to be sleeping in the 
loft above, but who, getting cold, had come 
down and stretched himself out on a bench, 
covering himself with a heavy coat, the sleeves 
of which, hanging down, caused the fancied re- 
semblance to a bear. The negro was greatly 
scared and rolled his eyes in fright, when he 
was informed of his narrow escape from being 
shot. 

Isaac Miller built a'saw-mill in 1836 onjSyca- 
more Creek, about half a mile southwest of 
Benton. It continued in operation about eight 
years, but was finally washed away by a freshet, 
and was not afterward rebuilt. James Long- 
well also built one on the same creek in 1837, 
which was perhaps the most valuable ever in 
the township. It was' a rude shed concern with 
an old-fashioned " flutter " wheel, but it had 
the capacity of turning out a large amount of 



first-class work. The stream where the dam was 
built gave excellent water-power, and, though the 
mill could run but four months of the year, it 
sawed day and night while the water lasted. 
Logs of all kinds and sizes were sawed, either on 
shares, one-half being taken by the sawyer, or 
at the rate of about 40 cents per 100 feet. 
After this mill had been in operation a number 
of years, the proprietor entered into partnership 
with Uriah Wooster, for the purpose of erecting 
and operating a grist-mill. The building erected 
was three stories high, and, together with the 
milling machinery placed therein, cost about 
$1,400. This mill is yet in operation, and since 
its erection has been of the greatest value to 
the township and the surrounding country. It 
has changed ownership many times, and has 
been improved and enlarged ; but, under the 
control of almost every miller, it has furnished 
an excellent grade of flour and meal. Mr. 
Wooster was one Sunda}^ operating the mill 
after it had been erected a number of years. 
One set of buhrs gave him considerable trouble, 
as the upper stone, by the force of friction, 
would spring up several inches from the lower, 
only to settle back again for a repetition of the 
annoyance. This continued for some time until 
at last, under a heavier pressui'e of steam, the 
upper stone was given such a wrench b}' the 
sudden and unusual friction, that it burst into 
a half-dozen pieces, one of which struck Wooster 
on the head with such force as to crush his 
skull, causing instant death. The Longwell 
Saw-mill was operated about twent^'-five years, 
and was finally permitted to run down. The 
grist-mill is in a prosperous condition, and for 
a number of j^ears has been owned and con- 
ducted by Michael Snyder, an efficient miller. 
In about 1848, Martin Holman sunk four vats 
and began dressing skins. The enterprise 
failed to ^ield the desired profits, the leather 
being barel}^ sufficient to supply the demand 
at Benton, and, at the expiration of five years, 
the tan3'ard was transformed into a barnj-ard 



HISTORY or CRAWFORD COUNTY 



671 



and Holmau turned his attention to farming. 
The children of early settlers wei'e often lost 
in the woods, and frequently several days 
elapsed before they were recovered. Holman's 
children were thus lost and the whole neighbor- 
hood turned out with bells, guns and horns, to 
hunt the wanderers. After remaining in the 
woods all day, they were discovered by a 
neighbor, who conducted them home. The 
lost ones were not alwa^-s children. Often men 
and women who had resided in the woods for 
years became "^^bewildered when out alone, and 
after passing several days and nights in the 
forest, perhaps within half a mile of home, sud- 
denly presented themselves at their own cabin 
or that of some near neighbor, inquiring who 
lived there and asking where Mr. So-and-so 
lived, mentioning their own names. A person 
bewildered in the woods strangely loses every 
iota of sagacity and judgment, and squarely re- 
fuses to recognize landmarks which he has 
seen a hundred times, often passing within a 
few yards of his own door without noticing a 
single familiar sign. This is hard to account 
for from any other fact than the psychological 
one, that the different faculties of observation, 
used in unusual degrees of intensity, see well- 
known objects through new characteristics and 
refuse to recognize those that are familiar. It 
is related that George Bender, who had lived 
in the woods for years, became bewildered 
within half a mile from home, and after wan- 
dering mostly in a circle for two nights and a 
day, fiuall}- stumbled, as it were, upon the 
cabin of a neighbor, whereupon his senses re- 
turned. 

On the 24th of August, 1841, John Hazlett 
and George Bender, on land owned by them- 
selves, laid out fifty-one lots from the northern 
part of the southeast quarter of Section 26, 
Township 1, Range 15 east, and named the vil- 
lage Benton. What induced the proprietors to 
bestow upon their town the name it now bears, 
has not been satisfactorily explained. One fact 



is known, however, that the village was named 
in honor of Senator Benton, of Missouri. It is 
likely that there were but two or three cabins 
on the present site of the village before it was 
laid out. Daniel Beal, a blacksmith by trade, 
erected and occupied a small frame building as 
early as 1835. He also built a small shanty- 
shop, and began working at his trade at the 
same time. This man, perhaps, more than any 
other, created the desire among the citizens for 
a village and a post office. His shop became a 
resort, at which the farmers gathered on rainy 
days to pitch horseshoes and gossip about 
neighboring afi'airs The prominence of these 
circumstances, in the minds of Hazlett and 
Bender, led them to lay out the town. The lots 
were sold rapidly, and, within ten years, the 
village had more than 100 inhabitants ; and^ 
soon afterward, the population had attained 
such magnitude that a petition for incorporation 
was presented to the County Commissioners by 
the villagers. The prayer of the petitioners 
was granted, and Alvin Williams was elected 
the first Mayor of Benton. As far as known, 
the second dwelling in the town was built by 
John Leigh in either 1836 or 1837 ; but these 
were probably the only ones until after the 
town had been laid out. Immediately after 
that event, two more small dwellings were 
erected, and, in 1842, John Hazlett built a 
frame structure on the site of the present hotel. 
Leigh was also a blacksmith, and began work- 
ing at his trade, though he found but little to 
do. This constituted the growth of the village 
until after the creation of the township in 1845. 
The laws of Ohio were such that Texas, with 
its twelve sections, could not form a separate 
township, unless it contained, at least, one in- 
corporated village. This led the citizens to 
build up the town ver}- rapidly after 1845. un- 
til its population reached the legal limits neces- 
sar}' to those desiring incorporation. Alvin 
Williams was the first one to open a store 
in the village. However, the stock of goods, 



^.^ 



:£: 



672 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



valued at about $500, was owned by the part- 
nership. Williams & Westover, and was placed 
in a small storeroom built for that purpose. 
For some unknown reason, they closed out 
their stock at the end of four 3'ears, and retired 
from the business. Williams owned an ashery 
at the same time, which was conducted quite 
extensivel}'^ while the store was open, and for a 
number of j-ears afterward. It is likely that 
the store was opened as a sort of an auxiliary- 
to the more important ashery. Immediately 
after this store closed, J. W. Saltzerman placed 
$1,000 worth of goods in a large room in a 
private dwelling ; but, after dealing two or three 
years with the Texans, he likewise closed out 
his stock. William Sigler, in 1841, purchased 
the building erected by Hazlett, and opened it 
as a tavern, placing in one apartment $8,000 
worth of goods ; but, after conducting the two 
enterprises for two 3^ears, he removed his goods 
to Cary, Ohio, and sold the tavern to Daniel 
Tattle. This man, in connection with his hotel, 
began selling liquor and groceries, and con- 
tinued thus for nearly twent}^ years, when he 
sold out to other parties. Tuttle enlarged the 
building, while owned by him, until it reached 
its present size and shape. The tavern has 
changed hands several times since, but each 
landlord has sold liquor. Chapman & Shepard 
also sold goods in the town for several years, 
about the time it was incorporated, their store- 
room being the one now occupied by Winters & 
Longwell. These partners sold their stock to 
a Mr. Groff, who closed out within a 3'ear. 
Winters & Temple then began with several 
thousand dollars' worth of goods, and, for a 
number of years, did an excellent business ; 
but the death of Mr. Temple complicated affairs, 
until Mr. Longwell purchased the share owned 
by Temples heirs. This firm. Winters & Long- 
well, is at present driving quite a brisk trade 
in the village. Alvin Williams kept the first 
saloon, and the village has had an abundance 
of liquor since. Mr. Van Fleet also kept a 



stock of goods at an early day. Robert Martin, 
who built one of the first few dwellings in the 
town, was the first resident carpenter, and many 
of the buildings yet standing in town and sur- 
rounding country, were built by him. Erastus 
Re^'nolds also followed the same occupation. 
David Rank sunk six vats in 1845, and began 
tanning skins of all kinds, an occupation he 
followed quite extensively for twelve years. 
He did a good work, and much of his leather 
was made into boots and shoes by resident 
shoemakers, the remainder finding a read}' sale 
at Bucyrus and other towns. Dr. Yates was 
the first practicing physician in the village. 
He was succeeded by Dr. Alvord, who resided 
in Benton twenty years, and practiced exten- 
sively throughout the neighboring countr}'. He 
was followed by Dr. Bland and afterward by 
Drs. Kryder and Swahn, who are at present 
prescribing for the bodily ills of the Texans. 
The population of the town has not exceeded 
300, and is at present about 230. Daniel Tuttle 
did as much as any other man to build 
up and improve the village. This strange 
man. who is yet living in the town, deserves 
more than a passing notice. As far back as 
known, he has been an openly av^owed Infidel ; 
and, as said by himself, has fought all Christian 
denominations with an intolerable hatred, spar- 
ing neither money, time nor labor. 

In 1850, he issued the first number of Tlie 
Divinity Fhi/sician, a paper to be published 
" semi-occasionall}-," which had for its motto 
the following well-known sentence from Thomas 
Paine : " I will go any length for truth, but 
not one step for popularity at the expense of 
truth." The paper was satirical in its tendency, 
and was designed to burlesque the cardinal 
doctrines of the Christian denominations. Some 
years, several numbers appeared ; at other 
times, two or three or more years elapsed with 
no issue. The sheet is a small folio, and the 
last number appeared in 1876. But little return 
has been received in the way of subscription 



*7P 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



673 



for the cost of publication by the publishei*, 
who, on the contrary, has been prosecuted 
several times in the County Courts for libel at 
a great cost to himself He makes no scruple 
about having his views known by ever}' one ; 
on the contrar}', he glories in the name of Infi- 
delity, and deems it his duty to do all he can 
to obstruct the progress of Christianit}-. He 
has expended several thousand dollars in the 
publication of his paper without any return, 
except continued insult and contempt. 

The first schoolhouse in the township was a 
square, round-log structure, erected as early as 
1828, on Dodridge Paul's farm. It was built a 
number of 3'ears before the township was di- 
vided into school districts, and verj- likely be- 
fore, or about the time. Sycamore Township, of 
which Texas formed a part, was created. The 
country all along the course of the Sandusky 
River, in Seneca County, and in the vicinity of 
Melmore, was quite thickly settled at that time, 
and numerous mills, taverns, schools and 
churches had been established. But the ear- 
liest settlers in Northern Texas saw clearly 
that it was out of the question for their chil- 
dren to traverse the long distance through the 
woods to attend those schools. Church-going 
people could travel the distance easih% and did 
largely for many ^-eai'S, even after churches 
were organized in Texas Township. In order 
that their children might get at least the rudi- 
ments of an education, the early settlers assem- 
bled and erected the large school-cabin referred 
to, designing it for all public purposes, the priu 
cipal being those of school, church and town- 
ship. It was a quaint structure, with clapboard 
roof and floor, having a large chimne}', built of 
stone and eartli. and extending down to within 
six feet of the fioor, and having a large funnel- 
shaped opening to insure sufficient draft to 
carry ofl' the smoke of the lire, built upon a 
broad stone hearth directly underneath. Around 
this central fire-place, rude clapboard benches 
were placed, and in one corner was a small 



black walnut table, which served as a pulpit 
when the cabin was used as a church. The 
chimney was so low that tall men, unless they 
were cautious, often bumped their heads, and 
then the usual exclamations under such cir- 
cumstances were uttered. One day a minister 
from Bucyrus, who was to preach there, came 
liastil}' in, and, without noticing the chimne}', 
struck his head against it, but no language of 
less dignity than '• my stars " escaped his lips. 
That was perhaps the most appropriate expres- 
sion that could be made under the circum- 
stances. This building was deserted after 1833, 
when a new and better school building was 
erected a short distance south. The new house 
was frame, and was used until the township was 
redistricted in 1845, w^hen the change was made 
in the territory of the count}'. A log school- 
house was also built in the southern part about 
half a mile west of Benton as early as 1 830. 
This building is remembered to have been there 
that year, and was very likely built the year 
before. It was also used as a church even 
more extensively than the Paul Schoolhouse. 
It was in this schoolhouse, one Sunday morning 
before the minister. Rev. Mr. Oliver, or the con- 
gregation had arrived, that Daniel Tuttle, or 
'' Bishop " Tuttle, as he was afterward called, 
wrote with a piece of charcoal upon the wall : 

" Oliver, Bender and Gillini 
Have caught the devil. 
And are going to kill 'ini." 

This was taken as a text by the minister, who. 
as if to verify the declaration of the rhymer, 
preached with great potency for nearly two 
hours This building was used until about 
1839, when a frame schoolhouse was built in 
the western part of what is now Benton. It 
was likewise used as a meeting-house, and its 
walls resounded '' many a time and oft '' with 
the loud acclamations of warm-hearted and 
enthusiastic Christian people. In 1858. a new 
schoolhouse was built in the village, which is 
yet devoted to educational purposes. At the 






:l^ 



674 



HISTORY OF CEAWFOIID COUNTY. 



time of the creation of the townsliip, in 1845, 
it was divided into four school districts, each 
of the northern two comprising four square 
miles, and each of the southern two, two 
square miles. This is the present division, and 
each district has a comfortable schoolhouse. 
But little attention was paid to the boundary 
lines of school districts in early years. Schol- 
ars attended the nearest schoolhouse, even 
though it was in another township. And then, 
again, the greater number of the earliest 
schools were taught b}' subscription, and with- 
out any regard to districts, townships or coun- 
ties. 

Churches were not built in the township as 
early as the schoolhouses, from the fact that 
the settlers experienced no serious difficulty in 
attending those in Seneca Count3\ Manj^ were 
members of those churches, and even to this 
da}' the Seneca churches have a large member- 
ship in Texas Township. The earh' settler^ 
were few, and, inasmuch as the schoolhouses 
could be used for religious purposes, it was not 
deemed necessary or advisable to erect church- 
es until the township had become quite thickly 
populated. Rev. Robert Lee, father of Judge 
Lee, of Bucyrus, organized the first Presby- 



terian Church in Texas Township, in 1838, and 
Robert Clark, William Marquis and William 
Jackson were appointed Elders. In 1839, the 
societ}' secured the services of Rev. William 
Hutchinson, a minister of the Richland Pres- 
bytery, then living in Bucyrus, who was en- 
gaged to conduct religious exercises in the 
northern part on every alternate Sunday. The 
meetings were held in the old log schoolhouse, 
and Rev. Hutchinson was very likely the min- 
ister whose head came so abruptly in contact 
with the chimney, as related above. After a 
number of years, the society built a small 
church, which was used man}' 3'ears, and which 
was located just across the line in Wyandot 
County. Church societies were organized in 
the southern part as early as 1830, but it was 
not until about 1851 that a church building 
was erected. This was built in Benton b}' the 
United Brethren Church, at a cost of about 
$1,500. Ten years ago, the Methodists erected 
a large church in the village, which cost nearly 
$3,000. These churches have quite a large 
membership, much of which comes fi'om Wy- 
andot Count}'. Rev. Mr. McKillipp was instru- 
mental in organizina; the last-named church. 



CHAPTER XXVIL* 

DAIJ,AS TOWNSHIP— TOPOflKAPJlICAL— EARLY TOWNSUli' OFFICEIIS— INDIANS— THE PIONEEllS- 
FRONTIER LIFE— EPIDEMICS— RELIGlOr.S AND EDUCATIONAL. 



ABOUT the township of Dallas, there clus- 
ters much that must ever awaken an in- 
terest in the minds of the present generation, 
and that will be valuable to the future " lords 
of the manor." In its configuration, none in the 
county, and few in the State, are more irregular. 
This irregularity is due to the change of the 
original boundar}' line of this county, which is 
mentioned more at length in another part of 
this work. 

* Contributed by F. .S, Monnctt. 



Previous to 1844, some considerable pressure 
was brought to bear upon the Commissioners, 
to have the county seat removed from Bucyrus 
to a more central location. Those in authority 
succeeded in obviating this by effecting some 
radical changes in the southern and western 
boundary lines of the county. Upon the south- 
west, a strip of territory, six miles in length 
east and west, and two miles north and south — 
including Sections 1-12, in Range 16, was 
taken from Scott Township, Marion Count}'. 



*i|..-,^ 







; '^'^m&i 



v^. 



']£. 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



677 



Sections 1, 2, 11, 12, 35 and 36, of Range 15, 
were taken from Grand Prairie Township, Ma- 
rion County, and Sections 23-25, from the Wy- 
andot Reservation ; all combined, were incorpo- 
rated into one township in 1845, and christened 
Dallas, in honor of the newly elected Vice 
President, George M. Dallas, of Pennsylvania. 
Whj- a township with a strong Whig majority, 
should have chosen as her namesake one of 
opposite political faith, we were unable to learn, 
unless the newlj'-born child was named by the 
Arclions, at Crawford's capital. 

Dallas has for her present boundary, Todd 
and Bucj-rus on the north, Bucyrus and Whet- 
stone on the east, Scott on the south, and An- 
trim on the west. This portion of territory 
was originally survej'ed in 1819, by Deputy 
Surve3'or Gen. Sylvanus Bourse, assisted by 
Samuel Holmes, for whom Holmes Township 
was named. It lies wholly in the celebrated 
Sandusky Plains, a tract of exceedingly level 
and rich land, extending east and west through 
Marion and Wyandot Counties a distance of 
fifty miles, with a width north and south of an 
average of twenty miles. No more fertile or 
productive soil in the entire extent of these 
plains exists, than is found in the southern por- 
tion of Dallas Township. It has been variously 
denominated by early writers, as one of " Na- 
ture's most beautiful meadows ; " " The blue- 
grass region of Ohio," etc., which appellations 
would be more appropriate at the present writ- 
ing than in pioneer days. For in the first 
quarter of this centurj^, these now measured 
meadows, were fenceless fields, all overgrown 
with the rank sedge grass and " yellow-blos- 
somed weeds," with many a broad parterre of 
the purple iron-weed — of such luxuriant growth 
that men mounted on horseback could not be 
observed a few rods distant. Instead of the 
" lowing herd that now winds slowl}- o'er the 
lea," there were but the few domestic -'bosses " 
that made known their presence by the tinkling 
bell. By an eflScient sj'stem of drainage and 



cultivation, this over-growth of rank weeds and 
wild grasses — exponents of an exhaustless soil 
— now return a royal revenue to their opulent 
owners. 

Dallas is favored in having two of the prin- 
cipal rivers of the State pass through its 
territorj^ — the Sandusky, with its two sources, 
in the eastern part of the county, enters the 
northeast corner of this township three-fourths 
of a mile from the Todd line, passing diagonally 
across the western portion of its territory in a 
southwesterly direction, crossing the Wj'andot 
County line at the center of the western bound- 
ary of the township. The bed of this portion 
of the Sandusky is composed of a coarse wash- 
gravel, that is used in repairing the neighbor- 
ing roads. This gravel bottom and these ex- 
tended sand-bars make this part of the river 
favorable for the hatching of minnows, which 
have often been noticed by myriads in the sum- 
mer season. The beautiful banks and solid bed 
of the Sandusky River made it an attractive 
rendezvous of the W^'andot Indians. Many 
interesting reminiscences were related bj- the 
Wyandot chiefs concerning the " Sahunduskie," 
as they termed it — signifying " clear water." 
" Sahunduskie " was the facetious appellation 
the W^'andots gave to their ardent beverage — 
" fire-water. When one of the men would be- 
come so exuberant from the contents of his 
leathern bottle, that he could not restrain him- 
self in the presence of his dusky mate ; instead 
of grasping the happy idea of the •' Christian 
pale-face," and tell her he had been to the 
" club-house, chatting with the bo3-s " — he would 
gruffly excuse himself for the evening b}' say- 
ing " Drink much Sahunduskie." 

The Eastern Branch of the Scioto, taking its 
rise three miles south of BucjTus, flowing in 
a southeasterh* direction, enters Dallas one- 
fourth of a mile east from the Marion road, 
passing into Marion Count}' one and one-half 
miles from the Wyandot County line. Nothing 
of particular interest is connected with this 



f.^ 



678 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY 



part of the Scioto, except that it adds greatly 
to the value of the stock farms that lie along 
its banks, by furnishing a constant supply of 
water. 

The only other stream of any note, is a trib- 
utary to the Olentangy, called "Mud Run," 
which passes near the Whetstone Township 
line. It is partly natural and partly artificial. 
During the spring freshets, owing to its slug- 
gish current, it is swollen into a very wide 
stream. Another small stream, now a tributary 
to the Sandusky, passing through the Hoover 
farm and called the "Outlet of the Plains," was 
at first a dug ditch ; but, in recent years, on 
account of its swift current, a gully has been 
eroded fifteen to eighteen feet deep, reaching, 
at that depth, veins of perennial flow. 

Extending, as do the two divisions of Dallas 
Township, from the west bank of the Olentangy 
to the limestone and clay soil of Todd on the 
north, most all varieties of timber that are in- 
digenous to this portion of the State are found 
within its limits. That which first catches the 
eye of the stranger, in driving through the 
southern part of Dallas, are the exceedingly 
picturesque clumps of jack-oak trees of a com- 
paratively recent growth. Many of these 
groves have sprung up within the memory of 
our oldest citizens. There is nothing in the 
geological formation of the soil that prevented 
this growth of timber at an earlier date. Per- 
haps the system of drainage of more recent 
years may have been advantageous. A sim- 
pler and moi'e satisfactory reason is suggested 
in an account of a " ring hunt," as given by Col. 
James Smith, who was a captive of the W3'an- 
dot Indians as earl}' as 1760. Col. Smith saj's : 
" With much difficulty, we pushed up our 
wooden canoes over the Sandusky falls. Some 
of the men went up the river, and the rest of us 
by land with our horses, until we came to the 
great meadows or prairies that lie between the 
Scioto and Sandusky. When we came to this 
place, we met with some Ottawa hunters, and 



agreed with them to take what they called a 
' ring hunt,' in partnership. We waited until 
we expected i^ainfall, to extinguish the fire ; 
then we kindled a large circle in the prairie. 
At this time, or before the bucks began to run, 
a great number of deer lay concealed in the 
grass in the day-time and moved about in the 
night, but, as the fire burned toward the center 
of the circle, the deer fled before the fire. The 
Indians were scattered at some distance, and 
shot them down at everj^ opportunity, which 
was very frequent, especially as the circle be- 
came small. When we divided the deer, there 
were about ten to each hunter. All this num- 
ber was killed in a few hours. The rain did 
not come on that night, to put out the outside 
fire, and, as the wind arose, the fire extended 
through the whole prairie, which was about 
fifty miles in length, and, in some places, about 
twenty miles in breadth. This put an end to 
our hunting for this season, and was, in other 
respects, an injury- to us in the hunting busi- 
ness ; so that, upon the whole, we received 
more harm than benefit b^' our rapid-hunting 
policy." This little account explains sufficiently 
the cause of the annual destruction of the 
young growth of timber. 

Upon the islands, iiowever, as they were 
termed, the gi'owth of sedge-grass was not so 
rank, and trees here and there escaped the rav- 
ages of the Indian fires. Upon these ridges 
the celebrated " shellbark," the prolific nut- 
bearing hickor}', ma}' be found scattered in the 
southern and western portions of the township. 
The productiveness of the hickory in this por- 
tion of the county, became, to the possessor, a 
burdensome annoyance. Previous to the strict 
trespass laws that were enacted within the last 
decade, the farmer possessing a hickory grove, 
was tacitly considered by his urbane neighbors 
as keeping a public park for their especial ac- 
commodation. One of the present owners, re- 
ferring to this annoyance, said : " My groves, 
on the Sabbath Day in the hickory-nutting sea- 



_® ^ 



HISTORY OF CKAAVFORD COUNTY. 



679 



son resembled a camp-meeting ground, in point 
of teams and number of persons, and, wlien 
they had finished their nut-gathering, it was 
not an uncommon occurrence to have our fences 
so dilapidated that the stock could go from one 
section cross-road to another. Man}- of my 
trees are now dead, the result of the nut-gath- 
erers using a battering-ram to jar the nuts from 
the trees." This Sabbath desecration and gen- 
eral trespassing upon the farmer has been 
almost entirel}' bi'oken up b}' the recent revis- 
ion of the law. 

Among the other timber and shrubbery that 
might be mentioned are the buckeye, dogwood, 
ironwood, sassafras and hazel in abundance. 
Along the Sandusky and Scioto, some fine 
growths of walnut timber may be found. In 
the northern part there is considerable maple, 
which is annually turned to account in the fam- 
ily s;;gar camps. Ash and other varieties are 
extensively used for building purposes. 

The soil of Dallas in the southern part con- 
sists of deep black earth, that is excellent for 
corn, and what was once too rich for wheat, is 
now, since it has been drained and tamed by 
cultivation, rendered highly suitable for that 
cereal. It can be safely said its productiveness 
is not to be excelled in the State for wheat, 
corn, oats and rye. In the northern portion of 
the township, the soil changes to that of a clay 
loam, with an occasional •' white oak ridge," as 
it is termed in common parlance, which is not 
unfrequently found to be a thin and sterile 
soil ; but, when cleared and artificiall}- enriched, 
these ridges also make fine wheat farms, as 
well as pasturage. The character and pro- 
ductiveness of the soil have made this town- 
ship peculiarly favorable for grazing and the 
feeding of stock. Hence, the south part is 
held in large tracts b}- a few heavy dealers in 
live stock, two or three farms including several 
thousand acres each. The cattle trade is still 
pursued b}- the larger land-owners, but, as the 
extensive tracts of pasture lands open up in 



our Western Territories, and railroad transporta- 
tion is becoming so general, the competition in 
cattle-raising has reduced the profit to a verj- 
small margin, so that manj' of the lesser farms 
are being tilled and turned into wheat and 
sheep farms. 

Some considerable attention has been given 
to the breeding of short-horn cattle b}' the 
stock dealei'S of Dallas. The principal dealer 
for man}^ years in this department, w^as John 
Monnett. In later years, Ephraim Monnett 
dealt considerably in the Durham thorough- 
breds. Mr. John Monnett was an annual at- 
tendant upon the Kentucky stock sales, from 
which State he imported man}- choice animals 
into Crawford County, and for many 3-ears was 
the heaviest exhibitor at the county fair in 
thoroughbred and grade cattle. To him should 
much credit be given for the fine quality of 
beef cattle that Marion and southern Crawford 
can now so proudly boast of Mr. Monnett re- 
moved in 1 873 to Iroquois County, 111., where 
he is at present engaged in the same business. 

Of the early officers of Dallas, little can be 
learned definitely, as there was no village or 
any special building in which the Clerk's books 
were filed ; but they were passed around from 
one private residence to another. An inade- 
quate file of official proceedings is all that has 
been preserved. The returns at the Recorder's 
office in Marion give the Justices of the Peace 
of the township that Dallas was formed from. 
The first recorded is Alsan Packard, sworn in 
as Justice of the Peace of Scott Township, 
Januarj^ 27, 1825. Little is remembered of 
Mr. Packard, only that he was a man of more 
than the average education and refinement of 
those days, and, as a reward for the faithful 
discharge of his official duties, he was re-elected 
for the two succeeding terms in the years 
1826-27. The second Justice of the Peace of 
Scott was Jacob Shafler, one of the first real 
estate owners of the present territory of Dallas ; 
havina- moved from Pennsylvania in 182-1, to 



^ 



680 



HISTORY OF CEAWFOED COUNTY 



the present fiinu of Istiiah Monnctt, and en- 
tered twenty acres, to which he afterward added 
several quarter-sections. The third Justice of 
the Peace was William Van Buskirk. The 
first commissioned Justice of the Peace of 
Grand Prairie Township, that included the 
present western half of Dallas, was Zach Welsh, 
July 5. 1824, the grandsire of the numerous 
Welsh progeny now so prominent in Wyandot 
and Crawford Counties. The second Justice 
of the Peace was John Page, 1825, who lived 
to be a centenarian. Mr. Page was succeeded 
after a second term by Daniel Swigart. Whether 
the duties were too arduous, or Mr. Swigart's 
business demanded his exclusive attention, is 
not known, but he resigned his office, and 
William Howe was chosen his successor in the 
same j-ear, 1827. Under the re-organization, 
Andrew Kerr was the first installed Esquire, 
April 7, 1845. The second was William Hoover, 
April 7, 1847. To the Dictators in Dallas 
alread}' mentioned, we may add the following 
line: Daniel Swigart, April 3, 1848; Ezra 
Huntly, Januarj' 12, 1850 ; William Hoover, 
April 1,1850; Isaac N. Munson, October 14, 
1851 ; Samuel P. Shaw, April 5, 1852. 

It is not definitely known who can claim the 
honor of being the first settler in this present 
flourishing township. The first land taxes that 
were paid upon the land in Dallas, is recorded 
in the Marion County records in 1828, and the 
land at that time, and for five years succeed- 
ing, was only valued at $1.25 per acre. So that 
we conjecture that the permanent owners did 
not enter the land previous to 1823, and several 
sections as late as 1828 were not reported as 
yet entered. As early as the year 1818 there 
was an occasional squatter, whose whole suste- 
nance was nearly allied to that of his red-skinned 
neighbor. These squatters usually settled 
along the Whetstone or Scioto, clearing a patch 
of ground large enough to raise a very limited 
suppl}^ of the coarser vegetables. The number 
of these early and transient settlers may be 



judged by the statement made by Abraham 
Monnett a few months ago. Said he : " In that 
strip of land from the turnpike west to the 
Wyandot County line, up to the Buc3'rus Town- 
ship line, I have in my memory more than fifty 
cabins that are now wholly destroyed, or at 
least but a few decayed timbers left to mark 
the former residence of some do-less squatter." 

The good morals of this class of settlers 
were conspicuous for their absence. While 
we cannot obtain an}^ sufficiently authenticated 
case, 3'et very man}' stories are still told among 
the old people concerning the daring robberies; 
and in one case strong evidence is still related 
by old settlers of a stranger, purporting to be 
a man of means, who was made the chief char- 
acter of an unrecorded tragedy in a log cabin 
that stood upon the east side of the turnpike) 
at the northern edge of the township. The in- 
trinsic value of this territory', however, could 
not long leave it in the hands of a class of 
people, who, at best, would be honored in being 
called " the connecting link between the Indian 
and the white man." 

As the men and women of intelligence moved 
in from older counties of the South and East) 
our squatter friends found the rays of the rising 
civilization too glaring for their squalor and 
filth, and they pandered to their nomadic tastes 
by keeping pace with the twilight belt as it 
gradually moved onward over the unbridged 
streams and fenceless prairies of the West. 
As would be expected, the plain land of Dallas 
was entered b}^ a class of permanent dwellers, 
coming from a countiy similar in soil and re- 
sources, and of like general features. Among 
the first of these was George Walton, a middle- 
aged man, of large family, who moved into 
Dallas from the " Pike-Whole-Prairie," in Pick- 
away County, in the fall of 1820. Mr. Walton 
moved into a squatter cabin that was located 
near the present residence of Maj. Matthew Car- 
mean. To this cabin he built an addition, and 
in two years had his place sufficiently improved 



IV 



il! 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



681 



to appear like living. He was of the Meth- 
odist belief, and the first Methodist meetings 
held in the township were at his residence. To 
the hospitable board and hearth of this enter- 
prising settler, all the early itinerant ministers 
of the earl}'^ times were welcomed. Through 
Mr. Walton's fostering care and devotion to his 
faith, an interest in religious matters was 
awakened at a very early day, and the Meth 
odist organization, now known as the " Sixteen 
Chapel," had its rise in these " cottage prayer 
meetings." Mr. Walton, having reai'ed an enter- 
prising famil}^, and seen them all comfortably 
established upon farms and in other avocations; 
finally- removed to Iowa, and died therein 1857. 

A neighbor of Mr. Walton was a Mr. Van 
Home, well known to the early settlers. He 
also came from Pickawa}' County in 1821. 
Mr. Van Home had a family of three sons. He 
never extended his farm to more than two 
eight3'-acre lots. The family' remained here 
until the old gentleman died. 

The Mason family were among the early set- 
tlers of the southeastern part of the township. 
The father and three bo3'S, Thomas, Joseph 
and John, came from England to America in 
1825, and followed ditching for an avocation. 
Mr. Mason, being a widower, with his three sons, 
kept bachelor's hall in a cabin erected on a 
forty-acre lot which he purchased, and which 
is now a part of the present farm of the widow 
of John Mason. It is told of the old gentleman 
that his skill in the culinar}^ art enabled him to 
give some valuable lessons to his neighbors of 
the opposite sex, who made household duties 
their exclusive business. His bread, especiall}', 
on account of its whiteness and fleeciness was 
the envy of the worthy dames who presided in 
the neighboring establishments. Mr. Mason 
was never remarried and died at a ripe age in 
our centennial yeiir. 

One of the most prominent of the early set- 
tlers, that still blesses this territor}- with his 
inspiring presence, is Charles AVesle}- White, 



who was raised in Ross County bj- fervent 
Methodist parents. He came by way of Waldo, 
and, after remaining for a short period, traveled 
northward until he reached Upper Sandusky, 
in 1822, where he engaged himself to the In- 
dian Mill, receiving $15 per month, boarding 
himself Mr. White was an important partici- 
pant in one of the first weddings of Dallas, the 
notice of which reads as follows : " Married — 
Mr. C. W. White to Miss Hannah Hoover, 
daughter of Christian Hoover, b}* Zalmon 
Rowse, November 25, 1830." He commenced 
housekeeping in a small log house on the south 
side of the Wj^andot road, opposite his present 
residence— just a half-century ago. He en- 
tered 200 acres of land, which lie to the west 
and join the present Ephraim Monnett farm. 
Mrs. White died in 1851, and Mr. White has 
never married again. He has, for many years, 
been one of the principal land-owners and 
stock dealers of the central part of Dallas 
Township, and is still pushing his busine.ss 
with the same ardor that has characterized his 
whole life. He spends his winters with his 
son-in-law, J. J. Fisher, of BuC3-rus. 

Matthew Mitchell was another of the earl}' 
land-owners of this township. He came from 
Richland County in 1820, entered the old 
Welsh farm, afterward moved to Wyandot 
County, and died there, in 1878, at the advanced 
age of eighty-four years. 

G. H. Busb}' came from Fairfield County, in 
1820 ; was a house joiner by trade ; puivliased 
land in Section 7 ; followed his trade and 
ftirmed. In 1830, he was elected Clerk of Mar- 
ion County, which oiflce he filled for man}' 
years. 

Alex Scott was the first owner of the present 
Ephraim 3Ionnett farm. He entered it about 
1822. His wife and children all died on this 
farm. Mr. Scott returned to his native State, 
Pennsylvania. 

Christian Hoover was one of the first per- 
manent settlers of central Dallas. He bought 



\ 



682 



HISTORY OF CRAWrOllD COUNTY 



out the heirs of William Johnson, in 1830. 
This land is now the property of Christian 
Hoover, Jr. Mr. Hoover had a family of two 
cliildren, Hannah and William ; the former of 
whom, as already mentioned, married Mr. C. 
W. White. The latter is at present a resident 
of Bucyrus. Mr. Hoover was one of the prin- 
cipal wheat growers in this township. He pur- 
chased a thresher as earl}^ as 1835, which in 
some particulars is excelled by the threshing- 
machinery of the present da}'. This thresher 
brought the straw, chafi' and wheat, all com- 
bined, from the c^dinder to the ground, but, as 
compared with the slow process of flailing, was 
a grand improvement. Mr. Hoover died in 
1849, at the age of sixty yeai's. His wife died 
the following year. 

David Bibler, another early settler, was a 
citizen of considerable celebrity in this and the 
adjoining township. In 1826, he moved to a 
residence adjacent to a spring, which has ever 
since been known as the " Bibler Spring." This 
land, which had been entered by Christian 
Stahley a few years previous to Mr. Bibler's 
advent, is now the propert}^ of Mr. James 
Hufty. At the old cabin which is still stand- 
ing upon the Wyandot and Bucyrus road, on 
the county line, Mr. Bibler kept tavern for 
many years, and was one of the " stops twenty 
minutes for dinner," along the old stage line. 
He ran a still-house upon the south bank of the 
Sandusky ; also a saw-mill ; dealt some in live- 
stock, cultivated a farm, etc. He was twice 
married. His first wife died December 9, 1856, 
and his second died a few years later, after 
which he removed to Hardin Count3\ In the 
year in which his first wife died he lost a son, 
who committed suicide. His daughter Susan 
died within the same year. 

An authentic and accurate sketch of some of 
the real experiences of these early settlers is 
not inappropriate here, and we give an extend- 
ed account of early life as related by Mrs. 
Martha Johnston, a lady of seventy-eight 



years, with a remarkably well preserved memo- 
ry, ;uk1 who has been a resident of Dallas near- 
ly all her life. Thomas F. Johnston, Ijetter 
known among his cotemporaries as " Squire 
Johnston," was born in the year 1800, in 
Lycoming County, Penn. After having learned 
his trade, that of cabinet-maker, and acquired 
some means, he determined to emigrate with 
his young wife to the capital of the new and 
prosperous State of Ohio. All necessary prep- 
arations weie made and in the fall of 1825, a 
four-horse team attached to a covered wagon 
containing Mr. and Mrs. Johnston with an 
infant child, Mr. Benjamin Warner and wife 
and an infant son, started for the untamed 
West. Their brother-in-laws, George Walton 
already mentioned, who settled in Dallas two 
3'ears previous, w^as the location first aimed for, 
from thence to the capital. After a three 
weeks' drive, the snow became so deep and the 
roads almost impassable, which obliged them 
to winter in the eastern part of the State. 
They resumed their Westward march in the 
early spring, having made their journey with 
the usual pri\'ations incident to such trips, they 
reached the eastern borders of the present 
county line, when again the}^ were obliged to 
halt — the wagon mired to its bed. With 
Spartan endurance, the women mounted the 
bare-back horses and carried the children, 
while the men, guided by the blazed trees, pre- 
ceded them wijth their rifles. When they ar- 
rived at the present Archy Clark farm, it had 
grown intensely dark. Not wishing to stay all 
night, a Mr. King, who lived near there, with 
pioneer courtesy-, prepared hickory-bark torches 
and conducted them to Mr. Walton's. It was 
now 2 o'clock in the morning. For the conso- 
lation of the modern young blood who is 
searching for precedents, we will record that 
even this hour did not find them all retired. 
Providence had favored Miss " Tishy," the 
eldest Walton daughter, with a blushing beau, 
neighbor Van Home's son. It may likewise be 



y\: 



J^^ 



HISTORY OF CEAWFORD COUNTY. 



683 



recorded, we regret to say, that Miss Tish}' 
never married lier late caller. It was not the 
smiles of love nor Cupid's cunning capers that 
so much interested the subjects of this sketch 
then, as the warm reception that the spacious 
fire-place with its glowing coals and blazing 
logs gave to them. Mrs. Johnston, having ex- 
changed her child for her husband's rifle, was 
taking the lead. On her near approach to the 
house, she ran past the outer sentry, the baying 
watch-dog and rushed into the cabin very un- 
ceremoniously. It can be better imagined than 
described, with what constei'uation the lovers, 
as well as the sleeping inmates, were aroused. 
Their mudd}' appearance and strange entry, on 
account of the blunted perceptions of the sleep- 
ers so suddenly aroused from sound slumber, 
caused their claim to kinship to be challenged. 
The ominous forebodings of the half-sleep- 
ing moments, on awaking suddenly changed 
into a happy recognition of a loved sister 
and brother. The wooer went, and his blush- 
ing inamorata suddenl}' changed the romance 
into realit}" b}" preparing viands for the unex- 
pected intruders. The " corn-pone " and the 
savor of the melting butter, coming fi"om the 
open fire on that occasion, was more of a cause 
for faire venir I'eau a la bouche than a dozen 
Georgia melons to men of Tanneric appetites. 
Upon the following day, a team of oxen was 
taken to the mired wagon. Everything was 
left unmolested, as travelers at that time of 
the year were not numerous and what few 
there were were honest. In a few dajs the 
Claridon blazed road was followed, and the 
new comers went prospecting towax'd the coun- 
ty seat. As they neared the Sandusky, they 
saw a few log cabins surrounded with water up 
to the very steps. Wild ducks were allowed 
to run at large within the corporation limits. 
The}' approached a cabin, looking, with its sur- 
roundings, very like a river boat, which proved 
to be "Bish" Merrimans store. His limited 
stock of goods was the occasion of some face- 



tious remarks from his new customers. The 
merchant replied : " If you had to wheel all this 
stock of goods in a wheelbarrow a distance of 
forty miles, and sleep on them by night, you 
would think it was not limited." Among the 
strange sights to our Eastern visitors were to 
see from the cabin door the sportive fawns 
with their dams, the skulking wolves and 
prairie chickens that had yet to learn the pro- 
prieties of civilized life, and keep at respectable 
distance from their new neighbors. 

Mr. Johnston soon found a deserted cabin, 
built by a Mr. Clark. It had all the conven- 
iences usually attached to those primitive 
domiciles — the stick chimney, clapboard doors, 
puncheon floors, windows made of bi'own paper 
oiled and pasted across open spaces left between 
the logs, and all other domestic arrangements 
of that ilk. This manner of living was not 
fully in accord with the Eastern-bred tastes 
of its occupants, so Mr. Johnston fully deter- 
mined to remove to Columbus. When it was 
spread abroad that " Tommj- " was going to 
leave, and on the very morning which he had 
arranged to start to take a prospective view of 
the capital, he was aroused very earl}' b}' some 
loud banging upon the clapboard door, which 
he supposed was caused by an unwelcome call 
from a company of Indians. On opening the 
door, he was surprised to be greeted by a num- 
ber of his neighbors, among whom were Archy 
Clark, Greorge Clark, Col. Poe, George Walton 
and others, each bearing a gun. They began 
by demanding that Tommy go that day with 
them on a hunt, and trying, with all the powers 
of oratory, to discourage his intention of leav- 
ing — b}^ rehearsing exciting hunting incidents, 
collecting hone}-, etc., etc. Having agreed to 
postpone his intended trip, the}' offered him 
land that they had entered, and other induce- 
ments. He accepted a gift from Benjamin 
Warner, which was a choice of the two forty- 
acre lots now composing a part of the Jacob Herr 
farm. Mr. Johnston accepted the gift upon the 






:^ 



:^ 



684 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



the condition that if wheat could be I'aised upon 
kind he would stay. Providence performed 
this part of the covenant, and the Squire was 
blessed with a bountiful crop. He soon learned 
from experience that the raising of wheat in 
this new country was but a secondary matter 
in comparison with its preparation for consump- 
tion. The daily fighting off the clouds of birds 
that robbed them when the grain was filling ; 
the gathering with the sickles ; the long and 
tedious process of cleaning ; a two-days-and-a- 
night trip to mill, with a single sack, were in no 
way encouraging to a man with a craving for 
the capital. The flour from the wheat thus 
cleaned was so colored and bitter that it was 
almost unpalatable. A building spot was the 
next question to be settled. After some search- 
ing, Mrs. Johnston suggested that it be at the 
foot of a large oak-tree then standing near the 
present Jacob Herr homestead. On felling this 
tree, they were not a little surprised to find it 
the chosen home of an adventurous colon}'. 
These " heralds of civilization " had sipped the 
nectar from the lips of many a forest flower, 
and made this moldering trunk the large re- 
ceptacle of ambrosial sweetness. Another in- 
commodity was to obtain a healthful quality of 
water for domestic uses. Materials for walling 
a dug well were not to be had at any price. 
The nearest substitute was the gum of the syc- 
amore tree. This, at best, only served for shal- 
low wells, which would fill up with wild water, 
impregnated with a malarial solution, generat- 
ing fevers not infrequently of a fatal type. The 
farm was rapidly improved. Mr. Johnston put 
up his own cabin, finishing it in true workman- 
ship style. Squarely hewed logs, well jointed 
and well fitted ; windows, sash filled with glass 
panes, were among the improvements that 
Tommy introduced, which gained for him the 
title of being a " proud man." This new house 
was situated near one of the main Indian trails, 
so that they had semi-annual visits from their 
coppei'-colored neighbors as they came in from 



the Western territory to shoot deer on the 
Whetstone. For several years, it was not an 
uncommon sight to behold a band of Indians, 
in the late fall and early winter, sti'etched upon 
the ground with their heads toward the fire, 
trusting to the moon to warm their feet. Very 
frequently the squaws would stop to make the 
" white folks " a neighborly call. The papooses, 
bound to boards, were set up against the sunny 
side of the house to amuse themselves as their 
natures dictated. The old Indian chief's visits 
were usually made with an eye to business, and, 
when all other topics were exhausted, he gener- 
ally drifted upon the subject of " whisk," or 
" fire-water," as one suitable to make him feel 
as though he had been courteously received by 
his white host. 

Mr. Johnston, having become sick of the im- 
pure water they were obliged to use, started in 
search of a more agreeable location. He was 
favorably impressed with the land and water 
surrounding Fort Findlay. There he purchased 
a quarter-section a short distance from the vil- 
lage. This was soon improved and sold at a 
profit. He bought again in the town and made 
a second profitable sale. He then returned to 
Crawford and found the new-comers were 
! rapidly filling up the unoccupied sections, 
j making the neighborhood present a very differ- 
! ent appearance. He bought a forty-acre lot 
half-mile east of his last homestead, of Samuel 
Lyon ; to this he rapidly added land on every 
side. He again moved, this time to Bucyrus, 
leaving his farm in the hands of his oldest 
boys and tenants. He returned to the farm, 
and, in 1857-58, he erected the handsome 
Grothic residence that is now owned by Benton 
Herd. Previous to 1880, no residence of Dallas 
could be said to have excelled it in finish and 
quality of work. The lumber was hauled over- 
land from Sandusky City with teams, the 
shingles coming from York State. Mr. CuUis- 
ton, the architect, was a man of fine taste, and 
constructed an edifice that has long been a 





*.. 




Cu- 




HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



685 



standing compliment to his skill in this depart- 
ment. Thomas F. Johnston was a prominent 
Freemason, an active participant in all public 
improvements and political movements, and a 
man of fine education for his da}'. He died 
December 20, 1862, very unexpectedly, from an 
attack of heart disease, an ailment that had 
threatened him for several years. 

Benjamin "Warner, who has been mentioned, 
was one of the prominent earl}' settlers. His 
first residence was upon the present 3Iatthew 
Carmean farm. Mr. Warner soon had the repu- 
tation of possessing one of the best improved 
farms of eighty acres in that part of Marion 
County. He was a man who loved adventure 
and sport. In pursuit of deer and foxes, he 
was the leader of many a venatorial party. 
Some eight or ten years after his settlement, he 
sold out his land, provided a comfortable place 
for Mrs. Warner in one of his dwellings, and 
took an extended trip through Pennsylvania, 
his native State, and a part of New York. After 
his return in 1836. he bought and moved to the 
present home of Thomas McKinstry, on the 
pike. The improvement upon this farm con- 
sisted of a stoutly built double log cabin that 
was widely known by the traveling public as 
a tavern of well-regulated table. For many 
years this was one of the principal stopping- 
places of the wheat-haulers of the Sandusky 
and Columbus Turnpike. Mr. Warner went to 
the West in the fall of 1872 to visit his daugh- 
ter, during which time he was taken with gan- 
grene in one of his limbs, from which he died 
in the following year. Mrs. Warner survived 
him five years, dying in the spring of 1878, at 
the residence of her son, R. K. Warner, of Bu- 
cyrus Township. 

One of the oldest men still living in this 
township is Samuel Coulter, who, although a 
man of seventy-nine years of age, is still act- 
ive, and recalls many incidents of early days 
with great accuracy. Mr. Coulter came from 
Huntingdon County, Penn.,in 1832, and leased 



a strip of land of Mr. Van Home. This land 
he afterward bought, and it is now cultivated 
by his youngest son, George. The elder Coul- 
ter built one of the first large barns of old 
Pennsylvania style. This well - constructed 
building was put up by Anthony Houser, and 
is still standing, a souvenir of early enterprise. 
Mr. Coulter was a grain farmer, and bought 
out his neighbors, John and Daniel Reecer, 
and other lots of forty and eighty acres, until 
he is ranked as one of the prominent landlords 
of Dallas. His maiden sister, Miss Sarah 
Coulter, is the oldest person now living in Dal- 
las, being in her eighty-fifth year. Maj. Car- 
mean is another of the heavy land-owners and 
stock-dealers, and is among the old settlers of 
Dallas. He, in company with his brother 
" Jimmy," emigrated from Ross County, in the 
fall of 1827, and entered a piece of land now 
included in the old Shank farm, in the western 
part of the township. After spending five 
years here, he bought of Benjamin Warner 
400 acres and moved to his present homestead. 
He has accumulated wealth in his day by 
stock raising and dealing until he has no small 
pittance to enjoy in his ripening years. When 
a young man, he took a full course in 
veterinary surgery at Chillicothe, Ohio, in 
which profession he has for many years had 
more than a local reputation and name. Per- 
haps there is no present resident of Dallas so 
widely known in Crawford and adjoining coun- 
ties as Mr. Carmean. Even at his advanced 
age, he is not infrequently called great dis- 
tances to give the diagnosis in critical cases of 
valuable horses, and is the local referee in all 
diseases in dispute among the younger veterin- 
arians. His practical knowledge and skill in 
anatomy gained him, while yet a young man, a 
position in the Ohio Canal Company, where he 
j practiced human surgery and medicine for the 
j company several years. He was never an ex- 
i cessive sporter with his gun, and yet, in his 
younger days, few could equal him as a marks- 



liU 



686 



HISTORY OF CRAWFOKD COUNTY. 



man. He usuall}- chose to ride on horseback 
in his deer hunts, which, from his frequent suc- 
cessful shots, was a great saving of his 
strength in bearing home the game. He re- 
ceived the title of Major from the position he 
held in one of the local military organizations 
of Marion Count}-. 

Among the other early settlers who should 
at least have a passing notice, was Robert Grif- 
fith, better remembered as " Bob " Grrifflth. 
He came from Ross Count}- in 1832, and at 
first took care of some land owned by Linus 
Ross, who was then living in Ross County. 
Mr. Griffith afterward bought this land of 
Ross, to which he added 200 acres. He was a 
remarkably successful stock-dealer, and, ac- 
cording to the statements of his cotempora- 
ries, " everything he touched turned into 
money.'" Finding his farm too small to grat- 
ify his increasing wants, he sold out to Mr. 
Ross in about the year 1842, and moved to 
Iowa. He is now one of the heavy shippers 
from that State to the Chicago markets. John 
Roberts was also one of the early settlers of 
this section. A short history of this gentle- 
man is given in another part of the work. In 
fact, there is no citizen of a new country that 
has lived fifty years amid such varied scenes 
and rapid improvements as have the citizens of 
this section for the last half-centui-y, but that 
can relate to the present generation many in- 
teresting reminiscences. To talk to these ven- 
erable old men, one can but feel the sentiment 
expressed by the poet, 

" The peasant at his cottage door 

May teach you more than Plato knew. 
See that thou scorn him not : Adore 
God in him and thy nature too " 

It is not uninteresting in these days, when 
we hear so much discussion concerning capital 
and labor and the social problems, to listen to 
the pioneer's story of early privations and 
hardships. While we would not wish to re- 
turn to the '• good old days," as they are wont 



to call them, yet a rehearsal of their story and 
experience can but enlarge our charity for 
their criticisms of the " heir apparent " who 
goes dashing by with his fiery " coursers " and 
glittering " side-bar." In their day, it was not 
a " ten-hours law," but units of labor per- 
formed, that constituted a day's work. With 
the wooden mold-board plow that turned a six 
to eight inch furrow, one and one-half acres 
was considered a day's work. In the wheat- 
fields of 1830, the proprietor, instead of sitting 
at one side of the field or riding al)out on his 
hack horse after a self-binder, was the leader 
of a band of robust reapers with sickles in 
hand. The man that could gather and bind 
the most sheaves was the hero in the eyes of 
his fellow-laborers, and the "beau ideal" of the 
"Maud Mullers at the spring." A day's work 
in the harvest-fields then was to cut and bind 
from twenty-fiA^e to thirty dozen. Occasionally 
there were "giants in those days," even at 
labor. As an instance, Jacob Monnett cut and 
bound and shocked in one day forty -four doz- 
en of rye for Abraham Monnett. For the en- 
couragement of the few (?) remaining posterity 
of Rev. Jeremiah Monnett, it is recorded that, 
at an advanced period of his life, he bound 
one hundred and five dozen of oats, and in the 
evening walked four miles to a neighboring 
camp-meeting. Another authenticated case is 
that of Samuel Morris, who, to win a wager, 
mowed in one day four acres of grass for Mad- 
ison Welsh, who then owned the present Eph. 
Monnett farm. The laborer that had the 
health and did not perform what was mutually 
agreed to be a day's work — and the standard 
was by no means short of measure — was so- 
cially ostracised by his comrades and shunned 
by the fair sex, whose penal criticism is always 
" too grievous to bear." Not infrequently did 
the feminine progenitors of some 6f the mod- 
ern bloods make the harvest-field a "summer 
resort," and put in sheaf the endless " golden 
swaths " that their not more endurins; mates 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY 



687 



were ever dropping from their swinging cra- 
dles. 

Every frontier colony has its many unre- 
corded hardships. None was more unfortu- 
nately situated in this respect than was Dallas 
Township. Far from all commercial outlets 
and thoroughfares, her citizens were obliged to 
drive to Frederick, Knox County, or Mount 
Vernon, to a grist-mill. Each customer had to 
fall in line and abide his time, making the bus- 
iness of going to mill very often one of a 
week's job. Lumber, salt, groceries, dress- 
goods, when purchased, and all other commer- 
cial necessities, had to be bought at Sandusky 
City (then called Portland), and conveyed over- 
land b}' wagons. These disadvantages, com- 
bined with a lack of capital, awakened the 
inventive genius of the American mind, as 
may be evinced if we glance for a moment at 
the domestic life of some of these inland pio- 
neers. To make the flour and meal obtained 
at such labor and expense hold out, home-, 
made hominy was manufixctured. A hickory 
log was usually chosen and sawed in a con- 
venient length and stood on end. The artificer 
of the family would use his experimental 
knowledge by manufacturing from it a very 
durable mortar. Into this mortar would be 
placed a few quarts of corn with a cup of 
warm water, the pounding of which furnished 
the boys with old-time sport. With the pecu- 
liar shape of this mortar, all that was neces- 
sary was to strike with the pestle in the center, 
where the largest particles would fall. 

Another of the customs in providing sup- 
plies, that has now become obsolete, and one 
that may be interesting to the future Dallasian 
when he wishes to celebrate the centennial of 
this dominion, was the home manufacture of 
wearing material of fifty years ago. Those 
made of '• hempen goods '" passed through man}' 
stages. First, the flax was pulled up from the 
root by hand, bound in small bundles, gathered 
in stacks, and each bundle was divested of its 



seed by means of an oaken paddle and a tem- 
porary^ stanchion — usually a rail — over which 
the heads were held. Great care had to be 
taken to keep the straw from entangling. After 
this first step, it was bound in parcels of conven- 
ient size, to facilitate its removal to the meadow 
or stubble field, whei'e it was spread in swaths, 
to be exposed to the sun and rain from four to 
six weeks, to " rot," as it was termed. The col- 
lecting of the fiber thus exposed to the weather, 
when the grass had grown up among the straw, 
has made a professional man out of many a one 
of our ancestors. For, if the pioneers " agree 
as touching one thing, it is in expressing their 
distaste for this stage of manufacturing hempen 
goods, and fully accounts for the rapid strides 
that the inventive genius has made in this line 
of manufacture. The breaking of the flax was 
usually reserved for fall and winter evening ex- 
ercises. Each boy had his task of so many 
bundles for the evening. One of the •• tricks of 
the trade " may be found in the following state- 
ment : " It was alwa^'s necessary to have a fire. 
Around and above this fire would hang the un- 
broken flax to dr}'. The old people, being 
more expert, frequentl}' would complete their 
evening task in advance of the rising genera- 
tion, who, being left alone, would suddenly- raise 
the temperature of the surrounding atmosphere 
■ by adding to the flames a fuel whose intrinsic 
value was not alwa^'s taken into consideration, 
nor made a topic of famil}- discussion the re- 
mainder of the evening." In the next process, 
the flax was '• scutched," when it passed into 
the hands of the girls, who would hackle it, 
which left it ready for the spinning wheel and 
the shuttle. The long and laborious process 
of threshing and winnowing the wheat for mar- 
ket and mill ; their home-made cheese ; their 
dip candles ; their out-ovens ; almost a whole 
vocabulary- of domestic terms, that will become 
practically obsolete to coming generations — 
could each be dwelt upon with interest, did 
space allow. 



±'- 



i£L 



688 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



The fine stock of these fertile valle3-s — which 
have since gained a reputation and name be- 
yond the State for this branch of profitable 
trade — in 1824, consisted of thirt3''-one horses 
and fifty-five cattle, the former appraised at $40 
per head, and the latter from $4 to $8. Sheep 
and hogs were not enumerated in the tax list, 
even as late as 1830. The former were usually 
of the hardy varieties, like the long-legged, 
coarse-wooled that are now called the " In- 
diana." For their protection, it was necessary 
to keep constant watch over them, and, in the 
evening, the}^ were driven into high-built pens 
to protect them from the ravages of the wolves. 
The pork trade, in 1824-30, was as equally an 
uncertain business. Not that the cloven-footed 
animal could not protect himself from the hos- 
tile attacks of those of his own rank in cre- 
ation, but his roaming nature often made his 
ownership a subject of litigation. The man 
who was fortunate enough to own a piece of 
timber yielding mast, frequently became the 
possessor of a marketable drove of hogs in the 
fall of the year. These hogs were hard to capt 
ure, and, as one of the old purchasers stated 
it, " In the early days, it was an important mat- 
ter, when you bought hogs, to have it under- 
stood they were to be delivered." The most 
noted men in the sheep and hog trade were Da- 
vid and Simeon Bryant, who moved to the pres- 
ent Ephraim Monnett farm in the fall of 1829. 
They would bring in sheep and hogs from the 
East, and fatten the latter on the mast, when 
they would either drive them to the Eastern 
market, or butcher and pack them on the place. 
Madison Welsh was one of the first pork- 
packers in this part of the county. He estab- 
lished a packing-house on the land that Greorge 
Welsh now owns, on the Marion road. This 
gave an increased value to the forbidden 
meat. 

The forests and neighboring swamps were 
eagerly searched for wild hogs. Some of the 
thrilling adventures connected with their capt- 



ure justly entitle not a few of our ancestors to 
unfading laurels. 

Concerning the changes in the social customs 
of the last half-century, our limited space will 
allow but a brief notice. The building of dwell- 
ings, barns, breaking the first sod, all classes of 
heavy labor, constituted the " sociables " and 
' soirees " of two generations ago. The lawn 
fetes of these primitive times were to assemble 
by moonlight on the green ; choose leaders ; 
divide in the center a long pile of corn provided 
by the host. When the signal was given, each 
party would strive to accomplish the lawn 
"feat" of "beating." Not "to the victor be- 
longed the spoils ;" but the successful captain 
was rewarded by being elevated upon the 
shoulders of his comrades, and carried about 
the premises as the recognized champion of the 
evening. Their isolation from the commercial 
world, bound them the closer in the ties of 
neighborly affection, so that in their sports or 
in their sorrows they enjoyed or suffered as one. 

The first time the people were called together 
in a meeting of a sadder nature than the one 
above described, was in the spring of 1827. 
The death angel passed over the settlement, and 
a young man was left lying in a cabin chamber 
of Jacob Snyder, cold in death. Dying in the 
spring of the year, when the streams were all 
swollen and impassable, they were compelled 
to inter the corpse in a coffin rudely made of 
split-oaken puncheon. From these a square 
box was made, by putting one in the bottom of 
the grave, two at the sides, placing the body 
within, and the fourth served as a lid. This 
young man was buried near the present resi- 
dence of Mervin Monnett — a graveyard that 
has no tombstone to mark its location. In the 
same year, the first burial was made in the 
White graveyard, situatetl in central Dallas, 
one mile east of the village of Wyandot. Of 
Mr. McClary, the fii'st occupant of these grounds, 
but little is remembered. He resided not far 
from Wyandot Village, and was inhumed with- 



4 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



689 



out religious rites. In the following 5'ear, 1829, 
Charles Parish died on the farm west of Ephraim 
Monnett's. He was the first silent partner of 
Mr. McClary in the new necropolis. 

An item of more than local historical interest 
and value is connected with a spring, now 
owned by James Hufty, commonly called the 
" Bibler Spring." It is located a few rods east 
of the Wyandot County line, on the north side 
of the Wyandot and Bucyrus road. It was told 
us b}" several of the early settlers that this was 
the traditional spot upon which Col. Crawford 
camped the night before his ill-fated engage- 
ment. Upon further inquiry, we learned from 
Benjamin Welsh, now living in Wyandot, and 
he is a man eighty years of age, that when he 
was assisting in putting up one of the first 
cabins in 1819, an old man rode up to their 
place of work, and, during the conversation, 
related an account of the encampment at this 
very spring, claiming to have been one of Craw- 
ford's men. He stated that in the early morn- 
ing (which probably was June 4, 1782), sev- 
eral of their men saw some Indians, for the 
first time, coming toward the encampment from 
the southeast ; but, on observing the whites, 
they immediately disappeared. This little scrap 
of such direct tradition, may throw some light 
upon Hechewelder's supposed fictitious collo- 
quy, which he has recorded as taking place 
between Chief Wingenund and Col. Crawford, 
in which Col. Crawford asks the Chief : " Have 
any Moravian Indians been killed or hurt since 
we came ?" Wingenund replies, " None ; but 
3'ou first went to their town, and, finding it 
empty and deserted, you turned on the path 
toward us. If you had been in search of war- 
riors only, 3'ou would not have gone thither. 
Our spies watched you closely ; they saw you 
while you were embodying yourselves on the 
other side of the Ohio ; they saw you cross the 
river ; they saw you where you encamped at 
night ; they saw you turn ofi" from the path to 
the deserted Moravian town. Your steps were 



constantly watched, and 3'ou were suffered to 
proceed until you reached the spot where you 
were attacked." 

These two accounts, coming from such dif- 
ferent sources, have a wonderful agreement. If 
either story be correct, undoubtedly the Indians 
seen near the Bibler Spring that morning were 
some of the spies that Wingenund refers to. 

Dallas can present a very commendable war 
record, this being the only township in the 
county that furnished her full quota of men 
without having the draft imposed. One of her 
sons, whose valiant career did her honor, was 
Lieut. Col. J. W. Shaw, more fully mentioned 
in another chapter of this work. 

The borders of Dallas Township liave been 
thrice visited with prevailing epidemics. The 
first was the milk sickness. The Wood family 
was the first fatally affected. Elizabeth and 
Henry Wood died a few days apart, from this 
scourge, in the fall of 1833. James Wood, of 
the same household, died a few days later. 
Others, whose names are now forgotten, in this, 
the neighborhood along the Sandusky River, 
died about the same time. In the same year, 
several cases of Asiatic cholera developed 
among the citizens in the southern pai't of the 
township. So little is told definitely concern- 
ing this, that we omit any of the statements. 
The second attack of cholera occurred late in 
the summer of 1854. The epidemic was intro- 
duced into Dallas by John Norris. He was a 
man addicted to strong drink, and endured 
abstinence as long as he thought possible. 
Contrary to the pleadings of his wife, he started 
for Marion at a time when that town was 
severely scourged by this disease. Although 
its streets had been fenced across, and every 
precaution and warning given "to stay out," 
Mr. Norris went, and in some way obtained his 
fill of liquor. About forty-eight hours after- 
ward, Dr. John Milot, of Bucyrus, was sum- 
moned to his bedside, and found the malady 
just finishing its work. On the morning of 



^« 



690 



HIISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY, 



August 29, he died from a clear case of Asiatic 
cholera, and his wife, with the two adopted 
children, deserted the liouse for the barn. 
About 2 o'clock of the morning of September 
1, Mrs. Norris awoke in great pain. Doctor 
Fulton was summoned, but too late. She was 
sick but twenty hours. It was from this case 
that the Doctor himself received his attack, 
mentioned elsewhere. So great was the con- 
sternation in the community, that it was a diffi- 
cult matter to find two persons beside the son 
to help in the burial. The two children that so 
faithfully obej'ed their mother's command fled 
to the woods, in which place they remained 
several days. They were cared for by the 
neighbors, who carried food and bed-clothing, 
and left them upon a stump, where these 
"babes of the woods" could come and get 
them. The two orphans, thus a second time 
bereft of parents, escaped the plague, and are 
still living. 

Among the houses of " public note " the Ra- 
mey Tavern was perhaps most widely known 
by the traveling public. The Half- Way House, 
or Ramey Tavern, was situated on the east side 
of the Marion and Bucyrus road, about mid- 
waA' between the two towns. This first public 
boarding-house was a double log building re- 
constructed and enlarged by jMr. Ramey, in 
the fall of 1824. The principal patronage 
came from the passengers and emplo^'es that 
traveled upon the stage line, run on this 
road, as early as 1823. In connection with 
the tavern, was also a feed stable where the 
stage horses were exchanged and fed. After 
the death of Mr. Ramey, in 1835, Mr. Knapp, 
of Marion, acted as landlord for several years. 
The stage line was broken up in 1840, and the 
Ramey tavern was converted into a private 
dwelling by Mrs. Meissinger. This public inn 
is remembered as one of a clean record, al- 
ways being a stronghold of temperance and 
passable sobriety — a statement that cannot al- 
ways be truthfullj' made of these rural hostel- 



ries. A public building of less notoriety was 
opened upon the opposite side of the road, 
where Oliver Monnett's homestead stands. This 
place was owned by James Carmean, who sold 
it to a Mr. Fay Muhlinger, about 1836. The 
latter " kept tavern " on a small scale for sev- 
eral years ; the exact time is not known. The 
third and last hotel was the " Bibler House," 
that has already been incidentally mentioned. 
It had a patronage from the stage and mail 
route, similar to that of the Ramey inn, with a 
reputation for temperance and order not so en- 
viable as the former. 

The first saw-mill in Dallas Township was a 
water-mill, built upon the Sandusky, about 100 
rods from the Wyandot County line, by Mr. 
Bibler. It was a mill run b}' members of 
the family when work on the farm was not 
crowding. Bibler operated this mill as earl}' 
as 1827, but some ten ^-ears later it was sold to 
Mr. Longacre. Mr. Rumble afterward pur- 
chased it and changed it into a grist-mill, running 
two sets of buhrs. In later years, it was again 
repaired by Mr. Vail, who put in a steam en- 
gine. Having failed, the engine and machiner}' 
were attached, and returned to Cleveland, Ohio. 
Mr. Rex purchased the building, and replaced 
the water-works. The mill is now owned b}^ 
Rex, but the dam is out of repair, leaving the 
mill idle. 

One of the most prominent Indian trails that 
crossed the present territory of Crawford was 
the one leading from Captain Pipe's town, in 
Wyandot Count}-, east toward the present site 
of Leesville. In the memory of the citizens of 
this section of tlie township, the Wj^andot In- 
dians made this their main highwa}' in travel- 
ing to and from Bucyrus. They crossed the 
Sandusky at an old-time ford, now upon N. 
Eckert's farm. 

Previous to the purchase of the Reserve in 
1842, by the United States, the citizens of what 
was formerly Crawford would come in from the 
western townships to the count}^ seat upon this 



>W 



^ 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



691 



trail, to pay taxes — Indians and white men in 
one long, single file, not infrequently reaching 
seventy or eighty in a company. The scenes 
along this trail a century ago were familiar to 
the valorous Pipe and the warrior Wingenund. 
More than 120 years ago the unresisting Mora- 
vian convert traveled this highway of his 
savage neighbors. Upon it the infamous 
Simon Girty and his painted companions have 
frequently ridden to the council house and car- 
ried welcome news of massacre to Captain Pipe 
from the eastern settlements. 

The first blazed road was that known as the 
" Claridon " in 1822, leading from Buc^tus to 
Claridon, passing through the extreme east of 
Dallas. The Wyandot and Bucyrus road was, 
for the first five years, followed bj' the blazed 
trees, but as early as 1825 it became a tolerably 
well-known route. The main road that passes 
through Dallas is the Columbus and Sandusky 
Pike. That which was of the most local 
interest to the boys of Dallas was the Chapman 
Toll-gate. This gate crossed the pike about a 
half-mile south of the old Crawford County 
line, near to the present residence of Henry 
Linn. The turnpike was held b}' a joint-stock 
compan}', which gave bonds to build either a 
stone or wooden pike. The charter granted the 
compan}' power to establish toll-gates on the 
above condition. The company foithfully ful- 
filled one part of the contract that was to put 
up the toll-gates, but never finished more than 
the dirt-bed prepax'atory for the stone. The 
citizens endured the mud roads for ten or 
twelve years, and paid their tolls until the^^ sus- 
pected the company of bad faith. When the 
roads received no further attention in repairs, 
the wheat haulers were not always in a humor 
to pay the demanded stipend. Capt. Chapman, 
the keeper, sometimes found it inconvenient 
to enforce his •' tariti' bill " upon a company of 
teamsters, who would occasionally attach sev- 
eral teams to a chain having such a peculiar 
relation to the gate, that great damage would 



be done to the latter. Johnny Van Vorhis was 
one of the first men that demanded a '' change " 
in this toll-gate S3"stem. In the following 3^ear, 
1842, when no one could be made to pay but 
children and feeble men, it was completely de- 
molished and burned by James Arbuckle and 
Robert Hill. This event led to an overthrow 
of the toll-gate system. After considerable 
litigation carried on b_y Capt. Gideon Chapman 
in the interest of the company, the case was 
decided in favor of the " incendiaries.' This 
road has since been annually repaired by the 
special land tax. and a poll tax being applied 
under the direction of a District Supervisor. 
Several attempts have been made, in late j^ears, 
to macadamize this, the main road of the 
count3^ The limited suppl}' of gravel and 
stone along this section of the road, however, 
will probably delay the project indefinitely. 

There were no church buildings erected in 
Dallas previous to 1875. As is customarj^ in 
most rural regions, divine service was held for 
many 3'ears in the schoolhouses. In the sum- 
mer seasons, the ministers would address well- 
filled pews in '' God's first temples." In later 
years, there have been churches estal)lished on 
every side of this township — the farthest not 
exceeding a mile, and several within that dis- 
tance. On the eastern boundary, services have 
long been held at Winchester and " Sixteen 
Chapel." At Latimberville on the south, the 
Methodist Episcopal and Disciple Churches 
have members from this township. Likewise 
the Methodist and Presbyterian on the west. 
A quarter of a mile north of the Dallas line, in 
Buc3'rus Township, is the Monnett Chapel, whose 
membership was for many 3-ears largel}^ in 
Dallas. 

In 1875, Messrs. Bell, Shearer, Rexroth, Eph- 
raim Oliver, Mervin Monnett. George Welsh and 
others, organized Scioto societv, and built the 
first church edifice in Dallas, upon laud do- 
nated for the purpose by Ephraim ^lonnett. 
This structure, which in finish and furnishing is 



-TV. 



±'. 



692 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



not excelled by any country church in the 
count}', was dedicated as " Scioto Chapel," by 
Rev. T. H. Wilson, of the Central Ohio Con- 
ference. • Zachariah Welsh was a resident of 
Wyandot, and was one of the first to lead in 
church work. In the long intervals of minis- 
terial preaching, he would exhort the members 
to be faithful and zealous in good works. 
Meetings for prayer and praise were held at his 
cabin long before schoolhouses were erected. 
The wonderful man of God, Rev. James Gilruth, 
a pioneer preacher of this section, deserves more 
than a passing notice. He was a worthy imi- 
tator of the founder of his church, and a man 
of powerful physique. One old gentleman 
says of him : "When preacher Gilruth ap- 
peared upon the camp-meeting ground, the row- 
dies ceased their disturbances. He could make 
himself be heard a mile." Rev. Mr. Gilruth 
was a protot^'pe of the pioneer minister. Being 
an officer, a captain, in the war of 1812, he had 
learned to brave some of the hardships of the 
soldier. Although a man remembered for his 
kind and considerate heart, yet he never fully 
lost that commanding air that made him such a 
terror to the "rowdies" who seemed to be a 
necessary adjunct of all the early religious 
efforts. An anecdote is related of him that 
illustrates the great strength and physical 
development he had. At Franklin, the former 
county seat of Franklin County, a number of 
youths were practicing throwing a sledge in 
the court house 3'ard. After Mr. Gilruth had 
easily excelled in throwing the sledge to a great 
distance, he astonished the bystanders by 
taking up a four-pound ax, which he hurled 
over the court house steeple. The circuit of 
Mr. Gilruth in 1823-24, was one of four weeks' 
travel. Three of his Sabbath appointments 
were in the neighboring villages of Delaware, 
Kenton and Bucyrus. He had intermediate 
appointments in the lesser villages and country 
chapels, occupying every afternoon and evening 
of the week, excepting Saturda3-s, his onlj' day 



of rest. His meetings were held in this part of 
the county in the cabins of some of the mem- 
bers, usually Mr. Welsh's. He was, in after 
years, twice returned to this circuit. No one 
man seems to have left more of an impression 
upon the minds and morals of our citizens, than 
did Rev. James Gilruth. He was transferred 
to an Iowa Conference in 1840, and is still liv- 
ing. 

The' immediate successor of Mr. Gilruth, 
in 1824, was Rev. Mr. Cadwallader. The citi- 
zens of the western part of Crawford were fre- 
quently spiritually feasted by a quarterly 
meeting sermon from Rev. James B. Finley, who 
was Superintendent of the W3-andot Mission in 
1827. They were occasionally treated, also, to 
discoui'ses from the celebrated Russell Bigelow, 
stationed at the Sandusky mission in the same 
3-ear. The present territory of Dallas was 
included in the Portland District, Ohio Confer- 
ence, which included in its bounds the State of 
Michigan. The Rev. James McMahon was the 
Presiding Elder of this district in the 3'ears 
1826-30. Another of their earl3' preaching 
points was in the Welsh barn, a building 
yet in fair repair, situated opposite the Scioto 
Chapel. Rev. John Gilbert Bruce is especiall3' 
remembered as a revivalist in this corner of 
the moral heritage. In the winter of 1836-37 
protracted meetings were conducted b3' this 
divine, assisted by Rev. Jeremiah Monnett. 
Rev. S. P. Shaw, founder of Shaw Universit}-, 
of Tennessee, was also one of the earl}' work- 
ers in the vineyard. Rev. Mr. Shaw was a man 
of wide observation, and remarkably well 
versed in sacred and profane histor3'. In his 
views he was uncompromising, and awakened 
earnest religious convictions in the minds and 
hearts of his auditors. Many of his quaint 
and forcible aphorisms are 3'et remembered by 
ills converts. He was ordained Deacon in the 
Ohio Conference in the fall of 1827. Others, 
remembered for their good works, are Revs. 
Adam Poe, Presiding Elder, in 1836, of Port- 



-=£_ 



1A 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



695 



land District, and William Runnels, Presiding 
Elder in 1840. 

As alread}' stated, Dallas had no churches 
previous to 1875. This, in itself, might imply 
that the opposite party held sway, which really 
seemed to be the case at one time. In the 
midst of the township, and on this side of the 
river Scioto, lies the " Devil's Half- Acre." For 
an account of the origin of this significant 
title, we are indebted to Charles Raemer. His 
account, in substance, is as follows : There 
was, previous to 1830, a log cabin standing 
south of this hard-named place, which was used 
for school and church purposes. In 1830 to 
1832, a log schoolhouse was erected at the pres- 
ent site of the new school building, its imme- 
diate successor. The United Brethren Church 
attempted to organize and establish a society 
here, but failed. In a few winters. Rev. Will- 
iam Mathews, a Methodist, held revival services 
and toiled hard in the vineyard, and met with 
some considerable success, but the good im- 
pressions soon faded. The Presb3'terian denom- 
ination made the next attempt under Rev. Mr 
Hutchinson, of Bucjtus. " Manj^ were called, 
under his preaching, but few were chosen,'' 
so that the field was left clear for the Meth- 
odists, but the}' failed to keep the flock be- 
yond the traditional probationary- period. 
Next, the United Brethren Church again ral- 
lied her forces and opened the gates of the 
fold, but the flock came out as it entered, 
with no desire to make it an abiding-place. 
Then followed a Disciple minister from Latim- 
berville, to establish his faith in the hearts of 
the recalcitrants, but, like the others, produced 
no good results. When this denomination 
failed, Amos McMullen declared he believed 
this spot in possession of the devil, from which 
it was immediate]}' christened b}' the diabolical 
title of " Devil's Half- Acre." Since this queer 
appellation has been bestowed on the place? 
other attempts have been made, alternately by 
the Methodist Episcopal and United Brethren 



Churches, but no permanent society has ever 
been organized. 

The first "seminary of learning" in Dallas 
was a subscription school held in a vacated log 
dwelling, north of David Bibler's cabin, on the 
Sandusky River. ^liss Clara Drake, daughter 
of Capt. Drake, taught for the first two years, 
1827 and 1828, at $1.25 per week. Her attend- 
ance of twelve pupils were from the families of 
Welsh, Bibler and Hoover. Miss Drake after- 
ward removed to Clinton Count}-, 111., where 
she died last summer, at the age of eighty-four 
years. About the same time, or a little later, a 
subscription school was held in a new cabin 
erected for that purpose by a few of the early 
neighbors, opposite Maj. Carmean's present res- 
idence. Osborn Monnett and George Walton 
were the principal agitators of this enterprise, 
and it was afterward designated the '' Monnett 
Schoolhouse." Mr. Haney was the first teacher 
in this school building, at the advanced wages 
of $10 per mouth. Miss Chapman taught the 
first summer school in the same place. This 
academy, with its puncheon floor and greased 
paper windows, with its hewn slabs for benches 
and writing-desks, did not long remain sacred 
to the cause of learning. After its successor, 
in the Huntly Schoolhouse, in 1830, the former 
was removed by Maj. Carmean, and appropri- 
ated to the sheltering of animals of a lower 
order in creation. 

The first frame school-building was erected 
by Rev. Jackson Doeling and John Cooper, in 
the fall of 1838, upon his '• Satanic Majesty's" 
premises. John Bevington was the first ped- 
agogue, at a salary of $15 per month. 

These schools, in 1840 to 1860, numbered 
from forty to sixty pupils, which number has 
gradually decreased until, at present, four of 
them do not have an average of fifteen students, 
or about the number in attendance in 1830. 
The township, however, is well supplied with 
educational facilities, as compared to the pio- 
neer times, when the first schools were taught 



TV 



jOa. 



HISTORY OF CRAWFOUD COUNTY. 



by " subscription." Commodious houses, filled 
with modern furniture, and competent teachers 



are some of the benefits the present generation 
enjoys over that which preceded it. 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 

LYKENS TOWNSHIP— SOIL AND DRAINAGE— ORGANIZATION AND FIRST OFFICERS— INCIDENTS OF 

EARLY SETTLEMENT— GROWTH AND IMPROVEMENT — VILLAGE OF 

LYKENS— EDUCATION AND RELIGION. 



~"^T0 portion of the count}' of equal extent, 
-*-^ except Chatfield, remained as long un- 
settled as Lykens Township. This was not be- 
cause the extreme humidity of the soil was a 
serious objection to the early settlement, or be- 
cause its land was seeminglj^ be3'ond all efforts 
of being reclaimed from dampness and appar- 
ent sterilit3^ It was for the reason, that, when 
the first settlers came to Ohio, instead of going 
far out into the wilderness, where no neighbors 
were to be found within twenty miles or more, 
they kept locating just be^'Ond the rapidly ad- 
vancing line of settlement. Then, as the tide 
of settlement rolled westward from the eastern 
boundar}^ of the State and southward from 
Lake Erie, it occurred that the two divisions 
of the tide met in Lykens Township, and the 
settler from the North discovered that his 
neighbor was from the East. The western and 
northwestern portions were settled about five 
years before the eastern and southern portions. 
Pioneers from the old settlements on Sandusky 
River, in Seneca County, came into the north- 
ern part as early as 1825, while no im- 
provement was made in the eastern part until 
about five years later. It was natural and 
customar}' for settlers to select land that would 
repay them for the labor of clearing with an 
immediate and abundant crop. Afterward, the 
lower lands, which comprise almost the whole 
of the eastern and southern portions, was en- 
tered and improved. The soil of the township 
is predominantly alluvial, there being but little 
surface clay or sand. Several of the first set- 



tlers who are yet living tell almost incredible 
tales as to how the township in early years was 
almost wholly under water. It does not seem 
possible that the farms, now so nicely drained 
and improved, were so miry as to be almost 
impassable, when the pioneer first arrived. And 
yet observation teaches that timber, when 
found in heavy bodies, almost doubles the 
quantity of rain falling per annum ; and even 
small groves, scattered at intervals over coun- 
try which previously was prairie, increase in a 
noticeable degree the amount of rain. In the 
western part of Nebraska and Kansas, where 
the soil is almost wholly sand, and where, for- 
merl}', no crops — not even grass — could grow, 
since the enterprising pioneer has appeared and 
planted innumerable groves throughout the 
broad expanse, the fall of rain has increased to 
such a degree that the sandy plain, once so dry 
and barren of vegetation, is quite thickly over- 
grown with grass ; and, although corn and 
wheat are often left without sufficient moisture, 
from the fact that the time of rain-falls and the 
amount falling are yet unsettled, varying 
greatly with different seasons, a sufficient quan- 
tity falls during the greater number of seasons 
to supply the growing grain with abundant 
moisture. If timber is thus the means of at- 
tracting rain clouds, and, by so doing, increasing 
the rain-fall, when a country is cleared of tim- 
ber it must necessarily follow that the quantity 
of rain falling is greatl}^ decreased. Obser- 
vation teaches that this is true throughout 
Ohio, where formerly almost every foot of land 









/ .: / 



II 



:y 



(5_. 



:k. 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



697 



was covered with a heavy forest, which has 
been largely cleared away to make room for 
the agriculturist. This is one reason why 
the soil in almost every locality is much drier, 
at present, than formerly. Another reason is, 
that since the forests have disappeared, the 
action of the sun is unchecked, thus effecting a 
more rapid evaporation of the moisture than 
when the country was covered with woods. 
And, correlatively, the sandy plains of the West, 
exposed to the blazing heat of the summer's 
sun in former years, could retain moisture but 
a few days, even if six inches of water fell at 
one time. It thus appears that the rain cloud 
can be imperfectly controlled, and the supply 
of rain in any section of country can be varied 
through a period of years necessary for the 
gi'owth of timber, for the benefit of tillers of 
the soil, and, consequently, for all humanity. 
Thus the answer to the prayer of the Kaffir is 
realized through the observation of intelligent 
men. The soil of Lykens is not surpassed 
in richness by that of any other township in 
the county. It is peculiarly adapted for corn, 
and large crops of this valuable grain are 
raised year after year on the same piece of land 
without any appreciable decrease in the quanti- 
ty produced. This is true in the eastern and 
southeastern parts, where a deep, black soil 
prevails ; while the western part is better 
adapted to wheat and kindred grains, from the 
fact that more sand and clay are found, these 
portions of the soil being highly essential to 
the proper growth of the smaller grains. Along 
the course of the winding S^^camore Creek, 
corniferous limestone is found out-cropping, 
sufficient in amount to furnish the country for 
miles around with building stone. It is found 
in large quantities on Section 16, where the 
stone is covered with earth varying in thick- 
ness from six inches to eight feet. The stone 
is blue, and contains more impurities than that 
obtained at the more extensive quarries in 
Holmes and Todd Townships. It contains the 



casts of crinoidal stems and numerous cephalo- 
pods and trilobites. It is coarse, though exceed- 
ingly durable. The quarries have been but 
little worked, and many of the beds remain un- 
opened. 

The central and western portions of the town- 
ship are well drained. Sycamore Creek, a 
small, shallow stream, flows across the central 
part, entering the township on Section 11, and 
flowing across Sections 10, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 
and 30. It has many small branches, one of 
the principal rising in the flat land near the 
southeastern corner and flowing northwest, 
uniting with the main stream on Section 30. 
This stream, called Little Sycamore Creek, has 
but little fall and is sluggish in its movements. 
The northeastern part is level, and, in former 
years, was almost bottomless. These streams 
give the township an imperfect drainage. 

Lykens was for several years attached to 
Sycamore Township, of which the present Texas 
Township was a part until 1845. But, in 1831 
(or possibly 1830), a sufficient number of set- 
tlers had arrived as to make it advisable to have 
a separate township organization. Up to this 
time Lykens was known only by its number and 
range ; but, as soon as the proprietj^ of a sepa- 
rate organization was apparent, the few settlers 
were called upon to suggest a name for the 
township to be presented in their petition to the 
County Commissioners, praying that the town- 
ship have a separate organization. Jacob Foy 
wanted the township named " Fayette," but he 
could not command sufficient influence, much 
to his disappointment, to accomplish that result. 
Finally, Jacob Lintner, a prominent German 
who had just settled with several of his coun- 
trj'men near Portersville, suggested the name 
Lykens. The Germans had come from a town 
of that name in Pennsylvania, and, after some 
discussion, the name was presented in the peti- 
tion to the Commissioners, who accordingly 
bestowed it upon the township. An election of 
officers was ordered to be held at the residence 






698 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



of Jacob Foy during one of the spring montlis 
of 1832. There were living in tlie township at 
that time barely sufficient men to fill the va- 
rious offices ; but, pursuant to the order of the 
Commissioners, they assembled at Mr. Foy's 
cabin and elected the following officers, as re- 
membered b}' Joseph Hall : Benjamin Huddle, 
Justice of the Peace ; Levi Grifford, Constable ; 
John Elliott, Clerk ; Jacob Lintner, Treasurer ; 
Joseph Hall, Joseph Muchler and Robert 
Knott, Trustees ; and two others elected as 
Fence Viewers. This list of the first officers is 
given from memory by Mr. Hall, and may not 
be absolutely correct. However, the probability 
is that the list is correct. Almost every settler 
in the township was honored with an office. At 
that time the township, with the exception of a 
portion of Sections 31, 32 and 33, which be- 
longed to the Wyandot Reservation, comprised 
its present territory, and, in addition, the west- 
ern tier of sections in Chatfleld Township. In 
1835, all that portion of the township belong- 
ing to the Wyandot Reservation was annexed 
to Lykens, as is shown by the following extract 
taken from the records of the County Commis- 
sioners : " All that part of the originally sur- 
veyed Township 1, Range 16 east, lying in said 
(Wyandot) Reservation shall be attached to 
Lykens, and shall constitute a part of said 
township." After this action no change was 
made in the boundary or territory of the town- 
ship until 1845, when the eastern tier of sec- 
tions was attached to Chatfield, leaving Lykens 
thirty sections, the number it yet retains. For 
several years after the creation of the township, 
elections continued to be held in the cabin of 
Jacob Fo}'^ ; but, when the first schoolhouse 
was built, thej"^ were held there. 

The first settlers were of English descent, 
and first came to Seneca County ; but upon 
their arrival they discovered that the more val- 
uable portions of land had been entered, so 
the J' journeyed on south into northern Craw- 
ford County. It was not until about 1830 that 



the first settlers located in the southern part. 
The real emigration into the southern part, 
however, did not begin until 1832, when large 
numbers of Germans, directly from the old 
country, arrived in a body, and entered all the 
land in the southern part, within three or four 
years. Many of them had entered the land at 
the land offices, without first having seen 
whether it suited them or not. The conse- 
quence was that many of their farms were 
found to be almost wholly under water, and 
the disappointed Germans were compelled, b}' 
the fiat of events, to make the most of what 
they had. They were not easily discouraged 
by the floods of water, but went to work to 
clear and drain their land, and, in time, they 
were abundantly rewarded. The important 
question as to who was the first settler is a dif- 
ficult one to answer with any certainty. It is 
quite likely that the first settler to build a 
cabin in the township remained but a few years, 
going back to Seneca County, whence he came. 
This knowledge is gained from Arthur An- 
drews, one of the oldest settlers living in Texas 
Township, and from his recollection it seems 
highly probable that Seneca County furnished 
the first settlers for Lj^kens Township. The 
following men were established in the township 
in rude log cabins as early as 1828: John El- 
liott, Jacob Foy, Jacob Lintner, Joseph Trask, 
Gottleib Hoss. Christopher Keggy, Joseph 
Hall, Jacob Miller and several others whose 
names are forgotten. In 1829 and 1830, there 
also came in James Ferguson, Benjamin Hud- 
dle, Levi Gifford, Samuel Spittler, James 
Wickam, Robert Mays, Robert Knott, Joseph 
Muchler and a few others. After 1830, and 
prior to 1836, there appeared Nelson Holt, 
Daniel Coon, John Babcock, Ira Cory, Daniel 
Pratt, Barnaby Harper, Adam Baden, Solomon 
Seery, David Albaugh, Nathan Coran, William 
Swalley, Adam and Lucas Shock, Otto Feltner, 
John Apple, Jacob Oberlander, John Aupt, Reu- 
ben Keran, Ira G. Allen, Milton Waller, Eli 






HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



699 



Winter, Sr., William Burgett, Joseph Ken- 
nedy, Samuel and Timothy Parks, Joseph Dil- 
linger, John Shoulter, Solomon Babcock, and 
many others. It was during this period that 
nearly all the land in the township was taken 
up, and many interesting incidents are related 
as to the maneuvers made by the settlers to 
secure the best land. Circumstances seem to in- 
dicate that Christopher Kegg}^ was the first 
settler in the township. This man came from 
Fairfield County, first locating in Seneca 
County ; but afterward, in 1825, he came to 
Lj'kens Township, and built a small log cabin 
in the northwestern corner. Indications seem 
to point to his not owning any land, having 
been a squatter, and having located there to 
hunt and trap. He remained in the township 
until 1830, when he sold what interest he had 
in the farm to Reuben Keran, and returned to 
Fairfield County. Keggy was a noted hunter, 
and had come to Ohio before the war of 1812. 
His life was a succession of adventures with 
wild animals and with Indians. What became 
of him is unknown. Jacob Miller came to the 
township as eai'ly as 1827, locating in the 
northwestern part. This setter was also a hunter 
of distinguished reputation. Joseph Trask 
was the third settler, but, in 1831, he sold his 
farm to another settler, and returned to Seneca 
County, whence he came. Jacob Foy was the 
first permanent settler, and was an influential 
man in early years. He served many terms as 
Justice of the Peace, and always impartially 
administered the laws as he understood them. 
Robert Mays and Levi GiSbrd served as Jus- 
tices of the Peace between 1830 and 18-10. For 
several years the settlers had been grievously 
damaged and anno3'ed b}' having their swine 
stolen by some thief or thieves in the neighbor- 
hood, until, finally, the}^ resolved, if possible, 
to put a stop to it. One day a man named 
Pratt, who had been fined several times for 
stealing, was detected in the act of killing a 
hog belonginfi: to one of his neiffhbers. Pratt 



was an illiterate man, in whom the spirit of 
evil knew no superior nor control. He was a 
great coward, and it was resolved to make the 
eflbrt to scare him out of his illegal proceed- 
ings. He was arrested by the Constable, and 
taken with great solemnit}" before "Squire" 
Mays, who, after hearing all the evidence and 
sifting the case to the bottom, infonned the 
culprit, that, inasmuch as he had been pun- 
ished repeatedly by fines for a similar oSense, 
without any change being obtained in his con- 
duct, it was the duty of the court, in order to 
preserve the sacred rights of private property, 
to place the oflender bej'ond the reach of fur- 
ther violating the law, by hanging him to a 
tree in the yard of the cabin until he was dead. 
The prisoner was visibly affected and fright- 
ened. He trembled^in every limb, and turned 
as pale as death, but the inexorable Justice 
gravely informed him that he had brought his 
fate upon his own head, and must prepare for 
death. A rope was procured, and preparations 
were being made to execute the sentence of the 
court ; and, while these were in progress, the 
prisoner was purposely left alone near an open 
window, thus favoring an opportunity for es- 
cape not to be overlooked, for, with a desperate 
bound, he leaped through the opening and ran 
off with the speed of the wind. He was in- 
stantly pursued by the officers, who had no in- 
tention of recapturing him ; but to keep up ap- 
pearances guns were fired, curses were hurled 
after the condemned man, and the servants of 
the law went scouring after him in swift pur- 
suit. He ran as though pursued by the furies, 
effecting an easy escape through the* deep 
woods. This ruse proved far more effective 
than admonitions or prosecutions, for Pratt left 
and was never afterward seen in the township. 
Cases of this character, however, were unusual 
in earl}' 3-ears, and were onl}- instituted when 
lawful proceedings were inadequate in securing 
the desired relief Trouble of a similar nature 
was experienced by the settlers through the 






ik 



700 



HISTORY OF CRAWFOED COUNTY. 



thievish propensit}' of John Henry, whose un- 
lawful acts are specified in the chapter on Chat- 
field Township in this volume. 

Many cases are remembered where settlers, 
in returning from town or mill with their teams 
late at night, through the winding forest roads, 
became mired down, making it necessary for 
them to leave their wagons, and occasionally 
their teams, until the next morning, and being 
compelled to reach home on foot as best they 
could. It became customar}' to carry lanterns 
or torches, so that, if the road was obscure, all 
difficulty in following it might be avoided. The 
Parks brothers started one evening just at dark 
to go without light to the cabin of Eli Wintersj 
who resided about a mile and a half distant. 
Night came suddenly upon them, they lost their 
reckoning, became bewildered, and, after wan- 
dering around in the woods for several hours, 
during which time they shouted themselves 
hoarse, navigated numerous swamps and bogs, 
and encountered sundry logs in a manner not 
calculated to soothe their tempers, they finally 
found themselves waist deep in mud and water, 
from which they were unable to extricate them- 
selves be3'ond climbing on a large log that lay 
half out of the water. The swamp was all 
around them, and, not daring to venture again 
into unexplored paths of water, they concluded 
to remain on the log until morning. It was in 
the fall of the }■ ear, and, after passing a miser- 
able night, during which they suffered intensely 
from wet clothing and the cold, daylight at last 
came, and revealed an easj' path from the 
swamp, which was quickly traversed by the 
shivering brothers. They reached Mr. Winter's 
cabin thoroughly prostrated, and it was only 
after several hours, with hot coffee, before a 
roaring fire, that they were enabled to return 
home. This is only one of many cases of a 
similar nature. It was the easiest thing in the 
world to get lost in the woods, even in the day- 
time, and, unless a person was thoroughly fa- 
miliar with the path he was traveling, or had 



with him a lantern, he was almost sure to get 
lost in the woods at night. The settlers of the 
township were often aroused to search for some 
child that had become lost in the pathless 
forest. James Ferguson's family lived in the 
western part, near Sycamore Creek. One even- 
ing in summer, Mrs. Ferguson, accompanied by 
her son, a boy ten years of age, started after the 
cows. The animals were found about a mile 
away, but they refused to be driven home, pre- 
ferring to dash through clumps of bushes to 
avoid the flies, and, apparently, to annoy the 
driver as none but cows know how to do, when 
their feeding is likely to be cut short. In en- 
deavoring to head them toward home, Mrs. Fer- 
guson became bewildered, and was startled to 
find that she was lost. The cows seemed deter- 
mined to go directly away from home, although, 
really, they were aiming as straight for that 
spot as cows could through the deep woods ; 
but Mrs. Ferguson did not know this, and, 
thinking that she could retrace her steps, she 
left the cows and endeavored to find her way 
home. But she failed to see a single familiar 
object. This increased the terror, and, conse- 
quently, the bewilderment of the lost woman. 
She called repeatedly at the top of her voice, 
but only the terrifying echoes of her own tones 
answered her. Darkness came on, and the 
wolves began to howl at intervals through the 
dark forest. Mrs. Ferguson saw with alarm 
that she was doomed to remain in the woods 
all night, unless some providential circumstance 
brought her home. She knew that rambling 
through the woods would attract the wolves, 
and saw that the wisest course was to lie down 
near some large log that would afford shelter 
from descending dews, and remain quiet until 
morning. This was done, and the long, chilly 
night was passed, with occasional frights to the 
watchful woman by strange noises around her. 
At last the morning came, and the tired woman, 
taking her boy by the hand, started out, hoping 
to reach home for an early breakfast. But she 






:a 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



701 



wandered on and on until noon, without having 
seen a single familiar landmark. She exhausted 
all her knowledge of woodcraft to establish the 
cardinal points of direction, but failed. She 
traveled on until darkness came, and another 
night of terror and suffering was passed. Noth- 
ing had been eaten except a few wild berries, 
and the mother and her child were almost worn 
out with anxiet}' and hunger. Another day 
came and was passed wandering through the 
woods until about the middle of the afternoon, 
when the welcome report of a rifle was heard 
near at hand, and, in a few minutes, the over- 
joyed woman saw a neighbor walking rapidly 
toward her. He was one of a part}' that had 
been searching for her for two nights and nearly 
two days, and had brought with him some 
bread and butter, which was eagerly devoured 
by the half-famished woman and child. She 
was about three miles from home, and had kept 
wandering round and round in a circle, passing 
once or twice within a quarter of a mile of her 
cabin. She was soon at home, and in a few 
days was fully recovered from her exposure and 
nervous shock. Search for her had begun 
the night of her disappearance, and, although 
guns had been fired, and bells rung, yet not a 
sound thus made reached the ears of the lost 
woman. This seems unaccountable, and can 
only be explained by reason of distance and 
contrary winds. Mr. Ferguson was one of the 
most skillful hunters ever in the count}'. He 
had been reared in the woods, and was thor- 
oughly familiar with all the tactics known to 
professional hunters. He had taken a promi- 
nent part in the military expeditions in Ohio 
during the war of 1812, and was employed as 
a scout and a bearer of dispatches from one 
commander to another. He is remembered to 
have told, that, on one occasion, while bearing 
dispatches from near Columbus to some fort in 
the northern part of the State, he was seen by 
a party of hostile Indians, and pursued for two 
days before he succeeded in eluding them. He 



is said to have been a remarkable marksman, 
being able to bring down with his rifle almost 
any bird, on the wing. He first located in San- 
dusky Township, but, after a few settlers had 
arrived, he moved to Lykens, where he re- 
mained a few years, and then went farther west. 
The settlers, for many years, went to Seneca 
County for their flour and lumber. Extensive 
mills had been in operation in that county, on 
Sandusky River, for many years prior to the set- 
tlement of Lykens, and the settlers found it much 
handier to go there than south to the vicinity' 
of Bucyrus. It was not long, however, before 
industries began to arise in the township, and, 
ere many years had elapsed, the settlers no 
longer went north for their lumber, although 
they continued to go there for their flour. Otto 
Fieldner, in about 1836, erected a small frame 
building about a mile south of the village of 
Lykens, in which was placed one set of '' nig- 
ger-head " stones for the purpose of " cracking " 
corn. It was not designed for a flour-mill, al- 
though a feeble effort was made to grind wheat 
and rye. It was a great accommodation to the 
settlers, who, in order that the meal might not 
become stale, were in the habit of getting a 
sackful ground at a time. The mill continued 
in operation about eight years, and then was 
allowed to run down. Milton Waller was a 
cooper by trade, an occupation he followed at 
odd times for a number of years. He had a 
small shop at his house and made tubs, kegs, 
etc., finding a read}' sale for all he could man- 
ufacture. He was a prominent man, and his 
sons have been among the most enterprising 
and intelligent citizens in the township. Fran- 
cis Slee was a carpenter. He built man}' of 
the early frame houses, and manufactured 
chairs, looms, spinning-wheels, etc. Ira Cory 
was a blacksmith, the first one to work at the 
trade in the township, and erected a small shop 
a mile or so south of the village. Joseph Ken- 
nedy burned brick about a mile east of the vil- 
lage as early as 1840. No large quantity was 



702 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



burned, and a ready sale was found for all he 
prepared. One of the first houses erected in 
the village of Lykens was constructed of 
brick from Mr. Kennedy's kiln. Some say 
that Nathan Coran was the first blacksmith 
in the township. It is quite certain that 
his shop was erected as early as 1834. He 
worked at the trade for many years. William 
Jackson tanned skins on a small scale, begin- 
ning about 1840. Otto Fieldner, in connection 
with his "corn-cracker," operated one of the 
best of the early saw-mills. The mill was lo- 
cated on a small stream ; and, although noth- 
ing better than a slow motion could be obtained 
for the saw, owing to the sluggish flow of the 
water, due to the fact that the stream had but 
little fall, it was enabled to run about four 
months during the spring. It continued in op- 
eration as long as the '' corn-cracker." Mr. 
Fieldner found it best to attach to the com- 
bined mill suitable machinery to be worked by 
horses, for the purpose of lengthening the time 
that the mills could run. This tread-power 
proved so satisfactory that it soon superseded 
the old water-wheel. It is stated that, in vio- 
lation of the United States revenue laws, liquor 
of various kinds, including whisky and brand}', 
has been distilled in the township, in cellars and 
other secret places, by diflferent parties, at inter- 
vals, since the earliest times. Stories are in 
circulation, where certain parties are reported 
to have been seen under suspicious circum- 
stances during nights in past years. The re- 
ports have probably been exaggerated, but it 
is quite certain that the revenue laws have been 
violated, although the quantit}- of liquor man- 
ufactured has been small, and the quantity sold 
smaller still. 

Joseph Stammits built and operated a steam 
saw-mill in the northwest corner, on Buckeye 
Creek, as early as 1844. He had a good mill, 
and did a large amount of sawing for the cit- 
izens. It is said that the creek furnished only 
sufiScient water to suppl}' the boiler. After 



running ten or fifteen years, the engine and 
boiler were removed and the mill abandoned. 
Eli Winters, Jr., owned and operated this mill 
for a short time. He was a skillful sawyer, and 
was connected with several of the early mills. 
The most valuable and most extensive saw-mill 
in the township in early j^ears, was built and 
operated by Jacob Fo}-, a sawyer of long ex- 
perience. The mill was a combined saw and 
grist mill, and was erected at the junction of 
the Big and Little Sycamore Creeks. The 
building was a large two-story frame structure, 
divided into two apartments, one for the grind- 
ing maehiner}', and tlie other for the sawing. 
Excellent water-power was secured by means 
of a race having sufficient fall to furnish ample 
power for the rapid running of the saw. The 
mill was built in about 1831, and continued in 
operation many j^ears. The remains of the old 
mill ma}' yet be seen at the junction of the two 
creeks. It is said that excellent flour and meal 
were furnished by the grist-mill. Inch lumber 
from any wood was furnished for about 40 
cents by the hundred, or a share was taken, 
varying from one-third to two-thirds. Large 
quantities were sawed, and many of the older 
buildings yet standing in the township were 
constructed of lumber obtained at the Foy 
saw-mill. The " nigger-head " stones used in 
the grist-mill were bowlders taken from the 
farm of Eli Winter, and dressed down to the 
proper size and shape by some neighboring 
stone-cutter. After Foy had operated the com- 
bined mills for fifteen or twenty years, he sold 
out to Moses Woodsides, who increased the 
scope of both departments of the mill, by sub- 
stituting steam as the motor in place of water. 
After running many years, the mill was finally 
abandoned. A man named Patrick built aud 
operated a saw-mill on Sycamore Creek as early 
as 1865. A Mr. Blanchard also operated one 
for many years. Among the early industries 
must be noticed the effort made by two or three 
parties in the township, between 1840 and 1850, 



*f- 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



703 



to rear silk-worms and to manufacture silk 
goods. Mrs. Breston, of Chatfield Township, 
was quite extensively engaged in the enterprise, 
and, through her influence, man}- were induced 
to embark in the same pursuit. A man named 
Blanchard was induced to begin the business 
on a small scale. A room in his house was 
fitted up with suitable shelves and heating ap- 
paratus, and eggs of the silk-worm were ob- 
tained from Mrs. Breston and placed therein, 
under proper conditions of heat and moisture, 
to be hatched. Here could be seen the wonder- 
ful metamorphosis from the egg to the mature 
insect. Mr. Blanchard experienced other diffi- 
culties in conducting the business than Mrs. 
Breston did, from the fact that he was a novice 
in the rearing and care of silk-worms, being 
obliged to depend upon Mrs. Breston for neces- 
sary instructions. He, as well as the lady, soon 
found it extremely diflScult to obtain the nec- 
essary supply of fresh mulberrj' leaves, which 
constituted the caterpillar's only food. After 
having got nicely started, he was compelled to 
forego the combined pleasures and anxieties 
connected with the pursuit. The insects died 
on his hands, and the silk-culture soon became 
a thing of the past. One or two other parties 
made efforts in the same direction, but nothing 
was accomplished, except to discover that the 
business could not be otherwise than unprof- 
itable. 

In October, 1870, J. F. Feighuer secured the 
services of H. W. McDonald, County Surveyor, 
and laid out fifteen lots on the northwest quar- 
ter of Section 15, Township 1 south, Range 16 
east, and named the village thus surveyed, Ly- 
kens. These were the first lots laid out in 
accordance with the law of Ohio, although, many 
years previously', the village had sprung into 
existence, industries of various kinds had 
arisen, merchants had come and gone, and the 
real growth and business activity had passed 
before the village was properl}' laid out and or- 
ganized. Other suggestive names have been 



bestowed upon the village, much to the disgust 
of the villagex'S, who recognize no name but 
Lykens. Citizens in the township, outside of 
the village, and even people living in distant 
parts of the county, speak of "Buljo," when 
referring to the only town in Lykens Township. 
The origin of this title is somewhat doubtful. 
It is related that many years ago, when the first 
saloon was doing a lively business in the town, 
several of the citizens were wont to assemble 
there to drink, tell stories and amuse themselves 
in various ways. Among the number was a 
man who told a funny stor}^, wherein a negro, 
in referring to a certain place where liquor was 
sold and imbibed, said they had '' high times in 
Buljo." The stor}', whenever told, elicited 
rounds of applause, and it was not long before 
the frequenters of the saloon, in speaking of 
their revels, said '' We have high times in Buljo." 
After that, the village became known as " Bul- 
jo," a name that clings to it, despite the eff^orts 
made by the villagers to shake the title ofl". 
The name Santa Fe was bestowed upon the 
town, but after a few j'^ears this was forgotten. 
Several of the citizens in early years began 
calling the village " Buzzards Glory." The 
origin of this name will be left to the imagina- 
tion of the impartial reader. The first dwelling 
in the town was built by a man named Swet- 
laud on his own land, in 1834. It was a small 
frame structure, and was torn down a few years 
ago. A Mr. Hollister built the second about 
two years later. When these dwellings were 
erected, it was not imagined that a village was 
soon to spring up about them ; and perhaps^ 
if the thought passed through the minds of these 
two men, it was unheeded and soon forgotten. 
By 1840, there were as man}- as six or eight 
dwellings in the village, and people began to 
talk of having lots laid out. It was about this 
time that Anson Brown built the brick house 
now owned and occupied by Dr. Ritchie's wid- 
ow. The bricks were obtained at the Kennedy 
kiln, a short distance east of the village. A 



y\: 



:>■ 



704 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



man named Gossage built the frame dwelling 
now owned and occupied by the family of Hiram 
Dillinger. The villagers soon became clamor- 
ous for a post office, and began with one accord 
to call the town " Lykens," a title suggested by 
the name of the township. Mr. Swetland opened 
the first store. He placed in one room of his 
dwelling about $200 worth of notions, including 
some half-dozen yards of calico, and a small 
quantity of groceries. This, however, did not 
satisfy the wants nor ambition of the villagers, 
as they still found it profitable to go to Bucy- 
rus, when a large bill of goods was wanted. Mr. 
Swetland began as early as 1835, and continued 
until 1840, when he closed out his stock, and 
turned his attention to his farm. In the fall of 
1840, Anson Brown built a small storeroom 
and began the mercantile pursuit, with a gen- 
eral assortment of goods valued at $600. This 
was the first store of consequence in the town. 
Brown began doing a lively business from the 
start, and kept steadily increasing his stock, by 
investing all the profits in additional goods. 
He dealt quite largely in produce, buying and 
shipping butter, eggs, poultry, etc., and made 
considerable money. In 1847, his store caught 
fire, one wind}' night, from a defective flue, and 
burned to the ground, consuming several thou- 
sand dollars' worth of goods ; but this loss did 
not dishearten Mr. Brown in the least, for he 
immediately rebuilt, and began with a much 
larger stock than formerly. He was a shi'ewd 
business man, and, in time, increased his stock 
until it was worth nearly $8,000. He is said to 
have kept the largest and best stock of goods 
ever in the town, besides doing a large and 
active trade in produce of all kinds. He finally 
sold out to other parties. Byron Brown (not a 
relative of Anson Brown) opened a store in 
about 1848. His stock consisted principally of 
groceries, and was worth about $1,000. He 
continued the business for about seven years, 
and then closed out his stock. The Browns 
were succeeded by George Jackson, who sold a 



small stock of goods for about five years. 
Samuel Martin began to sell a general assort- 
ment of goods about 1856 ; but, after following 
the mercantile pursuit for six or eight years, 
and discovering that the business was not 
likely to enrich him very soon, he sold out to 
other parties. Various other persons have sold 
goods in the town. It has been in past years 
quite an extensive trading-point, and even at 
present commands a fair patronage. Various 
other industries have arisen in the village. A 
man named Cummins erected a blacksmith- 
shop as early as 1838, and began to work at 
that trade. He was followed by a Mr. Madison. 
Carpenters, butchex's, coopers, masons and oth- 
ers have followed their peculiar callings in the 
village. James Drake built an ashery quite 
early, probably 1845. The building was lo- 
cated on Sycamore Creek, near the southern 
limits of the town, and large quantities of ashes 
were manufactured into potash, and shipped to 
Bucyrus and other neighboring villages. Mr. 
Drake succeeded in manufacturing as high as 
fifteen tons of potash per annum, and contin- 
ued at about the same rate for a number of 
years, and finally sold the building and all the 
appurtenances thereto belonging to Anson 
Brown, and moved west to the Centennial 
State. Brown conducted the ashery even more 
extensively than Drake, and gave goods from 
his store in exchange for ashes. The ashery 
was finally sold with the store. Jacob Hodge 
built an ashery in the village, on the bank of 
Sycamore Creek, soon after the erection of the 
Drake building. He manufactured considerable 
potash during a period of six years, but finally 
abandoned the enterprise. Jerry Jolly erected 
suitable buildings, sunk some half-dozen vats, 
and began tanning skins as early as 1846. He 
did good work for ten years, when he sold out 
to Ephraim Adams, who, after continuing the 
same occupation for five years, abandoned it, 
and the buildings were taken down. A man 
named Brown (not Anson Brown) opened a sa- 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



705 



loon in the village in 1845 ; but, at the end of 
faur years, he transferred his stock of liquors 
to some other locality. Peter Howenstein built 
a saw-mill in " Buljo," on Sycamore Creek, in 
1847. He did good work, and owned and op- 
erated the mill for nearl}' fifteen ^-^ears, but 
finally sold out. Eli Winters owned and oper- 
ated the mill for a time. Other parties also 
owned it. The same mill, altered and en- 
larged, is yet in operation in the town. Dr. 
James Dodge was the first resident physician, 
locating in the village in 1848. He obtained a 
fair practice, but left for other fields of labor 
five or six years after his arrival. Dr. Harmon 
resided in town for a few ^^ears. He was suc- 
ceeded by Dr. Ritchie, who came in 1856, but 
died at the end of four years. The present 
physician is Gr. D. Spengler. The post office 
was secured about 1844 ; but, prior to that 
time, the mail was brought from Melmore, in 
Seneca County, and later, from Portersville. 
The mail was carried by William Hank, once a 
week for many years. Anson Brown was 
probably the first Postmaster. In 1872, the 
Odd Fellows organized a lodge in the village, 
beginning with fifteen members, a flattering 
number for so small a place, to be sure. A hall 
was hired over one of the stores, and the lodge 
was soon on firm footing. The present mem- 
bership is thirty-four. It will be seen from the 
above that the village was not properly laid 
out until 1870 ; but, prior to that time, lots 
were measured off, and sold to those desiring a 
residence in town. The village at present has 
a population not to exceed forty-five. 

The Columbus and Sandusky Turnpike was 
traveled quite extensively for many years be- 
fore the last war b}' escaping slaves from the 
Southern States on their way north to the do- 
minion of the British Queen. Almost every 
citizen living on that well-traveled highwa}' 
recollects of seeing many a dusky runaway 
skulking along the road under cover of the 
night, or beiug driven rapidly north by some 



assisting friend. It occasionally happened that 
pursuing masters also traveled the road ; but 
it is not remembered that any runaway slave 
was captured by his master while escaping 
through the county. It was not customary for 
slaves to stop at houses directly on the road, 
even though the owner was a known friend. 
As morning approached, they left the road, and 
stopped at dwellings several miles from its 
course. It thus occurred that several citizens 
in and near the village of Lykens were known 
to harbor the black man, and to convey him 
farther on his way to Canada and freedom. 
On one occasion, one of the citizens was seen 
with a wagon-load of dusky women and chil- 
dren, heading for the house of some friend in 
southern Seneca County. And, at another time, 
a half-dozen or more of half-starved, half-clothed 
negro men were seen in a barn in Lykens Town- 
ship. 

Schools are the offspring of civilization. 
They are unknown among barbarians, and are 
found numerous and perfect in the degree of a 
people's removal from the savage state. None 
but highly cultured people — those with a ready 
appreciation for excellences, whether found in 
human character or in material creation — can 
see the countless beauties and perfections which 
adorn like summer flowers ever}" pathway of 
life. Education amplifies the vision of the in- 
tellect, widens the moral and social capabilities^ 
and places the enchanted observer upon mount- 
ainous heights, from which a glimpse of new 
delights is seen shining like starry constellations 
in nocturnal skies. Education multiplies the 
sources of enjoyment, and adds to the happiness 
of human life. It is highly necessary for the 
preservation of the American Government that 
the people should foster and protect schools as 
they would pearls and rubies. And this has 
been done in the past with steadily increasing 
interest, and a willing expenditure of millions 
of money. All over the land is found that 
unpretending temple of learning — the school- 



■^" 



\\>L 



706 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



house — and no child need be raised to mature 
years without, at least, a fair education. It is 
likel}- that the first school house in Lykens 
Township was built two miles west of the vil- 
lage, near the farm of Eli Winters, in 1834. 
The building was constructed of round logs, 
and was built by ever3'bod3' before the township 
had been divided into school districts. Isabel 
Hall was probably the first teacher in this build- 
ing. It was during the first term that Perry 
Black and William Helt, two of her scholars, 
caught a porcupine in the woods ; and, having 
tied a long string to its leg, they climbed upon 
the schoolhouse, unseen by the inmates of the 
room, who were intent upon the lessons of the 
daj-, and lowered the animal down the chimney, 
much to the annoyance of the teacher and the 
amusement of the other scholars. The school 
was taught by subscription, and there was a 
large enough attendance to afford the teacher 
wages at the rate of about $10 per month. A 
clapboard, smoothed off and coated with black 
paint, was used as the blackboard, and this was 
regarded by scholars, teacher and patrons, as a 
ver}' valuable piece of school apparatus. A 
man named Andrews was an early teacher, as 
was also a Miss Lucinda Warren. While Miss 
Warren was teaching, the scholars were at rec- 
reation one da}', off in the woods about forty 
rods, when they were seen by a party of Wyan- 
dot Indians on their ponies. In order to scare 
the children, the Indians started on the gallop 
toward them, whooping and swinging their 
tomahawks and rifles in the air. The children 
ran screaming with fright toward the school- 
house, and were met b}' the alarmed teacher, 
who had come out to ascertain the nature of 
the unusual commotion outside. At sight of 
her, the Indians wheeled their ponies, and rode 
away laughing. In about 1840, a much better 
schoolhouse was built to take the place of the 
old one. After this building had been used 
many years, the present one was built at a cost 
of $500. The Ransom Schoolhouse was built 



in 1 836. It was also of logs, and was replaced 
after a few years by a small frame building, 
which was used until the present house was 
erected. This building has become known 
as the '' Frog-pond " Schoolhouse. A frame 
school building was erected about a mile north 
of Lykens Village in 1840. It was used until 
the present one was built. No schoolhouse was 
built in the village until 1851. Many years be- 
fore, a log school cabin had been built about a 
quarter of a mile north of town, and this was 
attended b}' the village children. A school 
building was erected on Section 29 as early as 
1838. It was built of logs, and was used until 
1854, when a small frame house took its place. 
This building was used until 1880, when a large 
bi'ick schoolhouse was built at a cost of $1,600. 
This is the largest and best school building in 
the township. A school cabin was erected in 
the southeast corner in 1 840. Two othei's have 
succeeded it, the last being built a few years 
ago. Spelling schools were held in early j'ears 
with the usual laughable incidents connected 
therewith. David Spittler taught " singin' 
skewl" during the winter months for many 
years. The old " buckwheat notes" were sung 
with a gusto and a hilarit}' not commended by 
later musical instructors. 

The earliest settlers went to church in Sen- 
eca County ; but, after 1832, when a large 
German emigration arrived, it was thought 
best by the various denominations to erect 
churches nearer home. As earl}' as 1832, the 
Free-Will Baptists began holding meetings in 
the cabins of the settlers. Two brothers, Seth 
and Benjamin Parker, were among the first 
ministers. Rev. James Ashley was another, 
as was also Comfort Waller. Among those 
who organized the society and took an active 
part in subsequent exercises, were the families 
of Comfort Waller, David Hill, Lewis Warren 
and William Swalley. Finally, in 1842, this 
society built the first church in the township 
in the western part, on the farm of Comfort 



V 



HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



707 



Waller. The church was a low frame build- 
ing, with clapboard seats fastened to poles 
laid lengthwise of the house, and pulpit made 
of poplar lumber planed to a fair degree of 
smoothness. A large fire-place in one end 
added heat, light, cheerfulness and comfort to 
the room. The members were proud of their 
church, and could boast, without fear of suc- 
cessful contradiction, that it was the best in 
the township. After many years, the present 
church was erected to take its place, at a cost 
of about $1,200. The Baptist society has 
been one of the strongest and best in the 
township, and has done much good. The 
Presbyterians began holding meetings in the 
house of Solomon Seery, and others, as early as 
1834. Here they continued to assemble for 
many years, being visited regularly by Rev. 
Trac}^, a circuit-rider, who traveled over several 
counties. The membership of the societ}" 
slowly increased, and, after about twelve years 
from the first organization, a church was built 
on thq Seery Corners, and has since been 
known as the Seer}- Church. It was a small 
frame building, with the rudest architectural 
ornamentation. The seats and pulpit were 
roughly made of poplar lumber, and were 
without paint or varnish. This building was 
used until 1870, when the pi'esent church was 
built. After a few years of ministerial service 
for the society. Rev. Tracy died, and was suc- 
ceeded by the well-known Rev. Lillibridge, 
who preached and labored with the congrega- 
tion for many years, placing the church on 
firm footing as regards both finance and mem- 
bership. The first church built b}' this society' 
was the second in the township. The Luther- 



an Church, located just across the southern 
line, in Holmes Township, is largely' attended 
b}" the citizens living in the southern part. 
This church was organized by the Germans at 
an early day. The present minister is Rev. 
Josiah Kanag3', and the church has a member- 
ship of about seventy. In 1850, the German 
Reformers and German Lutherans organized a 
church society in the northwestern part. 
Preaching was held in the schoolhouse for one 
year, and then for a short time in a barn be- 
longing to John Klaes. The barn was de- 
stoj'ed by lightning ; whereupon services were 
held in Mr. Klaes' house until the summer of 
1852, when a small brick church was built. 
The first minister in charge of the society was 
Rev. John Bantz. He was succeeded by Rev. 
William Veiler, who remained with the congre- 
gation about a year, when Rev. Elias Keller 
took his place. Afterward, the Rev. John 
Winter became the minister in charge. In 
1859, during the ministry of Rev. Winter, the 
congregation was divided. The Reformers sold 
their interest in the old church to the Luther- 
ans and erected a fine brick church within fifty 
feet of the old one. The old church was occu- 
pied about two years by the Lutherans, when 
it was abandoned, and soon afterward sold to 
Jacob Feighner, who used the bricks in the 
construction of his residence. The congrega- 
tion of Reformers grew in strength, and has 
for many years been the strongest church or- 
ganization in the township. The present min- 
ister in charge is the Rev. C. H. Schopfle, a 
cultured and worth}^ gentleman. The church 
is a large, fine structure, the best in the town- 
ship, and the society is large and wealth}-. 



^ 



(2 *^ 



-Jt 5) 



hL 



&t^. > 











~^* — ® 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



BUCYRUS TOWNSHIP. 



CHRISTIAN ASSENHEIMER, farmer, etc. ; 
P. 0., Buc3'rus ; was born August 12, 1834, on 
Cherry street, New York City, and is a son of 
Ludwig and Rosena (Stoll) Assenlieimer. He 
was 1 year old wlien his father's family 
located in Bucyrus, in the fall of 1835. He 
grew up in the village, and was educated in 
both Grerman and English. He went to school 
until 12 years of age, when he went to work 
about town at anything he could find to do. 
In his 17th 3'ear he began to learn the trade of a 
cabinet maker with Peter Shallenmiller, work- 
ing as an apprentice three years and a half 
He followed his trade as journeyman until 1859, 
when he bought out his old employer, and go- 
ing in debt for a large part of the stock. He 
carried on the business of furniture and under- 
taking for about twelve years, with good suc- 
cess, pa3'ing for the stock and buying the prop- 
erty where C. M. Matthews & Co. are now 
located, and whei'e he did business until 1871. 
He exchanged his town property for ninety-six 
acres of land whei'e Benjamin Beal now lives, 
and resided there until 1879, when he pur- 
chased his present farm of 160 aci'es of land 
on the Sanduskj- road, five and a half miles 
from Bucj'rus, still residing on it, where he is 
making some fine improvements. His wealth 
has been accumulated by his own exertions, 
and amid many misfortunes. He was married 
Oct. 6, 1859, to Miss Bertha Marggraf, of 
Bucyrus, who was born in Stadtilm, Saxony, 
Germany, Oct. 17, 1837, and came to America 
with her parents when but six years of age, 
settling in Buc^-rus, where she grew up. Six 
sons and two daughters have been the result of 
this union, viz. : Emma C, born June 26, 1860 ; 
Martha T., March 15, 1862 ; Frederick C, Mav 
28, 1864 ; Louis H., July 12, 1866 ; Franklin 
E., Aug. 22, 1868 ; Edward C, July 26, 1871 ; 



William C, March 15, 1875, and Otto A., Oct. 
5, 1877. Mr. Assenheiraer, his wife and three 
children are members of the German Lutheran 
Church ; he has been trustee and has held va- 
rious other offices connected with the Church, 
among them that of teacher in the Sunday 
school for many years. He has always been 
Democratic in politics , was a member of the 
Town Council six j^ears and Trustee of the 
township three years. His father was born in 
Wurtemberg, Germany, in about 1802, and was 
educated in the schools of his native town ; 
afterward followed the trade of a weaver. In 
the spring of 1832, he came to New York, 
where he married Miss Rosena Stoll, a native 
also of Wurtemberg, who was born Aug. 11, 
1811, and who probably came over in the same 
vessel. They were married in 1833, and in 
1835 came to Bucyrus. He brought a large 
stock of clocks with him, which he traded to 
his brother-in-law, Geo. F. Stoll, for the build- 
ing of a house ; he was one of the men who 
assisted in unearthing the skeleton of the mas- 
todon, which is mentioned in the body of this 
work. He followed the trade of weaving for 
many 3'ears, then kept a grocery store until 
his death, Oct. 19, 1855. His wife is still liv- 
ing. The3' had thirteen children, four of whom 
are living, viz. : Christian, Catharine. George 
and John. 

LEWIS W. BUCK, P. 0. Bucyrus. William 
and Mary (Albright) Buck, parents of this gen- 
tleman, were both natives of the '■ Keystone '' 
State, and the parents of nine children. The 
mother died in 1835. The father subsequentl3' 
married Susan Shieb, who was the mother of 
fifteen children. Mr. Buck died in 1860. He 
was a successful farmer and miller, and held 
during his lifetime, numerous positions of honor 
and trust. Lewis Buck was born in Schuylkill 



\^ 



710 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



Co., Pa., Aug. 20. 1824 ; his early life being 
passed in a mill, and upon a farm. He received 
but a limited education, and when 22 years of 
age left his native State and came to Crawford 
Co., Ohio. For some time he found emplo}'- 
ment in a mill in Buc3'rus, when he was placed 
in charge of the Sinn Mills, where he remained 
some four 3'ears. His mai'riage with Miss Pas- 
calena Sinn occurred Jan. 4, 1849. She was 
born in Crawfoi'd Co., Ohio, June 14, 1833, 
and is one of a famil^y of ten children born to 
George and Sarah (Hawk) Sinn, who came from 
Pennsylvania to Crawford Co., Ohio, in 1826. 
Mr. Siini was well and favorabl}- known through 
the count}', and was thrice elected County 
Auditor, besides holding other positions of 
honor and trust. He died in 1870, and his 
wife in 1876. In Lewis W. Buck's family were 
seven children, five of whom are now living, 
viz. : 3Iahlon L., Sarah C. A., Lucretia M., 
Charles L. and Mar}^ S. Those deceased were 
Mandon D. and Franklin H. Mr. Buck fol- 
lowed milling until 1861, when he purchased 
the farm he now owns, and has since followed 
the vocation of a farmer. He began life as a 
poor boy, and is, in the fullest sense of the 
term, a self-made man. He has held several 
township offices, and is highly spoken of as an 
official. As refined, intelligent people, Mr. 
Buck's family stands second to none in the 
county. 

CAPT. WM. NEVINS BEER, deceased, Bu- 
cyrus, is a son of the Rev. Thomas and Margaret 
(Cameron) Beer, and was born Nov. 28, 1839. in 
Ashland Co., Ohio. His father was well edu- 
cated, and, owing to the imperfect school facili- 
ties of the time, he communicated his learning 
to his children. The subject of this sketch at- 
tended the Vermilion Institute at Haysville, for 
a time, then -finished off" at Jefferson College, 
at Cannonsburg, Penn., after which he engaged 
in a store in Ashland for a few years. He 
came to Bucyrus aljout 18G1, and during the 
summer of that 3-ear enlisted in the 101st Regi- 
ment 0. V. I., as a private in Capt. McDanald's 
company. He soon became Second Lieutenant, 
and, some time after, First, and upon the promo- 
tion of Capt. ^IcDanald, was promoted to the 
captaincy of the company, which position he held 
at the time of the mustering-out of the regi- 
ment. He returned to Bucyrus at the close of 
the war, and commenced the study of law with 
his brother, Judge Thomas Beer, and was in 



due time admitted to the bar, as noted else- 
where in the sketch of the legal profession. 
He was married. Nov. 7, 1869, to Miss Mary I). 
Swingley, the third daughter of Dr. Frederick 
Swingle}-, of Bucyrus, and located here in the 
practice of his chosen profession until 1873, 
when in June of that 3^ear, he removed to 
Humboldt, Iowa, and practiced law there about 
one 3'ear. The family returned to Bucyrus in 
the spring of 1874; he remaining during the 
summer. He started from Humboldt as well 
as usual, for this State, and, at Valparaiso, Ind., 
where he stopped for a short time, he died 
suddenly on the night of July 25, 1874 of 
apoplexy. His widow has ever since resided 
in Bucyrus. At present she is a teacher in the 
Union schools of the town, a position she fills 
with honor to herself and satisfaction to all. 
The}' had three children, all of whom are 
living — Margaret M., Thomas Frederick and 
William C. Capt. Beer and his wife were 
members of the Presbyterian Church. 

HON. TEOMAS BEER, lawyer and Judge, 
Bucyrus ; was born in Wayne Co., Ohio, Sept. 7, 
1832. The Rev. Thomas Beer, his father, now 
residing in Ashland, Ohio, was born in North- 
ampton Co., Penn.. and came to Ohio about the 
year 1828, where he soon entered the ministry, 
serving two churches, for over thirt}- years, on 
alternate Sal)baths, proving an earnest, devoted 
Pastor, and beloved by his people. Margaret 
(Cameron) Lee, his mother, was a lineal descend- 
ant of Chxn Cameron, famous in Scottish history. 
After he had received such an education as the 
school of his district afl^orded, our subject be- 
came a pupil of the Vermilion Institute, at Hays- 
ville, Ashland Co., and, in 1848, commenced 
teaching school. Having chosen law as a pro- 
fession, he commenced its study with Mr. John 
C. Tidball, at Coshocton, in 1851 — teaching 
school in the meantime, that he might earn 
enough to defray his necessary expenses — and 
remained with him as a pupil until 1853. Dur- 
ing the ensuing five years — from 1854 to 1858 
— he was telegraph operator and Postmaster at 
Alliance, Ohio, but, in the latter year, he be- 
came editor of the iStark County Democrat., at 
Canton, Ohio. In 1860, he removed to Bucy- 
rus, where he assumed the editorship of the 
Crawford County Forum. In 1862, he was ad- 
mitted to the bar, and began the practice of law 
in Bucyrus. In the following 3ear, he was 
elected to the House of Representatives by the 



'7\'* 







--^ 




<'9n. 






1 



BUCYRUS TOWNSHIP. 



713 



Democracy of Crawford Co., and re-elected in 
1865, holding a seat in the Legislature during 
the sessions of 1864-65, and 1866-67. In 
1873, he was chosen a member of the Constitu- 
tional Convention which met at Cincinnati, 
and was presided over by Chief Justice Waite ; 
and, on the 15th of August, 1874, he was ap- 
pointed, by Gov. Allen, Jfudge of the Court of 
Common Pleas for the fourth subdivision of 
the Third Judicial District, comprising Wood, 
Hancock, Seneca, W3'andot. Crawford and 
Marion counties. In October, 187-4, he was 
elected to fill the unexpired term of Judge 
Jackson, who had resigned, and, in 1876, he 
was re-elected for a full term of five years. 
Judge Beer for many years held the position of 
County School Examiner, and was also a mem- 
ber of the Board of Education. He has alwaj's 
acted with the Democratic party, and taken an 
active interest in national and State affairs. 
His religious views are Presbyterian, in accord 
with the Scotch Church. In 1856, he was mar- 
ried to Miss T. M. Dinsmore, of Ashland Co.; of 
this marriage they have seven children living. 
Judge Beer's large acquaintance and high 
standing in public life soon brought him a large 
practice after his admission to the bai'. As a 
practitioner, he was fair, honorable and courte- 
ous. He carried with him to the bench the 
strong common sense that had characterized 
him at the bar, and is always indefatigable in 
studying the law that should decide a case, be- 
fore he renders judgment. He is not rapid in 
his decisions, but takes time to fortify himself 
with principles and precedents, which causes 
him to be regarded as a careful, impartial and 
just Judge. 

J. H. and P. A. BEARD, Bucyrus. These 
gentlemen are descendants of Phillip Beard, who 
came from Germany to America during the reign 
of George the III, and settled at Baltimore. He 
was a stone-mason, and under his supervision 
old Ft. Frederick was built. It is said that 
some years ago when that structure wns being 
torn down, the workmen found it almost im- 
possible to separate the masonry-, thus testi- 
fying to his ability as a mechanic. John and 
Susan (Sager) Beard, parents of J. H. and P. A. 
Beard, were both born in Washington County, 
Md. The maternal ancestors were from Ger- 
many, and served with distinction in the Amer- 
ican arm}- during the Revolutionary war. Our 
subject's parents were married in 31aryland and 



resided thei'e until 1854, when they came to 
Seneca Co., Ohio. They were the parents of 
eight children, six of whom are yet living. The 
father died in 1866 ; his wife is yet living at an 
advanced age. J. H. and P. A. Beard were both 
born in Washington Co., Md., the former ]\Iay 
3, 1830, and the latter March 22, 1833. They 
were brought up to hard work and received few 
advantages for obtaining an education. Soon 
after reaching their majorities, they engaged in 
agricultural pursuits, which for the most part 
they have ever since followed. J. H. was married 
to Miss Catharine A. Nusbaum, Dec. 28, 1858 ; 
she was born in Frederick Co., Md., April 2, 
1841. They are the parents of five children, 
viz., Celia V., J. Lewis, Anna D. and Ralph H., 
living; Delia H. deceased. Phillip A. married 
Miss Luc}- Reichart, June 12, 1856 ; she was 
born in Seneca Co., Ohio, Nov. 23, 1836. They 
have seven children, viz., Ida C, Clemma L., 
Bush C, Effie E., Jesse P. and John S., living ; 
Clara B., deceased. Both brothers own nicely 
improved farms in Bucyrus Township, which 
the}' have obtained by industry, economy and 
close attention to business. J. H. Beard came 
to this county in 1865, and his brother some 
four years later. They are members of the 
Republican party and of the English Lutheran 
Church. In political matters, however, they are 
liberal and make it a rule to vote for men and 
measures and not for party. They are intelli- 
gent, progressive men, respected by all who 
know them. Crawford Co. would indeed be 
much better off had it more such men as J. H. 
and P. A. Beard. 

harness manufacturer, 
July 22, 1823, in Wur- 
According to the cus- 
tom of that country, he was sent to school until 
his 14th year. He was then apprenticed to a 
man named Zigler for three years, to learn 
harness making, in the town of Kiichheira. 
He gave .$60 to learn the trade, in addition to 
three years' labor, often Avorking fourteen hours 
per day. After completing his trade, he worked 
as journeyman at different places, for about 
six years. As there were more harness-makers 
than could find employment in his native land, 
our subject sailed from Havre in the spring of 
1845, and after a thirty days' voyage, arrivetl 
at New York, June 3, 1845. His means lieing 
exhausted, he worked for a fiirmer near An)any 
about two months, whei'eby he obtained money 



JOHN G. BIRK, 
Bucyrus ; was born 
temberg, German}'. 



Vic 



^— .l 



V 



714 



BIOGllAPIIICAL SKETCHES: 



enough to bring him to the German colony 
called " Zoar," in Tuscarawas Co., Ohio, where 
he worked for some time in tlie smelting works. 
Then he was taken sick with ague for a period 
of six months, which again exhausted his earn- 
ings. Upon his recovery, he worked at his 
trade there for some time. He came to Bucy- 
rus, April 21, 1847, and found employment in 
the harness-shop of Frederick Beckle, who died 
some nine months after. Our subject worked 
for Israel Jones until 1850, when he started a 
harness-shop for himself, and has been in the 
business ever since ; being now one of the old- 
est harness-makers in the town. He has occu- 
I^ied his present shop about eighteen years, 
where he employs a number of skillful work- 
men, who turn out everj' variety of the most 
substantial and attracitive work. He also car- 
ries a full stock of everything in his line of 
goods. April 24, 1851, he was married to 
Miss Johanna B. Kuhn, of Whetstone Town- 
ship. Of this marriage, the following children 
are living : Christian F., Lewis L , Emanuel 
and George R. Two children died when young. 
Mr. Birk had but $4 when he came to Bucyrus, 
and lost his entire earnings b}' failure of his 
first emplo^'er. He is a member of the Ger- 
man Lutheran Church, in which he is a Trustee. 
J. N. BIDDLE. Bucyrus ; is the son of Alex- 
ander and Magdalena (Noftsgar) Biddle, and 
was born Feb. 8, 1834, in Harrison Co., Ohio. 
His earl^' life until his IGth 3'ear was spent on 
a farm, and in the pursuit of a common-school 
education. His father being a pioneer in the 
ministry of the United Brethren Church, and in 
indigent circumstances, the son was compelled 
to support himself by making brooms outside of 
school hours. He attended Otterbein University 
in 1852-53, and began teaching at 16, which he 
continued for four winters. In the meantime, 
he left Otterbein and entered Oberlin College, 
at Oberlin, in the spring of 1854. The next 
fall, on Oct. 30, he was married to Miss Marian 
Musgrave, daughter of Judge R. \V. Musgrave. 
of Annapolis, this County, who was an old 
and influential citizen. After his marriage, Mr. 
Biddle became the partner of Judge Musgrave 
in the mercantile business at Annapolis, com- 
mencing in January, 1855, and continuing until 
1868. When he came to Bucyrus and entered 
into banking, under the firm name of Scott, 
Biddle & Co., Mr. Biddle being one of the 
managing partners, and conducting the business 



in a manner that made it prosperous. In 1872, 
he was elected President of the Bucyrus Ma- 
chine Works, and was also its manager, con- 
tinuing until 1876, when the firm failed, and he 
was elected Assignee by the stockholders, and 
he has discharged the duties of the otfica in a 
highly creditable and satisfactory manner. In 
1877, in company with Gov. Foster and the 
Gormley Bros., he assisted in building a large 
furnace at Moxahala, and owning a fourth in- 
terest. In 1865, he made a venture with Col. 
Lemert and others in raising cotton in Louisi- 
ana ; but, the levee breaking and overflowing 
their fields, it was a failure. Mr. Biddle has 
been a prominent and influential citizen wher- 
ever he has been. He was Postmaster at An- 
napolis during Lincoln's and Johnson's admin- 
istrations. He has always been a prominent 
Republican, and is now Chairman of the Repub- 
lican Central Committee, and almost since the 
organization of the party he has been on a com- 
mittee. He is a meml)er of Demas Lodge, No. 
108. He has a family of nine children, all liv- 
ing. Thej- are Clara J., Louie J., Edgar N., 
Maud M., Judson M., Ralph A., Marion, Kath- 
leen A. and Launcelot Todd. The great-grand- 
father of JNIr. Biddle came from Hesse-Cassel, 
German}', prior to the Revolution, and was 
Quartermaster of a Pennsylvania regiment 
throughout that struggle. Launcelot Todd, his 
great-great-grandfather, came to America early 
in the eighteenth century, and obtained a land 
grant, probably from the King of Great Britain, 
for a tract of land on which the citj' of Annapo- 
lis, Md., now stands. He is an ancestor of the 
Todd family, of which Gov. Tod and Mrs. 
Lincoln are representatives. His son Benja- 
min was the great-grandfather of our sul)ject, 
who settled in Maryland. His daughter, Rachel 
Todd, married Jacob Biddle, the grandfather of 
our subject, who settled in Wa3ne Co., Ohio, in 
about 1831. They raised twelve children, of 
whom Alexander Biddle, father of Mr. Biddle, 
was the tenth child, and was born in Bedford 
Co., Penn., in 1810. He became a preaclier of 
the United Brethren Church at the age of 21, 
and was an active traveling minister until 1875. 
He has done a good woi-k in the cause of his 
Master, and now rests from his active labors, 
living in retirement at Gabon, Ohio, having 
performed his work well. His family consisted 
of six children, five of whom are living — John 
B., the eldest, was killed at the battle of Stone 



MV 



BUCYRUS TOWNSHIP. 



715 



River, being 1st Lieutenant of Co. C, 101st 
0. V. I. ; William l\. is a lawyer at Pleasanton, 
Kan. ; James B. a successful merchant at Mt. 
Blanchard, Ohio ; Rachel E., wife of Rev. J. R. 
Grin, of Bowling Green, Ohio; Jacob A., a 
Congregational minister at Oswego, N. Y. 

J. M. BLACK, merchant, Bucyrus ; was born 
April 2-1, 1845, and is the son of J. P. Black. 
He is a native of Clarke Co., Ohio, where he 
spent his j-outh on a farm, in the meantime ac- 
quiring a common-school education. At the 
age of 19, he entered the public schools of Bu- 
cyrus, where he continued some three years. 
In 1868, he entered the grocery of Kimmel & 
Timanus, where he was clerk for three years. 
For the six years following, he was emploj-ed 
in a similar capacity b}' Kaler & Malic. In 
1877, he entered into his present place of busi- 
ness, in Rowse's Bloclv, as equal partner witii J. 
P. Black, under the firm name of J. M. Black 
& Co., where he is doing a flourishing busi- 
ness in dry goods, groceries and queensware. 
The}' have a room, 30x98, which is tilled with a 
large and well-selected stock of goods. Since 
he has been engaged here, his business has 
prospered, and he is now at the head of a thriv- 
ing establishment. He was married, Dec. 26, 
1871, to Miss Hattie Mower, of Bucyrus. This 
union has been blessed with five children — Jay 
P., Bessie N.. Carl M., and an infant son and 
daughter. Mr. Black is a member of the Pres- 
byterian Church, a Trustee, and also Assistant 
Superintendent of the Sunday school. 

G. W. BUELL, marble dealer, Bucyrus ; is a 
son of George and Rebecca (Fuller) Buell, and 
was born Jan. 15, 184:2, in Genesee Co., N. Y. 
When he was about 5 years old. his parents re- 
moved to Ann Arbor, Mich., and here he at- 
tended school until he was 1-1 3'ears of age, 
when he entered his father's match-factory, and 
continued there until he was 20. Aug. 7, 1862, 
he enlisted in Co. D, 20th Mich. V. I., and 
served until the close of the war. He was in 
eighteen battles — South Mountain, Antietam, 
Fredericksburg, Vicksburg, Knoxville, The Wil- 
derness, Spottsylvania, and all of Grant's cam- 
paign. He was mustered out at Detroit, !Mich., 
Jul}' 8, 1865. He was woundeil at Spottsylva- 
nia, losing the middle finger of the left hand. 
He lived in Ann Arbor after the w.ar, and, in 
1867, commenced to travel for a marble firm of 
that town, and followed the business five j'cars, 
with good success. He next spent two years 



traveling and selling cigars for his brother. He 
then sold marl)le for different firms until 1879, 
when he went into partnership with Mr. Keel, 
and removed to Bucyrus, where they have built 
up a splendid business, employing several first- 
class workmen. They ai'e wholesale and retail 
dealers in foreign and American marbles, and 
all kinds of granite. Their work is finished in 
the best of style and by the most skillful work- 
men. Mr. Buell is a Knight of Honor, beinija 
member of Howard Lodge, No. 109, and is a 
Democrat in politics. He was married, Sept. 9, 
1865, to Miss Mattie E. Bowen, of Ann Arbor, 
Mich. They have two children — Ina and Norma. 

S. A. BOWERS, miller, Bucyrus ; is the son 
of Jacob and Sarah (Palmer) Bowers. Was 
born April 9, 1834. in Whetstone Township, this 
county. He lived on a farm, assisting at home 
and attending school, until he was 24, when, in 
1858, in company with J. W. Delancy, he 
rented Mager's mill, at North Robinson ; this 
the}' ran for about a year ; the following fall 
they purchased the saw-mill of P]manuel Dear- 
dortf. and to it the}* added a flour-mill, under 
the name of '-The Sandusky Valley Mills.' In 
1861, Mr. Delancy I'etired, and the subject of 
the present sketch has continued the business 
ever since. Mr. C. F. Miller bought the mills 
in 1872, and, he failing, Mr. Bowers and Mr. 
Delancy bought the propert}', and have carried 
on the business with good success. They have 
three runs of buhrs, ample steam power being 
furnished b}' two engines. In 1870, Mr. Bow- 
ers bought a mill in Upper Sandusky, which he 
repaired and controUetl about a year, when he 
sold it out. On May 15, 1861, he married Miss 
Lizzie White, of Uniontown, Penn. Of this 
marriage, there are two children — Delia and 
Carrie. His first wife died in April, 1872. In 
October of the following year, he married Mrs. 
Maggie Campbell, of Bucyrus. Mr. Bowers is 
a member of Demas Lodge, No. 108, K. of P., 
and one of the most substiintial citizens of the 
city, having made all by his own eflf.nts. In 
1863, he purchiu^ed a fine farm three miles west 
of the cit}', which he still retains. As a busi- 
ness man he is fair and upright, and commands 
the esteem of all his fellow-townsmen. 

FRANK BLICKE, merchant, Bucyrus; son 
of William and Mary (Reiger) Blicke; was 
born May 6, 1836, in Prussia, and went to 
school from his 7th t-o his 16th 3 ear, receiving 
a "rood education in his native language. When 



A. 



:\£ 



716 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



It), he was apprenticed to a brewer and served 
three years, and worked a year longer in his 
native land. In the year 185(3, he sailed from 
the port of Bremen for the shores of America, 
resolving to seek his fortunes in the New World. 
He landed at New York June 7, 1856, after a 
voyage of forty-two days. lie came direct to 
Cincinnati, Ohio, and entei'ed a bi-ewery, where 
he remained four years. In May, 1860, he 
came to Bucyrus and became the partner of 
Christian Wingert in the brewery, this union 
lasting three years. At the expiration of that 
time, he became the partner of F. A. Vollrath 
in the grocery and provision business, and 
added a stock of dry goods the second year. 
In 1870, Mr. Vollrath retired, and our subject 
purchased his entire stock and interest in the 
building, and since then has carried on the 
business himself He has built up a large 
business, at the corner of Sandusky avenue 
and Mar}^ streets, and has a large stock of dry 
goods, boots and shoes, groceries and queens- 
ware. Mr. Blicke has built eight fine, large 
residences in this city, which are a credit to 
Bucyrus and an evidence of his business en- 
ergy and enterprise. He came here without 
capital, and, by industry, he has brought him- 
self into affluence. He has been a member of 
the City Council, City Treasurer for four years, 
and is now serving his third term as Treasurer 
of the township. He is now N. G. of La Salle 
Lodge, No. 51. In September, 1864, he mar- 
ried Theresa Vollrath, of Bucyrus ; of this 
marriage there were born four children, three 
of whom — ^William A., Carrie A. and Louisa 
M. — are living ; Cora A. is dead. 

DAVID B. BARRETT, farmer ; P. 0. Bu- 
cyrus ; is a son of Arthur and Elizabeth 
(Wolph) Barrett, and was born May 21, 1824, 
in Harrison Co., Ohio, where he lived on a 
farm until he was 23 years of age, having the 
advantages of the common schools of the 
time ; his father died when he was 20 years 
old, and he and his brother came to this town- 
ship in the spring of 1848 ; they bought 200 
acres of land on the Plains, where Jacob Beal 
now lives, adding to it afterward 160 acres 
moi'e. His mother and his brother Enos came 
in 1849, one year after his settlement here, and 
they all lived on the place of first settlement 
until 1856, our subject remaining until 1860, 
when he moved to his present place, where he 
now owns 155 acres of well-improved laud; he 



has excellent buildings, his barn and residence 
both being of the very best in the country. 
He was married, Oct. 28, 1849, to Nancy B. 
Kerr, of this township ; she was born in this 
county in 1827 ; her father came to the town- 
ship in 1826, and was one of its early settlers ; 
he died in March, 1880, and his wife still lives, 
and is in her 88th year. Our subject's father 
was born in Virginia ; emigrated to Harrison 
Co., Ohio, in 1804, and, being a young man, he 
there married a Miss Huff, by whom he had 
four children, three of whom are still living ; 
his second wife, Elizabeth Wolph, was the 
mother of our subject ; there were four chil- 
dren by this marriage — Louisa, living in Bucy- 
rus ; Enos, John W. and David B. ; his widow 
is still living with her daughter, in Bucyrus, in 
her 88th year ; her husband farmed in Harri- 
son Co. successfully until his death, in 1844. 
The subject of this sketch has but one child 
living — Ida B.; two sons are dead — Curtis E., 
died at the age of 18, and Henry, at the age of 
6 years. Mr. Barrett and family are members 
of the Presbyterian Church ; he is a Repub- 
lican in politics. He began life with but little 
of this world's goods, but is now in comforta- 
ble circumstances. 

DR. W. M. BEILHARZ, dentist, Bucyrus ; 
son of Rev. John J. and Maria C. (Froelick) 
Beilharz ; was born Sept. 21, 1819, in Maxa- 
tawney, Berks Co., Penn., where he lived until 
about 8 years old, when the family removed to 
the State of New York ; here our subject went 
to school in winter until 15, and helped his 
father on the farm until 22 years of age ; in 
1842, he removed to Tiffin, Ohio, where Mr. 
Beilharz began the study of dentistry with an 
older brother, who had removed from New 
York some time previous ; he practiced his 
profession in Tiffin for a period of nine years, 
coming to Bucyrus Dec. 18, 1853, where he at 
once opened an office for the practice of den- 
tistry, and has continued with fair success ever 
since ; he is an expert in all the departments 
of mechanical and operative dentistry ; about 
1850, he made a discovery of a cure for sore 
and inflamed eyes, but, being engrossed with 
his profession, lie never brought it before the 
public until of late years ; the almost miracu- 
lous cures which it has effected place him 
among the leading oculists of the countr}' ; he 
has also discovered a remedy which he calls 
the " Healing Fluid," which acts as an antisep- 



vjp 



fk 



BUCYRUS TOWNSHIP. 



717 



tic, preventing inflaran)ation, and cures all 
sores, either recent or chronic ; its efficacy is 
attested b}' the unanimous testimony of those 
whom he has cured. On June 17, 1849, he 
was united in marriage with Miss Maria B. 
Croclfett, of Seneca Co., Ohio ; two sons and a 
daughter are the fruit of this union, all of 
whom are living — Charles A., Anne, wife of F. 
L. Ingman, merchant at Villisca, Iowa, and 
Cassius M. Dr. Beilharz has been a careful 
student of history for many years, and is an 
intelligent and respected citizen. 

JAMES P. BE ALL, farmer ; P. 0. Bucyrus ; 
was born May 13, 1828, in Harrison Co., Ohio, 
and is the son of James P. and Minerva (Hough) 
Beall ; his father was a farmer, and he remained 
on the farm until he was 23 years old ; his father 
being in moderate circumstances and having 
a large family to support, j'oung James was 
compelled to work, and thus lose man}' advan- 
tages of schooling. He received a moderate 
education, however, and worked some two years 
for $10 per month, and also split rails at 37|- 
cents per day ; in the fall of 1852, he came to 
this county, and rented a farm in Bucyrus 
Township, adjoining that of A. J. Caldwell ; 
the next 3'ear he worked by the month for Enos 
Barrett, receiving $240 per year and house 
rent, etc. ; in December, 1854, he bought 120 
acres of the land which he now owns, and 
which at that time was but little improved ; he 
has improved his farm and added to it, so that 
at present he is the prosperous owner of 392 
acres of well-tilled land, and has erected sub- 
stantial buildings, all being the result of Mr. 
Beall's labor and industry, united with good 
management, as he commenced life for himself 
with onl)' $7. When he first purchased his 
land, he raised large crops of grain until the 
land was sufficiently cleared, and, since then, 
he has dealt in the t)est breeds of sheep, such 
as the Merino, having a fine flock of 500, and 
handling at times from 300 to 1 ,800 head. He 
is a Republican in politics, and was formerl}' a 
Whig, casting his first vote for Gen. Scott. 
Both himself and wife are members of the M. 
E. Church, of which lie is a Trustee. He was 
married, Dec. 27, 1848, to Miss Mary Keck- 
ler, of Harrison Co.. Ohio ; of this marriage, 
thei'e have been seven children — James P., 
deceased ; those still living are : John W., 
Mary M., Laura E., Dorsey L., Eva M. and 
Nora E. The father of Mr. Beall was born in 



Washington Co., Penn., in 1797 ; he was first 
married to Jane Albert, of Pennsylvania, and 
of this marriage there were two children, one of 
whom is still living — Jane, the wife of Aaron 
Chance, of Buc3rus Township ; this first con- 
sort died in about 1821, and Mr. Beal, Sr.,came 
to Harrison Co. the following year, and, some 
time after, he married Minerva Hough, of that 
county ; he was one of the earliest settlers in 
that region, and for twent3-one ^-ears the elec- 
tions were held at his house ; he was County 
Commissioner there, and also held several 
township offices ; he settled in Bucyrus Town- 
ship in 1854, where Christopher Mason now 
lives, and resided there until his death, in 1869; 
his mother died in 1875. Of this marriage, 
there were the following children — Cass An- 
drews, deceased ; Elizabeth, deceased ; Colmore 
C, deceased ; James P., our subject ; Cyrus H., 
deceased ; Rebecca, deceased ; John W.. de- 
ceased ; Minerva A., Zephaniah, Mary A. and 
Susannah ; the last three died in infancy. 

BENJAMIN BEAL. farmer and' stock- 
raiser ; P. 0. Bucyrus ; 
Anna B. (Shearer) Beal 
1839, in Lycoming Co., 
years of age his father's 
county and settled in this township ; he at- 
tended the district schools until 19 3-ears of age, 
during the winter season, working on the farm 
in the meantime. He married Mary Stalz, 
March 19, 1861, and began farming on 80 acres 
of land just east of the pike, where he lived 
until 1879, when he came to his present farm 
"on the old pike ; he now owns 185 acres of fine 
farming and grazing land, and has dealt largely' 
in sheep since 1872, buying, grazing and feed- 
ing for market. His wife died Nov. 14, 1867 ; 
three children were the fruits of this marriage, 
viz.. Albert G., born Feb. 11, 1862; Daniel 
Wesley, born March 10, 1865, and Emma, born 
June 7, 1866. He was married a second time, 
May 25, 1871, to Miss Lydia A. Rexroth, of 
Bucyrus ; five children were born of this union 
— Benjamin, born Oct. 10, 1873 ; Mary J., boi-n 
April 27, 1875 ; Edwin G., born Sept. 1, 1876 ; 
Frederick X. A., born Dec. 14, 1877. and Will- 
iam D.. born Aug. 6. 1879. Both Mr. Beal and 
his wife are members of the .M. E. Church. He 
has always been Republican in politics, taking 
an active interest in the afiairs of the State and 
nation. In 1872, Mr. Beal visited Europe, trav- 
eling about 4,000 miles on the continent, laud- 



son of George and 

was born June 9, 

Fenn., and when 4 

family came to this 



j^: 



A 



'b> 



718 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



ing at Bremen and going to Saxon}', Austria, 
Bavaria, Hesse, Switzerland and Wurtemberg, 
visiting the I)irthpla(.'e of his father ; he also 
visited Baden-Baden, Wiesbaden and P]ms, fam- 
ous watering-places of Europe ; he returned 
in September, much improved in health. His 
father was born in Wurtemberg, German}-, Feb. 
14. 1795, and came to America with his father's 
family in 1805, being at the time 10 3'ears old ; 
the family settled in Lycoming Co., Penn., 
where he followed farming until he grew up. 
In about the year 1825, he married Anna B. 
Shearer, a native of Wurtemberg, whose family 
came to America in 1804, settling also in Ly- 
coming Co. After marriage, they lived on a 
farm there until 1843, when they came through 
to Ohio in a large covered wtigon, and settled 
in this township, where he still lives ; he is in 
his 86th year, and his wife in her 80th year ; 
he purchased 160 acres of land when he came 
to the county, and by energy and industry 
added another quarter-section to it ; he raised 
three sons — Isaac. Jacob and Benjamin — and 
one daughter. Mary, now the wife of Mr. N. 
Mutchler. 

ELIAS BLAIR, hardware dealer, Bucyrus ; 
son of Joseph and Rebecca (Bennington) Blair, 
was born May 1, 1824, in Knox Co., Ohio. He 
lived on a f^irm until his 20th year. In 1845. 
he went to Mansfield, Ohio, whei'e he engaged 
in the manufacture of plows until 1850, when 
he went to California, by the " overland route," 
to seek his fortune in the gold diggings. In 
1853, he came to Bucyrus and opened a hard- 
ware store, and has been engaged in that busi- 
ness ever since, except a brief period employed 
in the erection of his present building in 1863. 
His business block consists of a fine three-stor}' 
brick. 20^xL55. in dimensions. He has done an 
extensive business and carries an immense 
stock of goods, representing every department 
of the hardware trade. In 1874, he invented 
the famous Blair's hog ringer. He is now 
manufacturing these rings by automatic ma- 
chinery, at the rate of 60,000 per day. 

ISAAC BEAL, farmer; P. 0. Bucyrus ; son 
of George and Barbara (Shearer) Beal, was 
born Aug. 2^, 1828, in Lycoming Co., Penn. 
He remained there going to school and on the 
farm until 14 years of age. In 1842, he came 
to Crawford Co., Ohio, locating on the eastern 
border of Sandusky Plains. He went to school 
two terms on the old Mud Pike, and, Sept. 15, 



1853, married Christina Hurr, daughter of the 
late George and Christina (Kehrer) Hurr. By 
her he has the following family : Marv A., born 
Dec. 2, 1854 ; Simeon G., Oct." 19, 1856 ; Eliza- 
beth, Sept. 21, 1858; Benjamin F., March 31, 
1860 ; Katie, March 9, 1866 ; Ellen B.. April 
11, 1872 ; and Martha, Jan. 23, 1876. Of this 
family. Daniel and John are dead ; the former's 
death occurred in 1872, and the latter's in the 
same year. Mrs. Beal was born in Lycoming 
Co., Penn., Dec. 25, 1830. Mr. Beal is a kind 
husband and an affectionate father. He now 
has charge of the old homestead, to which he 
has added 124 acres of land. His parents are 
3'et living, making their home with their son on 
the old farm. Mr. Beal takes much pains in 
the rearing of blooded stock, and at present has 
some fine specimens of full-blooded short-horn 
and Durham cattle. He is a Democrat in poli- 
tics, but sometimes deviates from voting the 
straight Democratic ticket. Mrs. Beal is a mem- 
ber of the M. E. Chiu'ch, and the Beal family 
are known to be intelligent and highly respected 
people. 

WILLIAM CALDWELL, Bucyrus ; son of 
Alexander and Mar}' (Agnew) Caldwell, was 
born Jan. 9, 1812, near Gettysburg, Adams Co., 
Penn. His earl}- manhood and youth were 
passed on the farm and in attending school. 
From his 19th year until he was 27, he worked 
for his father. In 1839, his father had come 
to Crawford Co., Ohio., purchased a farm, and 
the following year he and sister drove from 
Pennsylvania to Ohio in a buggy. Here he 
found his father had purchased 258 acres of 
land on the Marion road, paying $11 per acre 
for it. This road was one that was traveled 
considerably by stock men, and soon Mr. Cald- 
well's house became a kind of tavern or place 
of entertainment for the weary traveler. In 
1841, William purchased the farm from the 
heirs, the father having died. On the 19th of 
May, 1845, he was united in marriage with 
Elizabeth Stow, daughter of Samuel and Susan 
(Knisely) Stow, and by her he had the follow- 
ing family : Alexander, born March 19, 1846, 
died Oct. 20, 1856 ; Mary B., Nov. 23, 1847 ; 
Martha E. ; Charles, June 7, 1852 ; AVilliam J., 
May 31, 1854 ; Samuel E., May 28, 1857 ; and 
Frank, Dec. 30, 1859. Mrs. Caldwell was born 
in New Philadelphia, Ohio, Feb. 28, 1825, and 
her people were old settlers and prominent peo- 
ple of Tuscarawas Co., Ohio. Mr. Caldwell 






iRT 



BUCYRUS TOWNSHIP. 



719 



owns 488 acres of fine farming and grazing 
land, all of which he has made by his own ex- 
ertions, with the exception of $1,200 from his 
father's estate. He first devoted his time and 
attention to raising grain, when he took charge 
of the place, but since 1845, has devoted his 
time to wool-growing. He is a self-reliant and 
highly esteemed citizen. He and wife are con- 
sistent members of the Presbyterian Church ; 
while he is a Democrat in politics. 

ALEXANDER J. CALDWELL, farmer and 
stock-raiser ; P. O. Bucyrus. One of the promi- 
nent and influential families of the country is 
that of Caldwell. There is scarcely a State in the 
Union in which the name is not found, and al- 
ways among the verj' best class of citizens. The 
gentleman whose name heads this sketch is no 
exception, and fully maintains the honor, dignity 
and boundless hospitality of this old and dis- 
tinguished family. He is a son of Hon. Sam- 
uel S. and Margaret E. (Mickle) Caldwell, and 
was born Aug. 27, 1828, in Adams Co., Penn. 
He was 7 years old when his father emigrated 
to this county and settled in Bucyrus. He 
lived with his father until he was 23 years old, 
going to school during the winter, in an old 
log hut, that, like Solomon's Temple, had been 
built without the " sound of ax, hammer or any 
iron tool," at least there was no iron in the ma- 
terial of which it Avas composed, not even nails. 
In this rude hut he gained a fair knowledge of 
the common branches of education. He was 
married. May 25, 1853, to Miss Harriet C. 
Chambers, daughter of Andrew and Isabella 
(Marshall) Chambers, who was born in Rich- 
land Co., July 14, 1830. Seven children were 
the fruit of this union, all of whom are now 
living — Thomas J., married to IMiss Mary 
Wentz, and farms with his father ; Smith C, 
Edgar C, Mina B., Hattie L., Mary A. and 
Frances jMarion. After marriage, Mr. Caldwell 
settled on his present farm, on the Marion road, 
where he owned 100 acres. It was then but 
partially improved and cleared, and was some- 
what swampy. He has cleared it up. drained 
and improved it in the highest degree, and 
erected not only substantial, but even elegant, 
buildings. Both he and his wife are exem- 
plary members of the Presbyterian Church, and 
have been for a number of years. He is a 
Democrat, and has always acted in concert 
with that party. Ilis father, Hon. Samuel S. 
Caldwell, was born in jMay, 1804, in Adams 



Co., Penn., where he lived until 1835, in the 
fall of which year he removed to Crawford Co., 
having married, in 1827, Miss Margaret E. 
Mickle. He settled on the Plains south of Bu- 
cyrus, where he bought 200 acres of land, and 
farmed until 1856, when he removed to town. 
He lived here until 1877, and on Nov. 18, of that 
year, died at the house of his son, Alexander 
J., in the 74th year of his age. His aged wife 
survives him, and lives with her son (our sub- 
ject), and is now in her 87th year. Hon. Sam- 
uel S. Caldwell was a public spirited and enter- 
prising man. He was Justice of the Peace 
and Notar}' Public man}- years ; was elected to 
the Legislature in 1844, and served his consti- 
tuency faithfully in the Forty-third General 
Assembly, and used his influence to have the 
county seat retained at Bucyrus. His family 
was as follows : Alexander J.. Samuel, a 
farmer in Wyandot Co.. and Florence McL.. 
wife of F. M. Welsh, of South Bend, Tnd. 

DANIEL 0. CASTLE, County Recorder. 
Bucyrus, is the second son of Elisha and Phebe 
A. (Marshall) Castle. He was born near Lees- 
ville, Ohio, Jan. 13, 1846. His early advan- 
tages for education were somewhat meager, 
leaving school at 12 years of age ; he learned 
the trade of shoemaker, which he followed 
until the breaking-out of the late rebellion. 
In August, 1862, he enlisted in the 101st 
0. V. I., Company E, under Capt William Par- 
sons of Gallon. He was under the command 
of Gen. Rosecrans in the army of the Cum- 
berland. Mr. Castle participated in the battles 
of Perryville, Knob Gap, Murfreesboro, Chicka- 
mauga and many other engagements. He was 
wounded by a musket ball at the battle of 
Chickamauga, but remained until the close of 
the struogle, being mustered out at Plattslmrg, 
N. Y., July 26, 1865. He returned to this 
county, and at once resumed his trade of shoe- 
maker, dealing in boots and shoes at Crestline 
and Leesville until 1874. when he formed a 
partnership with Frederick Beech, and they did 
a successful business in dry goods at Leesville 
for two years. During this period, our subject 
was Postmaster, and also served in the capacity 
of Justice of the Peace and Mayor of the in- 
corporated village of Leesville. He sul)se- 
quently formed a l)usiness partnership with his 
brother, which lasted about one year. In Octo- 
ber, 1878, Mr. Castle was elected to the olllce of 
County Recorder, and entered upon its duties 



i' 



fk. 



720 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



Jan. G, 1879, which he has since performed in 
a manner at once faithful and creditable. July 
4, 18GG, he was married to Miss Eliza A. Smith 
of Leesville. By this union four children were 
born, whose names are Laura, Jacob, Lelah 
and Clayton A. Elisha, the father of Mr. Cas- 
tle, was born about 179G, near Brownsville, Md. ; 
at IG he enlisted in the ami}', serving 10 months 
in the war of 1812, and went to Fayette Co., 
Peim., when a 3'onng man, and there married 
Phebe A. Marshall. He followed the trade of 
shoemaker and dealt in horses for some 3'eai's. 
Coming to Crawford County in 1840, he settled 
on a farm in Sandusky. In 1848, he removed 
to Leesville, where he kept a boot and shoe 
store and a shop therewith. £Ie died May 8, 
18G4, leaving two sons, Henry, a farmer of 
Wyandot (younty. and Daniel O., the subject 
of this sketch. 

D. C. C A HILL, law3'er, Bucyrus ; was born 
Nov. 2, 1882, in Vernon Township, and is a son 
of 11. W. and Eliza (Cummins) Cahili. His 
youth was spent on a farm, and at the age of 
20, he, in the fall of 1852, entered the pre- 
paratory department of Wittenberg College, at 
Springfield, Ohio, where he remained until 1856, 
after which he spent one term at the Ohio 
Wesleyan University. In 1857, he went back 
to Wittenberg, where he completed the entire 
course, except the formality of graduating. 
Owing to the tailing health of his father, he 
then took charge of tiie homestead. In the 
fall of 18G8, he came to Bucyrus, and entered 
the law otfice of S. R. Harris, Esq., for the pur- 
pose of studying law. He was admitted to the 
bar, Dec. 20, 18G0, and practiced here until 
April, 18G5, when he made a trip to San Fran- 
cisco, Cal., overland, being nearl}' six months 
on the way, arriving there in September, hav- 
ing visited many points of interest during the 
journey. He went to Oregon and held an office 
in Linn Co., from September, 18GG, until April, 
18G7. He then returned via Panama to New 
York, and was called home l)y the illness of his 
brother, who was practicing law at Dayton, 
Ohio. At the close of 1867, he re-opened a law 
office in Bucyrus; closed his office in Septem- 
ber, 1868, and traveled with his brother, until 
his death, at San Antonio, Texas, in December 
following. In June, 1869, he returned home 
and resumed his law practice, in his present 
office, as the partner of Judge Thomas Beer. 
He was out hunting in December of this year, 



when, by an accidental discharge of his gun, 
he received a painful wound, which disabled 
him for about eighteen months. In the latter 
part of 1871, he was employed by the Mans- 
field, Coldwater & Lake Michigan Railroad, to 
obtain the right of way through the county. In 
the spring of 1872, he again opened a law office 
and practiced until his election as Clerk of the 
Court in October, taking charge of the office in 
Februar}-, 1874, and retired in February, 1880, 
when he resumed his law practice with his 
brother Isaac Cahili, under the firm name of 
Cahili Brothers, in No. 7 Quinby Block. He 
was married in October, 1875, to Miss A. E. J. 
Juilliard, of Bucyrus, who was born in Stark 
County, Ohio, and is a daughter of John N. 
Juilliard. She came to Bucyrus in 1887, where 
she leaimed the millinery business with Miss 
Jennie L. Anderson, and was partner for one 
season. Since 1868, she has done a large bus- 
iness alone ; employing from six to fourteen 
ladies in the millinery department. She keeps 
a large stock of millinerj^ and notions. . 

HENRY COUTS, farmer and veterinary sur- 
geon ; P. 0. Bucyrus ; was born in Lancaster 
Co., Penn., July 4, 1810. Chi'istian Couts, the 
father of Henry, was of Scotch descent, and 
served three years in the American armv dur- 
ing the Revolutionary war. He removed to 
Crawford Co. with his family-, about the year 
1821, when the subject of this sketch was about 
12 years of age ; they settled in Liberty Town- 
ship, southeast of what is now Sulphur Springs. 
When Henry Couts was a young man, between 
the ages of 14 and 20, he would frequently re- 
side with the Indians, and, occasionallj-, these 
visits were several weeks in length. During 
these visits, he was frequently the guest of 
Johnny Cake, a half-breed Wyandot Indian, 
whose father was a Frenchman. This savage 
resided at Upper Sandusky, in a hut which 
stood near the Wyandot Mission Church. 
Johnny Cake liked Couts, who occasionally 
practiced at shooting with the bow and arrows 
with the two sons of his sa\age friend ; they 
would occasionally make hunting excursions 
together on the Hone}' Creek, Sycamon; Creek 
and the Broken Sword. Couts relates that he 
also spent many nights with Bill Walker, one 
of the chiefs. This Indian read law and prac- 
ticed some at an early day ; he lived in a frame 
house, possessed many articles found in the 
homes of the whites, and was more civilized 



TZ 



BUCYRUS TOWNSHIP. 



721 



than Johnny Cake and many other savages. 
Walker had two sisters, witli whom Gouts 
spent many a pleasant hour. The subject of 
this sketch was alwaj-s on friendly terms with 
the Indians, but once he had a fuss with one 
called Between-the-logs. Gouts had a very line 
hunting dog, and this savage desired to pur- 
chase it, and, while the Indian was hunting on 
the Broken Sword, he visited Gouts with the in- 
tention of securing the coveted animal. But 
Gouts didn't wish to sell the dog, and Between- 
the-logs became very angry about it ; he was 
intoxicated, and, when Gouts entered his cabin 
after conversing with him, the enraged savage 
ran his knife through the door of the house. 
He also threatened Gouts' life, and drew his 
gun upon him several times, but did not fire at 
him ; but he finally left, vowing to remember 
Gouts in the future. After he left, the owner 
of the dog thought over the indignities he had 
suffei'ed, and grew very angry about it ; he fol- 
lowed the Indian several miles, and, overtaking 
him, drew his gun to shoot the savage, but the 
charge did not explode, and the warrior es- 
caped. Gouts says he was alwa^-s glad in after 
3-ears, that the gun missed fire. But, at the next 
general muster, Between-the-logs attended ; he 
became intoxicated, and commenced to abuse 
Gouts, who turned in and thrashed the savage. 
Gouts was a very good wrestler in his younger 
da3's ; was known as the " bully Dutchman," 
and one time gained a signal victory over a 
man named Erastus Finn, who challenged an}- 
man in Gapt. Linton's militia compau}'. Gouts 
was married to Sarah Ann Peterman Aug. 25, 
1833 ; she was born June 22, 1818. They re- 
resided in Liberty Township until September, 
18-41, and then removed t<^ Missouri, where the}^ 
remained for about twelve months. While a 
resident of Liberty, he served as Gonstable 
several terms. When he returned from Mis- 
souri, he settled in Bucyrus, and followed the 
occupation of teamster for Henry Converse, and 
made frequent trips between Bucyrus and San- 
dusky Gity. In 1 846, he secured a contract for 
carrying the mail through the country, and con- 
tinued in this business for some eighteen years. 
He served as Street Gommissioner and Marshal 
of Bucyrus for two terms. In the earl}' part 
of 18G3, he secured a position as Veterinary 
Surgeon in the 34th O. V. G., under Gol. Frank- 
lin, and served in this capacity nearl}' eighteen 
months. He removed to his present residence 



southwest of town, about 1806, where he ran a 
saw-mill until some two j-ears since, when he 
sold the mill privileges to the Gounty Commis- 
sioners ; since then, he has been farming and 
practicing veterinary surgery. Mr. Gouts 
joined the M. E. Church at Annapolis in his 
younger days, and was a Glass-leader for some 
five years. After he returned from Missouri, 
he connected himself with the Protestant M. E. 
Church, and is at the present time a member of 
the U. B. congregation. The subject of this 
sketch is the father of the following children : 
Samuel, born April 10, 1834 ; married to Sarah 
A. Nichols ]March 24, 1857, and died Nov. 23, 
1865 ; David, born Nov. 4, 1835 ; now a resi- 
dent of Page Co., Iowa, and married to Sarah 
A. Palmer ; John A., born Oct. 2, 1837 ; mar- 
ried to Mary A. Boi'st Nov. 29, 1860, and now 
a resident of Upper Sandusky ; William H. H., 
born March 15, 1840 ; married to Hatty Mead 
Dec. 10, 1863, and now a resident of Sandusky 
Township ; Barbara E., born March 18, 1842 ; 
married to George Sware, Dec. 18, 1862, and, 
after her first husband died, to Jacob Shupp ; 
the_y reside southwest of Bucyrus ; Jacob, born 
March 3, 1844 ; married Miss Catharine Forney 
Jan. 17, 1864, and now resides in Bucyrus ; 
Jeremiah B., born March 12, 1846; married 
Susan M^ers, and is a plasterer in Buc3tus ; 
Frances, born July 18, 1848, and died in in- 
fancy ; Hiram Andrew, born Nov. G, 1849, and 
died May 7, 1871 ; Eliza Ann, born April 7, 
1852, and died in infancy ; Sanford, born Sept. 
21, 1854 ; married Cynthia Dixon, and now a 
resident of Upper Sandusky ; Charles Fremont, 
born March 29, 1857 ; married to Hattie E. 
Mahaflfey, Nov. 12, 1878, and resides southwest 
of town. Six of the sons mentioned above (all 
who were old enough), enlisted in the Union 
Arm}' during the late rebellion, and served 
their country on many a bloody battle-field ; 
their father was too old to enlist as a soldier, 
but entered the service as a Veterinary Surgeon. 
M. C. CUYKENDALL, physician and sur- 
geon, Bucyrus ; is the son of Cornelius and 
Elizabeth (Courtright) Guvkendall, and was 
born Nov. 21, 1829, in Cuyahoga Co., N. Y. 
He lived on a farm until his 17th year, 
and then entered Groton Academy, in Tompkins 
Co., N. Y., remaining two years, and teaching 
in the winter ; he taught the following winter 
and worked at carpentering for the two ensuing 
seasons, spending the winter months meanwhile 






722 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



in teaching. His parents had died when he 
was 14, leaving him to battle with life alone. 
In tlie winter of 1849, he came to Plymouth, 
Kicliland Co. ; the following year he com- 
menc;ed the stud}' of medicine. In the spring 
of 1851, he entered the office of Drs. Benscho- 
ter & Bevier, at Plymouth, and continued with 
them until the spring of 1853, having entered 
the Cleveland Medical College in 1851 ; he 
graduated from that institution in 1853, and 
commenced practice in Richland Co. In July, 
1857, he came to Bucyrus, and has since re- 
mained there, save the time spent in the army. 
He was commissioned Surgeon of the 3d 0. V. 
C, in October, 1861. In July, 1862, he was pro- 
moted to Brigade Surgeon of the Second Cavalry 
Brigade. Second Division of the Army of the 
Cumberland. In 1863, he was made Medical Di- 
rector of two divisions, which made him a staff 
officer under Gen. Ci'ook. In December, 1864, 
he was mustered out at Columbia, Tenn. He 
then resumed the practice of his profession at 
Bucyrus. He has made a specialty of surger}' 
for thirty years, and is counted as one of the 
most skillful physicians in the State. In 1875, 
he was elected Professor of Medical and Sur- 
gical Diseases of Women, in the Columbus 
Medical College. He is a member of the 
American Medical Association, and also that of 
the State of Ohio ; he was also President of the 
Northwestern Ohio JNIedical Association. He 
was married Jan. 29, 1854, to Miss Lucy White, 
of Auburn Township ; they have one daughter 
—Ida W., wife of Dr. W. B. Carson, of Bucy- 
rus. 

J. R. CLYMER, attorney at law, Bucyrus ; 
was born in Franklin Co., Ohio, Jan. 23, 1834, 
of English, Irish and German parentage. The 
paternal ancestors of Mr. Clynier were among 
the early settlers of Pennsylvania. He is 
lineally descended from the Hon. George Cly- 
mer, of that State, one of the signers of the 
Declaration of Independence, and inventor of 
the " Columbian " printing press, which was the 
first constructed of iron. His ftither is a cler- 
gyman, held in high esteem, and his mother an 
accomplished woman. In the year 1837. the 
family moved to Westfield, Morrow Co., Oiiio, 
where our subject received the rudimentary 
elements of his education in a log schoolhouse. 
In 1849. he entered the Otterbein University, 
where he laid thfe foundations of his after use- 
fulness. He removed to Gallon, Ohio, in 1851, 



and became the chosen teacher of the high 
school and acting Superintendent of the Union 
schools of that place for several years. He 
was appointed Deputy Clerk of Court, under 
A. P. Widman, June"l8, 1859. Mr. Widman 
died Nov. 30, 1860, and our subject was ap- 
pointed to fill the unexpired term. In 1861, 
he was elected Clerk of the Courts of Crawford 
Co., for a full term of three 3'ears, and re- 
elected in 1864. After an official (sareer of 
six years, during which time he won tlie 
approval of political friends and opponents 
alike, he retired from public office and pur- 
chased the Crawford County Forxim, becoming 
editor and proprietor April 15, 1868 ; he held 
that position until April, 1877. By his talents 
and industry, he made the Forum a welcome 
visitor in every household, and has done 
much to elevate the moral and literary tone 
of journalism in this county. As an editor 
Mr. Clymer was distinguished for his clear 
comprehension of questions and events. He is 
both logical and forcible in expressing his 
ideas, and their influence is often recognized in 
party platforms. The productions of his pen, 
in both prose and poetr}'. evince great terse- 
ness and practicability. His journalistic para- 
graphs are frequently copied into leading news- 
papers of the countiy. He is also spoken of as 
aw able literary critic, and the selections which 
appeared in the Forum under his direction 
indicate the excellence of his judgment and 
taste. In appreciation of these qualities, in 
1874, he was appointed to edit all the Demo- 
cratic papers (over a hundred in number) pub- 
lished by the Aikens Auxiliar}' Newspaper 
Companies of Cincinnati and Milwaukee. Mr, 
Cl3'mer has occupied several positions of im- 
portance, all unsought by him. In this con- 
nection may be mentioned that he was a dele- 
gate from the Ninth Congressional District of 
Ohio, at the Conservative National Convention, 
which met at Philadelphia in 1866. and was 
also a Centennial Commissioner for the Four- 
teenth District, appointed by Gov. William 
Allen of Ohio. During his occupancy of the 
Clerk's office, Mr. Clymer began the study of 
law under the direction of Judge Plants, and, 
on retiring from the editorial chair of the 
Forum, he entered the field of legal research, 
and was admitted to the bar at Tiffin, April 9, 
1878, and entered upon the practice of his pro- 
fession jn Bucyrus. As an advocate and conn- 



^ 



BUCYRUS TOWNSHIP. 



723 



selor he bus had signal success, rising at once 
into pi'ominence b}' his versatile talents and 
impressive orator3^ He is an earnest ancV 
faithful Christian gentlemen, being a commu- 
nicant of the Presbyterian Church and a zeal- 
ous worker in the Sabbath school. He was 
married to Miss Mary M. Shaw, of Westfield 
Township, Morrow Co., Ohio, in August, 1856. 
Of this marriage three children were born, but 
one of whom is living, Rosella C. Clj'mei' — a 
successful teacher in the Bucyrus Union 
Schools. His wife, Mary M., departed this 
life May 4, 1866. He was re-married, to Miss 
Kate E. Franz, in September, 1867. She is 
the oldest daughter of the late Col. John 
Franz, of Bucyrus. The fruit of this happy 
union is three children — Franklin M.. Blanche 
S. and Thomas W. 

SHANNON CLEMENTS, Probate Judge, 
Bucyi'us ; was born Aug. 17, 1841, and is a 
native of this county ; he is a son of James 
and Rliza Stone Clements ; his parents re- 
moved to Bucyrus when he was aged 6 j'ears, 
and educated their son in the public schools ; 
his father was a native of Washington Co., 
Penn., and removed to Ohio when quite young, 
his parents being among the first settlers ; he 
taught school in his youth, and was one of the 
pioneer teachers. In 1846. he was elected 
Sheriff' of the county, serving two terms ; he 
was then elected Probate Judge, taking charge 
in 1864. and has since practiced law in Bucyrus. 
The subject of this sketch entered the post 
office at Crestline when 16 3'ears of age, and 
was soon after appointed mail agent, which 
post he held until 1860. At the outbreak of 
the war, he enlisted in Co. K, 120th O. Y. I., 
under command of -Col. French, his corps be- 
ing under Gen. Grant ; he participated in the 
battles of Chickasaw Bluff. Arkansas Post, 
Grand Gulf, Raymond, Champion Hill, Black 
River, siege of Yicksburg, Jackson, Miss., 
Blakel}', Ala., and other minor engagements ; 
only three of his company returned at the 
close of the war ; he was mustered out at 
Houston. Tex., in October, 1865, and never, 
during the whole time of his service for the 
old flag, was he sick, wounded, or ofl" duty. 
He was clerk for his father, serving five years, 
and six years for Judge Lee ; he was elected 
in October, 1875. and re-elected in 1878, run- 
ning ahead of his ticket both times. He was 
married, Nov. 16, 1870, to Miss Anna Mullens, 



of Buc3'rus, who is a native of England. As 
a public official. Judge Clements is noted as 
upright and honest, and he is a man univer- 
sally respected bj' the citizens of Crawford Co. 
REV. HENRY W. CONLEY, dentist, Bucy- 
rus ; is a son of Leven Conle^-, and was born 
Oct. 12, 1835, in Liberty Township, this county. 
He was reared on a farm, and followed farming 
until his 19th 3'ear, having taught two terms, 
also, in the district school, in the meantime. 
He entered Mt. Union College in the fall of 
1859, and also attended Otterbein Universit}-. 
Altogether, he taught some eleven terms of the 
district school. Uniting with the M. E. Church 
in 1859, he was soon afterward licensed to ex- 
hort. He removed to Decatur, 111., in 1863, 
and commenced the study of dentistrj'. After 
spending some two years there, he came to 
Ph'mouth, Ohio, and entered upon the practice 
of that profession, continuing eighteen months. 
He was licensed to preach, and admitted to the 
Northern Ohio Conference in 1867, and com- 
menced his ministerial labors at Woodbur}', 
Ohio, and Newcomerstown. In 1870, he was 
transferred to the Kansas Conference, and was 
stationed at Oswego for two years. Here he 
did valuable service in the vineyard, building 
up a church worth $4,000, and increasing the 
membership from 35 to 300, having made 250 
convei'sions during the period of his ministra- 
tions. Lawrence, Kan., became his home for 
the year following, and, by the advice of his 
ph3'sicjan, he went South, and was stationed at 
Coffeeville, the southern terminus of the Gal- 
veston Railroad. This town had then been in 
existence some six months, and had a popula- 
tion of 1,200. Mr. Conley preached the first 
Methodist sermon ever delivered in the place. 
He remained there two years, and built up a 
strong. health3' church organization, his labors 
being blessed abundantly. He was transferred 
to the Northern Ohio Conference in 1874, and 
had charge of the church at Belleville, Ohio. 
During his two-years pastorate here, he had 
140 conversions to the church. He next went 
to his old home, at Sulphur Springs, remaining 
two 3'ears, where he was appointed to his first 
charge (that of Woodbury). His wife's health 
failing, he sustained a supernumerary relation 
to the church, and removed to Bucyrus in April, 
1880. Here he opened an office of dentistry 
at No. 14 Quinby Block, where he is prepared 
to do all kinds of mechanical and operative 



724 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



dentistry. Mr. Conley was married to Annie 
E. White, of Liberty Townsliip, Nov. 0, 186fi. 
Tliey liad three children— Donzellie, Minturn 
and Harrison W., which last named died at Sul- 
phur Springs, aged 4 years and 4 months. The 
subject of this sketch has been a devoted worker 
in the cause of redemption, and his labors have 
been blessed with eminent success. 

HON. ALLEN CAMPBELL, lawyer and 
Mayor, Biicyrns. The Mayor of Bucyrns is the 
son of William JL and Esther (Gallup) Camp- 
bell, and was born in Voluntown, Conn., Oct. 
13, 1839. He received a good education attend- 
ing school at Plainfield and Ellington ; also 
at normal seminaries in Norwich and Provi- 
dence, R. I. He afterward entered a wholesale 
dr}' goods house in Providence as clerk, occu- 
pying the position some fifteen months ; next 
he was book-keeper in the Remington Rifle 
Works at Ilion, N. Y., having previous to that 
time made a trip to the West Indies on the man- 
of-war San Jacinto, in search of the Alabama. 
In the fall of 1868, he came to Mansfield, Ohio, 
and from there to Bucyrus, where he soon be- 
came book-keeper for the Bucyrus Machine 
Works, holding this position some two years. 
He was next a member of the firm of D. W. 
Twitchell & Co., in the boot and shoe trade and 
continued until 1877. In 1878, he was elected 
Justice of the Peace, filling that office and car- 
rying on at the same time a general insurance 
business. He was elected Mayor of the city in 
April, 1880, receiving the support of both par- 
ties. He was married in January, 1871, to Eva 
Ilowse, daughter of Horace Rowse, of Bucyrus. 
Three children are the fruits of this union — 
Lillian, Horace and Allen. Since his election, 
Mr. Campbell has proven himself a competent 
official, and during his residence in this city he 
lias always been held in high esteem by the citi- 
zens of the place. 

JOHN M. CHESNEY, physician and drug- 
gist, Bucyrus; was born May 31. 1825, in 
Mercer Co., Penn., and is the son of John and 
Elizabeth (Mahon) Chesney. His early youth 
was passed on a farm, and the earlier part of 
his education was received at a district school. 
At the age of IG years he entered an academy 
at Jamestown, Penn. After some time spent 
there in diligent study, he taught some two 
terms of school, and then commenced the study 
of medicine in the office of his brother Robert, 
in Shelocta, at the age of 19. He was thus en- 



gaged for three years, and practiced in company 
with his brother. He removed to Ohio in the 
spring of 1847, and remained with his brother 
at Marseilles for some six months, when he lo- 
cated at Ilnntersville, Hardin Co., and there vis- 
ited his patients on foot when the roads were 
well nigh impassable by other means. On one 
of these pedestrian trips, he was lost near the 
Hog Creek Marsh and remained there all night, 
being unable to regain his way. In the spring 
of 1851, he located in Kenton, Ohio, and re- 
mained there some two years. He then went 
to Marseilles and remained until 1876, except- 
ing three years spent in Upper Sandusky. In 
January of 1876, he removed to Bucyrus and 
engaged in business at No. 5 Quinby Block, 
where he is now engaged dealing in drugs and 
books, in which trade he receives a large share 
of the public patronage. He was married at 
Kenton in May, 1851, to Junelia Thompson; of 
this marriage there were born five children, 
three of whom survive — John A., Vill Roy and 
Floy. Dr. Chesney is a physician of con- 
siderable merit, and as a merchant he has met 
with deserved success, and stands high among 
the leading business men of Bucyrus. 

JOHN "^CARSON, photographer, Bucyrus ; 
is a son of Robert and Bessie (Katon) Carson, 
and was born in November, 1828. in County 
Cavan, Ireland ; he received but little school- 
ing, and, at the age of 7, left home to work at 
whatever his hands found to do ; at the age of 
18, he came to America, and the voyage, 
which occupied ten weeks, ended at New York 
May 2, 1848 ; he went to New Jersey and 
spent two years laboring there on a farm ; he 
next went to New York and shipped to New 
Orleans, where he remained over winter ; in 
the spring, he came up the river, and made his 
home in Pennsylvania, near Greensburg, where 
he found employment on the Pennsylvania 
Central Railroad ; here also he received his re- 
ligious convictions and became a member of 
the M. E. Church ; he then devoted three 
years to the trade of carriage-making, and 
then commenced daguerreotyping at Mt. Pleas- 
ant, Penn.; in about 1858, he came to Ohio 
and settled in Upper Sandusky, where he 
worked at his first trade of carriage-making 
until 1864, when he came to Bucyrus and fol- 
lowed the same business for some five ^'ears ; 
he was for some time owner of a photograph 
gallery in Gallon, Ohio, but soon returned to 



^ < 



'K 



■L^ 



BUCYRUS TOWNSHIP. 



725 



Bucyrus and established a gallery in the west 
end of the Quinby Block, where he is now lo- 
cated, witli every facility for the production of 
good pictures, possessing good taste and artis- 
tic skill. He was married, in December, 1854, 
while in Greensburg, Penn., to Miss Zeruiah 
Steelsmith, of that place, and of this union 
there are living six children — Mary E., Anna 
E., Charles R., Robert K., Frank W. and 
George W.; three are dead — William E. and 
John R., who are buried in Wyandot Co., and 
Lucy B. in Bucyrus. The parents of Mr. Car- 
son were both natives of Ireland, whore the 
father was a shoemaker and also a farmer ; he 
raised seven children, and with his wife he re- 
moved to this country and settled in Albany, 
N. Y., where he followed his trade ; botli of 
Mr. Carson's parents remained in this country 
during their lives. Oct. 25, 188(1. Charles R. 
Carson, oldest son of John Carson, took charge 
of the photograph gallery, and is doing an ex- 
cellent business ; he has enjoyed six yeai's' 
acti\'e experience in the work, and his work 
gives evidence of true artistic taste and skill ; 
careful attention to details is necessary to suc- 
cess in taking pictures, and, realizing this. Mr. 
Carson has studied posing and lighting sub- 
jects, the retouching of negatives and the ton- 
ing of pictures, until the beauty and grace 
of his work are subjects of just pride ; he has 
all the modern facilities for taking a large 
variet}' of styles, having just added the -'Win- 
ter " and • Apple Blossom " scenes, which are 
among the latest and most attractive. 

JEREMIAH CORRELL, shoe merchant, 
Buc3'rus ; was born Ma^^ 17, 1832, in Adams 
Co., Penn., and is a son of John and Elizabeth 
(Lind) Correll ; he was i-eared on a farm until 
he had attained iiis 20th 3'ear, in tlie meantime 
attending school and acquiring a serviceable 
education ; his parents removed to Stark Co., 
Ohio, when he was but 2 years old, and there 
he lived for the next twenty-five years ; in the 
spring of 1851), he came to this county and 
commenced farming in Liberty Township, 
where he remained for several yeai's ; he then 
returned to Stark Co., where he remained until 
18G9, when he came to Bucyrus and started a 
boot and shoe store in the room which he now 
occupies, and where he now carries an (exten- 
sive stock of boots, shoes and leather findings. 
He was married, Jan. 10, 1850, t<^) Miss Susan 
E. Bogen, of Whetstone Township, who was 



born in Loudoun Co., Va., Nov. 10, 1832 ; her 
parents removed to Ohio in 1835, and settled 
near Canton, Ohio ; they came to Crawford Co. 
in 1848 ; of Mr. Correll's marriage, tliere are 
four children living — John F., William W., 
Etha E., Jennie E. ; two born to them are 
dead. ^Ir. Correll is a member of, and Deacon 
in, the Disciples' Church, is an upright business 
man, and universally respected. 

JONATHAN CARMEAN, farmer; P. 0. 
Bucyrus ; son of Maj. Matthew and Rachel 
(Long) Carmean ; was born Dec. 6, 1834, in 
what is now Dallas Township, Crawford Co., 
Ohio. Until he reached his majority, he re- 
mained on his father's ftirm, receiving, in the 
meantime, an average school education. For 
two years after becoming of age, he worked his 
father's farm, carefully saving his earnings. In 
December, 1857, he was married to Miss Sarah 
J. Goodman, of Ross Co., Ohio, and b}' her had 
five children, all of whom are living, as follows : 
Alonzo, Dilla, Irvin, Eva B. and Arizona. Mr. 
Carmean is sufficiently public minded to take a 
deep interest in the welfare and prosperity of 
his county. He is the present owner of 493 
acres of fine farming and grazing land, 60 acres 
of the latter being timber. Upon his farm are 
comfortable and commodious buildings. Since 
1860, Mr. Carmean has dealt quite extensively 
in sheep, cattle and hogs. He at present owns 
and keeps on his farm 800 head of fine sheep. 
His property is so situated as to afford Mr. 
Carmean a handsome revenue. He is a stanch 
Republican politically, and has been so since 
the organization of that part}- ; is a member of 
Grange No. 705 in Bucyrus, and merits and 
has gained the respect and confidence of his 
fellow-citizens. 

EMANUEL DEARDORFF, Bucyrus (whose 
portrait appears in this work, and that of his 
deceased wife also), is the son of Jacob and 
Barbara (Myers) Deardorff, and was born Nov. 
6, 1805. in York Co.. Penn. He removed with 
his father to Cumberland Co. when but 2 years 
old. Two years later, his father died, and he 
lived on a farm with his uncle for ten years, 
when he commenced working by the month. 
He continued at this for two years, and. in his 
17th year, went into a tannery owned by James 
Davidson, and served an apprenticeship of three 
and a half years. He then worked in Philadel- 
phia for one year, and also at other points. In 
the fall of 1827, in company with his brother- 



Is 



.JD 



72a 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



in-law, George M^-ers, he came to this county in 
a wagon drawn by one horse, and at Pittsburgh, 
owing to the roads, tliey had to leave their bed- 
ding. On their arrival here, he bought 38 acres 
of land at $10 per acre, and started a tannery. 
He then returned to Pennsylvania, and, on 
March 13, 1828, he married Elizabeth Howen- 
stine, of Cumberland Co. In the June follow- 
ing, they started with a team for his new home 
in this county, and arrived here after a journey 
of fifteen days, and settled on West Mansfield 
street, where his tannery was situated. Here 
he lived, and continued his business until 1852, 
wiien he sold out. and engaged in running a 
steam saw-mill for the next eight 3-ears. He 
then traded for 200 acres of land in Whetstone 
Township, and engaged in farming for ten years. 
lu 1870, he came to Bucyrus, where he has 
since lived in retirement from business. His 
wife died in June, 1867, and, while on a visit 
to Pennsylvania in 1869, he was married to 
Miss Catharine Scob}-, of Carlisle. Eleven chil- 
dren are living of the first marriage — Eliza, 
now Mrs. Wise, of Bucyrus ; John, a miner of 
California ; Jacob (see sketch) ; Ellen, now Mrs. 
Dumbaugh, of Marion ; Rebecca, of Buc3'rus ; 
Christopher and Alexander, of Portland, Ore. ; 
Mrs. Martha Bogun, of this county ; Barbara, 
at home ; George, stone-cutter, of 13 ucvrus, and 
Mary. Mr. DeardorfF is a member of the Lu- 
theran Church. He was a Democrat until the 
days of Fremont, since which time he has been 
a llepublican. They were two of the old pio- 
neers of Crawford Co., whose names will ever 
be linked with the early history, hardships and 
privations so little known and feebly compre- 
hended by the present generation. Mrs. Dear- 
dorflf, who has gone forever from the scenes of 
so many trials and heartaches, is still remem- 
bered by her children and friends as a lady 
whose portrait is in every way worthy to grace 
the pages of this tale of the pioneers. Mr. 
Deardorff" still resides in Bucyrus, where he is 
well known as an old and honored citizen, whose 
name and reputation are above reproach. 

JACOB DEARDORFF, salesman, Bucyrus ; 
is the son of Emanuel Deardorff, and was" horn 
Sept. 2, 1831, in Bucyrus, making him a resi- 
dent of most lialf a century's duration. He 
was given a good common education, and, in 
vacation, he worked in his father's tan-yard. 
In 1852, he purchased an interest in a saw-mill, 
which he ran for seven years. He then went 



into partnership with William Garner in the 
provision trade, continuing in it some two years. 
He then retired from that partnership, and has 
since been a salesman in many of the leading 
business establishments of Bucyrus. He has 
been in theemploy of E. Blair since Ma}', 1880, 
and is an efficient and valuable salesman. He 
was married. May 15, 1856, to Miss Isabella 
Garner, of Sharpsburg, Penn. They have one 
child — Lizzie E., born April 19, 1858. He is a 
member of the English Lutheran Church. 

HUGH DOBBINS ; P. 0. Bucyrus. This gen- 
tleman was born Feb. 11, 1830, in Wayne Co., 
Ohio. He is one of a family of two sons and 
three daughters, born to John and Annie (Mc- 
CoUough) Dobbins, both of whom were natives 
of the " Keystone " Stale. The father's people 
were early settlers of Mahoning Co., and the 
mother's of Harrison Co., this State. They 
were married in Harrison Co., but, soon after 
this event, moved to Wayne Co., where the 
father had entered 72 acres of land. In 1832, 
Mr. Dobbins entered 160 acres of land in Sec. 
4, Bucyrus Township, Crawford Co., Ohio, and, 
two years later, removed with his famil}' to it. 
The entire family went to work with a will, and, 
after a few years of toil and econom}', had the 
satisfaction of seeing their wilderness home 
quite nicely improved, and themselves sur- 
rounded with conveniences they had been 
strangers to on first coming to the country. In 
1858, the parents left the farm and moved to 
Buc^'rus, where the father died July 23, 1859. 
The mother died Sept. 14, 1880. Hugh Dob- 
bins' youth and early manhood were passed 
upon his lather's farm and in attending the 
common schools of the neighborhood. He was 
united in marriage to Miss Rachel Cleland, 
May 19, 1859. She was born in Crawford Co., 
Ohio, April 30, 1836, and is the daughter of 
William and Rachel Cleland, who settled in 
Vernon Township, this county, in a very early 
day. Eight cliildren have been born to Mr. 
and iMrs. Dobbins, seven of whom are yet liv- 
ing—William J., Curtis L., Rachel E. A^ Hugh 
M., Joshua E., Dora D. and Pearl B. The one 
deceased was Cora E. Mr. Dobbins owns the 
old homestead, upon which are good, substan- 
tial fiirra buildings. He is Conservative in his 
views, but usually votes with the Democratic 
part}'. He is a successful farmer, and a man 
respected by all his neighbors and acquaint- 
ances. 



I^" 



® 



BUCYRUS TOWNSHIP. 



727 



JACOB DENZER, farmer ; P. 0. Bucyrus ; 
was born May 13, 1821, in Baden, Germany, 
and is a son of Andrew and Hester A. (Finfgelt) 
Denzer. In the fall of 1833, when he was 13 
years old, the family- came to America, and to 
Bac3Tus, Crawford Co., via Sandusky City, 
where they remained a week awaiting a convey- 
ance to their destination. They bought 15 
acres of timber land in Libert^' Township, and 
3'oung Denzer took his first lesson in wood- 
chopping that winter, preparing for a house in 
the spring. He went but little to English 
school. In the spring of 1834, he began work- 
ing by the month, at from $3 to $4 per month, 
continuing until 25 years old, and giving his 
wages to his father's family until he was 21. 
When at 25, he began farming on rented land, 
and kept at it for three j'ears. He was mar- 
ried, March 13, 1850, to Miss Matilda McNeal, 
of this township, who was born Dec. 6, 1826, 
in Huntingdon, Penn. They have eleven chil- 
dren living, viz., i^lar}- L., wife of Stephen Bre- 
men, of Whetstone Township ; Jennie, at home ; 
Andrew, farmer, of this township ; Esther, a 
successful teacher in this township ; Simon J., 
Anson J., Ella, Alexandei*, Maggie, Lewis J., 
Electa V. Two died when 3'oung — Florence 
and an infant son. After marriage, he rented 
the Bechtel farm for six years, and, in the 
meantime, purchased 38 acres in this vicinity, 
making adclitions to it at different times. In 
1863, he purchased his present farm, where he 
owns over 400 acres, all made b^' his own en- 
erg}' and industry. He ran a saw-mill for ten 
years, working his farm during the day, and, in 
the bus}' season, often running the mill during 
the entire night, and would sometimes fall 
asleep standing up. He is now engaged in 
farming and stock-raising quite extensively, 
and has made many improvements in his farm 
and buildings. He has always been a Demo- 
crat, casting his first vote for Van Buren. His 
father was born in Baden, and was well edu- 
cated. He was a soldier under the first Napo- 
leon, and was with him in his ill-fated expedi- 
tion to Moscow, where hundreds and thousands 
of his comrades perished. He was a farmer in 
the old countr}'. He married Hester A. Finf- 
gelt Four sons and one daughter were born 
to them. The family came here in 1833. An- 
drew, George, Jacob, Mary and Simon were the 
names of his children. Two are buried in Up- 
Gngen, Baden. The father died about 1840 ; 



the mother, in October, 1876, at the age of 94 
3' ears. 

J. W. DELANCY, miller ; P. 0. Bucyrus ; 
son of Francis and Mar}- (Rice) Delancy, was 
born Aug. 20, 1833, in Richland Co., Ohio, 
where a portfon of his youth was spent on a 
farm, and in obtaining an education. At the 
age of 20, he purchased an interest in a thresh- 
ing machine, and followed the business for 
three 3'ears. In 1853, he entered a mill at 
Crestline, Ohio, and was emplo3-ed there .some 
eighteen months. He then came to McLaiu's, 
in which he worked till 1858, when he pur- 
chased an interest here. In 1861, he purchased 
a half-interest in a mill at North Robinson, 
where he continued three 3'ears. Selling out 
here, he went to Richland Co., and purchased a 
mill at Rome. Here he met with good success 
for two and one-half 3'ears, at the end of wiiich 
time he moved on the old homestead, which he 
farmed for two 3'ears. His next venture was 
at New Washington, where he bought another 
mill and continued the business for four 3'ears, 
at the end of which time he bought a farm near 
Washington, and turned his attention to farm- 
ing until 1872, when he sold the form and be- 
came the partner of S. A. Bowers in milling 
business at Buc3'rus, where he has continued 
ever since. He was married Oct. 19, 1854, to 
Rebecca Deardorff. of Buc3rus. Two children 
— Elizabeth and Ella — are now living ; AUie 
and Lillie died when quite young. Mr. Delan- 
C3' was a member of the Church of God at 
New Washington. He is a member of La 
Salle Lodge, No. 51, L O. O. F., of Bucyrus 
Lodge, A., F. & A. M., and also a Knight of 
Honor. He stands high iu the estimation of 
all who know him, and is a business man of 
tact and ability. 

A. AV. DILLER ; P. 0. Bucyrus ; is a son of 
Benjamin and Sarah (Lauck) Diller, and was 
born March 31, 1832, near Carlisle, Penn. His 
father was of French descent, his great-grand- 
father being a native of Alsace, France, and 
emigrated to Lancaster Co., Penn., in 1685. 
Mr. Diller attended school in the winter, and 
assisted his father in the summer, he being a 
miller. At the age of 18, he commenced learn- 
ing the carriage trade at Carlisle, Penn., serv- 
ing four years. In 1851, in company with his 
father's family, he came to Bucyrus, and there 
he entered the dry goods store of A. Failor, re- 
maininji there about eiofht months. He next 



-^p 



,l^ 



728 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



worked as journeyman in the carriage-shop of 
Jefferson Norton for six months, and then 
clerked for a short time in the provision store 
of .J. J. Boeman. In 1853, he entered the 
United States Navy, and was carpenter's Mate 
on board tlie U. 8. Steamer Michigan, on the 
Northern Lakes. After two years naval serv- 
ice, he returned to Bucyrus, and was pattern- 
maker for the Eagle 3Iachine Company and 
the Bucyrus Machine Works. On the break- 
ing-out of the war, he enlisted in April, 1861, 
in the 8th (). V. I., served four months, and, his 
term of enlistment having expired, re-enlisted 
in the HOth Regiment 111. Engineers, as 2d 
Lieutenant. They were discharged after a 
year's service. He then volunteered in the 
65th (Scotch) Regiment of Illinois, and was 
1st Lieutenant of Co. G, and was taken prisoner 
at Harper's Ferry. He was paroled and sent 
to Annapolis, Md. He resigned on account of 
his eyesight, and returned to Bucyrus. He 
next became Major of the 161st Regiment of 
Heavy Cavalry, and was in command of Ft. 
Worth, near Washington City, for four mionths. 
After his discharge he returned home, and 
soon after went into the 197th O. V. I., as Cap- 
tain, and was mustered out at Baltimore at 
the close of the war. In 1866, he engaged in 
the manufacture of marble monuments with J. 
G. Sherwood. He next became traveling agent 
for the Bucyrus Machine Works, and also for 
A. Monnett & Co., for seven years. In April, 
1879, he formed a partnership with Henry 
Stuckey, and entered into the manufacture of 
p(jrtaV)l{' (iugines, castings and general repairing, 
doing a prosperous business, and employing 
from ten to twenty hands. Mr. Diller is a 
member of Bucvrus Lodge, and of La Salle 
Lodge, No. 51, l! O. 0. F. He has been a Re- 
pul)lican since the organization of the party. 
He was iruirried in 1858, to Miss Mary A. 
Kverett, of Bucyrus, born in Romulus, N. Y. 
They have four children — Charles F., Kate, 
Hi ram J. N. and Fennie C. 

GKORGE DONNENWIRTII, Jr., brewer, 
Bucyrus ; son of George Donnenwirth ; was 
born Jan. 28, 1835, in Columbus, Ohio. His 
father's family removed to New Washington, 
Crawford Co., in 1838, where the subject of this 
sketch lived until 1855. When 15 years of age, 
he commenced learning the blacksmith's trade 
witii his father, and worked at this some four 
years. He then went to Sandusky City, and 



remained eighteen months, employed in a gro- 
cery. In March, 1857, he went to Burlington, 
Iowa, where he was a clerk until December of 
the same year. He then came to Bucyrus and 
entered into a partnership with Henry Anthony, 
in the manufacture of beer. This partnership 
lasted some eleven months, when Mr. Donnen- 
wirth's father purchased the interest of Mr. 
Anthony, and the l)usiness was conducted un- 
der the firm name of George Donnenwirth & 
Son. Mr. Donnenwirth, Sr.. retired in 1 875, and 
the firm became (jieorge ]^onnenwirth & Bro., 
Frank P. entering as partner, and they are now 
doing an extensive business. On Nov. 23, 1865, 
our subject was married to .Miss Mary Fuhrraan, 
of Bucyrus. He is at present a member of the 
School Board and Town Council, and has been 
Treasurer of the township for ten years. He 
is also Treasurer of the School Board, and is a 
Democrat. 

FRANK P. DONNENWIRTH, Bucyrus. 
George and Magdalena (Ruch) Donnenwirth, 
grandparents of this gentleman, were natives 
of France, and removed from that country to 
the United States in 1827, and settled in Stark 
Co., Ohio, where they remained until the year 
1834, when they came to this county, and en- 
tered land in Cranberry Township. They were 
the parents of seven children, five of whom are 
now living, and all except one sister, who re- 
sides in Columbus, Ohio, live in and near New 
Washington, this county. George, one of the 
seven children and fatlierof Frank P., was born 
Sept. 7, 1810, near Strasbourg. France. He was 
educated in the common schools of his native 
country, and when 15 years of age. was appren- 
ticed to the bhu^ksmith's trade. After serving 
about eighteen months, his parents came to the 
United States, and he accompanied them. They 
stopped in Buffalo. N. Y., some time, where the 
son found employment at his trade. While the 
famil}- resided in Stark Co., this State, the son 
was variously employed. He worked at his 
trade and on the Ohio Canal. In the spring of 
1830, he went to Pittsburgh. Penn., and there 
worked in a machine-shop and at his trade for 
some time. In 1836, he came to Crawford Co., 
which he has since made his home. He has 
been twice married. The first was to IMiss 
Sophia Anthony, in 1834. She was born in 
Lorraine, France, in 1809, and died in Crawford 
Co.. in 1849. The second marriage was to Mrs. 
Caroline Derr, Oct. 22, 1850. She was born in 





'^-/%^>^^^^^^ i///-^^y?ijL^^^~ 



BUCYRUS TOWNSHIP. 



731 



Bavaria, Germany, Sept. 12, 1819. By the first 
marriage, there were ten children, viz. : George, 
Adam, Jacob, William, Magdalena, Charles 
and John, living ; John, Susan and Mar}', de- 
ceased. Four children were the fruits of the 
second marriage, viz. : Lewis C, Franklin P., 
Sophia M. and Caroline 31. After Mr. Donnen- 
wirth came to this country, and until 1856, he 
was engaged in the mercantile business, and 
worked at his trade in New Washington. In 
the fall of 1855, he was elected to the respon- 
sible position of County Treasurer, and the fol- 
lowing year removed to Bucyrus. where he has 
since resided. In the winter of 1846-47, he 
represented Crawford and Wyandot Cos., in the 
State Legislature Besides this, he has held 
other positions of honor and trust in the 
county. He was twice elected Mayor of Bucy- 
rus, and is highl}' spoken of as an official. He 
has always voted with the Democratic party, 
and his judgment in the political councils of 
his own party are considered sound. He is one 
of the prominent men of the county, and has 
aided not a little in advancing the best interests 
of its people and industries. Frank P. Don- 
nenwirth was born in Crawford Co., Ohio, May 
24, 1853. When 3 j-ears of age, his parents 
removed to Buc3'^rus, where he was raised and 
educated. When 20 3'ears of age, he went to 
St. Louis, and there found employment in a 
brewery for tw(> 3'ears, when he returned to his 
home in Bucyrus. He was united in marriage 
with Miss Elizabeth Birk, Oct. 3(1, 1877. She 
was born in Bucyrus, Ohio, Oct. 18, 1856. They 
have one child — Gertrude. Soon after his re- 
turn from St. Louis, he purchased his father's 
interest in the brewery, and has, in connection 
with his brother George, since been engaged in 
that business. The} are intelligent, enterpris- 
ing gentlemen, respected by all who know them. 
J.^DOUGHKRTY, photographer, Bucyrus; 
is the son of Edward and Abigail (McComb) 
Dougherty, and was born in Cannonsliurg, 
Penn., April 14, 1826 ; he went to school until 
his 16th 3'ear, when he commenced to learn 
carriage- painting, and followed it for ten years. 
About this time, he learned daguerreotyping in 
Washington, Penn., and worked at the business 
some eight 3'ears. In 1859, he came to Bucy- 
rus, and established a galler3- in a building 
where tlie Sims House now stands. He lias 
been located in his present place, Quinb}' 
Block, for fifteen 3'eai's ; here he is doing a 



splendid business, and is a skillful photogra- 
pher, paying much attention also to the copying 
and enlarging of pictures in water-colors and 
India ink. He has exhibited at the count3' 
fairs, and has always outstripped his competi- 
tors ; he is the oldest resident photograplier of 
the place. He was married June 29, 1848, to 
Miss Annie Butts, of Washington Co., Penn., 
and three children are living, the fruits of that 
union — Ella, Blanche and Lulu ; Laura died at 
the age of 5. Mr. Dougherty is a prominent 
member of the M. E. Church, and a Trustee of 
their organization. 

H. M. DEAL ; P. O. Bucyrus ; is the son of 
Martin and Sarah Lille3' Deal, and was born 
Dec. 26, 1854, in Buc3'rus ; he attended school 
here until his 18th year, and attended the 
Ohio Wesle3'an University in 1875; he next 
became assistant clerk in his father's manu- 
factor3' of smutters, remaining in this position 
two 3'ears. In 1878, he became general man- 
ager of the establishment, which position he 
now holds. They have about six hundred local 
agencies in the United States and Canada ; also 
in South America and London, England. The 
annual shipping capacit3' is from 60,000 to 
75,000. The3^ are making thirty-six different 
styles of machines for cleaning grain. Mr. 
Deal is a partner in Deal's Improved Wheat 
Heater, which has proved lucrative, and is also 
the manufacturer and sole pi'oprietor of Deal's 
Corundum Polisher, a tool for cutting, level- 
ing and polishing the furrows and face of mill- 
stones, which has a precedence among such in- 
ventions. He was married Sept. 12, 1876, to 
Emma Rowse, daughter of Horace Kowse, of 
Buc3'rus. 

H. H. ELLIOTT, proprietor of Sims House, 
Bucvrus ; a son of Ennion and Susan (Garver) 
Elliott, was born Aug. 16, 1840, at Chambers- 
burg, Penn., where he lived until 14 years old, 
receiving a fair education. In 1855, then 15 
years of age, he came to Pittsburgh, where he 
began as brakeraan on the Penns3lvania Rail- 
road. He rose to the position of conductor at 
17 years, and at 20 became train dispatcher 
on the Western Division of the P. R. R.. where 
he remained some five \'ears, giving good satis- 
faction. In 1865, his father died, and he re- 
signed and went home ; sul«se(iu('ntly he bocame 
conductor on the Cumberland Valley R:iili'oad, 
and after a year and a half in that position be- 
came train dispatcher of this road, where he 



:xt: 



:fz 



ft 



732 



BIOGR APH IC AL SKETCHES : 



continued from 1867 to 1875. In the mean- 
time he bought the jMontgomery House, at 
Chambersburg. Penn., in 1872, and carried it on 
with success for three 3'ears. In 1875, he re- 
signed his position as train dispatcher, and 
bouglit the National House, at York, Penn., the 
largest hotel in the city, and run it for two 
years successfully. In 1876, he bought the 
Taylor Hotel, of Winchester, Va., but, not being 
able to give it his personal attention, he lost 
heavily and disposed of it in 1878 ; he also 
had Bentz House at Carlisle, Penn., sold it with 
loss after one year ; owned three hotels at one 
time. In October, 1878, he leased the Sims 
House at Bucyrus for three years, with priv- 
ilege of five 3'ears. Under his management, 
the Sims has become one of the best hotels in 
the cit}-. He makes the comfort of his guests 
a personal stud}', and it ma}' with truth be 
said that the entertainment of travelers, to 
him, has become one of the fine arts. The 
Sims House is centrally located; has four fine 
sample rooms, and 35 light, air}-, well-furnished 
and comfortable rooms. His table is furnished 
with the best the market affords. He was mar- 
ried in October, 1862, to Miss Emma V. Mitch- 
ell, of Pittsburgh ; they have one child — Susie 
Ella. In October, 1880, in partnership with W. 
J. Ryan, he bought the Capital House, at 
Gallon, Ohio, of which they are still proprietors. 
HIIl AM B. EVERETT,'Street Commissioner, 
Bucyrus ; son of Jesse and Mary Russell Ever- 
ett, was born Sept. 4, 1833, in Seneca Co., N. 
Y. He lived on a farm till he was 15 years of 
age, and for two years worked at the painting 
trade. In March, 1854, he came to Bucyrus, 
and farmed near here for three years, and then 
worked at house painting for eight years. In 
1863, he went to New Orleans via New York, 
and became first mate on a steamship plying 
on the Mississippi River, and he became Cap- 
tain of the Time and Tide, which was de- 
stroyed, with nine other boats, Mr. Everett 
being a witness of the affair, and, at the time, 
he secured the mone}^ and came out through 
the flames. In 1865, he purchased a trading 
boat called the Star, of 75 tons' capacity, 
and ran it on the Red River. He sold it in the 
spring of 1866, and soon after purchased an 
interest in the War Eagle, making trips to St. 
Louis and Omaha, with success. In June, 1 867, 
he sold this vessel, and was taken sick at St. 
Louis, being disabled for three months. After 



recovering somewhat, he went to Saginaw, Mich., 
and resumed his trade of house painting for a 
year. In 1868, he went to Washington as wit- 
ness before the Court of Claims, in the case of 
the loss of J. H. Russell, and the steamer Lib- 
erty. When court adjourned, he resumed his 
trade, in all some 16 months. In Februar}^, 
1878, he returned to Saginaw, Mich., and worked 
at his trade for three years. In December 
1873, he came to Bucyrus and has since then 
been engaged in painting. In the spring of 
1880, he was elected Street Commissioner of the 
cit}' of Bucyrus, and is now discharging the 
duties of that office with great credit. He was 
married, Aug. 5, 1878, to Mrs. Louisa Keeney, 
a daughter of Benjamin Warner, and widow of 
Edwin Keeney. They have one child, Thos. 
Ewing. Mr. Everett has always been a Demo- 
crat and was in favor of the war for the preser- 
vation of the Union. 

MOSES EMRICH, clothier, Bucyrus. This 
popular and widely known clothier was born in 
Baden, Germany, March 31, 1838, and is the 
son of Moses and Esther (Breidenbach) Emrich. 
Until 14 3'ears of age, Mr. Emrich attended 
school, and at 15 he sailed for the United States, 
being upon the ocean forty da3's, and arriving 
at New York July 7, 1853. He came in a few 
days to Fremont, Ohio. He attended school 
somewhat at Rochester, Ohio, acquiring a 
knowledge of our language, of which he was 
entirely ignorant upon his advent here. He 
was a diligent student and made good progress. 
In the spring of 1854, he commenced to travel 
through the country on foot, and sell notions ; 
but soon purchased a horse and wagon, and with 
this outfit traveled some four years in Northern 
Ohio and Michigan. He then bought and shipped 
live stock for some two 3'ears, and later accepted 
a clerkship in a store at Tiffin, Ohio. In March, 
1861, he removed to Bucyrus and opened a 
store for the sale of ready-made clothing, in the 
room now occupied b}' sialic & Glo3'd, continu- 
ing in that room some two months, then remov- 
ing to the old Failor corner until fall, when he 
entered his present quarters in Nos. 1 and 2 
Quinby Block, two rooms having an area of 40 
x80 feet, where he has been ever since. He is 
engaged in the gents' furnishing goods business, 
and has an immense stock of ready-made cloth- 
ing — a specialt3' being his merchant tailoring 
department. The whole establishment is one 
of the largest in Central Ohio, he employing 



^- 



BUCYKUS TOWNSHIP 



783 



some thirty-five hands in different branches. He 
at one time had two branch houses, one at 
Tiffin and another at Upper Sandnslvy. He is 
one of the oldest business men in his line in the 
city. Aug. 19, 1867, he was married to Miss 
Rachel Trounstine, of Cincinnati. They have 
two children — Selma and Blanche. As a busi- 
ness man, Mr. Emrich stands among the first in 
Bucyrus, and he has an extended reputation as a 
clothier, which he justly deserves. 

JOHN A. EATON, lawyer, Bucyrus ; is the 
son of Reason and Margaret E. (Hayes) Eaton, 
and was born Nov. 17, 1853, in Holmes Township, 
Crawford Co. He was reared on a farm and 
remained there until he reached his r7th year. 
He then entered Mt. Union College, Stark Co., 
Ohio, and remained nearly two years, when he 
returned to the farm, where he was so unfortu- 
nate as to meet with an accident which resulted 
in lameness. In the fall of 1874, he commenced 
the study of law in the office of Jacob Scroggs. 
He was admitted to the bar on Oct. 3, 1876, and 
was admitted to practice in District and Circuit 
Courts of the United States, b}^ the Supreme 
Court on Jan. 24, 1880, and during his profes- 
sional career has had good success. For nearly 
three years he was partner with W. B. Richie, 
but this partnership was dissolved May 14, 
1879. Mr. Eaton has conducted an extensive 
commercial practice, being attorney for several 
banks. He is now Vice President of the Craw- 
ford County Agricultural Society, and also City 
Solicitor. He was united in marriage with Miss 
Bashie G. Quaintance, of Holmes Township, 
Oct. 8, 1873. They have three children — Dud- 
ley W., Vincent and Inez Gr. 

HENRY ENSMINGER, merchant, Bucyrus ; 
was born in Perrj^ Co., Penn., Feb. 2, 1826, and 
is the son of David and Barbara (Messinger) 
Ensminger. Up to the time that he was 18, he 
attended school and worked on a farm. At 
the age of 25, he commenced farming in part- 
nership, and so continued for three years ; he 
was a farmer in his native State until 1866, 
when he came to Ohio and settled in what is 
now Jefferson Township. He farmed one year, 
and, in the fall of that year, he opened a store 
in partnership with his brother, at North Rob- 
inson ; this lasted two years, and was dissolved 
by the death of his brother. Mr. Ensminger 
continued the business for some four A-ears, 
when he sold out his goods and bought a farm 
of 80 acres near the village, where he lived six 



years. He came to Buc}'rus in the spring of 
1879, and opened a di-y-goods store in No. 6 
Quinby Block, where he still continues, and has 
a large and attractive stock of goods and no- 
tions. He was married in Cumberland Co., 
Penn., April 12, 1851, to Susan Jacobs ; they 
have four children — Franklin P., Albert M., 
Charles E., Alberta E. and one child dead. 

W. H. DROUGHT, grocer and produce ship- 
per, Bucyrus ; son of William and Margaret 
(Gillispie) Drought ; was born in Franklin Co., 
Vt., March 19, 1827, and received a thorough 
knowledge of the common branches in the pub- 
lic schools of the old •• Green Mountain State." 
W^hen about 20 3'ea^•s of age, he removed to 
Illinois, and was for about ten years employed 
on several of the railroads in the Western 
States. He worked on the I. C. R. R. for nearly 
eighteen months ; also three months in 3Iis- 
souri. After this, he obtained a situation as 
roadraaster on the N. M. R. R., and also occu- 
pied the same position for some eighteen months 
on the 0. & M. R. R.; then for three ^-ears he 
was a passenger conductor on the road between 
Chicago and La Fayette, Ind. He resigned 
this position to accept the office of master of 
transportation on the P., Ft. W. & C. R. R., 
having charge between Crestline and Chicago, 
and continued with this corporation for some 
two years. In 1860, he located in Bucyrus 
with his family, and, in December of that year, 
purchased the provision store of Messrs. Mc- 
Graw & Fowler, who were located at No. 7 
Quinby Block. Mr. Drought has continued 
the business at this same stand for twenty 
3'ears ; in after j'ears, he purchased that section 
of the block. Several years since, he em- 
barked in the business of shipping produce for 
the Eastern market, and has carried on an ex- 
tensive business, chiefly in butter, eggs and 
poultry. The subject of this sketch was mar- 
ried May 26, 1857, to Miss Nannie E. Flack, of 
Washington Co., Penn.; they were the parents 
of five children, three boys and two girls — 
James H., Anna B.. Ella. Charles Edmund and 
Wilber F. Their daughters are living, but the 
three sons are dead ; James H.. the eldest, died 
of consumption, Aug. 20. 1876. in the 18th year 
of his age, while in the West, seeking his 
health: Charles Edmund died Nov. 13.1874. 
aged 5 years and 3 months ; and Wilber F. 
died May 28. 1876, in the 7th month of his age. 
Mr. Drought is a member of the First Presby- 



•/I 



:^± 



734 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



terian Church of Bucyrus, and, since February, 
18G8, he has been a Ruling Elder in that re- 
ligious society ; he was also a charter member 
of Howard Lodge of the Knights of Honor, 
and Crawford Council of the Royal Arcanum. 

GEORGE A. DKAGLE, Bucyrus ; is a son 
of John and Barbara (Hoffman) Deagle, who 
were residents of Lancaster Co., Penn. ; his 
birth occurred Jan. 27, 1 828 ; his father was a 
shoemaker by trade ; about the year 1841, he 
moved his family to a place near Ashland, Ohio 
— what was then Richland Co., but is now Ash- 
land ; the sul)ject of this sketch received but a 
meager education, attending school until his 
IStli year only, when, coming to this State with 
his father, he began working by the month as 
a farm-hand, at which he continued for about 
nine years ; the family then moved to this 
county, settling permanently in Liberty Town- 
ship ; he then engaged in work for six years as 
farmer for Mr. George Lauck, beginning at $120 
a year, his employer raising his wages to $180 
a year, on account of his industrious habits. 
March 26, 1857, he was married to Rebecca J. 
McMichael, of Liberty Township ; she was a 
daughter of David and Margaret (Anderson) 
McMichael, one of the earliest pioneer families 
of this county ; she was born in Liberty Town- 
ship Sept. 30, 1834; of this marriage, four 
children are living — Mary Margaret, John 
G., Eddie (who died at 2 years of age), Ella 
J. and George W. ; the mother of this inter- 
esting family of children died April 23, 1877, 
of congestion of the lungs. After marriage, Mr. 
Deagle rented for eight years, of Mr. Lauck, 
the same farm on which he had already spent 
six years, meeting with success as a farmer un- 
til the year 1865, when he purchased his pres- 
ent home on Poplar street, in Bucyrus, where 
he was engaged in teaming and farming until 
the year 1870, when he was elected to serve a 
term as Street Commissioner of the cit}' of Bu- 
cjTus. He is a member of Howard Lodge, K. 
of H., a Democrat politically, and a member of 
St. Paul's English Lutheran Church. 

HON. EBENEZER B. FINLEY, lawyer, 
HucjTus ; is a native of the State of Ohio, hav- 
ing been born at Orrville, in Wayne Co., July 
31 , 1833 ; his earlier jears, until he had attained 
the age of 20, were passed on a farm, and his 
education was such as the common school of 
the neighborhood afforded ; at that age he left 
his home and went to Kansas ; Mr. Finley sub- 



sequently left Kansas, and for awhile lived in 
Illinois ; for two years he taught school in Ful- 
ton Co., but, in 1858, with the desire of seeing 
more of the great regions of the West, he went to 
the Rocky Mountains, then far wilder and less 
frequented than now ; passing the years 1858 
and 1859 there, he returned to his native State, 
establishing himself permanently at Bucyrus, 
where he entered upon the study of law ; he 
was still engaged upon his studies when the 
war of the rebellion broke out ; he at once re- 
cruited a company, which formed a part of the 
G4th 0. V. I., anci was elected as First Lieuten- 
ant ; in 1862, he resigned his commission, and, 
being admitted to the bar, commenced the prac- 
tice of his profession at Buc3'rus, which he has 
continued to the present time. In 1875, Mr. 
Finley was nominated for the Forty-fifth Con- 
gress by the Democrats, and elected by over 
5,000 majority ; he was re-elected to the Forty- 
Sixth Congress, over his competitor, Charles 
Foster, by upward of 2,000 majority. Mr. Fin- 
ley is recognized as an indefatigable worker in 
Congress, and gained considerable distinction 
through his al)le speeches delivered in the 
House of Representatives. He had an atten- 
tive auditory whenever he spoke, and was 
marked for his readiness and earnestness in 
debate, and for the clear and forcible manner 
in which he presented his facts and deduc- 
tions. Mr. Finley is now Chairman of the 
Committee on Public Expenditure, and a 
member of the Census Committee. He re- 
tires from Congress with the expiration of 
the present House. He was married on Feb. 
18, 1858, to Miss Emeline C. Codding, of 
Copley, Summit Co., Ohio, a daughter of Robert 
Codding, now of Marion, Ohio ; he has but one 
child, a son, Harry M., a midshipman in the 
navy, having graduated at Annapolis, Md., on 
June 10, 1880. 

HIRAM FENNER. P. 0. Bucyrus ; is the 
son of Abraham and Eliza (Pickering) Fenner; 
was born in Pike Co., Penn., July 13, 1821 ; he 
lived on a farm until his 19th year, acquiring 
in the meantime but little education, one winter 
attending school but nine days. He left the 
farm at the age of 19, and went to learn the 
merchant-tailoring trade, serving his appren- 
ticeship in Fiuston. Penn., and remaining until 
he was 24. In April, 1845, he came to Bucy- 
rus, and at once engaged in tailoring, following 
that business for some ten years, and then com- 



BUCYRUS TOWNSHIP. 



735 



menced merchant-tailoring, beginning witli a 
small stock ; he soon took in Moses Simon as 
partner for ten years, when Mr. Fenner retii'ed, 
and at once started anew and continued for 
seven years, retiring in 18G5, having been 
blessed with good success, and all attained b}- 
his own efforts. He was married, April 21, 
1846, to Elizabeth M3'ers, daughter of Gen. 
Samuel M3'ers ; they have four children — 
Mar}' A. Lewis, Samuel L., who is a merchant 
at Terre Haute, Ind.; Millie, the wife of Jacob 
Gleiger, of Bucyrus, and Hiram W., a physician 
at Terre Haute. IMr. Fenner has been, and is 
at present, Secretary of the Cemetery Associa- 
tion, and has held the office for fifteen years. 
He was one of the twenty-six pei^sons who or- 
ganized the association, and he has been a 
Trustee since 1858. He is a member of the 
Lutheran Church, and is a man of uprightness 
and integrity. 

H. M. FISHER, carpenter and builder, 
Bucyrus ; is a son of David and Elizabeth 
(Stayman) Fisher, and was born in Franklin 
Co., Penn., Dec. 12, 1818. While a boy, he lived 
on a farm and received a good common-school 
education. His father was born near Green- 
castle, Penn., in 1787 ; was a farmer and also a 
miller, becoming a merchant later in life ; he 
was possessed of a liberal education, and was 
married in Pennsylvania in 1809, and came to 
Ohio in 1828, and lived here until his death. 
The subject of our sketch came with his parents 
here, and assisted his father on the fiirm, near 
Mansfield, and remained until the death of the 
latter. He learned the carpenter trade with his 
brother in Mansfield, about 1842. In 1854, he 
came to Crawford Co., and worked in and 
around Bucyrus, following his trade, in com- 
pany with his brother, David Fisher, until 1865. 
In 1867 and 1868, he also worked in Marion 
Co. He has been engaged in carpentering and 
bridge-building ever since 1854. in this and ad- 
joining counties. He was married, Oct. 29, 
1850, \o Miss Solena Culver, of Kicliland Co., 
Ohio ; she died Jan. 18, 1852. Sept. 20, 1855, 
he was again married, to Miss Sarah A. Dick- 
son, of Vernon Township, this county ; there is 
one child of this family — N. C. Fisher, Civil Fn- 
gineer for the Pennsylvania Kailroad, stationed 
at Chicago. Of his father's family, there are the 
following children living, besides himself — Eliza, 
wife of Henry Cook, of Constantine, Mich. ; C. 
W. Fisher, Louisa, widow of Joseph Davis, of 



Evansville, Ind., and Susannah. Mr. Fisher 
has been a Republican since the organization of 
the party, and is one of the respected and in- 
fluential citizens of Buc3tus. 

CHRISTIAN W. FISHER, Postmaster, Bu- 
cyrus, is a son of David and Elizabeth (Staj'man) 
Fisher, and was born in Franklin Co., Penn., 
Aug. 23, 1825. His father was a farmer, and 
young Christian lived the first three years of 
his life on the farm where he was born. His 
parents removed to Richland Co., Ohio, in 
1828, and settled on a farm, where their son was 
reared, to work against the privations of a new 
and wild country, and to struggle against the 
disadvantages of pioneer life. But little time 
could be spared for schooling in those days, 
and the school houses were of the primitive 
character described in other portions of this 
work. The onh' text books in Mr. Fisher's 
early school days were the spelling book, and 
that revered volume, the Bible, but Mr. Fisher, 
despite the barriers which arose before him in 
the acquirement of an education, was a hard 
student, and, at the age of 20, was enabled to 
teach school. Soon after his debut as a peda- 
gogue, he entered the Ashland Academ}', then 
in charge of Loring Andrews. For a period of 
several years he attended and taught school, 
and proved himself a successful instructor. In 
June, 1848, he removed to Bucyrus, and upon 
his arrival was tendered and accepted a clerk- 
ship in the dry goods store of A. Failor. where 
he continued five years. On the first day of 
the year 1856, he commenced business as a 
partner in the firm of Root. Fisher & Hall, 
which enterprise was successful. The business 
was sold out at the end of two years, and our 
subject accepted a clerical position under the 
firm of Hall & Juillard, remaining one year, 
when he purchased a half-interest, and the bus- 
iness continued under the firm name of Juil- 
lard & Fisher, and this partnership lasted until 
1865. In January, 1866, Mr. Fisher com- 
menced a new enterprise, opening a general 
store three doors north of the National Bank, 
under the firm nauie of Fislier & Lauck. This 
was continued until February. 1877, when he 
retired. Feb. 1, 1879. he received the appoint- 
ment as Postmaster from President Hayes, an 
office the duties of which lie has ably dis- 
charged, and making himself popular among 
the citizens of Bucyrus. He has been a prom- 
inent and useful member of society, having 



.k 



730 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



served on the School Board for several years. 
lie is a charter inember of Howard Lodge, 
Ivniii'hts of Honor, No. 109, and was its first 
presiding otlicer ; also its delegate to the second 
session of the Grand Lodge of Ohio, and was 
elected Chai)lain of that body. At the third 
session he was elected Grand Dictator, and in 
1878 he retired, becoming Past Grand of Oiiio. 
He was electeil delegate to the Supreme Lodge 
for two years, Nashville in 1878, and Boston in 
1871). Mr. Fisher is a member of the St. Paul's 
Evangelical JiUtheran Church. He was mar- 
rii'd in May, 1852, to Miss Henrietta Lauck, of 
Bucyrus. and of this marriage there are seven 
ciiildren — Edgar L., Charles J., George P., 
Mar}' L., Frank M., Blanche and Grace. 

DAVID E. FISHER, merchant, Bucyrus ; 
was born in Manslield, Ohio, March 24, 1846, 
where the first fourteen years of his life were 
spent in attending the, schools of that place. In 
the fall of 1800, he came to Bucyrus to live with 
an uncle, INIr. C- W. Fisher, assisting him on liis 
farm and attending school one year. In July, 
1862, he enlisted' in the 131st 0. V. I., from 
which, after five months' service, he was honor- 
ably discharged. He then began clerking in 
his uncles store, filling a position there until 
the 136th O. N. G. marched to the defense of 
the National Capital. At the expiration of the 
terra of his enlistment, he was again discharged 
from the service, and resumed his duties in the 
store with his uncle, C. W. Fisher, until 1869, 
at which time the firm was changed to Fisher & 
]jauck ; he, however, remaining with that firm 
until 1873, when he entered into a partnership 
with his brother, J. J. Fisher. He was married 
Nov. 3, 1869, to Miss Maggie Hoovei', by whom 
he has three children — Bessie M., Jay C. and 
infant son. He is a member of St. Paul's Lu- 
theran Church and Sunday school, holding, in 
the last-named organization, a responsible po- 
sition. 

JAMES G. FRAYER, contractor, Bucyrus. 
The above-named gentleman is a son of James 
and Grace (Sigei'son) Frayer ; born April 14, 
1826, in Butler Co., Penn. His 5'outh was 
spent amid the scenes of rural life until 14, 
when he went to the town of Butler, and was 
there apprenticed to a man named William 
Fouzer, a builder, under whose direction, dur- 
ing a term of three years, he learned the triple 
trade of brick-laying, stone-cutting and plaster- 
ing. Just after the fire at Pittsburgh, Penn., 



in 1845, our subject went there to follow his 
trade ; but workmen were so plent}- that a 
brick-layer only received 87 cents per ilay. In 
1848, Mr. Frayer began building under contract, 
and continued in the vicinity of Pittsburgh un- 
til 1856. In that year, he started West ; but 
stopped at Bucyrus to visit a friend, when he 
was persuaded to remain. From 1856 to 1862, 
his energies were confined to the principal build- 
ings of Bucyrus. He erected during that period 
the Quinby Block, Presbj'terian antl Lutheran 
Churches and several other large buildings. In 
1863, he was employed by the Fort Wayne & 
Chicago Railroad Company to build their depots 
and hotel stands, at present from Crestline to 
Allegheny City. In 1865. he erected the State 
Lunatic Asylum at Dixmont, Penn., which 
contains over two million brick. In about 1869, 
he received the contract for the brick-work of 
the Lunatic Asylum at Athens, Ohio, which 
alone contained twelve million of brick. In 
company with other gentlemen in 1868-69, he 
built the schoolhouses of Crestline, Gallon and 
Cardington. In 1870, the firm of Miller. Frayer 
& Sheets was formed, and have since built the 
magnificent court houses of Erie. Richland and 
Licking Counties. This firm has in its employ 
from one to three hundred men. ]\h*. Frayer 
was a member of the firm of B. B. McDanald 
& Co., which was organized in about 1871, 
and graded six miles of the Ohio Central Rail- 
road. The same firm also graded and laid seven 
miles of track from the Marietta & Cincinnati 
Railroad to the coal mines. The firm of Frayer 
& Sheets have the contract for building the 
extensive railroad shops of the Ohio Central at 
Bucyrus. Feb. 8, 1850, Mr. Frayer united in 
marriage with Miss ^lary J. Garner, of Sharps- 
burg, Penn. Of this union there are five chil- 
dren living, and two dead. 

COCHRAN FULTON, physician and drug- 
gist, Bucyrus ; is the son of Abraham and 
Ann (Smith) Fulton, and was born in West- 
moreland Co., Penn., Feb. 22, 1819; his youth 
was spent on a farm and in hard work until the 
age of 17, when he attended select school at 
Dalton. Ohio ; at the age of 20, he entered a 
dry-goods store as elerk, and remained about a 
year ; having always had a taste for the study 
of medicine, he entered the office of Harvey J. 
Tuttle, at Brookfield, Ohio, reading and prac- 
ticing for some iivc years ; his next residence 
was in Wooster, Ohio, where he remained one 



•-r 



BXTCYRUS TOWNSHIP. 



737 



year, when, on Nov. 14, 1845, he came to 
Bucyrus ; he immediatel}' entered upon the 
practice of his profession, and is the third old- 
est practitioner in the count}- and the old- 
est active physician in the city ; he came here 
without capital, and soon was in the enjoyment 
of an extensive practice ; during the dysenterj' 
epidemic of 1852, he was obliged to ride day 
and night, and for three consecutive days he 
never slept, sacrificing his own comfort and 
welfare for the good of his patients ; about 
1855, he opened a drug and book store in the 
Quinby Block, in partnership with Dr. W. R. 
Clark ; this partnership lasted some six years, 
when the subject of our sketch sold out his in- 
terest to his partner ; he commenced business 
in his present room in the spring of 1861, and 
continued alone for some nine years ; in No- 
vember, 1870, his son Melancthon was admit- 
ted as partner, and the business continued 
under the firm name of C. Fulton & Son ; 
the}- are carrying an extensive stock, and are 
doing a flourishing business, both being men of 
business capacity and enterprise. Mr. Fulton 
was married, in October, 1844, to Elizabeth A. 
Davis, of Brookfield ; they have two children 
- — Anna J., now the wife of Rev. A. S. Milhol- 
land, of Uniontown, Penn., and Melancthon, 
his partner in business. Dr. Fulton has been a 
prominent citizen, having been a member of 
the City Council for several years, and also of 
the School Board, of which body he was Presi- 
dent when the new building was erected, and 
gave especial attention to its construction. He 
has always been a Democrat, his first vote hav- 
ing been cast for Van Buren. 

GEORGE W. FISHER, merchant, Bucy- 
rus ; is the son of E. B. and Lydia (Webster) 
Fisher, and was born July 23, 1856, in Middle- 
town, Butler Co., Ohio ; his early youth was 
spent in this village, and, when he was about 7 
years of age, his parents removed to Franklin, 
Ohio, where he received his education ; at the 
age of 16, he commenced to learn tailoring 
with his father, who is a skillful cutter and 
tailor; in 1873, the family removed to Tiffin, 
Ohio, and the subject of our sketch became, at 
the age of 18 years, cutter for G. H. Corthell 
& Co., at that time doing the best business in 
Tiffin in their line ; he continued here until 
1876, when he worked in Marion for six 
months ; he formed a partnership with Morri- 
son on Jan. 8, 1879. He was married to Hat- 



tie E. Cook, of Tiffin, Ohio, by whom he has 
one son — Harry W., born Feb. 19, 1880. Mr. 
Fisher is a young and energetic business man, 
and the business of his firm is prospering 
finely ; as a cutter, he has few equals and no 
superiors in Bucvrus. 

FREDERICK E. FREY, machinist, Bucy- 
rus ; is a son of John M. and Magdalena (Lein- 
inger) Frey, and was born in Neiderweiler, 
Baden, Germany, Feb. 23, 1837. He received 
the rudiments of his education in his native 
town, and at the age of 10 years commenced a 
four years' course in the high school at Muhl- 
heim, where he graduated. The year follow- 
ing he worked in a machine-shop, but at the 
age of 15, he came to America and settled in 
Plymouth, Richland Co., arriving there July 
5, 1852. He became well versed in our lan- 
guage in the course of three months, and soon 
became a clerk in a store, which position he 
filled for two years. His parents had removed 
from Germany in the meantime and settled in 
Huron Co. He then removed to their home, 
and was with them two years. In December, 
1856, he came to Bucyrus and commenced 
work as a machinist, being employed by three 
diflferent firms until 1859. In the following 
spring he became a resident of Huron Co., and 
engaged in agricultural pursuits for a period of 
ten months. In March, 1861, he came to Bu- 
cyrus and was employed in the shops, of which 
he is now a partner. The following fall saw 
him a partner of D. I, Scheckler, where he still 
remains, and is universally respected as a man 
of business talent and of upright integrity. 
He was married Nov. 3, 1859, to Lucy H. 
Houftstatter, of Huron Co., Ohio, and the fol- 
lowing-named children are the fruits of this 
union — Celia M., Myrta V.. James A., Ernest 
H., Bessie L., John J.. Rena R., Frederick F. 
(deceased), and Imogene. Mr. Frey is a de- 
voted and earnest member of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, of which he is a Trustee, 
and is also Superintendent of the Sunday 
school at Pleasant View. He is a man who 
shai'es largely in public esteem and is an exem- 
plary citizen. 

J. J. FISHER, merchant. Bucyrus ; is a son 
of David and Martha (Cook) Fisher, and was 
born in Mansfield. Ohio, Nov. 22, 1837. He 
attended school in that place until 18 years of 
age, at which time he left school and came to 
Bucyrus, where he was clerk in a dry goods 



^ 



738 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



store for nine years. In 1865, be entered into 
a partnership with J. A. Schaber, at Sulphur 
Springs. Ohio, and the>' there started a general 
store. This enterprise they sold out, however, 
and he commencecl business again, in company 
with Juillard and Lewis in the grocery busi- 
ness at Bucyrus. This partnership lasted until 
18G9, doing a very successful business. Mr. 
Fisher's health failing, he retired and spent 
some time on a farm. In March, 1873, he and 
D. E. Fisher entei'ed into business together 
under the firm name of J. J. Fisher & Bro. 
Since then they have conducted the business 
together. In 1871, the}' erected the Fisher 
Block, a three-story brick structure, 158 feet 
deep and 23 wide. The first story is occupied 
with dry goods and groceries, the basement 
with carpets and queensware. They are doing 
an immense business, and are enterprising and 
successful in business. The subject of our 
sketch was mai'ried Sept. 17, 1865, to Miss 
Arena White, daughter of C. W. White, of 
Dallas Township. He is an Elder in St. Paul's 
Evangelical Lutheran Church, and is a consist- 
ent and steadfast Christian. His father, David 
Fisher, was born in Franklin Co., Penn., Nov. 
11, 1810. He was a cai'penter by trade, and 
came to Mansfield in 1832. He was married 
there in 1836, and continued at his trade 
throughout his life. There are four children, 
James J., Joseph E., John W. and David E., 
of this first marriage, are still living. His 
wife died in 184:6. He was remarried in 1849, 
to Sarah Furgeson. They had one child, a 
daughter, named Amelia, now Mrs. D. F. Welsh. 
He died July 22, 1880, holding a firm belief in 
the tenets of Christianity, and was a member 
of the Congregational Church. 

M. H. FULTON, telegraph operator, Bucy- 
rus ; son of George W. and Harriet (Blanchard) 
Fulton, was born May 22, 1840, at Brighton, 
Penn. He attended school until 17, and then 
learned telegraphy in the Brighton office. In 
April, 1861, he enlisted in the 9th Penn. Reserve 
Corps, and served until his discharge in 1862. 
He was wounded by a musket ball June 27, at 
Gaines' Mills, during the seven day's fight. He 
was here taken prisoner and confined in Hope 
Prison, near Libby. After a confinement of 
several weeks, he was exchanged, and in 1862 
he was discharged. He was engaged in 
the battles of Dranesville, Gaines' Mills and 
Mechanicsburg. For one year after his dis- 



charge he lay sick on account of his wound, 
and then resumed his business, becoming day 
operator at Allegheny City, Penn. Here he 
remained some two years and then went to 
Rochester, remaining three years. Next he 
came to Buc^'rus, Aug. 11, 1866, and has re- 
mained ever since. Nov. 30, 1871, he was 
married to Miss Kate M. Swingly, daughter of 
Dr. Swingly, of Bucyrus. Of this marriage 
there are three children — Carrie, George F. and 
Percv. 

WILLIAM FRANZ, Bucyrus ; son of John 
and Jane (Burwell) Franz, was born May 21, 
1843, in Leesville, Crawford Co. His youth 
up to his 14th year was spent on a farm and 
in attending district school. His father's 
family then removed to Bucyrus, and young 
William went to the Bucyrus Union School 
until he was 19. He served an apprenticeship 
with William Burkhardt in the watch-making 
business for one year and a half, and then 
bought out his employer and continued for 
himself He next went to Plymouth, Ohio, 
and from there to Cleveland, where he was en- 
gaged at his trade. From Cleveland he went 
to Meadville, Penn., where he worked at watch 
making and repairing until 1864, and in the 
winter of 1865, he came to Bucyrus and started 
a jewelry store in company with H. J. Riblet. 
This business union lasted some two years, and 
then Mr. Franz went to Crestline and engaged 
in the same business with Dr. William Pope. 
In 1868, a fire occasioned them considerable 
loss, but they soon resumed business, and con- 
tinued until 1869. During the year 1868, the}' 
had been interested in the invention of a knit- 
ting machine, and in November, 1869, they en- 
tered into a business corporation, known as the 
Bucyrus Knitting Machine Works, and com- 
menced the manufacture of family knitting 
machines. In 1871, the name was changed to 
the Franz & Pope Knitting Machine Compan}', 
and has done a prosperous business, having 
engaged in the manufacture of hosiery since 
1878. In February, 1879, Mr. Franz retired to 
regain his health, which had become badly 
shattered. He was married, Jan. 22, 1868, to 
Miss Almira M. Campbell, of Bucyrus. They 
have four children — Katie J., William C, Mel- 
lie A. and Jay W. Mr. Franz is a member of 
Crawford Lodge, No. 443 ; of Ivanhoe Chapter, 
No. 117 ; Mansfield Commandery of Knights 
Templar, No. 21, and charter member of the 



f 



BUCYRUS TOWNSHIP. 



739 



Knights of PN-thias, Demas Lodge, No. 108. 
His father was born in Hesse-Darmstadt, Ger- 
mam', in 1812, and died Nov. 14, 1870. He 
was well educated in his native land, and was 
in the arm}' there. He came to America in 
1837, and settled first in Gralion and afterward 
removed to Leesville. He was Justice of the 
Peace in Jackson Township for nine years, and 
was elected Sheritf in 1857, and served two 
terms. He was elected County Ti'easurer in 
1867, and served until his death. He was 
Lieutenant Colonel of the 101st 0. V. I., and 
was wounded at the battle of Perryville and 
resigned. There are five children living — J. 
B., of the St. James Hotel, Mansfield ; William; 
John S., of Marion ; Mrs. Kate Clymer ; Mrs. 
Sallie Kerr, wife of Alexander Kerr, of Holmes 
Township. 

HENRY FLOCK, farmer; P.O. Bucyrus ; 
is the eldest son of Stephen and Catharine 
Flock ; born in the Bhein Province of Bavaria 
Dec. 14, 1815; educated in the schools of his 
native State, and, at an early age, was set to 
work in order to assist in supporting the fam- 
ily ; the wages received by laborers were very 
low, and Mr. Flock worked many a day for 20 
cents ; wood was scarce, and it was necessar}' 
for him to haul fuel or fagots nearh* ten miles 
on a wheelbarrow ; consequently, the stoves 
were seldom overly hot ; the peasants were not 
permitted to cut green timber ; the}' provided 
themselves with fuel by breaking off the dead 
limbs, and it was generally necessary to climb 
the trees to secure these ; once Flock became 
so numb with cold while in a tree that he near- 
ly fell to the ground, and this fact led him to 
considei'ing whether he had not better emigrate 
to America ; when he became of military age, 
he was too short to enter the service, and they 
put him back one year, expecting he would 
grow, but, as he failed to do so, they rejected 
him altogether. Flock desired to get married 
and secure a home ; finding the outlook in Ba- 
varia was not very promising, he emigi-ated to 
America in 1839, and settled in Bucyrus; he 
first worked for Abraham Hahn, proprietor of 
what is now the Sims House : he remained 
with Hahn for three years, and received $7.50 
each month ; during this period, although he 
was sick six months, he managed to save $158 ; 
the first $45 of this amount he sent to Ger- 
many in order to pay the passage of Miss 
Catherine Slicker to America, and, some two 



years after she arrived at Bucyrus, they were 
married ; after leaving Hahn's employ. Flock 
worked for three years for other persons, and 
then acted as clerk in Dr. Willis Merriman's 
store for nearly seven years ; in March, 1 853, 
he removed to Wyandot, and formed a partner- 
ship with James H. Reinicker ; they embarked 
in the mercantile business, and, after Flock 
bought his partner's interest, he continued the 
store until 1870, when he transferred it to his 
son. While a resident of Wyandot, he served 
as Postmaster of the village for nearly seven- 
teen years, and, while a clerk in Merriman's 
store, was Treasurer for one year of Bucyrus 
corporation. In 1870, he settled on his present 
farm of 80 aci'es, just southeast of town, where 
he has resided during the past decade. He 
was married to Miss Catherine Slicker Sept. 
22, 1842 ; this lady was born Jan. 20, 1820, in 
Bavaria, and, in 1840, emigrated to America 
with Peter Geiger and family ; the result of 
this marriage was the following children : JMary 
Flock, now Mrs. William Welsh, near Wyan- 
dot ; Daniel Flock, now a merchant at Wyan- 
dot ; Kate Flock, now Mrs. Peter Bair, of Todd 
Township ; Louisa Flock, now Mrs. John B. 
Welsh, of Wyandot ; Caroline Flock, now 
Mrs. John Gordon, of Todd Township ; his 
first wife died Oct. 11, 1862, and, on Nov. 6, 
1864, he was married to Miss Mary Jane 
Clark, who was a teacher in the schools of Bu- 
cyrus for several years ; she died Jan. 25, 
1875, and he was married to his present wife, 
formerly Miss Lena Hooker, on Oct. 11. 1877. 
Mr. Flock joined the Evangelical Church, in 
Bavaria, at the age of 13. and since then has 
been an exemplary member of some religious 
society ; when he settled in Bucyrus. he united 
with the German Lutheran Church, in which 
congregation he served as a Deacon for many 
years ; he is at present connected with the St. 
Paul's English Lutheran Church of Bucyrus. 

DR. JAMES F. FITZSLAIMONS, physician, 
Bucyrus ; son of William and Ann E. (Holraan) 
Fitzsimmons, was born Sept. 18, 1843. in Whet- 
stone Township, in this county. He was brought 
up on a farm until 19 years of age, when he 
attended several terms of school at ri)i)er San- 
dusky. In May, 1864, he enlisted in the 134th 
O. Y. I., and was discharged in August. In 
the fall of 1864. he attended the Yermilion In- 
stitute at Haysville, Ohio, remaining until the 
summer of 1865, when he entered the otlice of 



740 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



Drs. Ferris & B3^roii at Upper Sandusky. In 
the winter of 1805-66, he attended liis first 
course of lectures at Charity Hospital Medical 
College, Cleveland. He then went to Ft. 
Wayne, Ind., where he studied and practiced in 
connection with Dr. J. S. Grregg, of that place, 
until the fall of 1867, when he entered the 
Chicago Medical College, from which he gradu- 
ated in March, 1868, and resumed his practice 
in Ft. Wayne until the spring of 1871. He 
then went to Cincinnati, spending a short time 
in that city in special practice, when he was 
called home, on the illness of his sister. In 
June, 1871, he located in Bucyrus, and has a 
pleasant office on corner of East Mansfield and 
Walnut streets. Has been a contributor to the 
periodicals published in the interest of his pro- 
fession ; enjoys a good practice. He was mar- 
ried, Jan. 1, 1872. to Miss Ella Ryan, an 
adopted daughter of Gr. L. Saulsbury, late of 
Bucyrus. Two children have been born to 
them ; Ralph, born Oct. 16, 1872 ; Nellie, born 
June 9, 1874. He is a member of the Presby- 
terian Church, and lives on Warren street, east 
of Disciples Church. Dr. Fitzsimmons' father 
was born in Huntingdon Co., Penn., in 1791, 
and was well educated ; was County Surveyor of 
his native countv. He was married, in Novem- 
ber, 1826, to Ann E. Holman, of Franklin Co., 
Penn. He followed farming until 3Iay, 1831, 
when they came to Ohio, driving through in a 
carriage to Bucyrus. He bought 160 acres of 
land in Whetstone Township, four miles from 
Bucyrus, where he resided until his death, Oct. 
10. 1848, at the age of 54 years. He kept post 
office four years. When he settled in the 
count}^ there were but three other houses be- 
sides their own between Bucyrus and Gallon. 
For several years they entertained strangers, 
though not, strictly speaking, keeping tavern. 
SAMUEL GARNER, blacksmith, Bucyrus ; 
son of William and Sarah (Cook) Garner, was 
born Feb. 20, 1818, in Pittsburgh, Penn. He 
went to school there until his 15th .year, and 
then commenced learning blacksmithing with 
John Stewart, serving three years, when he 
purchased a set of tools and started a shop at 
Sharpsburg, Penn., where he continued for ten 
years with good success. His next point was 
in Athens Co., Ohio, where he purchased a farm 
of 105 acres and farmed, also working at his 
trade. He lived here ten years, and in Septem- 
ber, 1864, came to Bucyrus, where, for three 



years, he was the partner of his brother, William. 
His next partnership was with Van Rinkle, and 
their union lasted some two years. Since then 
Mr. Garner has been working alone, assisted by 
his son. He has occupied his present shop for 
fifteen years. It is situated on Sandusky ave- 
nue, where he is doing a prosperous business, 
repairing and horseshoeing. He was married 
in July, 1844, to Miss Margaret Bougher, of 
Bakerstown, Penn. Of this marriage, there 
were five children — John, Amelia, Sarah, Mary 
and William. John was the victim of a fatal 
accident in the spring of 1876. While living at 
Delaware, Ohio, engaged in the study of medi- 
cine with Dr. E. H Hyatt, a large flag-stone 
over a cavity under the pavement broke, and 
falling with it, one-half crushed him, and he 
died soon after. He was a 3'oung man, and 
held in high esteem, and left a wife and famil}'^ 
to mourn his sad and untimely loss. His first 
wife dying, Mr. Garner was remarried July 9, 
1857, to Miss Delia Chapman, of Athens Co., 
Ohio, a woman of fine mind, and more than or- 
dinary intelligence, possessing the most desira- 
ble qualities as a wife and mother. Of this 
marriage there are six children — James, Isabel, 
Charles, Nettie, Carrie and Samuel. Mr. Gar- 
ner has been a hard-working, industrious, as 
well as a successful business man. He is a 
member and class leader in the Methodist 
Church, and has always been a Republican. 

REV. JACOB GRAESSLE, Bucyrus ; was 
born Feb. 14, 1836, in Wurtemberg, Germany, 
and is the son of Jacob and Sophie (Smith) 
Graessle. He received a common-school edu- 
cation, and this was supplemented by a course 
in a gymnasium. He also went to a State 
Normal School, called Nuertingen Seminary, 
remaining there till 19 j^ears of age. He ob- 
tained a State certificate, and taught in his 
native village until he was 21 years of age. He 
then sailed for America, from Havre, France, 
and, after a voyage of 47 days, landed at New 
York, in August, 1857. Having relatives at 
Lancaster, Oliio, he removed thither, and re- 
mained some eight months. In the fall of 1858, 
became a teacher in a private school at Rich- 
mond, Ind., and taught two years. In Septem- 
ber, 1860, he entered the Capital University at 
Columbus, Ohio, and entered upon a theological 
course, graduating in 1862. He was received 
into the ministrv, and commenced his labors at 
Sidney, Ohio, in September, being Pastor of St. 






BUCYRUS TOWNSHIP. 



741 



John's Lutheran Church for five j'ears. From 
this field of labor, he came to Bucyrus in 1867, 
and has remained here ever since as Pastor of 
the txood Hope Church. He has established a 
missionary station at Wingert's Corners, which 
has been productive of much good. His con- 
gregation is at present one of the strongest and 
largest in the town, its Pastor being a devoted 
and earnest worker. He was married in April, 
186-4, to Louisa Fuechtemeyer, of Richmond, 
Ind. The}^ have seven children living — Emma 
C, Otto L., Ida, August A., Bertha, Sophia and 
Whilhemina. His father was a carpenter by 
trade, and Ma3'or of his village. Both his par- 
ents and seven other children removed to this 
country, and both father and mother died at 
Jacksonville, 111. 

JAMES W. GAMBLE, tarmer ; P. 0. Bucy- 
rus ; is the son of Filson and Bathsheba (Mor- 
row) Gamble, and was born April 29, 1852, in 
Concord, Franklin Co., Penn. At the age of 
13, he came to this county, and worked for two 
years on the farm of his uncle, Calvin Gamble, 
and then returned to his home in Pennsylvania, 
where he lived two years. In the spring of 
1869, he returned to Whetstone Township, and 
worked for George Brehman at $20 per month 
for three years. On Oct. 21, 1873, he married 
Miss Lizzie McCreary, of Bucyrus Township. 
He managed a farm in Vernon Township four 
years, and, in 1877, moved on to his present 
place of 240 acres, owned by his father-in-law. 
Mr. Gamble has but one child living — Curtis 
Guy, born June 26, 1875. Mabel Grace died 
at the age of 8 months. Mr. Gamble is a Be- 
publican in politics. Both himself and wife are 
members of St. Paul's English Lutheran Church 
of Bucyrus. 

JAMES GLOYD, merchant, Bucyrus ; is the 
son of Samuel and Rebecca Gloyd, and was 
born Aug. 1, 1811, in Hampshire Co., Va. The 
days of his youth were spent on a farm, and 
his educational advantages were limited. In 
1821, his father removed his family to Ohio, 
settling in Richland Co., where Plymouth has 
since become a town of some importance ; he 
was compelled by the exigencies of the times 
and his father's condition in life, to work hard, 
and was allowed but little time for recreation 
or education. Young James remained with his 
father until he attained to his majority, and 
then commenced to work by the month at 
meager wages, continuing some two years, until 



he was able to purchase some land ; he was a 
farmer in Richland Co. until the new division 
of the county, and continued as a citizen and 
farmer of Vernon Township until 1873, being the 
possessor of some four hundred acres of land, 
and also managing a steam saw-mill. During 
his residence in the township, he w^as one of its 
prominent citizens, and for four years he kept 
a store at Liberty Corners. As a farmer and 
business man he was uniformlj' successful. In 
1873, he came to Bucyrus, and has been living 
there ever since. He has been a partner in the 
large mercantile establishment of Malic & 
Gloyd since 1876, and is recognized as a busi- 
ness man of ability and enterprise. He was 
first married March 26, 1835, to Charlotte 
Wethewill, a native of England ; of this mar- 
riage, five children survive out of eight born to 
them — Henry, Ira (both farmers in Missouri) ; 
Rebecca, wife of C. G. Malic ; Am^- Dickson, 
widow of the late Andrew Dickson, Jr., and 
Anna, wife of Emanuel Magner. The first wife 
of his affections departed this life Jan. 13, 
1873, and April 27, 1876. he was united in mar- 
riage to Mrs. Ruth Plants, widow of the late 
Jeremiah Plants. Mr. Glo3'd is a business man 
of tact and commendable enterprise, his deal- 
ings being characterized with honesty- and up- 
rightness, and he has always commanded the 
respect of his fellow-citizens. 

JAMES B. GORMLY. banker, Bucyrus; 
the oldest son of John A. Gorml}' was born 
November 23, 1836, in Bucyrus. In his youth 
he received such instruction as the vilhige 
schools aflbrded, until his 17th year, when he 
entered the store of his uncle. J. P. Bowman, 
for one yeai-. In the tall of 1855, he entered 
Bartlett's Commercial College of Cincinnati, 
Ohio, from which he graduated in the spring 
of 1856. On his return home he at once en- 
tered the Exchange Bank of this place, as 
teller and general book-keeper. He performed 
these duties with efficiency from 3Iay, 1856, 
until June, 1859. In the latter year, he and 
his fiither organized the People's Deposit Bank, 
Aug. 1. 1859, being sole proprietors. This in- 
stitution continued until May 1, 1864. At the 
organization of the First National Bank of 
Bucyrus, Mr. Gormly was chosen Cashier — a 
position which he held until the death of his 
father, in May, 1878, when he was elected 
President — a tribute to his long experience and 
faithful service. From 1871 to 1875. he served 



<^ <i 



^ 



m 



742 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



the Ohio Cent. R. R. Co., in the double capac- 
ity of Seci-etary and Treasurer. He was also 
Treasurer of the Crawford County Agricultural 
Society, from 18G7 until 1878 — a period of 
eleven years. In Ma^-, 1859, he was united in 
marriage with Miss E. Virginia Swingly, 
daughter of Dr. F. Swingly. This union has 
been blessed with three children — Ella K., 
Susie E. and James B., Jr. Mr. Grormly was 
raised a Presbyterian, and has been Treasurer 
of his church since his eighteenth 3-ear. The 
First National Bank, under the management of 
father and sons, has become widely known as 
the Gormly Bank. Within a period of ten 
years it has returned to its stockholders in 
dividends their entire original investment of 
$100,000, besides putting $20,000 into a reserve 
fund. The father, John A. Gormly, whose 
portrait appears in this work, was born at Pitts- 
burgh, Penn.,Feb. 19, 1804. He was the son of 
John Gorml}', an Irish Protestant, who was 
born in the count}^ of Tyrone, Ireland, in 1776, 
and came to America about 1790 ; settling at 
Pittsburgh Penn., where he followed the busi- 
ness of milling. John A. Gormly was reared 
by pious and godl}' parents, whose early lessons 
blossomed, and, in after years, bore the fruit of 
a well-rounded life and exalted Christian man- 
hood. About 1830, he removed to Brownsville, 
Penn., where he became a member of the Pres- 
byterian Church. It was here that he met and 
married Miss Louisa Bowman, in 1833. The 
result of this happy union was three children — 
James B., George C. and Mary L., wife of Rev. 
James G. D. Findley, Pastor of the United 
Presbyterian Church, at Newburg, N. Y. Mr. 
Gorml}^ was employed in mercantile pursuits 
at Brownsville, Penn., until 1836, when he 
removed to Bucyrus. He had but little capi- 
tal at that time, and purchased a house and lot 
on Sandusky avenue, and kept a small store, on 
the site of H. H. Moderwell's tin and stove store. 
It was a general store where the meager wants 
of i)0th the white and the red children of the 
forest were supplied. In those days, he and 
his faithful wife came to know what toil and 
privation meant, but by unswerving purpose 
and careful management, step by step Mr. 
Gormly became one of the substantial men of 
Bucyrus. He invested his surplus capital year 
by year, in the rich farm lands near town, until 
he owned over 1,000 acres, besides considerable 
city property. In 1859, he became proprietor 



of the People's Deposit Bank of this place, 
which continued in successful operation until 
186-lr, at which time he was elected President of 
the First National Bank of Bucyrus, a position 
which he held until his death, and to him that 
worth}' institution owes much of its past pros- 
perity, and present prestige for fair dealing and 
sterling integrity, which were synonyms of his 
life and character. He took a prominent part 
in church affaii's, and in the year 1838, he was 
elected a Ruling Elder in the Presbyterian 
Church, and chosen by the Presbyter}- of Belle- 
fontaine Lay Commissioner to the General As- 
sembly, which met at Brooklyn, N. Y., in 1876. 
His faithful wife departed this life May 6, 1872, 
and he passed away peacefully May 8, 1878, in 
the 75th year of his age. 

GEORGE C. GORMLY, Cashier of First 
National Bank, Buc3'ru8. The subject of this 
sketch is the second son of John A. Gormly. 
The maiden name of his mother was Louisa B. 
Bowman. He was born on the 18th of October, 
1841, in Bucyrus. In his 19th year, he com- 
pleted the high school course of this place, and 
in the fall of 1860, he entered the freshman 
class of Jefferson College, at Cannonsburg, Penn. 
He graduated from this institution in June, 
1864, receiving first honors as the essa3nst of 
his society. On his return to Bucyrus, he en- 
tered the First National Bank as teller, a po- 
sition which he held until 1876, when he was 
promoted to the position of assistant cashier. 
In 1878, he was elected cashier — a position for 
which his fifteen years of faithful service had 
eminently fitted him. He has conducted a 
general insurance business since 1869, and is 
Treasurer of the Crawford County Agricultural 
Society, and Secretary of the Joint Stock Com- 
pany. He is one of the Trustees of the Oak- 
wood Cemeter}', and also ser\'ed his part}' as a 
member of the Central Committee. He united 
with the Presbyterian Church in 1863, and has 
been Secretary' and Treasurer of the Sabbath 
school for ten years. On Jan. 4, 1866, he 
united his fortunes with Sarah A. Ward, onl}' 
child of Hon. C. K. Ward. Of this marriage 
two children were born — Gracie W. and John 
Clark Gormly. 

OSWALD E. GRAVELL, carriage manu- 
facturer, Bucyrus ; son of Thomas and Mar}' 
(Keys) Gravell, was born Sept. 12, 1844, in 
Hollidaysburg, Penn., and came with his par- 
ents, when but one year old, to Upper San- 



i 



!^ 



BUCYRUS TOWNSHIP. 



743 



dusky, Ohio. He lived there until grown ; go- 
ing to school until 18 3'ears old — part of the 
time with Indians — in the old council house, 
until it was burned. In May, 1861, he volun- 
teered in Co. D, 15th 0. V. I., and served through 
the war ; was in some twent}^ general engage- 
ments, including Shiloh, Murfreesboro (where 
he was a prisoner for a few minutes), Nash- 
ville, ^lission Ridge, Chickamauga, and all the 
battles of the Atlanta Campaign ; was wounded 
in the right arm by a shell, at Burnt Hickory, 
in Georgia, for which he now draws a pension. 
He was mustered out at Columbus, in December, 
1865, and afterward traveled over the States 
of Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas and the 
Indian Territory, returning to Bucyrus in 1868, 
where he learned carriage-making, with Jeffer- 
son Norton, serving for two years. He worked 
for a time at Mansfield and Kenton ; in the lat- 
ter place he started in business, and continued 
it until 1876, when, at the death of Mr. Norton, 
he came to Bucyrus and managed the business 
for one j^ear, and in 1877, became the proprietor. 
Since then he has done a large business in man- 
ufacturing-carriages, buggies and spring wagons. 
He was married Oct. 2, 1872, to Miss Flora 
Norton, eldest daughter of Jefferson Norton. 
Has one son, Lero}', living ; another son, El- 
mer, died at the age of two years. He was a 
member of Demas Lodge, No. 108, Knights of 
Pythias. His wife's father, Jefferson Norton, 
was a son of Samuel Norton, the first settler of 
Bucyrus. He was a carriage-maker by trade, 
and for over twenty five years the leading me- 
chanic in that line in the town. He died Aug. 
20, 1876. He married Eleanor M. Byron, May 
23, 1850, and had six children — Mary died in 
infancy ; Flora, Hattie, Charles, Fernando and 
Byron. Flora married 0. E. Gravell, the sub- 
ject of this sketch ; Hattie married Joseph 
Boure ; the sons are residents of Bucyrus. 
The mother is still living, and makes her home 
with her daughter, Mrs. Boure, at Upper San- 
dusky. 

JOHN HOPLEY, editor and proprietor of 
Bucyrus Jom-nal, Bucyrus, Ohio. Mr. Hopley, 
whose portrait appears in this work, came to 
Bucyrus in the spring of 1856, to fill the posi- 
tion of Superintendent of the Union Schools. 
He is l\y birth an Englisiiman, although he was 
naturalized many years ago, and has long been 
thoroughly identified with the interests of his 
adopted country. His paternal ancestors were 



substantial farmers in the county of Suffolk, 
England. His father was a Surgeon in the 
English navy, and in private life, first a practic- 
ing surgeon at Whitstable, a small sea-coast 
village in Kent, and afterward at Lewes, in 
Sussex, one of the most venerable towns in 
England. His mothers ancestors were for 
many generations distinguished dignitaries in 
the Church of England, and he has the genea- 
logical tables of their descent for hundreds of 
years back. Mr. Hopley was born at Whitsta- 
ble May 21, 1821, but his parents removed to 
Lewes while he was yet an infant. He finished 
his education at the Royal Naval College, then 
at Camberwell in the count}- of Surrey, and a 
suburb of London, now at New Cross in the 
same count3^ It was an institution for the sons 
of naval olticers, and, although not licensed to 
confer degrees, the course of education was 
very extensive and thorough, embracing a course 
as comprehensive and as high as any college 
course in the country. The institution received 
330 pupils, all of whom lived in the college. 
The Roll system of education was adopted ; it 
comprehends the instruction of pupils in large 
classes by the aid of the best pupils acting as 
monitors, and it is sometimes known as the 
Monitorial system. It was, therefore, although 
not by design, a Normal School, and it afforded 
to the monitors at the head of their classes a 
large experience in the art and duties of teach- 
ing. Although 3Ir. Hopley-, as a boy. excelled 
in many of the sports of the play-ground, he 
was never an idler at his studies. He was a 
constant contestant for the head of his various 
classes, frequently standing first and acting as 
head-monitor for weeks together. He thus 
early acquired the art of teaching, which after- 
ward contributed to his reputation as a teacher 
in this country. About the close of his term 
as a student in the Royal Naval College, he was 
made a teacher, and continued in the institution 
for some years in this capacity. In 1842. soon 
after he became of age. he came to the United 
States with his mothers brother. John R. Prat, 
Esq., of Zanesville, Ohio, and went into his 
store as clerk. He continued clerking until the 
fall of 184-4, when he commenced to teach 
school witli a view to reading law. But he was 
earnest in whatever he undertook, and the better 
he became known as a teacher, the larger were 
the schools he taught and the more time he de- 
voted to them, Ihus making his progress 



^^ 



744 



BIOGRAPPIICAL SKETCHES: 



through the elementary law books very slow. 
In 1845, he removed to Logan, Hocking Co., 
where he induced the School Directors to estab- 
lish graded schools ; these were among the first 
in Ohio, and they were a great success. In 
1848. he married, at Logan, iMiss Georgiana 
Rochester, fourth daughter of John Rochester, 
f]s(j., and, desiring to study the nature of so- 
ciety under the system of slavery, he went to 
the South to teach. He had schools at Yellow 
Creek, in Montgomery Co., Tenu., also, near 
Pilkton, Todd Co., Ky., and also at New l^rovi- 
denco, near Clarksville, Tenn.,from which place, 
at the close of 1852, he returned to Logan, and 
taught there for three 3'ears. The present sys- 
tem of school supervision had been inaugurated 
in his absence, and he resumed his duties at Lo- 
gan as Supervisor of the schools, which, however, 
were scattered over the village, as closeh^ to- 
gether as rooms, far from suitable, could be ob- 
tained for them. In 1855, he removed to 
Columbus to take the position of teacher of 
Mathematics and of Commercial Arithmetic, in 
what was then known as Granger's Commercial 
College. After, however, about six months of 
labor in this new sphere, he found the " college," 
so-called, a ver}- unstable institution, and he left 
it to take charge of a fractional term of the 
Wellsville Union Schools, from which place he 
removed with his family to Bucyrus, arriving 
on Saturday, 12th of April, 1856. The schools 
were at that time comparatively in their intanc}' 
as union schools, and were far from being in a 
[ii'osperous condition. Mr. Hopley, however, 
prosecuted his new duties with his usual thor- 
oughness, industry and zeal, and soon made them 
the wonder and admiration of his fellow-citi- 
zens. In 1858, he formed a partnership in the 
practice of law with A. M. Jackson. Esq., for a 
year, and was admitted to the bar. x\t the ex- 
piration of the term, he opened an oftice by 
himself and practiced, with encouraging success 
until the close of Julj", 1862, wlien he went to 
England in company with Mr. Thomas Alsop, on 
professional business. Upon his return in Oc- 
tober, he found the law practice almost de- 
stroyed for the time being ; scarcely any cases 
were tried. In nearly all, either one of the par- 
ties, or some important witness, was in the 
army. In this emergency, he obtained from 
Mr. Chase, the Secretary of the Treasury, an 
appointment to a clerkship in the office of the 
Second Auditor of the Treasury. Soon after. 



b}- special order of the Secretary, he was trans- 
ferred to the Secretary's own office. He then 
had a desk in the library of the Treasury, and 
commenced a thorough study of finances, em- 
ploying his pen eflTectively in sustaining tlui 
financial polic3'of the Secretary, and the estab- 
lishment of national banks. When the national 
bank bill became a law. he was transferred to 
the Banking and Currency Bureau. Hon. Hugh 
McCulloch was then Comptroller of the Cur- 
rency, and he placed Mr. Hopley in charge of 
the statistical division of the bureau. This in- 
cluded the examination of the regular reports 
required by law of the banks, and of the i*e- 
ports made by the Bank Examiners. In this 
position, it frequenth^ became his dut}- to fur- 
nish distinguished members of Congress with 
such data for their speeches on financial ques- 
tions as made them distinguished. In 1864, he 
resigned to accept a position in a largo bank in 
New York. In 1866, he returned to Washing- 
ton, in a private capacity for his employer, and 
was appointed National Bank Examiner for all 
the Southern States, except Delaware, Maryland 
and Virginia. Kansas was afterward added, 
and he entered upon his duties in the fall of 
1866. Having completed the examination of 
the list of banks, he returned to Bucyrus, and 
in September, 1867, he purchased the half-in- 
terest in the Bucyrus Journal, of the senior 
editor, J. G. Robinson, Esq., for $2,000. It was 
at that time conducted by the brothers Messrs. 
James and Ralph Robinson. In May, 1868, it 
was arranged for jNIr. Ralph Robinson to sell 
out to John Markee. Esq., of whom Mr. Hopley 
the siime day purchased the other half-interest 
for $2,000. Although he entered upon journal- 
ism only as a temporary resource, preliminary 
to returning to the pi'actice of the law, yet he 
soon became absorbed in his new profession to 
the exclusion of everything else. In August, 
1870, he entered upon the duties of Postmaster, 
and retained the office until January, 1879. He 
still continues to edit the Journal. His family 
is as follows : Charles Rochester, John Ed- 
ward, Thomas (who died in infancy), Thomas 
Prat, Mary Catherine, Georgiana Eliza. Harriet 
Evaline, James Richard, Frank Lewes and Jo- 
seph William, ten in all, of whom nine are yet 
living. 

JOHN HOLIMES, Bucyrus ; is a native of 
Holmes Co., Ohio, where his birth occurred 
April 21. 1822. His parents, Jacob and Mar- 



f 



^k 



BUCTRUS TOWNSHIP. 



745 



garet (Orr) Holmes, were sober and intelligent 
people, and both were natives of the Keystone 
State. A few years after their birth, and pre- 
vious to the war of 1812, they were taken by 
their respective parents to Hai'dson Co., Ohio, 
where they were raised and wliere they were 
subsequently married. Soon after their mar- 
riage, in 1821, they removed to Holmes Co.. 
and, after remaining there about two years, left 
and located in Richland Co. Here they fol- 
lowed the not unusual occupation of farming 
until 1833, at which time they came to Craw- 
ford Co., locating on what is now known as 
the Stewart farm, in Jackson Township. They 
were the parents of six sons and two daughters, 
all of whom are yet living. The mother died 
about a year after coming to the county, but 
the father is yet spared and has reached the 
unusual age of 95 years. The father was a 
soldier in the war of 1812, and served his 
country with distinction. He became thorough- 
ly familiar with all the details and perplexities 
of pioneer life, and a complete record of his 
eventful days would be well worth}- of perusal. 
His son, the subject of this sketch, was reared 
on the farm, receiving but a limited early edu- 
cation. At the age of 16, he was apprenticed 
to a carpenter, and, after learning that trade, 
followed it to a greater or less extent for 
about fifteen years. When the last war broke 
out and the Government began buying horses 
for its cavalr}-, ^Ir. Holmes, who Avas a good 
judge of horses, bought large numbers, over a 
range of several counties, and tlien sold them 
to the various Quartermasters of the arm}' who 
were authorized to purchase. In this manner 
a profit of several thousand dollars was real- 
ized in a short time. After the war he kept a 
hotel for a short time, at Leesville, Crawford 
Co., and a few years later served as Superin- 
tendent of the County Infirmary. Subseijuent- 
ly he resided two 3'ears in Crestline, where he 
kept a livery stal)le. His thorough knowledge 
of " horse flesh,'" has, to some extent, shaped 
his life-labors. Himself and family are at 
present residing in Bucyrus. He was married 
to Miss Mary J. Morrow Nov. 2. 1854. This 
lad}- is a native of Crawford Co., her birth oc- 
curring Aug. 24, 1834. She is the daughter of 
Joseph and Elizabeth (Seanor) Morrow, natives 
of Westmoreland Co., Penn., where they were 
married and resided until 1833, when they 
came to Crawford Co., locating in Jackson 



Township. They were the parents of fifteen 
children, and eleven are yet living. The 
mother died in 1872, and the father two years 
later. Mr. Morrow was a stone-cutter and a 
mason, and followed these occupations through- 
out life. A family of four children has l)een 
born to Mr. and Mrs. Holmes. Mary E. and 
William W. are living, and Ella Beatrice and 
Oliver H. are dead. "Lizzie" and "Willie' 
have been educated at the country schools, 
where their parents formerly resided, at the 
Crestline schools, and. finally, at the flue schools 
in Bucyrus. They are both living with their 
parents at the county seat. 

HOLM & GARNER, Bucyrus. This firm is 
well and favorably known in Crawford and 
adjoining counties. Though young men, they 
have, by close attention to business and 
straight business habits, placed themselves in 
the front rank of cigar-makers. They both re- 
ceived the benefit of a common-school educa- 
tion, and, when yet boys, entered the cigar 
store of Mr. Horn, of Bucyrus. where they 
learned the business, and, in 1878, formed a 
partnership and began business for themselves. 
They manufacture " Palmer's Choice," one of 
the best 10-cent cigars in the market ; their 
" H. & G.," " Nox Aall," " All the Go," and " Our 
Choice," all 5-cent cigars, are second to none 
in the trade. They use only the best stock in 
the filling and wrappers of these cigars, and, in 
this way, have secured an enviable reputation 
among the cigai'-men of Central Ohio. Mr. 
Holm was born in Bucyrus. Ohio. July 9, 1855 ; 
he is one of a family of five children born to 
Abraham and Jane (Haish) Holm, the former a 
native of Clarion Co., Penn., and the latter 
of Baden, Germany. The mother's people came 
to this country in 1827, and settled in Holmes 
Township ; the father came to the county about 
one year later, and was married here. He was 
an educated man, and. in early days, taught 
school in different portions of the county. He 
was also Colonel of a regiment of State militia 
for a number of years, besides holding other po- 
sitions of honor and trust in Bucyrus and Craw- 
ford Co. He died .\pril 14, 1878. His wife sur- 
vives him. and resides in Bucyrus. Mr. Garner 
was born Oct. 2, 1850, in Allegheny Co.. Penn.; 
his parents. William and Rosa (Briar) Garner, 
were both natives of the Kmerald Isle. They 
came to Bucyrus. Ohio, in 18U0. where they 
have since resided. Mr. Garner, of the firm of 



^; 



lit) 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



Holm & Garner, was united in marriao;e with 
Miss Caroline Berkdorf, a native of Akron, 
Ohio, in 1874. They have one child — Nellie 
May. Messrs. Holm & Garner are doing a large 
and steadily increasing business, and the writer 
of this predicts for them a brilliant and suc- 
cessful future. 

GEORGE HARMON, farmer, etc.; P. 0. Bu- 
cyrus ; a son of John and Mar}' (Bordner) 
Harmon ; was born Feb. 3, 1815, in Dauphin 
Co., Penn. His youth was spent there on a 
farm and in attending the common schools. 
He lived with his father until he was 23 years 
of age, when he was married, Feb. 23, 1838, to 
Miss Elizabeth Sells, of Trumbull Co., Ohio. 
His father had removed to Columbiana Co., 
Ohio, in 1835, remaining there a little over one 
year, then returning to Pennsylvania and set- 
tling in Mercer Co. Mr. Harmon has been 
twice married ; by his first wife, he had ele\'en 
children — Hannah, Angeline, Louisa, Mary 
Ann, Harrison, Frank and Moses living ; Sopliia 
died in her 32d year, Isabel in her 6th year, 
Israel in his 3d year, Ellen in her 28th year. 
His wife died Sept. 1. 1872. and, Nov. 22, 1874. 
he was married to !Miss Mary Bertikofer, of 
Liberty Township ; by her he had two children 
—Anna and Louis W. Our subject removed 
to Richville, in this county, in September, 1841, 
driving in a wagon from Pennsylvania, 160 
miles, in five days ; he rented a house in tlie 
village, which at that time only had about ten 
houses, and began working at the carpenter's 
trade, which he liad learned while living in Mer- 
cer Co., Penn., and built many houses in the vil- 
lage and vicinity, which are yet standing, 
monuments of his industry. In 1843, he moved 
to Liberty Township, where he followed his trade 
till about 1855. Since then, he has been engaged 
in farming, buying, in April, 1878, 15 acres in 
Liberty Township, which he has improved very 
much. He has accumulated a nice little prop- 
ert\- by honest toil and industry. At present, he 
lives in Bucyrus Township, but will move to 
his place in Liberty Township in a short time. 
He was an Old-Line Whig untd 1847, when he 
became a Democrat, and has ever since l)een of 
that political faith. He has been Constable and 
Trustee of Libertv Township for fourteen 
years, and, in April, 1880, was elected Trustee 
of Bucyrus Township. He has been a meml)er 
of the German Lutheran Church since 19 3'ears 
old. His father was a native of Pennsylvania, 



born about 1770, and died Aug. 19, 1853 ; his 
wife died June 16, 1860. The elder Harmon 
was a farmer, and was in the war of 1812, serv- 
ing through the entire campaign. He raised 
thirteen children, viz.: John, Jacob, Michael, 
Catharine, Polly, Susan, Elizabeth, George (our 
subject), Margaret, Joseph, Jonas, Christina 
and David living ; Ely, William, Isaac and La- 
viua are dead. David Harmon, the grandfather 
of our subject, came from Germany, and was 
stolen from his parents when a child but 8 
years old. 

CHARLES HETICH, retired ; P. 0. Bucy- 
rus ; whose portrait appears elsewhere, is a son 
of George and Martha (Immel) Hetich, and 
was born June 11, 1810, near Chambersburg, 
Franklin Co., Penn., and lived on a farm until 
about 18 3'ears of age ; he attended subscrip- 
tion school in the neighborhood, finishing his 
education at Gettysburg ; he then served an 
apprenticeship of thi'ee years in a mill ; this 
business, together with lumbering, he followed 
until 1836 ; in October, 1837, he came to Ohio, 
driving through from Chambersburg in a car- 
riage, making two trips between that place and 
Bucyrus, one on horseback ; his mother had 
come out here some four years previously ; he 
settled on the corner of Warren and Main streets, 
and has lived in the town ever since, with the 
exception of about nine 3'ears spent on an es- 
tate which he owned in Crauberr3' Township. 
He had a great fondness for hunting, and he 
and Henry Minich hunted much together, 
often killing as man3' as thirt3' deer in a sea- 
son ; he himself often killed three in a single 
day, killing a great many within a mile and a 
half of town, and often caught fish in (irass 
Run. Mr. Hetich and two brothers bought 
900 acres of land in Cranbei'ry Township. In 
1848, he was elected Treasurer of Crawford 
Co., and served two terms with satisfaction 
to his constituents ; he has been Township 
Trustee and Town Councilman many years ; 
was a member of the Boai'd of {Education 
when the Bucyrus schools employed but one 
teacher, and hired Judge Plants from his shoe 
bench to teach the school of the town. He 
was married, Feb. 14, 1833, in Franklin Co., 
Penn., to Miss Susan Clark ; four of their 
children are living — Paul I., Elizabeth, George 
A. and Martha J., wife of Cyrus Fisher, of 
Denver, Colo.; George A. lives in town, and 
Paul I. lives in Cranberry Township. His 



w 





^^G.yiy>^ a.^?-Z4^j£y^ ,^^^^ < 



^<ZA.t^^ 




BUCYRUS TOWNSHIP. 



749 



father, George Hetich, was born at Little York, 
Penn., where he lived until manhood ; he mar- 
ried Martha Immel, near Chambersburg, whose 
family was wealthy ; he settled there, manag- 
ing farm and saw-mills ; he was soon after 
elected Sheriff of the count}^, and served sev- 
eral 3'ears as such ; he raised four sons and 
two daughters — Paul I., George A., John and 
Charles (our subject), and Rebecca H., widow 
of Hon. George Sweney, and Martha, wife of 
Jonathan Kearsley ; he died on his farm, near 
Chambersburg, Penn. 

DAVID HEINLEN, farmer; P. 0. Bucy- 
rus ; is the son of Lewis and Christina (Regi- 
na) Heinlen, and was born Feb. 23, 1834, 
in Whetstone Township ; here he was brought 
up and attended district school ; his father was 
born in Wurtemberg, Germany, and was edu- 
cated there ; he also learned tailoring in the 
town of Fullingen ; came to America in 1817, 
and was under bonds to pa}^ the cost of his 
passage by labor ; he served three and one-half 
years at Portsmouth to pay his indebtedness ; 
he afterward lived six years at Circleville, 
Ohio, and from there came to Whetstone Town- 
ship, bought 80 acres of land, and lived upon 
it until his death, following his trade but little 
after he removed to this county ; he raised 
eleven children — Elizabeth, Jacob, Magdalena, 
Lewis, Mary and Catharine (both deceased), 
John, Samuel, Christian, David and Sarah ; 
David lived with his parents until they died, 
and on the homestead until 1876 ; he has now 
a fine farm of 150 acres in Bucyrus Township, 
and is in good circumstances. In April, 1865, 
he married Miss Mary Wirick, of Whetstone 
Township ; they have seven children living — 
Charles I., Lewis H., Anna M., Laura S., Amy 
A., Jennie M. and an infant son. He is a 
member of the German Reformed Church of 
Whetstone Township, and in politics has al- 
ways been a Democrat. 

JOHN IIOWALD, carriage-maker, Bucy- 
rus ; is one of the substantial business men of 
Bucyrus, and was born Jan. 9, 1824, in the 
Province of Alsace, France. His early life un- 
til he was 15, was passed in his native land, 
where he received a good education, and as- 
sisted in tilling the soil. In the spring of 1S40, 
his parents removed to the United States, and 
young Howald came with them to tread the 
path of success in the New World. The family 
lived for a short time near Utica, N. Y. In 



December, however, they came to Canaan 
Township, Wayne Co., Ohio, where his father 
bought a farm and there liv^ed until his death. 
Young Howald remained on the farm assistinj^^ 
his father until he was 19, when he commenced 
learning his trade of carriage- making with a 
man near Millersburg, learning the department 
of wood-working. He was here a short time 
and also spent a short time at Wooster, com- 
pleting his trade at Tallmadge, Summit Co. 
He worked there three years after the end of 
his apprenticeship, and at that time it was the 
largest carriage-shop in the West. Mr. How- 
ald was the first foreigner employed in these 
shops, which employed about sixty men. He 
then traveled until 1843, working at his trade 
in different places in Ohio and New York. In 
1853, he settled in Ashland, and worked there 
until 1857, when he removed to Bucjrus in 
March. He here became a workman for Jef- 
ferson Norton, remaining in his employ about 
two years. He then commenced business for 
himself as partner with David Lindsay, the 
business union lasting two years with success. 
He then sold out his interest to Mr. Lindsay 
and located on Walnut street. Mr. Howald 
and John Schaber, the present Sheriff, were to- 
gether in the business, but Schaber withdrew 
at the end of six months ; since when, Mr. 
Howald has conducted the business himself 
Since 1861, he has built a fine frame residence 
and a two-storj^ carriage and blacksmith shop, 
in which he employs from eight to ten first- 
class workmen. He has a wide reputation for 
making carriages, buggies and spring wagons, 
and enjoys a handsome patronage. He started 
without capita], and is a self-made, substantial 
business man, of whom the cit}^ might be proud. 
He is a member of Crawford Lodge, F., & A. 
M., and has always been a Democrat. He was 
married, July 31, 1852, to Miss Louisa Rappold, 
of Upper Sandusk}-. There are two children 
of this marriage — Julia and William. 

JACOB HALLER, tanner ; P. 0. Bucyrus ; 
is the son of Jonathan Haller. and was born 
Aug. 20, 1844, in Lycoming Co., Penn., where, 
until his 8th year, he lived on a farm, and re- 
ceived the rudiments of an education. At this 
period in his life, his parents removed to Ohio, 
and settled near Buc3'rus. Here he lived with 
them till his 17th year, when he entered the 
employ of J. J. Myers Bros., of Bucyrus, and 
remained one year. The next year saw him 



750 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



*7' 



return to his native State, where he worked 
amid the hardships and privations of camp life 
in tlie pineries. He was next a k^comotive fire, 
man, running from William'sport to Elniira- 
This occupation lasted him some six months, 
when he relinquished it to drive a mill wagon 
at Williamsport. This occupation was also 
short-lived, and, at the end of nine months, Mr. 
Haller returned to Bucyrus and was emploj'ed 
by C. H. Shonert in the tannery, and here Mr. 
Haller finished his apprenticeship in the busi- 
ness, continuing another year, however, as a 
regular workman. He then traveled throughout 
Ohio, Indiana and Michigan, working at his 
trade in various places. At the end of a year 
he returned, and was employed b}' Shonert at 
pine work. Soon after, in company with Ben- 
jamin Ernst, Mr. Haller rented the Myers Yard, 
and, for three years, they conducted the busi- 
ness under the firm name of Haller & Ernst. 
In 1872, our subject formed a partnership with 
C. H. Shonert, and this business union has con- 
tinued for the past seven years, and has been 
verj' successful. The firm do an extensive 
business in tanning, paying cash for hides, and 
dealing extensively in leather and shoe-findings. 
Mr. Haller is a Democrat in politics, and has 
been a member of the City Council for two 
years. He is a member of Bucyrus Lodge, 
No. 139, F. & A. M. ; also P. G. "of La Salle 
Lodge, No. 51, 1. 0. 0. F., and of Demas Lodge, 
K. of P., No. 108. He was married, Dec. 29, 
1878, to Mar}' Schaeffer, of Bucyrus, a daughter 
of G. A. Schaeffer. The}- have one daughter — 
Carrie Belle, born in April, 1875. 

J. H. HOFMAN, jeweler, Bucyrus ; is a son 
of J. H. Hofman, and was born Aug. 26, 1833, 
in Mansfield, Ohio. At the age of 10, he en- 
tered the store of his brother, and removed to 
Bucj'rus in his fifteenth year, coming with his 
father, who died in 1851. At the age of 18 
years, our subject took full charge of a repair 
shop of clocks and watches, and assisted in the 
support of the family for several years. In the 
year 1853, he made his first venture in busi- 
ness, buying a stock of jewelry of the value of 
$80. He took in his brother, R. E. Hofman, as 
partner in 1860, and together they have sold 
goods in their present room in Rowse's Block 
for the past twenty years. They still continue 
in business, and have a fine stock, unexcelled 
by any in the city. On May 30, 1869, he was 
married to Charlotte E. Sweney, of Bucyrus. 



The}^ have two children — Mabel and Carrie. 
His wife died April 16, 1879. His father was 
born in Shepherdstown, Penn., in 1798, and was 
educated in his native State for the ministi'y of 
the German Reformed Church, and preached 
for a time in that State, and came to Mansfield, 
Ohio, in 1824. He evinced a- natural taste for 
mechanics and was naturally' skillful in that 
direction. For some time he printed a paper 
at Mansfield, and then engaged in watch and 
clock repairing. Dr. Johnston is the only busi- 
ness man who commenced when our subject did 
that is still in business. He was married, in 
1820, to Elizabeth Hoffman, of Chambersburg, 
Penn. Of that marriage ten children are liv- 
ing. Augustine died in October, 1878. The 
names of those living are Catharine, Eliza, 
Charles, George, John H., Rufus, Allen, Mary, 
Laura and Frank. His father was a man well 
versed in Latin, Greek and German, and was a 
devoted, earnest, Christian worker. His mother 
is still living at the advanced age of 78. Mr. 
Hofman possesses many rare qualifications for 
his business, and is a valuable member of so- 
ciet3^ Few men have taken charge of business 
when so young and succeeded so well. 

FRANK HAMAN, Marshal, Bucyrus ; a 
son of William and Mar}' (Happ) Haman ; was 
born Dec. 13, 1834, in the State of New York, 
near Lake Seneca. When he was aged about 
4 years, his parents removed to the vicinity of 
Shelby, Ohio, his father engaged in farming, 
and his son attending district school. In 1851. 
he came to Bucyrus and commenced a term of 
apprenticeship in the blacksmith-shop of James 
Kelly, which he completed at the end of three 
years. He then engaged for himself, and sub- 
sequently worked for Phillip Ossman six years. 
In 1861, he started a horseshoeing-shop, in 
which business he continued until 1878. In 
1874, he was elected Marshal of Bucyrus as an 
independent candidate, and is now serving his 
fourth term. In 1852, he was married to Jane 
Crumley, of Richland Co., and of this marriage 
there are four children living — Louis C, Lor- 
ing, Josephine and Frankie. Three of their 
children are dead. As a public officer, Frank 
Haman has been a success. He is one of the 
most efficient Marshals that the city has ever 
had, and has always acted conscientiously in 
the discharge of his duty. 

LEWIS W. HULL, cashier, Bucyrus ; was 
born April 30, 1853, in Radnor Township, Dela- 



d=^ 



BUCYRUS TOWNSHIP. 



751 



ware Co., Ohio. When he was aged 3, his par- 
ents settled in Morrow Co., Ohio, where the 
subject of our slcetch lived until he was 19 
years of age. During this time he spent two 
years in teaching. When 19 years of age, he 
took charge of a large farm of 600 acres, in 
Dallas Township, Crawford Co. He was there 
for some time, then moved to a farm in Wyan- 
dot Co., near Upper Sandusky. He lived there 
four years, and at the organization of the Craw- 
ford Co. Bank, he was elected Cashier, a posi- 
tion which he has filled ever since. The bank 
was organized with the following officers : Ab 
Monnett, President ; G. W. Hull, Vice Presi- 
dent ; Lewis W. Hull, Cashier ; L. B. Harris, 
of Upper Sandusky, and E. Blair, of Bucyrus, 
being directors. Since its organization it has 
done a discount business of $250,000, has a 
capital stock of $100,000, and an associate cap- 
ital of $700,000. Mr. Hull was married in 
Wyandot Co., Oct. 20, 1874, to Miss Mary 
Morral. They have one child, Cora D., born 
Oct. 6, 1875. 

FREDERICK G. HESCHE, retired mer- 
chant, Bucyrus ; is a son of John C. Hesche, 
and was born in the Province of Saxon 
Meiningen, Germany, Mai'ch 1, 1811. Ac- 
cording to the prevailing system in his na- 
tive land, he attended school from his 6th 
to his 14th year. When 16 years of age, he 
commenced his apprenticeship with a butcher, 
and served three 3'ears, after which his aptitude 
at the business kept him industriously at work 
as a journeyman for three years longer. At 
this time, he became imbued with a desire to 
go to America, with several of his companions, 
his employer, however, being loth to have such 
a good workman leave his establishment. But 
young Hesche resolved to try his fortunes in the 
New World, and accordingly took passage from 
Bremen in the early summer of 1834, and, 
after a vo3'age of fifty-eight days, landed at 
Baltimore Sept. 2 of the same year. Shoulder- 
ing his shot-gun — which he brought from the 
Fatherland — he trudged his way from Balti- 
more through a country wild in many parts, 
and from which the traces of barbarism had not 
yet departed, to what was then the small ham- 
let of Bucyrus. Arriving here, his means en- 
abled him to enter 40 acres of land, situated in 
Lykens Township. Here he became a farmer 
for about a \-ear, when he went to Sandusky 
City and followed his trade of butchering, at 



which he was noted as being a skillful and 
valuable workman. He remained in that place 
at his business one year, when he returned 
to Bucyrus and engaged in laboring, at small 
wages. Traveling westward, he spent some 
time in Indiana, and was taken sick, and 
was aflflicted for over a year, being unable 
to work, and spending, in that time, what 
money he had saved as the product of his hard 
labor. Becoming better, he was for some time 
employed at Lauck's Hotel, in Bucyrus. In 
1839, he commenced in the employ of William 
Miller, and continued with him three 3'ears. 
Next, with his fiimily, he removed to Osceola, 
then in Center, now in Todd Township, and 
there worked for a time in a saw-mill, and after- 
ward rented the business and ran it for his own 
interests for about a year and a half, when he 
again came to Bucyrus and re-entered the em- 
plo3' of Mr. ^Miller, his old employer. Soon 
after, he purchased the lot where stands his 
present residence, and erected a frame l)uilding 
on the corner, in which he started a store with 
a stock of groceries. Four weeks rolled around, 
and the store became a victim to the fire fiend. 
Mr. Hesche arose. Phoenix-like, from this mis- 
fortune, and again commenced, and continued 
until 1876, when he retired from business. He 
is now spending his old age in quiet retirement, 
and looks back with satisfaction on his long life 
of trial, industry and gradual success. He was 
married, Oct. 1, 1843, to Salomo Sterner, a na- 
tive of Pennsylvania. Six children were born 
of their marriage, and all are living, named, re- 
spectively, Charles A., Mary J., Clara B., Violet, 
Harmon F. and Ida M. Mr. Hesche is a gen- 
tleman who has shared considerabl3' in public 
esteem, and, during his residence in Center 
Township, he filled several offices of that cor- 
poration. 

S. R. HARRIS, lawyer, Bucyrus ; is the son 
of Stephen and Sybil (Clark) Harris, and was 
born May 22, 1824. in Stark Co., Ohio. Spend- 
ing his youth up to 14 years of age on a farm, 
he commenced as clerk in a store, remaining 
until 18 years of age. He then attended Wash- 
ington Academ3', Pennsylvania, whore he grad- 
uated in 1846. He read law with his uncle. 
John Harris, of Canton, who was an eminent 
man in his profession. He was admitted to the 
bar in 1849, and came to Bucyrus June 14 of 
that year, and immediately entered upon the 
practice of his profession. Commencing with- 



^^ 



»^ 



752 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



out capital, he has worked himself into affluence, 
having been a successful practitioner. He was 
at one time Mayor of Bucyrus, and has filled 
many other offices. He was married in Septem- 
ber, 1853, to Mary J. Monnett, daughter of 
William Monnett. " They have four children 
living — Sallie J., Willie, Gavin Hamilton and 
Nellie. Mr. Harris is one of the descendants 
of the Hamilton clan, of Mauchline, Scotland, 
one of his ancestors being Gavin Hamilton, 
mentioned in the poems of Scotia's idol — Rob- 
ert Burns. Alexander Hamilton was also an 
ancestor of his. belonging to the same race of 
Hamiltons. Mr. Harris' grandfather was in the 
war of the Revolution, fighting for the inde- 
pendence of his country. Our subject's father 
came to Stark Co., Ohio, in 1805, emigrating 
from Washington, Penn. His father was a 
farmer, and was self-educated, having fine men- 
tal endowments, and was well versed in litera- 
ture and history. He reared twelve children to 
maturity, six of whom are living, our subject 
being the youngest of all. 

LEVERET C. HINMAN, attorney at law, 
Bucyrus ; though a resident of Bucyrus but 
a short time, has alreadj^ risen to a place of dis- 
tinction as a member of the Crawford Co. bar. 
He was born in Meriden, Conn., on Feb. 22, 
1855, and is the son of Franklin E. and Phoebe 
E. (Camp) Hinman. The former was a descend- 
ant of Serg. Edward Hinman, who settled in 
Stamford, Conn., about the middle of the seven- 
teenth century, and the latter is descended from 
Theophilus Eaton, who was the first Governor 
of the colony of New Haven. At the early age 
of 15 j-ears. Leveret C. graduated from the 
schools of Meriden. He was very proficient in 
the study of Latin and Greek, as at that earl}^ 
age he had completed Ctesar, Cicero and the 
books of Virgil. Of the latter, while his class 
was reading two books, he completed six. He 
also became a very thorough scholar in classics, 
for which he had a profound admiration. Hard 
study had so injured his health as to not admit 
of his beginning the study of a profession 
without some recreation. He therefore went to 
Nebraska, where he spent nine months on the 
broad prairies of that State. This movement 
effected a perfect restoration of his health, after 
which, he entered the Iowa State University, 
where he remained one year, and was then 
called home on account of the illness of his 
ftither. While engaged in the charge of home 



aflairs, he spent his spare time in the study of 
law. Afterward he entered the office of Judge 
Smith, of Meriden, with whom he read law un- 
til 1875, when he entered the Law Department 
of Yale College, from which he graduated with 
honors in the spring of 1877. In the follow- 
ing June, he was admitted to practice in the 
Superior Courts of the State of Connecticut. 
He first located and began the practice of his 
profession in the little town of Wallingford, 
Conn., in which place, and at Meriden, he prac- 
ticed until April of 1880, when he came West, 
and located at Crestline, Crawford Co. In the 
following June, he was admitted to practice in 
the Supreme Court of Ohio, and in November 
he removed to Bucyrus. He at once opened 
an office in the Bowman Block, and, as before 
stated, has already made long strides toward 
success and prominence. Should no misfortune 
befall him, it is safe to predict for Mr. Hinman 
a career as glorious, and a place as prominent 
in the profession, as any of those members of 
the bar of Crawford Co., whose names stand on 
the pages of history, and whose works are safe 
criterions for aspiring genius. Mr. Hinman 
was married on June 18, 1879, to Miss Jennie 
E. Burns, of Middletown, Conn. 

WILLIAM HOOVER, retired, Bucyrus ; a 
son of Christian and Mar}' (Simmons) Hoover, 
and was born Nov. 1, 181G, in Pickaway Co., 
Ohio. In 1822, when he was about six j-ears 
old, the family removed to this count}^, and 
settled in Antrim, now Dallas Township. His 
father entered about 400 acres of land, to 
which he continued to add, until his death, at 
which time he owned 700 acres of fine land. 
His mother died when he was but 1 year old ; 
and, after removing to this count}', he lived 
with an uncle for about one year at Little San- 
dusky, when his father married again, and he 
lived at home with him on the Sandusky River 
Plains. Here he went to school in an old, de- 
serted cabin, his first teacher being Jos. Newell. 
He attended school until he was 16 years old, 
when, with his brother-in-law, he took charge 
of his father's farm ; his father going to San- 
dusky City. He continued on the farm until 
18()(i, and, at his father's death, which took 
place in August, 1849, of cholera, he received 
his portion of his wealth. For several 3'ears he 
dealt largel}^ in stock, devoting also considera- 
ble attention to stock-raising. In Novemi)er, 
1866, he came to Bucyrus, since which time he 



BUCYRUS TOWNSHIP. 



753 



has been engaged in the care of his large estate. 
In March, 1877, he became a partner in the 
firm of Frey, Sheckler & Hoover in the Eagle 
Machine ^yorks ; he represented the firm in the 
Cincinnati Exposition of 1880. He was mar- 
ried, Oct. 18, 1838, to Miss Phcebe Swisher, of 
Groveport, Franklin Co., Ohio, who was born 
in Franklin County, March 7, 1817. Ten chil- 
dren have been born of this union, all of whom 
are living. John T. is a tarmer in Dallas 
Township ; Christian, also a farmer in Dallas ; 
George, at home ; Marcellus, a farmer in Dallas ; 
Charles F., a student in Capital City Commer- 
cial College ; Emil}-, wife of Henry Welsh, 
farmer of Wj'andot County ; Maggie, wife of 
David E. Fisher, a merchant of Bucyrus ; 
Alice, wife of Mark H. Lea, farmer of Taylor 
Co., Iowa ; Flora, wife of H. L. Weber of Bucy- 
rus ; Lillian at home. He is a member of the 
English Lutheran Church, and one of its 
trustees. He has always been a Republican in 
politics, and before the organization of that 
party was an Old- Line Whig. His father was 
born in Pendleton Co., Va., and when a young 
man, married and came to this county. He 
was a soldier in the war of 1812 ; built the first 
brick house, probably, in the count}'. He had 
two children — the subject of this sketch, and 
Hannah (now deceased), wife of Charles W. 
White. 

GEORGE W. HULL, banker, Bucyrus ; was 
born in Delaware Co., Ohio, July 21, 1824, and 
is a son of Benjamin and Elizabeth (Smith) 
Hull. In 1828, his parents moved to Whet- 
stone Township, in this county, and located on 
a farm, where they lived until he was 11 years 
old. He remembers the luxuries (?) of pioneer 
da3's, when he wore buckskin pants and a coon- 
skin cap, and was glad to get them. He went 
to school in a caJoin with a dirt floor and 
greased paper windows : was treed once by 
wild hogs ; a bear was killed in their door3'ard ; 
a panther, which he saw, was killed near his 
home. The family removed back to Delaware 
County, and located in Radnor Township, where 
his mother died when he was 15 years old, and 
he then began to care for himself, working on 
a farm at $10 per month. With the first earn- 
ings of his labor, he liought 40 acres of land, 
which was his beginning in life. At the age of 
20, he was married to Attie Scribner. of Marion 
County, and lived, after marriage, in Delaware 
Count}^ until 1855, when he removed to Mor- 



row County and settled near Cardington. He 
has five children living and one dead. Jasper 
G.. Cashier of Farmers' Bank at Findlay, Ohio ; 
Olive A., now Mrs. M. J. Monnett, of Crawford 
County ; Lewis W., Cashier of Crawford County 
Bank ; Laura died when five years old ; J. C. 
F., Assistant Cashier of Farmers" Bank, and 
Cora D., at present at Ohio Wesleyan Female 
College. Ml'. Hull owned 800 acres of fine 
land on Shaw Creek, of which 240 was his 
original purchase in that neighboi'hood. In 
1877, he sold out, at which time he owned 1,500 
acres of land in Crawford, Morrow and Wyan- 
dot Counties, all made by his honest exertions 
and industry. In the stirring times before the 
late war, when the underground railway was 
in successful operation through Ohio, he was 
one of its most zealous supporters and trusted 
agents, and can still tell many a startling story, 
in which he ran almost hair-breadth risks, in 
carr3nng his contract and freight over this m^'S- 
terious line of railway. And although, like 
Othello, his occupation is gone in that direc- 
tion, jet he often regales his friends, fighting 
his battles over again. In April, 1877, he came 
to Bucyrus and opened the Crawford County 
Bank, of which he is Vice President; Jan. 1, 
1879, he opened the Farmers" Bank at Findlaj-, 
Ohio, being a third partner in it. He assisted 
in organizing the stock company for building 
the Crawford County Grain Elevator. He has 
been a member of the Methodist Church for 
forty years ; has been steward, class leader ; was 
County Commissioner while a citizen of Mor- 
row (i^ounty one term, and a Justice of the 
Peace for twelve vears. 

F. M. HAMILTON. Superintendent of Pub- 
lic Schools, Bucyrus ; is a son of James and 
Elizabeth (Walker) Hamilton, and was liorn in 
Rush Co., Ind., July 3. 1838. His early youth 
was spent on a tarm until he had attained the 
age of 20. In the meantime, he had attended 
school in the winter months, and had proved 
himself proficient. At the age of 20. he en- 
tered the high school at Roanoke, Ind.. where 
he continued as a successful student for two 
terms. He next entered the higli school at Ft. 
Wayne, from which institution he graduated in 
1862. Before this he bad taught school to a 
certain extent, and for two years after his 
graduation he taught in the public schools of 
Ft. Wayne. In 18(54 and 1SG5, he was Princi- 
pal of "the Perry Center Seminary, ten miles 



W 






'54 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



north of Ft. Wayne. In 1865, he entered the 
Freshman class of the Universit}' of Michigan, 
at Ann Arbor, and graduated in the cUxssical 
course in 1809. He then became l*rincipal of 
the South Side High School of Flint, Mich., 
where he continued one 3'ear. He was next 
Superintendent of tlie North Side Schools from 
1870 to 1872. During the next year, he was 
Superintendent of the Public Schools at La- 
peer, Mich. He was elected Superintendent of 
tlie Uucyrus Public Schools in 1873, and has 
served in that capacity ever since, and, as evi- 
dence of his efficiency and popularity, we 
would state that he has been re-elected to 
serve for the three years following. He was 
a delegate to the National Teachers' Asso- 
ciation, at Baltimore, in 1876, and is an active 
and A'igorous worker in county associations. 
He is connected greatly with educational work, 
and is a popular lecturer on various educa- 
tional topics. He was married, Aug. 1, 1871, 
to Miss Josie A. Conover, of Ann Arbor, 
Mich.; they have one son — ^W alter M. 

JAMES" 0. HOLLAND, farmer; P. 0. Bucy- 
rus ; is the son of Nehemiah and Lucinda 
(Bentley) Holland, and was born in Mahoning 
Co., Ohio, Dec. 20, 1841. His boyhood was 
spent on a farm, and in the acquirement of a 
limited education. At the age of 16, he began 
learning the carpenter's trade, following it 
some three years. Aug. 22, 1861, he enlisted 
in the 21st 0. V. I., Company B, and was 
at Stone lliver, Chickamauga, Jonesboro, At- 
lanta, and in the famous " march to the sea." 
He was taken prisoner at Nolansville, N. C, 
and was paroled after fourteen days' imprison- 
ment, and sent back to the LInion lines. He 
was mustered out at Columbus June 20, 1865, 
and, Oct. 10, 1866, he was married to Ellen 
Starner, of Bucj'rus Township. After mar- 
riage, he removed to Nevada, Ohio, where he 
followed carpentering until he moved to his 
present home, on the Sandusky road, where he 
has a farm of 81 acres. He has repaired the 
buildings, enlarging the house, and has a com- 
fortable home. He is a member of the School 
Board, and Supervisor. In politics he is and 
always has been a Republican, and in religion 
is a member of the Second-Day Advent Church. 
Of his marriage, there is one child — George 
W., born Oct. 4, 1870. 

HERMAN F. JAHN, salesman, Bucyrus ; 
son of Gustavus and Amelia (Brennert) Jahn, 



was born April 9, 1858, in Bucyrus. He went 
to the public schools here until he was 16 years 
old, when he accepted a clerkship in the stoi'e 
of M. Emrich, where he has been employed 
ever since, with the exception of six montlis 
spent in a wholesale house in Cleveland. He 
is now in charge of tlie hat and cap and furnish- 
ing department, and is among tlie best salesmen 
of the city. His parents were born in Saxony, 
Germany. The father was born Oct. 13, 1826, 
and the mother Nov. 22, 1832. His father went 
to school in Germany until he was 14 years old, 
when he learned the shoemaking trade, and, in 
1848, came to the United States ; tarried one 
year in Paterson, N. J., and, in 1849, came to 
Bucyrus, working at his trade for some nine 
years after his arrival, when he abandoned it 
for mercantile pursuits. In 1854, he married 
Miss Amelia Brennert, of Seneca Co., Ohio, but 
a native of Germany. From this marriage, there 
are five children, of which the subject of this 
sketch is the second son. 

ALONZO M. JONES, physician, Bucyrus 
(whose portrait appears in this work), is a son 
of Ludwig and Mary (Hale) Jones ; was born 
xipril 4, 1811, in Berkshire Co., Mass. His 
father, a native of this county, moved to the 
Western Reserve in the spring of 1817, settling 
in Lorain Co., then a densel}' wooded tract, 
with the county seat at Warren, a hundred 
miles away. Here with but eight families in 
the territory now within the limits of Lorain 
Co., Mr. Jones began the career of a pioneer at 
the age of 6 years. There was plenty of work 
for even little hands to do at that time, and, 
until he had reached the age of 12 years, there 
was no opportunity for schooling. About this 
time, he went a few terras during the winter 
months to the primitive schools of the time. 
His father dying when he was at the age of 14, 
threw the care and support of the family upon 
his young shoulders, to which ho thenceforward 
devoted himself until 21 years of age. He now 
began to look forward to a permanent settle- 
ment in life, and, adopting the profession of 
medicine, began study in the spring of 1832 
with Dr. E. W. Hubburd, of La Grange, Ohio. 
After studying in the office about a year, he 
attended lectures at the medical school in Wor- 
thington, Ohio, graduating in July, 1834. In 
the meanwhile, he had established himself in 
Norton, Ohio ; but, after a practice of some 
four months, and attending his final lectures, 



(9 



i, ^ 



4t^ 



BUCYRUS TOWNSHIP. 



755 



he went to Toledo, Ohio, practicing there, how- 
ever, only six months, when he came to Bucy- 
rus. This was in December of 1835, and he 
continued in his profession with scarcely an 
interruption until 1843. In the spring of this 
year, in company with Samuel Clapper, Mr. 
Jones bought the old woolen-mill property, en- 
larged and repaired the establishment, bringing 
the second steam engine ever in the county. 
After some seven years' successful operation in 
this business, Mr. Jones sold to his partner in 
1846, and turned his attention to real estate 
speculation, purchasing large tracts of wild land 
of the Government. About 1866, he again en- 
gaged in manufacturing business, forming a 
partnership with W. C. Lemert, Capt. Lyman 
Pai'cher and John Jones, in the hub, spoke and 
bent-work business. Changes in the partner- 
ship took place a little later, leaving the present 
firm of A. M. Jones & Co., who are doing a 
successful business. Beginning life with little 
assistance, Mr. Jones has accumulated his large 
propert}^ — save 180 acres of land — entirely 
through his own exertions. The necessity of 
his situation, however, has not narrowed the 
scope of his enterprise. Every public under- 
taking has found in him an active worker, and, 
in the various railroad projects, he has borne a 
prominent part. To these characteristics of a 
good citizen, Mr. Jones adds the accomplish- 
ments acquired by extended travel, and the 
culture of a well-read man. He was married 
May 15, 1838, to Miss Elizabeth Norton, oC 
Bucyrus, Ohio. Of eight children born to him, 
five died in infancy and childhood. The three 
now living are Mary L., wife of W. C. Lemert, 
Lorenzo E. and Volney W. 

Mrs. Elizabeth (Norton) Jones (whose por- 
trait appears in this work) ; is a daughter of 
Samuel Norton, the earliest pioneer and original 
proprietor of the village of Bucyrus. She was 
born in Luzerne Co., Penn., near Dundaff", and 
was 17 months old when her father moved his 
family to the site of Buc3'rus. The nearest 
house at that time was eight miles away, and 
for three da3's they lived in a bark hut which 
had been deserted by the Indians, until a more 
substantial residence was erected, near the pres- 
ent site of the Main Street Mills. The Indians 
were at that time in full costume, and greatly 
frightened the family by their yells and actions. 
The land, though wild, was found to be a great 
improvement upon the hilly soil full of hemlock 



roots just left in Pennsylvania. A good crop 
of corn was raised the first year, and the woods 
supplied all the necessities and many of the 
luxuries of life. Plums, wild grapes and honey 
were found in abundance. The absence of mills 
was felt to be a serious drawback, the nearest 
one being at Mansfield. To this mill Mr. Nor- 
ton went, frequently leading a horse laden 
with sacks through the woods. When 8 years 
old, Mrs. Jones began her education in the 
duties of a pioneer maiden, by taking her first 
lesson in spinning. To accommodate her size, 
the legs of the spinning-wheel were sawed off, 
and a plank arranged to raise her up so that 
she could manage it. Although hampered by 
the shortness of the board, she accomplished 
her task of five knots a dscy without difficulty. 
At this time her father kept nine or ten cows, 
and made cheese every week, in all of which 
she had a prominent part. Her first teacher 
was Miss Alta Kent, who gave to her pupils 
" rewards of merit," cards ornamented with 
colors derived from blood-root and •' golden- 
seal." She continued her school days until she 
was 19, attending the (xranville Baptist Semi- 
nary, in 1836, for some three months, where she 
studied philosophy, music, etc. In 1838, at the 
age of 20, she married Dr. A. M. Jones, then 
practicing in Bucyrus. 

SAMUEL JONES, retired. Bucyrus; was 
born near Chambersbui'g, Penn., March 17, 
1805, and was but 1^ years old when his par- 
ents moved to Columbiana Co., Ohio, in the 
latter part of 1806. Here his youth was spent 
on a farm, where the family remained until 
1815, when they removed to Wooster, Wajme 
Co. Here his father died in 1817 ; he 

[ lived with his mother until 1820, assisting her 
in keeping tavern. His mother married a 

j second time, and, in 1820, he left home and be- 
came a teamster from Wooster to Pittsburgh and 
other points. He followed this and farming 
until the spring of 1825. He then apprenticed 
himself to George Bechler, of Wooster. to learn 
chair-making, working two years with iiim. a 
part of the time in Coshocton Co. In Januar}-. 
1 827, they returned to Wooster. where he worked 

I as journeyman until March, then removing to 

i Newark, where he worked until the spring of 
1829. In May of this year, he came to Bucyrus 
on foot, with no capital but a set of tools, but 
by some means these and his clothes never 
reached here. He bought tools and stock on a 



A^ 



756 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



credit, and opened a chair and paint shop. 
There were more Indians in the county at that 
time than whites. He traded chairs for cran- 
berries at 87^ cents a busliel. Soon after com- 
ing to Biu\yrus, he erected a liewed-log house 
south of the raih'oad. near a large pond. He 
worked at making chairs and bedsteads and 
house-painting until 1847 ; his wife often paint- 
ing and ornamenting his work for him ; he also 
farmed some on shares ; quit his shop in 1847. 
He was married, Dec. 24, 1829, to Miss Sarah 
Campbell, of Wayne Co., Ohio, and, in July, 
1844, she died. Two children were the fruit of 
this marriage — John and Maggie. The latter 
was born Jan. 16, 1838, in Bucyrus. She lived 
here until her marriage with J. B. Rothchild in 
November, 1854. Mr. Rothchild came to Bu- 
cyrus from Cincinnati about 1850, and engaged 
in the clothing business until 1855, when they 
removed to Janesville, Wis., but returned to 
Ohio in 1858 and located at Findlay,. where he 
was for some time employed as Revenue Col- 
lector ; he is now a wholesale merchant at that 
place. They have four children — Fannie, Jennie, 
Emma and Wilber. Mr. Jones married a sec- 
ond time Dec. 24. 1846, to Miss Nancy Mc- 
Claren, of Whetstone Township, this county. 
The^' had one son — Griffith, now a harness- 
maker at Massillon. In 1847, he moved to a 
farm on the pike, where he lived one 3'ear, and 
then returned to Bucyrus. In the spring of 
1848, he became the partner of R. T. Johnston 
in a drug store, continuing some three years. 
In 1857, he and his son John, formed a part- 
nership in the tin and stove business for six 
years, and then he took a contract on the At- 
lantic & Lake Erie Railway. He was origi- 
nally a Democrat, voting twice for Gen. Jackson 
for President, then became a Whig, and on the 
organization of the Republican party became a 
member of it, and still votes that ticket. He 
was elected Street Commissioner of Bucyrus in 
1848. He has been a member of the Baptist 
Church for thirty years, and served also as a 
Trustee of church. His second wife died June 
22, 1 877. He brought a load of goods to Bu- 
cyrus with ox team in 1824. Rattlesnakes 
were plenty when he came here ; he has often 
killed as many as twelve in one day ; was once 
sitting on a heap of hay when a Dutchman toid 
him that a rattlesnake was crawling in his 
pocket, he gave a good-sized jump, when the 
snake dropped to the ground and he killed it. 



JOHN JONES, Bucyrus ; is the son of Sam- 
uel and Sarah (Campbell) Jones, and was born 
Jan. 20, 1834, in Bucyrus, Ohio. He attended 
school in this town until he was 15, when his 
parents removed to a farm, and he there attended 
school about three terms more. In 1850, his 
parents removed to Bucyrus again, and his 
father became the partner of Dr. Johnston in 
the drug store, and Mr. Jones assisted in the 
store for four years. In April, 1855, he went 
to Janesville, Wis., where he clerked in a cloth- 
ing store. He then went to Nebraska and as- 
sisted in the Government survey among the 
Pawnee Indians, at a time when it was de- 
cidedly wild and dangerous, two corps of en- 
gineers having been driven away some time 
before. In 1857, he returned to Buc3a'us and 
engaged in the stove and tinware trade with 
George Quinby for some six 3^ears with good 
success. In the spring of 1861, he enlisted in 
the 86th 0. V. I. as Sergeant and soon became 
Sutler. The 86th was re-organized for six 
months, and he was again Sutler. On his re- 
turn home he became Sutler of the 129th 0. 
V. I. He next became an employe of the 
Bellefontaine Cotton Company", going to Island 
No. 10 in 1865. The company abandoned the 
enterprise, and, in company with Col. Lemert 
and Mr. Atwood, Mr. Jones purchased the stock 
and operated the plantations for one year, mak- 
ing a handsome margin. He next ventured in 
oil boring near Smith's Ferry and sunk a shaft 
about one thousand feet, but found no oil. He 
returned to Bucyrus, and, in company with Col. 
Lemert, organized the hub and spoke factory 
and kept it in operation about four years. 
Then, in partnership with his father, he took a 
contract of grading four miles on the Atlantic 
and Lake Erie Railroad, completing it in two 
years. He was next a clerk in the store of W. 
H. Drought for four ^^ears, and afterward served 
Mr. J. Hall in the same capacity. In January, 
1879, he purchased the bakery of J. G. Miller 
& Sons three doors south of the public square, 
and is now doing a prosperous business, having 
in connection with the bakery a lunch-room and 
grocery. He is a prominent member of the 
Royal Arcanum, having been its presiding offi- 
cer. On Dec. 3, 1862, he was married to Miss 
Mary J. Smith, of Sandusky City. They have 
two children — Frederick S. and Charles E. 

ISRAEL JONES, saddler, Bucyrus ; son of 
Griffith and Elizabeth (Zeigler) Jones, was 



*C ^ 



:rv 



BUCYRUS TOWNSHIP. 



757 



born March 6, 1807, in New Lisbon, Colum- 
biania Co., Ohio. While a boy living on his 
father's farm, he went to subscription school in 
the winter, and remained at home until he 
was 18. He tlien went to Paris, of his own 
county, to learn the harness and saddle trade. 
He worked here with William Crook for two 
and a half years. He next came to Woos- 
ter, where he finished his trade and returned 
to New Lisbon, where he was emplo^'ed for 
some three and a half years. In August, 1832, 
he came to Bucyrus and soon after started a 
shop and continued in the business until the 
close of the late war. He claims, and proba- 
bly rightly, to have made the first set of har- 
ness ever made in this city. He had saved 
money enough while working for wages to 
start his business, and had $3, besides. 
His business increased rapidly, and he has 
been a successful tradesman. He made a 
great many saddles for the Indians and side- 
saddles for their squaws, receiving money in 
return. He also made shot-pouches for them, 
and traded considerably in skins. He has 
often carried his stock of leather from Mans- 
field before him on horseback. Altogether he 
has taught about six young men the business 
of harness-making. He is a Republican and 
was formerly a Whig, having, however, cast his 
first vote for Andrew Jackson. He was mar- 
ried, May 21, 1833, to Miss Margaret Powell, of 
Columbiana Co. They had two children, now 
both dead — Clemon and George. His wife 
died Oct. 8, 1874. Mr. Jones is one of the 
pioneers of Bucyrus, and withal a prominent 
and substantial citizen. 

ROBERT T. JOHNSTON, druggist, Bucy- 
rus ; is a son of Thomas and Abigail (Powell) 
Johnston, and was born in Wooster, Ohio, 
Oct. 30, 1822. His parents remained in town 
eight years after his birth, when the}- removed 
to the country, where our subject worked on 
the farm until he was 15, but, educational ad- 
vantages being very poor, the family again re- 
moved to Wooster and Robert was given a 
year's schooling. After this he went into a 
printing office, where he remained some two 
and a half years. His health failing, he began 
the study of medicine, at the age of 18, read- 
ing first in the office of Dr. S. Bissell, of Woos- 
ter. Here he remained three and a half years. 
After practicing one year, he removed to Bu- 
cyrus in November. 1845. He began the prac- 



tice of his profession immediately, and opened 
the first drug store ever in the town. His 
partner in this enterprise was Jabez B. Lar- 
will, and their establishment was in an old 
frame building standing where the Sims House 
is now situated. Mr. Johnston has continued 
in business ever since. He entered his present 
quarters in Rowse's Block in 1850. He has 
been in the drug business for about thii'ty 
years and has now a large stock of goods, em- 
bracing, also, books, stationer}^ etc., with a 
salesroom 100x120, and his business is flour- 
ishing and constantly increasing. He was 
married, Oct. 26, 1850, to Amelia F. Haskill, 
of Pittsburgh. Of this marriage three chil- 
dren are living — Belle, Frank and Amelia. 
Mr. Johnston was Postmaster of Bucyrus dur- 
ing the administration of James K. Polk. He 
was raised a Democrat, but joined the Repub- 
lican ranks in 1856, at its organization. He is 
a member of the Presbyterian Church and a 
Trustee. He ranks high among the business 
men of the town, and is a citizen highh* es- 
teemed by all who know him. 

H. E. KRATZ (with M. Deal & Co., manufac- 
turers), Bucyrus ; a son of Jacob and Catha- 
rine (Wismer) Kratz, was boi-n Oct. 14, 1849, 
in Wayne Co., Ohio, near Wooster, and is of 
English-German descent. He lived on a farm 
until 16 years old, attending school in mean- 
time, and at the age of 15 entered the Smith- 
ville High School for one year. At 16, he be- 
gan teaching in common schools, and working 
at the carpenter's trade during the summer. In 
the fall of 1871, he entered the freshman 
class of the Dennison University at Granville, 
where he remained two years. In the fall of 
1873, he entered the Senior Class at Wooster 
University, and by industry and close applica- 
tion he was enabled to graduate from that in- 
stitution in June, 1874. In the following Sep- 
tember he became Principal of the High School 
of Bucyrus for one year. From 1875 to 1878, 
he was Superintendent of the schools at Dex- 
ter, Mich., with excellent success. His health 
gave way, and he came to Bucyrus. where he ob- 
tained the position of book-keeper in the manu- 
factory of M. Deal & Co., which place he still 
holds. In February, 1880, he became one of 
the firm of the Deal Manufacturing Company. 
He was married, July 19, 1876, to Miss Lizzie 
M. Deal, eldest daughter of Martin Deal, of 
Bucyrus. Two children are the result of this 



^ 



^1 



•k. 



758 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



union — Horace E., born Nov. 12, 1877, and 
Bessie M., born Jan. 2, 1879. Mr. Kratz has 
been a member of tlie M. E. Cliurch since his 
23d year ; his wife is also a member of the 
same denomination. He has been identified 
with Sunday school work in the county since 
he came here, and is now Superintendent of 
Sunday school, and a missionary worker in 
Sunday School Union. He has been a zealous 
student of music for many years, and is now 
chorister for church and Sunday school. 

JACOB KINSEY, Bucyrus ; this gentle- 
man was born in Lancaster Co., Penn., Oct. 15, 
1805. His parents, Daniel and Maria (Palmer) 
Kinsey, were natives of the '' Keystone '' State, 
and the parents of twelve children. They al- 
waj's resided in their native State, and have 
been dead a great man}' years. Jacob Kinsey 
was brought up to farm labor. When 18 years 
of age, he left his parental roof and began 
working by the month upon a farm. He was 
married in 1823 to Miss Nancy Maldaman. 
She was born in Pennsylvania, in 1808. This 
union resulted in the birth of twelve children, 
seven of whom are now living, viz., Mary, 
Annie, Fidelia, Sarah, Jacob, Riley and Emma. 
The deceased were Emanuel, Elizabeth and 
three who died in infancy without naming. 
Mrs. Kinsey died Sept. 20, 1880. Soon after 
his marriage Mr. Kinsey moved to New York, 
where he remained until 1832, when he came 
to Crawford Co., Ohio, where he has since re- 
sided. He owns 62 acres of well-improved 
land in Buc^tus Township, which he has pro- 
cured by his own endeavors. He has always 
voted with the Democratic party until the late 
election, when he gave his vote for Garfield and 
Arthur. Mr. Kinsey is an old and much-re- 
spected citizen. 

GEORGE T. KERR, farmer and stock- 
raiser ; P. 0. Bucyrus ; the son of James and 
Nancy (Towers) Kerr, was born Dec. 13, 1847, in 
Whetstone Township, where he lived on a farm 
until the age of 23 years, x'eceiving a common 
school education. He was married, Jan. 27, 
1868, to Miss Lydia Echelberry, of Marion Co., 
by whom he has four children — Cloyd, Bertie, 
James and Elnorah. He farmed in Whetstone 
Township for two years, when he came to this 
township in 1871, and farmed 355 acres of his 
father's estate, with success. He is extensively 
engaged in raising sheep, and has a very fine 
flock of 1,000 head. Mr. Kerr is a Republican 



in politics, and casts his vote in accordance 
with the principles of that party. 

WILLIAM H. KINNEAR, farmer ; P. 0. 
Bucyrus ; is the son of Joseph and Mary (Sul- 
livan) Kinnear, and was born Oct. 23, 1829, in 
Circleville, Ohio. He was raised on a fai"m, 
and attended a common school until he was 21. 
He was a close student and appreciated the ad- 
vantages of the education which was given him. 
He saved enough by hard work and close ap- 
plication, to pay his expenses one year in col- 
lege ; and he accordingly entered the Ohio 
Wesleyan University at Delaware, in the fall of 
1852, and remained one year, making rapid 
progress. His father having removed to Ken- 
ton, our subject went there, and bought a farm 
of 200 acres, going in debt largely, and com- 
menced dealing in cattle, and, like others, he 
lost all in speculation. He came to his present 
farm in the spring of 1857, and now owns 255 
acres of fine farming land, and is now devoting 
his time to farming and stock-raising, being, at 
one time, one of the largest stock-raisers in the 
county. Mr. Kinnear has been somewhat iden- 
tified with politics, being chairman of the 
Republican Central Committee in 1861, 1862, 
and 1863, and, by efficient management, the 
Democratic majority was largely reduced. He 
was nominated for Representative when Todd 
was elected Governor, and previous to this was 
nominated for Auditor and Surveyor in Hardin 
Co., Ohio. He was a delegate to the conven- 
tion which nominated Brough for Governor. 
He is well read in history, science and litera- 
ture, and is a great lover of poetr3^ He has 
gathered a fine library of standard books, and 
is foremost among the intelligent men of the 
county. He is a member of the Bucyrus Lodge, 
F. & A. M. He was married, Dec. 11, 1855, to 
Rachel Monnett, daughter of Col. William Mon- 
nett. He has four children living — William M., 
Theodosia B., Joseph W., and Mary E. Three 
died in infancy. Mr. Kinnear is a member of 
the Methodist Episcopal Church, has served in 
all its offices, and is an earnest worker in both 
church and Sabbath school. His father was 
born in Berks Co., Penn., in 1803, and removed 
to Pickaway Co., wlien quite young. He raised 
four children — Alexander, a salesman at Pitts- 
burgh, Ellen, wife of David Rutledge, D. D., of 
Delaware, Ohio ; Benjamin F., salesman at 
Mansfield, Ohio, and our subject. He was Re- 
corder and also Surveyor of Pickaway- Co., 



"7< 



^ 



BUCYRUS TOWNSHIP. 



759 



Ohio, and a man of fine business talent. He is 
now a resident of x\da, Ohio. His father was a 
Judge and Surveyor of Pickaway Co. The 
maternal grandfather of Mr. Kinnear was 
Aaron Sullivan, of Virginia, also a relative of 
Hon. S. S. Cox, of New York. 

W. H. KEEL, marble-dealer, Bucyrus ; is 
the son of Henry and Harriet (Sailor) Keel, 
and was born April 9, 1854, in Somerset Co., 
Penn.; he lived in the town of Somerset until 
he was 14, when he came to Shelby, Ohio, with 
W. H. Houpt, in 1868, where he entered a pho- 
tograph gallei'y and followed the business for 
about three 3'ears ; at the age of 17, he entered 
a marble shop, where he was employed at pol- 
ishing until 1879, when he came to Bucyrus 
and entered into partnership with Gr. W. Buell 
in the marble works ; since then the new firm 
has been meeting with good and deserved suc- 
cess, they being practical workmen, and aiming 
to please and satisfj" their patrons. Mr. Keel 
was married, Sept. 20, 1876, to Miss Lena 
Hipp, of Chatfield Township. He has always 
been a Democrat. 

EDMUND R. KEARSLEY, retired, Bucy- 
rus ; is a son of Jonathan and Margai-et (Het- 
ich) Kearsley, and was born in Harrisburg, 
Penn., May 18, 1816, but, when quite an infant, 
his home was changed to Detroit for two j^ears. 
His father, Maj. Jonathan Kearsley, was born 
in Pennsylvania, and received a thorough col- 
legiate education, being a pupil of Prof Ross, 
author of Ross" Grammar. He graduated at 
Washington College, Pennsylvania, at the age 
of 19, and was Professor of Languages for 
some time afterward. At the outbreak of the 
war of 1812, he was appointed in command of 
a company, and was on the stafi' of Gren. Scott, 
participating in the battles around Ft. Erie, un- 
til he lost a limb by a musket ball. He then 
returned to Penns^'lvania, when he received an 
appointment as Collector of Internal Revenue 
for the State, in the year 1814. He held this 
until his departure for Detroit, in 1821, where 
he was Receiver of Public Money's for the State 
of Michigan, and also a member of the Land 
Board until 1849, when he retired from public 
life. He was at one time Ma^'or of Detroit, and 
was one of its most prominent citizens. His 
father, Samuel Kearsle}', was a Captain under 
Gen. Washington, and a great favorite of his 
commander, who gave him the sword worn at 
Braddock's defeat, which is now in the posses- 



sion of his great-grandson, J. K. Webster, of 
Grosse Isle, Mich. The mother of our subject 
died in 1821, near Chambersburg, Penn., and 
he was raised by his grandparents until he was 
9 years of age, when he went to Detroit, in 
1825, residing there nine years, and, in the 
meantime, completing a course in the city 
schools, and also attending school in Utica, N. 
Y. He was a student of Kenyon College, Gam- 
bier, Ohio, from 1829 to 1832, and, from that 
time, he was employed in the Michigan Land 
Office as Assistant Receiver, his father being 
Receiver, as has been stated. He soon after 
entered the office of Maj. John Riddle, and was 
Chief Clerk for a period extending to the year 
1840. His health failing while engaged at sed- 
entarj' pursuits, he took charge of a large farm 
of 600 acres, in Oakland Township, Mich., 
where he continued for seven years. At the 
end of that time, being much improved in 
health, he returned to Detroit, where he super- 
intended the building of the Biddle House. 
He came to Bucyrus in the fall of 1851, having 
visited the place once or twice a year, while on 
hunting expeditions, since 1834. He went into 
the employ of his uncle, Charles Hetich, who 
was County Treasurer, and remained here one 
year, when he assisted Judge Jackson, now of 
Cleveland, in the Auditor's office. In 1853, he 
was elected to the office of Auditor, in which 
he served the unprecedented period of three 
terms, his last nomination being made b}' both 
parties. Both the court house and jail were 
built under his supervision, and, since the ex- 
piration of his term of office, he has assisted 
some in the offices and looked after his estates 
in Michigan. While a resident of Detroit, he 
was a Captain in the Ready Guards, which or- 
ganization was pronounced b}' Gen. Scott to be 
the finest-drilled compan}- that underwent his 
inspection ; was also Assistant Quartermas- 
ter General of the State, and served with Gen. 
Grant. He was first Secretary of the Fire De- 
partment of Detroit, and Assistant Chief En- 
gineer for several 3'ears, and also a member of 
the School Board for several years, and Chair- 
man of the Committee on Repairs. He was 
married to 3Iartha C. Swene}', June 27, 1857, a 
daughter of George Sweuej'. Of this marriage, 
one child is living — Rebecca M. The mother 
died in March, 1873. He was remarried Sept. 
7, 1875, to Susan Phillips, of Genesee, 111., but 
formerly of Bucyrus. Mr. Kearsley has been 



»^|(& r- 



[l^ 



760 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



a Democrat throughout his life, and has been, 
since his residence in this county, a man who 
was universally respected. As a public officer, 
his record was unexcelled, and he is noted as a 
man of generous and honest principles. His 
residence in Bucyrus is one of the finest in this 
part of the State. 

GEORGE KELLER, physician and surgeon, 
Bucyrus. This gentleman is an eminent phy- 
sician of Bucyrus, and of Crawford Co., where 
he is well known as a man of varied knowledge 
and skill in the practice of his profession ; he 
was born Nov. 24, 1826, in Franklin Co., Penn.; 
his father removed to Ohio when George was 3 
years old ; his youth was spent in Dalton ; in 
the meantime he attended subscription schools, 
and at the age of 15 entered an academy at 
Dalton, and soon became interested in the study 
of medicine ; a portion of his time was spent 
in teaching ; he commenced his medical studies 
under Dr. Harle}', then of Dalton, but now a 
physician of Lima, Ohio ; De Kalb, in the north- 
eastern part of this county, was the scene of 
his debut as a practitioner ; some time being 
spent here with good success, he went to Cleve- 
land and entered the medical college there, at- 
tending during the sessions of 1846 and 1847 ; 
he then returned to Dalton and practiced there 
until March, 1850, when he became physician 
for a party consisting of 240 persons, who were 
traveling overland to California ; this journey 
lasted 108 days, and was fraught with some ac- 
cidents and fatal occurrences, nine men being 
killed b}' Indians on Pitt River ; on Julj^ 4, 
1850, they reached their journey's end, arriving 
at a point on the Sacramento River ; for six 
months Dr. Keller practiced in Yuba City and 
Marysville ; in May, 1851, he returned to Ohio 
and stationed himself at West Liberty, this 
county, where he remained three years and had 
a good practice ; in the winter of 1852-53, he 
graduated at the Cincinnati Medical College ; 
soon after, he located in Bluffton, Ind., practic- 
ing there for eighteen months ; he returned to 
Bucyrus in 1861, where he has since resided, 
excepting two 3'ears spent at Churubusco, 
Whitley Co., Ind. ; he was, in 1877 and 1878, a 
member of the Faculty of the Ft. Wayne Col- 
lege. He was married, Oct. 3, 1848, to Mary J. 
English, of Canton, Ohio ; of this marriage four 
children are living — Maud, Annie, Kittie and 
Frank. Dr. Keller has ever sustained a wide- 
spread reputation for skill in the practice of his 



profession, and is noted as well for his literary 
ability and his extensive knowledge of various 
topics. 

THOMAS J. KISNER, M. D., physician and 
surgeon, Bucyrus, is the son of Henry and 
Susan (Nichols) Kisner, and was born March 
3, 1832, in Stark Co. His eai-ly youth was 
spent on a farm, varied, indeed, by the slight 
time devoted to education in district schools. 
He was compelled, after sixteen winters had 
passed over him, to work early and late on a 
farm, and was remunerated to the extent of $6 
per month. However, by perseverance and 
strict attention even to the groveling details of 
farm work, he obtained an insight of business 
life, and, in the fall of 1851, he went to Steuben- 
ville, and became a clerk in a dry-goods store. 
Here young Kisner was a valuable salesman, 
for one year, when he went to Cincinnati, and 
became transfer clerk in a large jobbing estab- 
lishment. In August, 1852, he went to New 
Orleans with the intention of joining the Lopez 
expedition, but arrived in the Crescent City 
some six hours after the departure of the 
party, and thus was the current of his future 
life directed in another channel. Disappointed 
b}' the machinations of Time and Fate, the 
future M. D. again turned his attention to bus- 
iness affau's, and became clerk in a New Or- 
leans wholesale house, remaining until March, 
1853. During this month he went to Beaver 
Co., Penn., whei'e, for twenty-eight months, he 
devoted his time to teaching, near Rochester. 
In the fall of 1855, he left Rochester, and 
journeyed to Lewis Co., Ky., where for six 
months he instructed a portion of that county's 
rising generation. He again returned to Roch- 
ester, Penn., and began the stud}' of medicine 
in 1856. After a year had passed, spent in 
study, he removed to Van Wei't, Ohio, where 
he devoted one year to the study of his pro- 
fession, by correspondence with Prof Cleve- 
land, of Cincinnati. In 1858 and 1859, he 
attended lectures at the Eclectic Medical Col- 
lege of Cincnnnati, completing the course in 
May of the last-named year. The ensuing 
summer, he commenced the practice of his 
profession with Prof B. F. Payne, at Steuben- 
ville, Ohio. In May, of 1860, he located at 
Wiltshire, Ohio. He commenced this venture 
without capital, but by dint of pei'severance 
and skill in his art, he continued with good 
success until 1863, when his health failed him, 



\ 



_J) 



BUCYRUS TOWNSHIP. 



761 



and he returned to Van Wert, remaining there 
till the following year. Wheeling, W. Va., was 
the scene of his next professional labors, and 
here he was an eminent physician, until four 
years later — 1868. In this 3'ear, he removed 
to Ft. Wa3'ne, where he was located for two 
years, and was also a short time in Cleveland, 
where he founded the Cleveland Water Cure 
establishment. He came to Bucyrus in Sep- 
tember, 1871, where he has since remained, 
and enjoys a lucrative and widel}" extended 
practice. He travels considerably in the prac- 
tice of a special department of his profession, 
in which he is quite successful. He was mar- 
ried in June, 1861, to Miss Sallie Simmons, of 
Steubenville, Ohio. They have two children — 
Oren D. and Perry E. 

REV. HERMAN KORTHENER. D. D., Bu- 
c^Tus ; is a son of Herman Korthener, and 
was born in Coblentz, on the Rhine, in Rhenish 
Prussia, Nov. 13, 1819. He attended school in 
Coblentz until he was 17, paying considerable 
attention in the meantime to the study of 
music. He attended a State University, com- 
pleting a course at 21. He then commenced 
to teach in an institution at home, and also 
gave private lessons to a number of pupils. 
He came to the United States in 1855, and set- 
tled first in Wisconsin, where he spent two 
years in preparation for the ministr3^ In 1857, 
he came to Tiffin, Ohio, and was there admitted 
to the ministry of the German Reformed Church. 
His first charge was at Findlay, Ohio, where he 
was ordained and remained two years. For 
the five j-ears following, he preached in Terre 
Haute, Ind., and his efforts there were crowned 
with success. He was then called to officiate 
in the Evangelical Church, and for thirteen 
years served his charge, building, during this 
time, a large church, and greatly increasing the 
membership. He next went to Cleveland, Ohio, 
where he remained for six months, giving in- 
structions in music and literature. In Jul}-, 
1878, he was called to the pastorate of the Ger- 
man Reformed Church of Bucj'rus, where he 
has since remained, serving them in an accepta- 
ble manner, and doing much in the cause of 
religion. In 1877, the Franklin and Marshall 
College conferred upon him the degree of D. D. 
He was one of a committee of four, who com- 
piled the liturgy of the church now in use. 
He also revised the musical portion of the new 
English Reformed Hj^mn Book. He was mar- 



ried, Sept. 22, 1846, to Malvina Zimmerman, of 
Coblentz. Of this marriage there are six chil- 
dren living — H. O. C, the noted pianist and 
musician of Brooklyn, N. Y. ; Sophia ; Whilhe- 
mina, wife of Theophil Ackeret, of Massillon, 
Ohio; Malvina, wife of E. R. Good, of Tiffin; 
Paul and Arthur. Two children died in Ger- 
manj', and five have died in America. 

J. B. KREIDER, M. D., physician and sur- 
geon, Bucyrus ; this worthy physician was 
born Feb. 3, 1840, in Millheim, Penn., and is the 
son of John P. and Leah (Bowman) Kreider ; 
the first eighteen years of his life were passed 
on a farm, receiving, of course, a common- 
school education in the meantime ; until his 
24th year, he divided his time between teach- 
ing and attending school ; in 1864, he entered 
the University of Pennsylvania at Philadelphia, 
and graduated from the medical department in 
1866 ; for five years following his graduation, 
he practiced in his native town of Millheim, 
and then removed to Crawford Co. and prac- 
ticed six years at Benton ; he came to Bu- 
cyrus in the spring of 1877, and located on 
Mansfield street, where he has since remained, 
and has enjoyed a good practice ; he has 
proved himself a physician of skill and prom- 
ise, and is well instructed, having spent two 
years under Dr. Tutts, an eminent ph3'sieian of 
Philadelphia. He was married, April 30, 1867, 
to Georgia M. Stover, of Boalsburg, Penn.; 
they have two children — Samuel G. and Nel- 
lie V. 

JOHN KEIL, liver3'man. Bucyrus ; is the 
son of Henry and Mar\' (Yagle) Keil, and was 
born Feb. 3, 1836, in Hesse-Darmstadt, Ger- 
man}' ; according to the custom of his native 
land, he went to school from his 6th to his 14th 
year ; he commenced to learn the blacksmith's 
trade at Pfungstadt, serving an apprenticeship 
of four 3'ears ; after learning his trade, he had 
a desire to try his fortunes in the New World, 
and accordingly set sail from Havre, arriving 
at New York Nov. 2, 1854, after a voyage 
of thirt}' days ; he came at once to Bucy- 
rus, and worked at his trade for Phillip Osman 
for a 3-ear and a half; he then made a business 
venture for himself, and followed his trade 
until 1869 with good success ; in 1862, he 
commenced dealing in horses for the cavalry 
service, and, during 1864, gave his entire atten- 
tion to that business ; in 1865, he went into a 
store with Kaler and C. G. Malic, where he 



^■^ 



763 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



remained three years, and, the following 3'ear, 
was interested in shipping stock ; in August, 
1869, he purchased the livery stable of H. M. 
Rowe, on the public squai'e, and has since con- 
tinued business there with splendid success, 
doing a general liver}', sale and feed stable 
business, and enjo3'ing a good share of the 
public patronage. He was married, in April, 
1856, to Miss Minnie Hocker, of Bucyrus, who 
was born in Baden, German}', in January, 
1886 ; of this marriage, there are nine children 
living — Louisa, John, Kate, Mary, Minnie, 
Harry, Cliarlie, Nannie and Mattie. Mr. Keil 
has been a good citizen of Bucyrus, and has 
shown that a man, even without an}' other cap- 
ital than energy and industry, may work him- 
self into good circumstances and position. 

DANIEL KANZLEITER. journalist, Bucy- 
rus. A gentleman who is a welcome guest in 
the minds of the people of Bucyrus, his native 
place, is a son of John and Catharine IT. (Kober) 
Kanzleiter, and was born June 21, lS-13. The 
first eighteen years of his life were spent in 
securing as good an education as the schools of 
his native place afforded at that time. In 1863, 
he entered the Journal office, where he learned 
printing ; enlisting in 1864, in Co. E, 136th 
(). N. G. He served his time, then returned 
to the Journal office, where he worked until 
August, 1868, when he resigned his position on 
account of ill health, and ran a news depot and 
confectionery until 1876. In the fall of 1877, 
he started a job printing-office, and, in 1879, 
added to the business by publishing a monthly 
paper called the Sunbeam, which he edited un- 
til May, 1880, when he sold his business, and 
again returned to the Journa/, where he has 
since been employed. From 1868 to 1873, he 
kept a circulating library, containing over 1,000 
volumes — the only enterprise of the kind in the 
place. During his later years, he has given 
considerable attention to wood engraving, hav- 
ing, without suitable tools, constructed several 
wood-cuts of more than ordinary merit. He 
was married to Miss Emma E. Mohler, of Day- 
ton, Ohio, Jan. 16, 1876, since which time he 
has been a member of the Methodist P]piscopal 
Church. 

JOSIAH H. G. KECKLER, farmer ; P. O. 
Bucyrus ; is the son of John and llosannah 
(Gorden) Keckler, and was born Feb. 16, 1829, 
in Adams Co., Penn. His father's family re- 
moved to Harrison Co., Ohio, and settled five 



miles from Cadiz when the subject of this 
sketch was but 8 years old. Here young 
Keckler aided his father on the farm, and also 
in his blacksmith-shop, gaining in the mean- 
while a common-school education. At the age 
of 18, he left home and commenced working 
for $10 per month at first, and continued 
six years for one man, remaining also three 
years longer. He came to this county in 1852 
with 11,000, which he had saved from his 
wages while working l)y the month. For some 
time after his arrival here, he rented land and 
farmed, also raising considerable stock, and im- 
porting large numbers of Saxony sheep into 
the county, and selling them here at good fig- 
ures. In about 1864, he purchased 104|^ acres 
of what comprises his present farm, and com- 
menced raising stock. He has increased the 
size of his farm to 2464- acres of first-class 
farming land, and has been engaged in buying, 
grazing and feeding large numbers of sheep, 
handling from 300 to 500 at times, with good 
success. Mr. Keckler is an enterprising farmer, 
and by his careful management has amassed 
considerable property. He is a Republican, 
casting his maiden vote for Gen. Scott. He was 
married, April 4, 1873, to Miss Juliette Parcher, 
born Oct. 16, 1850. and the daughter of Daniel 
and Mary (McNeal) Parcher, of this county. 
This union has been blessed with three children 
— John Franklin, Agnes Rosannah and Orrie 
Gorden. 

JAMES LEWIS, P. 0. Bucyrus ; son of David 
and Rachel (Rogers) Lewis ; was born Sept. 2, 
1813, in Harrison Co., Ohio. He lived on a 
farm, performing the continuous hard labor in- 
cident to that calling, until 19 years old. Dur- 
ing this period, he received only such instruc- 
tion as the common schools afforded, yet he 
had made the most of his opportunities, and 
presented himself for pedagogical honors. The 
first certificate he received comprised the sul)- 
jects of reading, writing, and arithmetic as 
far as the rule of three. From this modest 
beginning, as he taught he studied, often late 
into the night, and, each year, added two new 
branches of learning to his qualifications for 
many years. He began teaching in 1832, and 
taught almost continuously until 1849. When 
not employed in the public schools, he taught 
many terms of select school, thereby fitting 
many young men and women for the responsi- 
ble work of teaching. In November, 1849, he 



BUCYRUS TOWNSHIP 



763 



came to Crawford Co., and engaged in farming 
in Bucyrus Township, which he followed until 
1866. In 1855, Mr. Lewis was elected to the 
State Senate from the Thirty-first Senatorial 
District, which then comprised Crawford, Sen- 
eca and Wyandot Counties. He was the only 
Republican ever elected from that district, and, 
for two years, faithfully represented the intei*- 
ests of his district. He served as chairman of 
the Committee on Temperance, being then, as 
now, a pronounced temperance man. In Sep- 
tember, 1862, he was appointed Assistant As- 
sessor for a portion of Crawford Co., holding 
this position until March, 1867, when he was 
appointed b}' President Johnson Revenue As- 
sessor for the Ninth Di.strict of Ohio. He dis- 
charged the duties of this office until June. 
1872, when he resigned, and purchased an in- 
terest in the Eagle Foundry, and became book- 
keeper of that institution until his health 
failed. Of late years, Mr. Lewis has been prin- 
cipally employed in settling some large estates, 
which have been entrusted to his administra- 
tion. Aug. 8, 1833, he united in marriage with 
Miss Rebecca Gregory, of Harrison Co.. Ohio : 
this union has been blessed by the birth of seven 
sons and five daughters, of whom nine are liv- 
ing — Pinkney, wholesale merchant at Mans- 
field ; Jane A., died in her 6th year ; David, 
attorne}' at Chicago, 111.; William G., merchant 
at Bucyrus (see sketch below) ; Angeline. died 
in her 2d 3ear ; Emil}', wife of Henry Neil, of 
Cherokee Co., Kan.; Albert C, druggist, of Bu- 
cyrus (see sketch) ; Milton R., of Bucyrus (see 
sketch) ; Samuel M., died June 1, 1871, in his 
21st year ; Israel, farmer, of this township ; 
Mary B. and Rachel, still at home. Mr. Lewis 
and his wife both united with the M. E. Church, 
during the same meeting, about foi'ty-eight 
years ago, and have been consistent and de- 
voted members ever since. He has filled ac- 
ceptably the offices of Class-leader and Stew- 
ard, and, for three sessions, has represented his 
congregation as lay delegate to the Annual 
Conference. He is a Republican, and a much- 
respected citizen. 

WILLIAM LEWIS, merchant, Bucyrus; is 
the third son of James and Rebecca (Gregory) 
Lewis, was born Sept. 2, 1839, in Harrison Co., 
Ohio, where he lived until he was 10 ^-ears old, 
when the family came to Bucyrus Township, 
where 3'oung William lived on the Plains until 
18, when he entered the harness-shop of Jerry 



Yost, to learn the trade ; he onl}- remained 
about one year, however, when he became a 
clerk in a store. He has since been employed 
by the leading firms of Bucyrus, except the 
3'ear 1865, which he spent in Iowa. In Novem- 
ber, 1^80, he purchased of T. A. Rowse & Co., 
a stock of goods, and is now doing a good bus- 
iness in confectioner}' and notions, in connec- 
tion with the news depot, at the old Failor 
corner, where j'ou can find all the periodicals 
of the day. 

A. C. LEWIS, druggist, Bucyrus ; is the 
son of James and Rebecca (Gregory) Lewis, 
and was born Jan. 15, 1845, in Harrison Co., 
Ohio. His 3'outhful days were spent on a farm, 
and in attending district school until he was 
19. In November, 1863, he entered the drug 
and book store of R. F. Johnston, and in the 
following May, he enlisted in Co. E, 136th 0. 
N. G.; and served until August of the same 
year. He resumed his former clerkship and 
there remained until March, 1878, a period of 
fifteen years. In April of this year, he pur- 
chased a new stock of drugs and opened a store 
in Picking Block, South Sandusk}' avenue, 
where he has a salesroom 70x20, being the 
finest business room in its appointments and 
outfit in Buc^'rus. It is filled with a first-class 
stock of drugs, paints, oils, books and wall- 
paper. Mr. Lewis is here doing a flourishing 
business, and is a man of considerable push 
and enterprise. He was married Dec. 10, 1878, 
to Mar}' A. Fenner. of Bucyrus. As a business 
man, Mr. Lewis has been successful, and is an 
upright and valuable citizen, who is well es- 
teemed by all who know him. 

MILTON R. LEWIS, traveling salesman; 
P. 0. Bucyrus, Ohio ; is the son of James 
Lewis, and was born Nov. 13, 1847, in New 
Market, Ohio. He was but 2 years old when 
the family moved to this county ; here he spent 
his youth on the farm until 18 years old, in the 
meantime receiving a fair education in the Bu- 
cyrus LTnion Schools. He then served two 
years as chief clerk under his father, who held 
the office of Internal Revenue Assessor for this 
district. In February, 1868, he accepted the 
position of clerk, book-keeper ancj cashier of 
the Grant House, one of the largest hotels in 
Wheeling, W. Va., where he remained until 
1877. He has since been employed by the 
leading wholesale grocers of Mansfield. Ohio, 
and is now employed as traveling salesman for 



.3 



E. 



764 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



Tracy & Avery, of that city, with excellent suc- 
cess. Oct. 30, 1872, he united his fortunes 
with Miss Lily Rowse, of Bucyrus, daughter of 
Stephen Rowse ; two children were born of this 
marriage, both of whom died in infanc}'. Mr. 
Lewis is a member of the M. E. Church, and a 
Republican in politics. 

B. F. LAUCK, merchant, Bucyrus ; is the 
son of George and Mary (Deardorff ) Lauck, 
and was born Ma}' 27, 1839, near Bucyrus ; he 
passed his youth on a farm, and went to the 
Bucvrus schools until he was 16 years of age. 
In 1855 and 1856, he attended Wittenberg Col- 
lege, in Jasper Co.. Iowa. He then returned to 
Bucyrus and clerked in Craig's hardware store, 
and also in Johnson's drug store. In the spring 
of 1860, he went into the grocery business 
until the breaking-out of the war, when he en- 
listed in May, 1861, in the 86th 0. V. 
I., under Col. Lemert. After his term of 
four months had expired, he re-enlisted in 
Co. I, 157th 0. V. I., and was in the engage- 
ments of Chickasaw Bayou, Black River 
Bridge, Champion Hill, Raynon, Port. Gibson, 
Yazoo River, Ft. Arkansas, Hollow Springs 
and siege of Vicksburg, also Jackson, Miss. 
He was soon after taken sick, and, after lying 
sick for three months, he was discharged in 
October, 1864, and returned to Bucyrus, en- 
gaging in selling groceries and dr}' goods, in 
the firm of G. A. Lauck & Bro., continuing for 
two years, when C. W. Fisher became a part- 
ner, and the business was continued under the 
firm name of Fisher & Lauck. This partner- 
ship lasted for nine years. In December, 1877, 
he commenced traveling for Tracy & Aver}', of 
Mansfield, and was thus emplo3'ed until Sep- 
tember, 1880, when he became a member of the 
firm. Strong, Leiter & Lauck are doing a large 
business in grain, seeds, wool, coal and salt, 
having leased the Crawford County Elevator 
for five years. During the month of August, 
they handled over 18,000 bushels of wheat. 
The subject of this sketch has now entire 
charge of the business. On Nov. 21, 1861, he 
was married to Miss Laura E. Bodine, of Huron 
Co., Ohio ; they have three children — Anna 
L., Franklin B. and James L. He is a member 
of the Lutheran Evangelical Church, and also 
a Knight of Honor. His father was born in 
Lancaster Co., Penn., and was a farmer. In 
the spring of 1827, he, with his wife and one 
child, came to Bucyrus in a one-horse wagon. 



and bought 160 acres of land, lying east of the 
0. C. R. R. He purchased it of a man named 
Gai'ton, paying .$16 per acre, and soon after 
added to it 80 acres. It was in a primitive 
condition, and by hard labor Mr. Lauck im- 
proved it greatly. He was a man of good ed- 
ucation, and had fine business capacity, having 
at one time served this county as its Treasurer 
for four terms. 

HON. ROBERT LEE, ex Judge and State 
Senator, retired, Bucyrus ; was born April 
20, 1805, in Butler Co., Penn. He was the 
son of Robert Lee, a prominent clergyman 
in the Presbyterian Church, who was for 
many 3'ears Pastor of Salem Church, in West- 
moreland Co., of that State, and distantly re- 
lated to Gen. Robert E. Lee, the celebrated 
General and Chief Commander of the Confed- 
erate armies in the late Southern rebellion. 
His mother, Sarah Lee, whose maiden name 
was Swearingen, was of Dutch extraction. In 
the youthful days of Robert, the " schoolmaster 
was not abroad in the land," and the facilities 
for education were exceedingly limited, espe- 
cially in the rural districts. Not only were the 
teachers deficient in knowledge, but the text- 
books in use were lamentably imperfect. In 
consequence, nearly all the education he re- 
ceived was from his father, whose learning, as 
a minister, was freely and lovingly communi- 
cated to his children. None but the pioneers 
of the early days knew the toils and disad- 
vantages incident to that period. Moved by a 
passionate desire for knowledge, the subject of 
this sketch would arise at 4 o'clock each morn- 
ing for study, labor on the farm during the day, 
and then resume his intellectual pursuits until 
10 o'clock, while the rest of the family were 
asleep. Nobly he consummated his purpose, 
although surrounded by almost insuperable 
diflEiculties, and he became, though self-edu- 
cated, well educated. During this period, he 
studied the elementaiy principles of law. 
When 18 years old, he removed to Richland 
Co., Ohio, with his father, who laid out and 
established the town of Leesville Cross Roads. 
Thus pursuing his course with books and toil, 
he conmienced business on his own account at 
the age of 23 ; believing, as a prime condition 
of success and happiness, " that man should 
not be alone," he married Miss Sarah Hall, 
daughter of George and Catharine Hall, of 
Richland Co., and settled down to the active 



^; 




^.£<>^OL/^^^.,y^ ^jE^/,9y.e^^^ 




BUCYRUS TOWNSHIP. 



767 



duties of life. The fruit of this happy union 
was seven children, only three of whom are 
now living — George H. Lee, Sarah C. Tidball, 
wife of Dr. John Tidball, of Booneville, Iowa, 
and Anna M. Cady, wife of L. S. Cady, whole- 
sale and retail jewelry merchant, of Kansas 
City, Mo. Few of the farmers of the present 
day understand the amount and quality of 
hard work necessar}^ when the country was 
densely wooded and thinly- inhabited. With 
an energy characteristic of himself, Mr. Lee 
cleared three farms in five years, and made 
them fit for agriculture. But, in the meantime, 
his love of study did not desert him, for he 
continuously studied law, for which he exhib- 
ited a natural taste. As a more congenial pur- 
suit, shortly after marriage he opened a store 
at Leesville Cross Roads, embracing every line 
of goods, from dry goods to hardware, which 
he continued successfully for three years. 
Selling his goods he purchased a farm adjoin- 
ing Leesville Cross Roads, and put it in a high 
state of cultivation. In connection with his 
brother, S. F. Lee, he purchased the steam 
flouring-mill, sawmill, carding machines and 
fulling-mill, in said village, and operated the 
same ten or twelve years. In 1836, he was 
elected a member of the Ohio Legislature for 
Richland Co., by a majority of 1,000, and was 
honored by a re-election in 1837, by a majority 
of 2,400. In 1839, he was elected Justice of 
the Peace, which office he held continuously 
ten years, when he resigned. In 1 842, he was 
elected by the Legislature, a Director of the 
Ohio Penitentiary and served in that responsi- 
ble capacity for three years. In the meantime 
that portion of Richland Co., in which he lived, 
was attached to Crawford Co. He was elected 
Associate Judge of the Court of Common 
Pleas, b}'' the Legislature for Crawford Co., and 
served with abilit}' and integrity- in that posi- 
tion, until the adoption of the present constitu- 
tion. In 1853, he was elected State Senator 
from the counties of Crawford, Wyandot and 
Seneca, of which body he was elected Presi- 
dent pro tem. Owing to the illness of the 
Lieutenant Governor, it became his duty to 
preside over the deliberations of the Senate, a 
large portion of the Session. In 1854, he was 
admitted to practice as an attorney and coun- 
selor at law and solicitor in chancery, by the 
Supreme Court of Ohio. In 1858, he engaged 
in the dr}- goods business in Crestline, Ohio, 



at which he continued about five years. After 
losing his wife, by death, in 1861. he sold his 
store and town property and quit housekeep- 
ing, his children by this time having homes of 
their own. But, finding single life undesirable, 
he married, in 1864, Mrs. Clara M. Tweed, of 
Indianapolis, Ind., who now presides over his 
beautiful home. Resuming his business in 
Crestline, he engaged in the grocery and pro- 
vision trade. In 1865 and 1866, he served as 
Deputy Revenue Assessor for Crawford Co. 
B}' the suffrages of his fellow-citizens he was 
elected Mayor of that village, and elected Pro- 
bate Judge of Crawford Co., in 1869. He was 
almost unanimously re-elected in 1872, serving 
his constituents and the people generall}'^ with 
entire satisfaction. He has been an active 
member of the Bucyrus Union School Board. 
Thus, at the age of 75, " Judge Lee," as he is 
familiarly termed b}^ his numerous and admir- 
ing friends, has come down from pioneer days 
to the present generation. His industry, suc- 
cess, love of learning, integrity of purpose and 
practice, together with an unswerving devo- 
tion to correct principles of life, make him a 
model for the imitation of youth. 

GEORGE A. LAUCK, merchant, Bucyrus ; 
is a son of George and Mary (Deardoff') Lauck, 
and was born in Bucyrus Township Sept. 19, 
1843 ; he attended school in town until he was 
17 years of age, and then became a clerk in the 
dry goods store of L. B. Lyday ; after one year's 
experience here, he entered Wittenberg College 
in the spring of 1861 ; in about four months 
he enlisted in the 64th 0. V. I. band, and served 
some ten months, when, his health failing, he 
was honorably discharged ; he made a visit to 
various points in Iowa, and, in the fall of 1863, 
he became a clerk in a dry goods house at Pitts- 
burgh ; after this he also tilled a clerical posi- 
tion in Mansfield, Ohio. In 1864, Mr. Lauck 
commenced business in Bucyrus, in compau}- 
with Lyday, carrying on the business under the 
firm name of L3'da3' & Lauck ; in 1865, he 
bought Mr. Lyday's share in the enterprise, 
and continued until the fall as sole proprietor ; 
he then took in B. F. Lauck as partner. Our 
subject retired in the spring of 1866, and re- 
moved to Shelby, Ohio, where he engaged in 
the sale of dry goods until 1867 ; he then re- 
moved his stock to Buc^'rus, where he was in 
business until the fall of the year following ; in 
1870, he engaged in the grocery business, being 



L£ 



768 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



alone until 1872, when he took Joseph Klmrael 
as partner ; in 1876, they bought a large stock 
of dry goods and groceries, and in 1877, Mr. 
Lauck purchased the interest of his partner, 
and is now continuing the business in Bowman's 
Corner, where he has a store second to none in 
the (!it3% and is doing a flourishing trade. He 
is a member of the City Council, and has been 
a member of the Lutheran Church for twenty 
years, and is now Superintendent of the Sunday 
school. On Oct. 19, 1864, he was married to 
Lizzie Atwood, of Bucyrus ; four children are 
the fruits of this union — Clarence. Ella A., 
Stella M., and Mary. 

REV. L. a. LEONARD, D. D., Bucyrus ; 
is a son of George and Rebecca (Converse) 
Leonard, and was born Jan. 6, 1810, in Mon- 
son, Mass. He attended school at Willington, 
Conn., under Prof Loomis, father of Prof 
Elias Loomis, of Yale College. He acquired 
quite a degree of proficiency in mathematics 
and Latin, and at 18 he began teaching in the 
southern part of New York, on the Hudson 
River. When 20 years old, he entered the 
Newton Theological Institute, near Boston, and 
graduated in July, 1836. He entered at once 
upon his labors in the vineyard of his Master, 
at Webster. Mass., remaining seven years, his 
labor being blessed. For the next four years 
he labored in New London. In the autumn 
of 1848, he received a call from Zanesville, 
Ohio, and remained there until 1855, thence 
going to Marietta, where for eight years his 
labors were abundantly blessed, and in one 
year. 130 joined the church. In July, 1863, he 
went to Lebanon, Ohio. After eight years spent 
in hard yet precious labor here, he started on a 
visit among the scenes of his early childhood. 
In May, 1872, be came to Bucyrus to spend his 
declining years in quiet, and to retire from act- 
ive pulpit duty. However, the Lord had willed 
that his work in the great field of the world was 
not yet completed, and he was called to the 
pastorate of the First Baptist Church of this 
city ; but, on account of poor health, he retired 
in 1874. He again resumed his labors in 1875, 
and has since continued working earnestly^ with 
unabated zeal, for the glory of God. Dr. Leon- 
ard was first married in ' September, 1836, to 
Mehitable H. Fish, of Boston, Mass. Six chil- 
dren were born of this marriage, two of whom 
are living — Georgiana F. and Hattie M. His 
wife died April 11, 1863. He was remarried, 



to Amanda M. Dey, of Lebanon, Ohio, July 10, 
1864. Four children were born and all have 
died ; George R., Susan R. and John C. all died 
in infancy; Eugenia R. died at the age of 19. 
Dr. Leonard has been for a long time Trustee 
of Dennison University, and, in 1860, the de- 
gree of Doctor of Divinity was conferred upon i 
him b}" that institution. He has been a devoted ! 
worker in the glorious cause of salvation, and j 
now he awaits his reward, and looks forward to j 
the day when he shall pass through the gates of 
the New Jerusalem and receive the reward mer- 
ited by a well-spent life. 

CHARLES LAKE, jeweler, Bucyrus ; was 
born April 2, 1835, in Cincinnati, Ohio, and 
went to school in that city until his 17th year. 
He then commenced to learn the jeweler's bus- 
iness, paying attention to clock and watch 
making. He served an apprenticeship of three 
years with Clements Oskamp. He then re- 
moved to Fostoria in 1853, and worked for Dr. 
Lust nearly two years. He next worked at Up- 
per Sandusky for a short time. In May, 1855, 
he came to Bucyrus, and at once became the 
partner of William H. Burkhardt in the jewelr}' 
business, this partnership lasting eight years. 
In April, 1861, they divided the stock, and Mr. 
Lake removed to the public squai'e and com- 
menced business on the site of Retz & Van 
Vorhis, and there continued for two years, paj'- 
ing $1,000 for a lot 20x60 feet. In 1863, he 
bought out the stock of Franz Bros., and, add- 
ing his own, he carried on business at Barth's 
Corners for two years. In the meantime, he 
erected a business block on his own lot. About 
the 3'^ear 1869, he moved into his present room, 
No. 4 Quinby Block, which he owns. He has 
done a prosperous business, and has a fine stock 
of clocks, watches and jewelry, as well as a 
large stock of musical merchandise. He is a 
skilled repairer of watches and jewelry, having 
had good advantages in learning his trade at 
Cincinnati. He began life without capital, and 
has, b}' steady perseverance and industry, placed 
himself in affluence. He was married, Oct. 19, 
1859, to Miss Appaline Seiser, of Bucyrus. 
One son and two daughters were born to them 
— Edmond, died in his 8th year ; Fannie, died 
April 7, 1880 ; and Ella, at home. 

SAMUEL LUDWIG, Sr. (deceased), Bucy- 
rus. The subject of this sketch, whose por- 
trait appears in this work, was born in Berks 
Co., Penn., Jan. 25, 1788. His grandfather 






BUCYRUS TOWNSHIP. 



769 



Ludwig was a native of the Province of Al- 
sace, France. His ancestors on this side of 
the house were Huguenots, and it was during 
the reign of Louis XIV, of France, who gave 
the Huguenots a given time in which to leave 
the country, with such clothing as the}' might 
be wearing and a staff in their hands, and that 
those who remained were, by his oi'ders, to be 
put to death. Among those who escaped were 
two brothers by the name of Ludwig, who 
managed to sew into their clothing, in such a 
wa}' as to escape detection, gold, with which 
one of the brothers afterward entei'ed land in 
Berks Co., Penn. Each of these brothers 
married and had seven sons. The grandfather 
of the subject of this sketch was a stone mason 
by trade, and settled in Philadelphia, where he 
helped to build many of those quaint old 
buildings that attracted so much attention, but 
have since given way to buildings of more 
modern architecture. It was in that city that 
Michael, the father of Samuel Ludwig, was 
born, and raised to man's estate. About the 
age of 22, Michael Ludwig married Sarah 
Hanks, an English Quakeress, and then moved 
to Berks Co., Penn., where the subject of this 
memoir was born, he being the 3'oungest of six 
children, two boys and four girls. His father 
(Michael) d^ing when he was but three years 
old, his mother was left with a large family on 
a little barren farm among the hills, to make a 
subsistence for herself and j-oung children. 
This she did noltly for years, when she married 
Nicholas Yochem, a wealthy farmer in that 
neighborhood. He was the father of Nicholas 
and Moses Yochem, who afterward became the 
heaviest iron masters in Eastern Penns3dvania. 
Here, with the Yochem boys, Samuel worked 
on the farm of his stepfather for 3'ears. The 
old man was a hard master, his sons and Sam- 
uel Ludwig doing about all the work on the 
farm, which comprised 400 acres, the boj^s get- 
ting very little time to go to school, as they 
were obliged to thresh out all the grain with 
flails, during the winter season. Under these 
circumstances, a strong attachment gi'ew be- 
tween these 3'oung men, which was not lessened 
b}' long years and gx'a}' hairs. L^p to the age of 
18, Samuel Ludwig had gone to school but 
about six months, all told. Notwithstanding 
this disadvantage, he was a pretty fair scholar, 
as he had received instruction from his mother 
— a highly intellectual and well-educated lady 



for that da}' — who was the home preceptress 
for her son and the Yochem boys. In the 
winter of 1805, Francis B. Shunk, who was 
afterward Governor of Pennsylvania, came to 
that neighborhood, a mere stripling of 18 
years, and raised a select school. This school 
Mr. Ludwig attended. ]Mr. Shunk made his 
home w'ith the Yochems, and, during that win- 
ter, they had very profitable and interesting 
evening exercises, Mrs. Yochem acting as 
teacher, the Yochem boys. Samuel Ludwig and 
the future Governor, as scholars. In the fol- 
lowing spring, Mr. Shunk, the teacher, went to 
Lancaster, Penn., to study law, while Samuel 
Ludwig, being too poor to study a profession, 
engaged as an apprentice in the wheelwright 
business, at which he continued for two years. 
At the age of 20. Somuel married Miss Eliza- 
beth Redcha, daughter of Hon. John Redcha, 
who, at that time, was a member of the Penn- 
sylvania Legislature, then in session at Lan- 
caster, at that date the capital of the State. 
After his marriage, he removed to Reading, 
Penn., and engaged in the manufacture of wag- 
ons and plows, which he carried on extensively 
for twenty-three years, and by his industry 
and economy amassed a fortune for that day. 
He was often solicited by the people to accept 
an office. Repeatedly he was offered the posi- 
tion of member of the Legislature, and differ- 
ent county offices, all of which he peremptorily 
declined, saying, that, as he was now his ''own 
master," and did not want to become the sei'v- 
ant of the people, he would infinitely prefer 
domestic life in the bosom of his family to any 
public honor they might bestow upon him, and 
that a large family and an extensive business, 
even if he had the inclination, precluded the 
acceptance of official trusts. So great was his 
thirst for knowledge, that, long hours after the 
family had retired to bed, he would sit and 
read, sometimes until 12 or 1 o'clock in the 
morning. At the age of 45, he had gained an 
extensive knowledge of chemistry, geology and 
natural philosophy, besides accumulating a 
large store of historical and general informa- 
tion that was surprising in one possessing his 
meager advantages. In 1831, Mr, Ludwig 
made the journey on horseback from Reading, 
across the Alleghany Mountains to Bucyrus, 
where he bought a tract of 100 acres of land, 
joining Bucyrus on the east. He returned to 
his home, and, in the fall of the same vear, re- 



^1 



770 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



moved with his family to Crawford Co., arriv- 
ing about Dec. 12. The family lived on Mr. 
Ludwig's first purchase until the following 
spring, when he bought of John Coalman 80 
acres, lying east of Bucyrus, on the Mansfield 
road. There Mr. Ludwig made his home for 
thirt^'-eight years, and the property is still 
owned by his son, Samuel Ludwig. Jr. Mr. 
Ludwig engaged largely in the purchase of 
lands, and, in 1840, he owned 3,000 acres of 
choice laud lying in different parts of Crawford 
Co. He was a shrewd, careful business man, 
and an excellent financier, and was well known 
as one of the wealthiest men of Crawford Co. 
This position was attained almost wholly by 
his own efforts, he having received from his 
father's estate onl}^ $400. In 1849, the atten- 
tion of the whole country was turned to the 
golden lands of California, which, at that time, 
was in a Territorial condition. Father Lnd- 
wii:, then 62 years old, and one of the wealth- 
iest men of Crawford Co., raised and equipped 
a small compan}' of young men, who had every 
confidence in his ability to pilot them across 
the Great American Desert, to the Eldorado of 
the West. Various persons urged him to de- 
sist from his perilous enterprise, asking him to 
turn back, as the journey was too great for 
one of his years. With liis usual decision of 
character, he told them he had •' made up his 
mind to cross the llocky Mountains, and cross 
them he would, if life and health were spared 
him," and he did cross them, and in due time 
landed his little company on the Pacific coast. 
Mr. Ludwig visited San Francisco, which was 
then a small village of miserable log huts and 
tents. He remained there about fifteen days, 
and, having seen all other places on the Pacific 
coast, of note in that day, he decided to return 
to his home. He sailed from San Francisco to 
the Isthmus of Panama ; from thence he sailed 
across the Gulf of Mexico to New Orleans ; 
thence up the Mississippi to Cairo ; thence 
northward on the Ohio to Cincinnati, from 
which city he completed his journey by rail to 
his old home in Bucyrus. His trip had cost 
him about $4,000 ; this, however, he did not 
consider as lost, as his great journey and voy- 
age to and from California in his G2d year, was 
ever after a source of satisfaction to him. The 
few closing years of Mr. Ludwig's life were 
spent with liis daughter, Mrs. Henry D. E. 
Johnston (now Mrs. Abraham Monnett) and to 



whom whom we are indebted for Mr. Ludwig's 
portrait and this sketch of his life). His death 
occurred, after a brief illness, on the 20th of 
December, 187G, aged 88 years and 11 months. 
Mr. Ludwig was the father of eleven children, 
seven of whom are living — five sons and two 
daughters — all of whom are wealth}^, honored 
and respected people. 

COL. WILSON C. LEMERT, Bucyrus. The 
subject of this sketch is a son of Lewis and 
Buth (Purdue) Lemert. This family are among 
the pioneers of Crawford Co., and an appropri- 
ate sketch of its early histor}^ will be found 
among those of Texas Township, where Wilson 
C. was born March 4, 1837. He assisted his 
father on the farm until 14 years of age, when 
he went to the Bepublic Academy, in Seneca 
Co., for one year ; from there he went to 
Heidelberg College, which had just been estab- 
lished at Tiffin, Ohio ; he there completed the 
preparatory course. In about 1 854, he entered 
the Ohio Wesleyan University, at Delaware, 
and continued four years, teaching public 
school in this county in the meantime. He 
graduated in 1858, and studied law for some 
months with the Hon. James B. Hubbell, of 
Delaware, then came to Bucj'rus and further 
pursued his law studies in the ofi3ce of Franklin 
Adams, Esq., for about one year. From there 
he went to the Cleveland Law College, from 
which he graduated, and was admitted to the 
bar in 1859. Mr. Lemert then returned to Bu- 
cyrus, where he engaged in the practice of his 
profession for one year, then removed to 
Greensburg, Ind., in 1860. Six months after 
his removal to Greensburg, he enlisted as a 
px'ivate soldier in the 7th Ind. V. I., and, before 
going to the field, was made Second Lieuten- 
ant. During the first year of service, he was 
promoted to the position of First Lieuten- 
ant, and then Captain of his compan}'. He 
led his company in the decisive battle of Win- 
chestei-, Va., and, for gallant conduct on the 
field, was recommended for promotion. He 
participated in the battles of Philippi, Rich 
Mountain, Carrick's Ford, Greenbrier and Win- 
chester. Some three months after the last- 
named engagement, he was commissioned Ma- 
jor of the 86th 0. V. I., and took part in the 
West Virginia campaign. In Jul}-, 1863, he 
re-organized the 86th 0. V. I., and was com- 
missioned Colonel of that veteran regiment. 
The regiment was assigned to Gen. Burnside's 



BUCYRUS TOWNSHIP. 



771 



Corps, and joined in the East Tennessee inva- 
sion. At tiie conclusion of that campaign, 
Col. Lemert was appointed to the command of 
a brigade, and stationed at the post of Cumber- 
land Gap, then a vital strategic point. His 
command as Brigadier General consisted of 
Ohio, Michigan, Tennessee and Illinois troops, 
numbering over 7,000 soldiers, including thirty 
pieces of artillery. He was mustered out in 
February, 1865. In 1865-66, the Bellefontaine 
Cotton Company was organized at Bellefon- 
taine, Ohio, and, at the solicitation of its stock- 
holders, Mr. Lemert became its President and 
General Manager. Floods disheartened the as- 
sociate adventurers, and, at the end of five 
months, he purchased the interest of those de- 
siring to abandon the venture, and, in company 
with John Jones and Dr. Nathan Atwood, 
organized a new partnership, and continued the 
business until the spring of 1866. It proved a 
dangerous but very fortunate enterprise, yield- 
ing a handsome return to those who had the 
hardihood to weather it through. In August, 
1866, Col. Lemert became a partner in and busi- 
ness manager for the wagon and carriage wood- 
work factory of A. M. Jones & Co., at Bue3'rus, 
and continued in that relation until 1877. This 
business was conservative, and yielded results 
far above the hopes of the investors. In about 
1871, the firm of B. B. McDanald & Co. was or- 
ganized for railroad building, and did about a 
half-million dollars' worth of work for the A. & 
L. E. and the 0. C. R. R. Owing to the insol- 
vency of these corporations, McDanald & Co. 
became seriously embarrassed, and, in 1878, 
Mr. Lemert assumed control and management 
of the property and business of ^McDanald & 
Co., and closed its affiiirs without loss. At the 
same time, he was Secretaiy and Treasui'er of 
the Atlantic & Lake Erie Coal Co., an organiza- 
tion owning a very large ai'ea of coal and iron 
lands in Perry Co., Ohio. During the same 
period, he served the A. & L. E. and the 0. C. 
R. R. in the capacity of director, and, when its 
financial condition became hopeless, he assisted 
in its re-organization, and is now the only per- 
son connected with the road who played a con- 
spicuous part in its early history. Though 
persistent yet misguided criticisms have been 
directed at these gentlemen for their share in 
the railroad scheme, it is believed the consum- 
mation of their labors and the enduring good 
achieved by it, will bring in future the just 



meed of credit so richly earned. The fight was 
long and rugged, yet marveloush' successful 
in the end. In 1877, Mr. Lemert organized 
and became President of the Moxahala Iron Co., 
of which he is still President and General Man- 
ager. In 1879, he superintended the construc- 
tion of the southern division of the 0. C. R. R., 
which embraces the Moxahala tunnel with its 
heavy approaches, in all nearly a half a mile 
long, furnishing the work in good order, in six 
months, which was the quickest and cheapest 
work of its kind ever done in Ohio. In the spring 
of 1880, Col. Lemert superintended the raising 
of $100,000 local aid along the line of the 0. C. 
R. R., between Bush's Station and Toledo. To 
accomplish this work, he held fort}' meetings, 
raising the amount in two months. He was 
assigned the management of the Ohio Central 
Coal Co., in Perry Co., Ohio, and again exhib- 
ited executive abilit}' of the highest order, by 
carrying on the work through one of the most 
dangerous strikes ever known to the mining 
interest, which occurred there in the fall of 
1880. Col. Lemert was Postmaster at Bucyrus 
during the vears of 1866-67, and is at present 
Chief Engineer of the State of Ohio. In 1879, 
he laid out Corning, in Perr}' Co., Ohio, which 
in one year has become a village of over 1,000 
inhabitants. In December, 1880, he organized 
a company, which purchased the foundry and 
machine works of Bucyrus, Ohio, and changed 
it from agricultural to railroad and mine work. 
Aug. 2, 1860, our subject was married to Miss 
Mar}- L. Jones, only daughter of Dr. A. M. 
Jones, of Bucyrus ; of this union there are two 
daughters — Katie and Blanche. 

DANIEL H. LOV/MILLER, contractor and 
builder, Bucyrus ; is a son of Adam and Cath- 
arine (Baker) Lowmiller ; was born Aug. 12, 
1888, in Union Co., Penn.. where he remained 
with his parents until 21 years of age, in the 
meanwhile attending subscription school a lew 
terms in winter and working by the month at 
farm labor the remaining time ; in Februar}', 
1859, he and his brother William came to this 
count}', he being employed by Charles Roehr 
and Lewis Kuhn to learn the carpenter's trade, 
serving three years ; at the expiration of his 
term of apprenticeship, he enlisted in a com- 
pany of the 1st Mechanics' Fusileers, under 
Capt. Marsh ; after serving about six months, 
he re-enlisted in the 1st 111. Light Artillery, 
Battery I ; as a member of that body, he 



'k^ 



772 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



fought in the battles of Corinth, Jackson, 
Nashville, Russell's House, Mission Ridge 
and Pittsburg Landing ; after serving there 
about two 3'ears, he enlisted as a veteran, at 
Scottsboro, Ala., Jan. 26, 1864, in the same 
battery as above mentioned, serving until the 
close of the war, being mustered out of the 
service in July, 1865, at Chicago, 111.; he was 
miraculously saved by a kind Providence 
through the many dangers of his long army 
life and permitted to return to his home at Bu- 
C3'rus a short time subsequent to the close of 
the war; after his return to Bucyrus, he 
engaged in contracting and building, working 
on some of the principal buildings of the 
place ; among them may be mentioned Mr. 
Kearsley's, J. B. Gormley's and W. P. Rowland's. 
His marriage occurred Aug. 29, 1865, to Miss 
Louisa Keafei', of Holmes Township, of this 
county ; by this union, there are four children 
living — Emma C, Laura E., Cora M. and 
Marise Gilbert, Daniel H. dying in infancy. 
He and wife are members of the German M. 
E. Church, also taking a great interest in 
the Sunday-school work, he having filled ac- 
ceptably the offices of Treasurer and Librarian. 
By his industry and frugal habits, although 
coming to Bucyrus without any capital, he has 
gained a comfortable sufficiency of this world's 
goods. 

COL. WILLIAM MONNETT, Bucyrus ; is 
the son of Isaac and Elizabeth (Pittinger) 
Monnett, and was born in Ross Co.. Ohio, 
April 22, 1808 ; Avhen he was 5 years old, his 
parents removed to Pickaway Co., and here 
our subject lived on a farm till he was 20 years 
of age ; during this time, he was given the ad- 
vantages of a subscription school ; his father 
set apart a room as a study for his boys, recog- 
nizing the necessity of thorough education, 
and our subject so applied himself that, when 
18 years of age, he was sufficiently' advanced 
to teach school himself; in the fall of 1828, 
his fathers lamil}- removed to Crawford Co. 
and settled on the Plains of the Sandusky, 
about five miles south of Bucyrus ; here his 
father entered 1,440 acres of land, giving to 
each of his children 160 acres ; in company 
with his brothers John and Abraham, Col. 
Monnett had charge of 1,300 acres of land 
which their father had purchased of Samuel 
Stutz ; they fenced it in, making one large 
field ; in 1830, they pastured 300 cattle for 



Allen Kelly, and, another year, drove for John 
Wylie and David Holderman ; the following 
fall, he purchased a large drove of cattle, and, 
being successful in this venture, he continued 
for several years to buy, graze and sell large 
numbers of cattle, and has been very success- 
ful ; in 1837, just preceding the panic, he 
owned 700 cattle, and, at one time, he owned 
1,400. Mr. Monnett had united with the M. 
E. Church at the age of 12, and, at the age of 
32, he was licensed to preach, and continued 
for ten years, at the end of which time he was 
compelled to abandon the ministry- on account 
of his health. On the same day that he was 
licensed to preach, he was appointed Colonel 
of the 1st Regiment, 3d Brigade, of 11th 
Division Ohio Militia, and for seven years 
served efflcientl}^, when he resigned. He lived 
where W. H. Kinnear now lives until 1851 ; 
here he taught school several terms, and then 
came to Bucyrus to give his children the 
advantages of a better education. On coming 
to Bucyrus, Col. Monnett formed a partnership 
with Patterson Marshall, keeping a general 
store, one of the largest of that day ; he con- 
tinued some three years and then retired, pur- 
chasing 400 acres just east of Bucyrus, and 
also about 1,100 acres near Cranberry Marsh, 
of Paul Hetich ; he has since been engaged in 
keeping large numbers of cattle and sheep, his 
son Abraham engaging with him from 1864 to 
1875. Mr. Monnett has been one of the promi- 
nent men of this county, and especially prom- 
inent in religious work ; he has been Recording 
Steward of the church for several years, and 
fills that position at the present writing ; he is 
a Republican in politics, and, previous to the 
organization of the party, he was a Whig. He 
was married, Jan. 11, 1831, to Elizabeth Ca- 
hill, of Bucyrus, a daughter of Abraham Ca- 
hill, and sister of Hon. Richard Cahill ; of 
this union there were five children — Mary J., 
wife of Hon. S. R. Harris, of Bucyrus ; Rachel, 
wife of W. H. Kinnear, of Bucyrus Town- 
ship ; Sarah L., wife of L. L. Walker, of Whet- 
stone Township ; Isaac W., died in his 43d 
year in Washington Territory, and Abram C, 
died at Bucyrus, in his 41st year, both leaving 
families. 

ABRAHAM MONNETT, banker, Bucyrus ; 
few of the residents of Crawford Co., and per- 
haps none of those who may be numbered 
among the pioneers, ha\'e risen to a place of 



-7(7- 



IV 



:±, 



BUCYRUS TOWNSHIP. 



773 



greater prominence as a citizen and a man of 
sterling worth and business ability, than the 
subject of this sketch — Mr. Abraham Monnett 
— whose portrait appears in this work. He is 
a descendant of Mr. Abraham Monnett, who, 
with his family, moved from Virginia to Ohio, 
in the year 1800, and settled near the village of 
Chillicothe. His family consisted of Isaac, 
Thomas, Margaret, Jeremiah (the father of our 
subject), John, William, Osborn and Elizabeth. 
Jeremiah Monnett returned to Virginia, where 
he was married to Miss Alcy Slagle. The}' set- 
tled near Cumberland, on the Potomac River, 
and resided there until 1814, he then, with his 
family of a wife and five small children — one of 
whom was the subject of this memoir — removed 
to Ohio and settled in Pickaway Co. Their 
trip from Virginia was a very hard one, and 
probably would not have been undertaken but 
for the help of a Widow Jones, with whom Mr. 
Monnett joined teams. Mr. Monnett was a 
regularly ordained minister of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, and when arriving in Picka- 
way Co. he had only $5 in mone}', and his team 
and small supply of household goods. He re- 
mained a resident of Pickaway Co. until 1835, 
and then removed to Crawford Co., settling four 
and a half miles south of the village of Bucy- 
rus, where he resided until his death, which oc- 
curred in September of 1863. Mr. Abraham 
Monnett was born on the 12th of October, 
1811, in the State of Virginia and near the 
Maryland line. His life was spent in the home 
of his birthplace until his pai'ents removed to 
Ohio in 1814. In that early day of the settle- 
ment of Pickaway Co., but few opportunities 
were aflTorded him for attaining an education. 
Always active, energetic, and endowed with 
great decision of character, he had before 
leaving Pickaway Co. with his father, in 1835, 
taken an active part in all local matters, and 
while residing there he joined a company of 
Militia, of which he was First Lieutenant ; his 
commission for this office was signed by 
George McArthur. Shortly after his father 
moved to Crawford Co., Abraham bought a 
forty acres of land lying in Scott Township, 
Marion Co., Ohio. Soon after his going to 
Mai'ion Co., he joined the Militia Company 
commanded by Capt. Beckley, in which he also 
was elected Fii'st Lieutenant. In June of 
1836, Mr. Monnett returned to Pickaway Co., 
where on the 9th of that month he was married 



to Miss Catharine Brougher, who had been an 
orphan from her 4th year, and by whom he re- 
ceived $2,500, the proceeds of the sale of land 
of which she was the heir. This, with the ex- 
ception of $120, given him by his father, was 
the only money received by him, and the only 
part of his extensive fortune, not accumulated 
by his own energy and industry and economy. 
Shortly after his marriage, Mr. Monnett took 
up his residence in Scott Township, Marion Co. 
In 1838, he began the handling of cattle, many 
of which he bought in Illinois, and drove 
through to his farm in Marion Co., to do which 
would sometimes require a thirty-days drive. 
Later in life, he assisted largely in the organi- 
zation of the Marion Co. Bank, an institution 
in which he has since held an interest and of 
which he has been the President since 1864. 
At present he is also the President of the 
Farmer's Bank of Marion, Ohio. He is also at 
the head of the Crawford Co. Bank of Bucyrus, 
where much of his time is spent. Besides his 
interest in the above enterprises, Mr. Monnett 
owns, in Crawford and Marion Cos., 11,000 
acres of choice land. Truly, this is a fortune 
for one man to accumulate, whose eai'ly life 
was spent in a new country, where, to attend a 
very common school, he was obliged to walk 
two and a half miles. Mr. Monnett has not 
been successful in financial affairs only, but in 
the rearing of a famil}' of twelve children to 
honorable man and womanhood. They are sit- 
uated as follows : Ephraim B., farmei', of Dallas 
Township : Martha, wife of G. H. Wright, of 
Bucyrus Township : Oliver, farmer, in Dallas 
Township ; John T., farmer, residence Marion 
Co., Ohio ; Alc}', wife of James Malcom, of 
Bucyrus ; Augustus E., farmer, of Bucyrus 
Township ; Marvin J., farmer and stock-dealer, 
Dallas Township ; Mary J., wife of George 
Hull, banker, Findlay, Ohio ; Madison W., 
Teller Crawford Co. Bank ; Nelson, on the old 
homestead, in Marion Co. ; Amina J., wife of 
Calvin Tobias, of Bucyrus, and Kate, wife of 
Louis Ross, farmer, of Dallas Township. Mrs. 
Monnett died on Feb. 8, 1875, and on May 30, 
1877, Mr. Monnett was again married. His 
present wife was Mrs. Jane Johnston, daughter 
of Mr. Samuel Ludwig, whose portrait appears 
in this book, as does also the biography of his 
life. They resided for a short time after this 
marriage on a farm owned bj' the widow, but 
later removed to Bucyrus, where they now re- 






774 



BIOGRAPHICAL SI^IETCHES: 



side. Mr. Monnett has for many years been a 
memberof the Methodist Episcopal Church. In 
his early manhood he was a member of the 
Whig party, but since the organization of the 
Republican party he has cast his vote and in- 
fluence for it. His first Pi-esidential vote was 
cast for J. Q. Adams. 

REV. THOMAS J. INIONNETT, former and 
minister, Bucyrus, whose portrait appears in 
this work, is a son of Rev. Jeremiah and Alcy 
(Single) Monnett, and was born Jan. 26, 1826, 
in Pickaway Co., Ohio. When nine years of 
age, his parents removed to this county and 
settled on the place where he now lives. They 
came from an old and thickly settled country", 
and, arriving at their new home in a heavy rain, 
drenched to the skin, the prospect before them 
seemed anything but inviting. In the midst of 
all this his mother was taken sick, which added 
to the anxiety of the situation. Young Mon- 
nett was employed in herding stock, and riding 
among the yellow-blossomed weeds, which cov- 
ered the Plains ; he was often lost almost in 
sight of his father's cabin. An old cabin resi- 
dence near by was converted into a schoolhouse 
during the summer of 1836, and Harriet Bover, 
an Eastern lad}' of some attainments, taught 
the first school in it. Pupils came four or five 
miles to the first winter school, which was 
taught by a Mr. Kenough. In these schools 
young Monnett studied until he was 16, mas- 
tering the common branches as far as taught 
b}' those earl}' teachers. In his 16th year. Rev. 
Osborn Monnett, of the Norwalk Seminary of 
the Methodist Episcopal Church, came to the 
neighborhood, and soon after started a school 
at his own residence, in which he was enrolled 
among the first pupils. He was a very thorough 
teacher, and for two years, young Monnett pur- 
sued the studies of grammar, philosophy and 
algebra. About the year 1 845, he entered the 
Ohio Wesleyan University at Delaware, and 
returned and took charge of the home school 
that winter at $18 per month, it being the first 
school under the district system. He taught 
two terms, at the same time occupying himself 
with individual study. At 21 years of age, he 
began reading medicine with Drs. F. Swingley 
and Douglass, of Bucyrus, and recited to them 
for one year. Previous to attaining his ma- 
jority, he read Clark's Commentaries through 
to his father, who was a minister of the Gospel, 
and the church licensed him to preach, but, not 



feeling sure of his duty, he did not then enter 
the ministry. A few years later, however, be- 
ing called by the church and his own convic- 
tions, he took charge of Melmore Circuit, under 
Presiding Elder Wm. Disbra, for one year, as 
supply. He was then recommended unani- 
mously by the circuit to the North Ohio Con- 
ference, and in 1853, he joined the conference 
and was sent to Fostoria, where he labored for 
two years, having a glorious revival each year ; 
he was then sent to Kenton, one of the strong- 
est charges at that time in the conference ; and 
was ordained Elder, having completed a com- 
prehensive course of study in four years — 
which usually requires six years. He remained 
at Kenton one year, and then went to Upper 
Sandusky, laboring there two years with good 
success. He was then removed to the Cale- 
donia Circuit, which enabled him to be at home, 
and here he labored for two years, having a 
large revival at Monnett Chapel, in which 108 
persons joined the church ; he labored continu- 
ously for forty-two nights, which proved too 
much for his already over-tasked system, and 
brought on a hemorrhage of the lungs, and he 
retired for two years, much broken down in 
health. In 1861, he took a superannuated re- 
lation to the North Ohio Conference, and on 
his recovery he labored in the ministry in vari- 
ous places. He has been called upon to settle 
up some large estates for T. F. Johnston and 
others. About 1861, he began stocking his 
farm and had good success, and some years 
later, he purchased the old homestead ; he now 
owns about 1,200 acres of fine farming and 
grazing land. He has been engaged in various 
public enterprises, among them the Bucyrus 
Woolen Mills, and is now, with J. G. Frayer, 
owner of the Bucyrus Gas Works. In 1848. he 
was married to Henrietta Johnston, of Dallas 
Township, and had born to him by this mar- 
riage, seven children, viz. : Orwin Bruce, of this 
township ; Wm. A., commission stock-dealer of 
'Chicago ; Francis S., still at home ; John G. 
(deceased 10 years); EflSe at home; Webster 
and Agnes, died in childhood. His wife died 
Nov. 22, 1871, in her 43d year, and on the 4th 
of September, 1873, he was married to Miss 
Sarah Rexroth, of Bucyrus, who was born at 
Winchester, in this county. May 4, 1842, and 
educated in the Bucyrus schools, and at Mt. 
Union College. She began teaching at 15, and 
taught seven terms in this county ; in 1862, 



^e* k" 






iJ: 



BUCTRUS TOWNSHIP. 



775 



she began teaching in Bucyrus Union Schools, 
and continued until 1873, teaching in every 
grade, and in the high school department. She 
was identified with the missionary work in this 
count}', having been Corresponding Secretar}- 
of the Cincinnati branch of the Women's For- 
eign Society and Sunday school work, and is 
now Superintendent of the Sunday school. 
Mr. Monnett's father and uncle came about 
1835, and were the first Methodists in the neigh- 
borhood. His father married Alcy Slagle, 
who was born in Virginia, and received from 
her fathers estate a number of slaves, which 
he brought across the Ohio River to free 
them, when he moved to Pickaway County in 
1801. Mr. Monnett, the subject, has alwa3's 
been a Republican in politics. He was nomi- 
nated for the State Senate in the district com- 
posed of Crawford, Wj'andot and Seneca Coun- 
ties, and cut down the Democratic majority 
400 votes ; was also nominated for Representa- 
tive in 1879. 

ABRxlHAM C. MONNETT, deceased; son 
of William and Elizabeth (Cahill) Monnett; 
was born in Bucyrus Township, March 31, 
1839, and lived on the plains until 1851, when 
he came to Bucyrus and attended school until 
he was 21, when he attended the Ohio Wes- 
le3'an Universit}' at Delaware one ,year, but was 
compelled to come home on account of sick- 
ness. In 1861, he enlisted as a private in the 
34th 0. V. I., Co. E, and rose to the rank of 
Sergeant. He participated in the battles fought 
in Virginia, and was honorabl}^ discharged in 
1864. On his return, he engaged with his 
fatlier in stock-raising and farming until about 
1870, when they dissolved partnership, and Mr. 
Monnett continued alone until 1878, when he 
was stricken down with consumption, and died 
April 17, 1879, after a lingering illness. He 
was a man highly esteemed by all who knew 
him — a kind and affectionate husband and lov- 
ing father. He was married. Dee. 11, 1867, to 
Miss Jennie E. Walwork, of Bucyrus. She was 
born at Saratoga, N. Y., June 6, 1840. She re- 
ceived her education at the Albany State Nor- 
mal School, graduating there in July, 1860. 
The following August, she came to Bucyrus, 
and, in September, 1861, she accepted a posi- 
tion in the Bucyrus Union Schools, where, for 
five successive 3'ears, she taught with gratify- 
ing success. Five children were born of her 
marriage — Frank W., born March 18, 1869 ; 



Wallace L„ Sept. 18, 1871 ; Elizabeth, March 
22, 1873; Julia, Nov. 13, 1874; Rachel, Aug. 
3, 1876. 

M. W. MONNETT, Assistant Cashier of 
Crawford County Bank, Bucyrus ; is the son of 
Abraham Monnett, whose biography appears in 
this work. He was born Aug. 8, 1851, in Scott 
Township, Marion Co. He attended common 
school until 1871, and then took a commercial 
course in the Buckeye Business College, of San- 
dusky Cit}', graduating in March, 1872. He 
remained on the farm until 1878, when he be- 
came Assistant Cashier in the Crawford Count}' 
Bank, which responsible position he still holds. 
Before this appointment, he did considerable 
business in live stock, and proved himself a live 
business man. He was married, Sept. 12, 1872, 
to Rosalie A. Brewer, of Marion Co. Of this 
marriage there are two children living — Ernest 
E. and Edith A. His wife died Aug. 17, 1876. 
He was re-married, Dec. 3, 1879, to Miss Arma 
McCror}', of Bucvrus. 

A. E. MONNETT, farmer and stock-dealer; 
P. 0. Bucyrus ; is a son of Abraham and Cath- 
arine (Brougher) Monnett, and was born Oct. 3, 
1845, in Scott Township, Marion Co., Ohio. 
Here he spent his youth on the farm, acquiring 
a common-school education in the meantime. 
At the age of 21, he took charge of a farm of 
600 acres, which he still owns. He at once de- 
voted his attention largely to the raising of 
stock, principally that of cattle and sheep. In 
tlie rearing and handling of stock, he has been 
eminently successful. He united his fortunes 
with Miss Anna Walton, of Marion Co., Feb. 
20, 1868. Of this marriage four children were 
born — Irvin E., Rosa C, Walter J. and Ada A. 
The latter died in infancy. Mr. Monnett is a 
Republican in politics. 

ORWIN BRUCE MONN KTT, farmer, etc.; P. 
0. Bucyrus ; son of Rev. Thomas J. and Hen- 
rietta (Johnston) Monnett, was born Sept. 29, 
1850, in this township. He was 10 years old when 
his father returned from his ministerial labors 
to the farm. He worked on the farm from 1860 
to 1869, attending in the meantime the com- 
mon schools. In the fall of 1869, he entered 
the Ohio Wesleyan University at Delaware, re- 
maining one year. In the fall of 1870, he en- 
tered the Ohio Business College at Delaware, 
from which institution he graduated in January-, 
1871. [n June of the same year he became 
book-keeper for the woolen-mill company of 



^ 



^J 



-a 



776 



BIOGRAPPIICAL SKETCHES: 



Bucyrus, serving acceptably there for nearly 
one year. In May, 1872, he bought an interest 
in a wholesale and retail grocery and provision 
store in Bucyrus, becoming a partner with Gr. 
W. Myers. This partnership lasted until Sep- 
tember, 1873, when he retired from the store 
and returned to the farm. In 1874 and 1875, 
he was clerk in American ICxpress Company's 
office at Gallon, and, in May of the latter 
year, became book-keeper for Monnett, Frayer 
& Co., for one year. In the fall of 1876, he 
again returned to the farm, where he has since 
remained, aiding his father in the management 
of his large estate. Nov. 14, 1877, he married 
Miss Annie Hoffman, of Bucyrus, a daughter of 
Charles F. Hoffman, Esq. She was born April 
12, 1858. Mr. Monnett is a Republican ; and 
is at present a member of and President of the 
School Board of Bucyrus Township, and taught 
school in 1879-80. He is a local member of 
Chautauqua Scientific and Literary Circle, in 
which he takes considerable interest and is a 
shining light. 

CHARLES S. MUNSON, Bucyrus ; was born 
in Paris, Oneida Co., N. Y., and is a son of 
Julius and Marie Antoinette (Smith) Munson. 
His youth was spent on a farm until 21 years 
of age. He completed his education at Rome 
Academy and Cazenovia Seminary, New York. 
In 1854, he went to Boston, Mass., there he en- 
tered the organ factory of Mason & Hamlin as 
foreman of the tuning department. He is a 
cousin to Mr. Hamlin, of this firm. While in 
this business he was a member of the leading 
oratoria societies of Boston, and for some years 
correspondent for the New York Musical Re- 
view. He remained in the factory about four 
years. Was married, Sept. 18, 1855, to Miss 
Harriet A. Cooper, of Wampsville, N. Y., and 
of this union five children have been born — 
Mary A., Emma L., Grace, Charles and William. 
He i-e turned to New York after leaving Mason 
& Hamlin and taught school in 1857-58 ; had 
taught several terms before. He came to Ohio 
in 1858 to engage as commercial traveler for A. 
Miller & Co., his health demanding a change of 
habits. In 1859, he removed his family to 
Delaware, Ohio, where they lived some two 
years. In April, 1861, he came to Bucyrus, 
where he engaged in the boot and shoe business 
in Quinl)y Block until January, 1868, when he 
sold out and became commercial traveler for a 
wholesale drug house at Cleveland for two years, 



at the end of which time he entered the whole- 
sale liquor and tobacco business in 1870, which 
he has still followed with good success. He 
began his musical education at 15, and in three 
years' time was leader of the choir in Paris, N. 
Y. His first instrument upon which to take les- 
sons was the violin, but he rapidly acquired a 
knowledge of other instruments. Of late years 
he has composed some very creditable pieces of 
vocal music. Has been leader of choirs since 
the age of 18 years. He organized the choral 
union in 1874, first formed of the Lutheran, 
Methodist and Presbyterian choirs for mutual 
practice, and under his direction sing classical 
music. He and wife are members of the Pres- 
byterian Church. His father was born in Paris, 
N. Y., in 1806, and followed farming ; he raised 
three sons and two daughters — Charles S., 
Julius S., James E., Jane and Sarah. Julius is 
professor of vocal music in Boston ; James 
lives in New York City, and is author of Mun- 
son's complete phonography, and is official 
reporter of Surrogate's court The two daugh- 
ters are living at Chicago. His wife was a 
native of New York, daughter of Rev. William 
H. Cooper, late of Bellport, L. I. She was a 
graduate of Cazenovia Seminar}', and was a fine 
Latin and French scholar. 

GEN. SAMUEL MYERS, Nevada ; is a son 
of Abraham M3^ers, and was born on the 4th 
day of December, 1802, near Lancaster, Lan- 
caster Co., Penn. His father was born on the 
memorable day of July 4, 1776, and was a 
miller by trade. He bought a mill in York Co., 
Penn., where he lived for several 3'ears, and, 
about 1 807 or 1808, he removed to Carlisle, Cum- 
berland Co. The subject of this sketch left 
home when 18 jears of age, and learned the 
trade of tailor, serving thi'ee years. He was 
married on the 6tli da^^ of October, 1825 (then 
about 22 years of age), to Rebecca Deardorf, 
who was born July 31, 1808, and, in the fall of 
1827, the}- removed to Bucj-rus, Crawford Co., 
where they lived in the town and vicinity for a 
period of fifty-three years. His wife died July 
17, 1845. leaving ten children, the youngest but 
7 days old. He kept house with his children 
for about three years, when he was again mar- 
ried, June 22, 1848, to Mi's. Hannah Hamilton, 
the result of which was one son, born July 2, 
1849. Bucyrus was but a small place when 
Mr. Myers moved to it, consisting of a few 
houses only, and they of the regular pioneer 



;r^ 



BUCYRUS TOWNSHIP. 



777 



pattern. He, with a few other public-spirited 
citizens then living in the new settlement, went 
to work in good earnest to build up the town 
and improve the country, so as to make it at- 
tractive to emigrants. There were man}^ In- 
dians then in this section of the country. They 
were good friends to Mr. Myers and his family, 
and he always felt himself perfectly safe among 
them. They, and their squaws and papooses, 
would frequently come to his house, and his 
good wife would give them something to eat, 
for which they always seemed grateful. Mr. 
Myers was instrumental in raising an inde- 
pendent company of militia, called " Bucyrus 
Guards," of which he was elected Captain, a po- 
sition he held several years, when he was elected 
Brigadier General of the Third Brigade, 11th 
Division of Ohio Militia, which, after command- 
ing several years, he resigned. He was elected 
Count}^ Treasurer in 183-1:, and served for ten 
years ; the county then embraced quite an ex- 
tensive territory, and he went to ever}' township 
to receive the taxes, to the place of holding 
elections, on horseback, mostly along Indian 
trails and paths. In 18-18, he was elected to 
the State Legislature, and, in the fall of the 
same year, was one of the Electors for the State, 
and was elected a second time to the Legis- 
lature. During those years, he lived at Bucy- 
rus, and was frequently called upon to assist in 
getting up improvements for the benefit of the 
town and the surrounding country, such as se- 
curing the county seat at Bucyrus, railroads 
and other improvements. Gen. Myers has al- 
ways been a public-spirited citizen, and to his 
enterprise Bucyrus and Crawford County owe 
much of their wealth and prosperity. He now 
lives at Nevada, just over the line in Wyandot 
County. 

W. W. MILLER, retired ; P. 0. Bucyrus ; 
whose portrait and that of his wife, appear in 
this book, is another of the old and honored 
pioneers of Crawford Co. He was born in 
Manheim Township, Berks Co.. Penn., on 
March 1, 1808, and is the son of Peter Miller, 
who migrated with his family to Crawford Co. 
in the year 1 835 ; the journey was made b}' 
wagon and was a most tedious one, the family 
consisting of the father and mother and seven 
children, all of whom arrived safely at the old 
Blue Ball Inn, two miles south of Buc3rus, on 
the IGth of May, 1835. They resided at the 
Blue Ball until the 4th of the following June, 



when they rented a house in the village of Bu- 
cyrus, to which they removed. Mr. Miller and 
his son, the subject of this sketch, engaged in 
hauling earth from the hill north of town, to fill 
in and level the public square. They continued 
teaming, at different kinds of work, until on the 
12th of the following December, when they 
purchased the lot where the Western Hotel 
now stands, paying for it $850, when together 
they engaged in the mercantile business, under 
the firm name of Peter Miller & Son. Now, to 
go back to the earlier life of Mr. Miller : He 
was reared on a farm, and remained with his 
father until the age of 14, when he began 
hiring out to do farm- work. This he continued 
for a few years, or until 1828, when he secured 
a situation as salesman in a store at McKeans- 
burg, Penn.; there his first instructions as a 
salesman were received. His first year's salary 
for this work was $30. In 1830, he secured, 
through the influence of his uncle, John Miller, 
a situation in the store of Mr. Henry Arnold, 
in Lancaster, Ohio. A short residence in that 
place brought on an attack of fever and ague, 
on account of which he returned to Pennsyl- 
vania. Recovering, he again secured a situa- 
tion in McKeansburg, where he remained most 
of the time until preparations were made by 
his father to move to Ohio, which event oc- 
curred as above stated. The business was con- 
ducted in Bucyrus under the firm name of 
Peter Miller & Son, until the death of the old 
gentleman, which occurred on his 55th birth- 
day, August 1, 1839. W. W. continued the 
business until Aug. 31, 1848, when his building 
and entire stock of goods were destroyed by 
fire. Though sustaining this loss by fire, Mr. 
Miller was still in fair financial circumstances, 
and in 1852, he, in company with some other 
gentlemen of Bucyrus and Mansfield — John 
Sherman, now of national reputation, being one 
of the number — engaged in the general banking 
business in Bucyrus. The Mansfield gentlemen 
withdrawing, the business was continued until 
1862, by Messrs. Musgrave, Hetich, Adams and 
Miller, of Bucyrus, when they discontinued the 
business to devote their time to other interests 
and enterprises. Mr. Miller has bought and 
sold many different lots and tracts of land in 
and about Bucyrus. For a number of years, 
he has been in no active business, but has been 
reaping the reward of his early industry and 
economy, in a pleasant home in West Bucyrus, 






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778 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



where, in company with his estimable wife, he 
resides in peace and contentment. On Jan. 
28, 1836, Mr. Miller was married to Miss Cath- 
arine, daughter of Henr}' and Catharine Sell. 
She too, bore her burdens nobly in their early 
struggles to accumulate a competency, and in 
the rearing of their family of four children to 
honorable man and womanhood. Her portrait 
appears in this work, as a lady worthy of a 
place in the history of Crawford Co. Their 
children are Maria W., now the wife of C. H. 
Shonert ; Wilson A., James K. and Clarrissa. 

HARVEY E. MORGAN, barber, Bucyrus ; 
was born in Springfield, Clarke Co., Ohio, Dec. 
15, 1833. His father, Nimrod Morgan, was 
born Dee. 25, 1789, and was for many 3'ears a 
slave in Bourbon Co., Ky. ; he commenced to 
buy his freedom, and labored for several years 
in order to secure enough to emancipate him- 
self and wife ; he settled in Springfield, Ohio, 
about 1825, and followed the ti-ade of a black- 
smith for many years ; Nimrod Morgan was 
the father of thirteen children, ten sons and 
three daughters, and is still living at an ad- 
vanced age ; he was 91 years old on Dec. 25, 
1880. Harvey E.Morgan, the subject of this 
sketch, was the ^'oungest son, and in his youth 
received only two months' instruction at a regu- 
lar school ; but in after life he acquired by his 
own efforts a good education. He assisted his 
father in the blacksmith-shop until about 18 
years of age, and then entered a barber-shop at 
Cincinnati, Ohio, serving an apprenticeship of 
two years with George Anderson. During the 
next year he followed his trade on the steam- 
boat Jacob Streeter, which made regular 
trips between Cincinnati and New Orleans. He 
then worked at Richmond, Ind., for four 
months ; then at Dayton, Ohio, for two years ; 
then at Miamisburg about one year ; he also 
followed his trade as a journeyman barber in 
New York City, many places in Michigan, Penn- 
sylvania, Illinois and Ohio, including the cities 
of Chicago and Cleveland. He was married to 
Miss Isabella C. Bell, of Xenia, on Oct. 18, 
1854, and after working in Springfield a short 
time removed to Miamisburg, where they re- 
mained about a year and then removed to 
Mansfield, where they resided for a longer pe- 
riod. In April, 18G0, the family settledhi Bu- 
cyrus, where Mr. Morgan has' since followed 
his trade with good success. At the present 
time he runs three chairs in his establishment. 



which is located in the Reid frame building at 
the northwest corner of the public square ; his 
rooms are conveniently located, handsomely 
furnished, and all his customers are satisfied 
with the treatment they receive upon giving 
him their patronage. He is gentlemanly in his 
deportment and has alwa3's attended strictly to 
business, but nevertheless, during the war, when 
political feeling was most intense against the 
race to which he is an honor, and when a ci'aven 
fear of the draft made ruflflans and cowards of 
many, the trials of Mr. Morgan were exceeding- 
1}^ severe. The night succeeding the da}^ of a 
political meeting, was certain to be disgraced 
by acts of oppression and cowardice toward 
him. Upon four different occasions his shop 
windows were broken in and his furniture de- 
stro3'ed. When prominent white citizens were 
frequently insulted and abused on the streets, 
it is not likely a colored citizen, although harm- 
less, inoffensive and non-combative, could es- 
cape similar treatment ; he was assaulted and 
abused on the streets by cowards and ruffians 
who were safe from all legal responsibility, for 
frequently officers sworn to preserve order in 
the coramunit}' assisted the rabble in making 
the place uncomfortable for Morgan, who was 
therefore "stoned, chased and abused whenever 
it suited the pleasure of these enemies of his 
people. His employes were driven from the 
town, his family kept in perpetual alarm and 
at one time frightened from their home ; thus 
an innocent wife and helpless children were 
also the victims of the brutality of the mob. 
Mr. Morgan is the father of nine children, seven 
of these are still living — Alice, Lucinda, Lil- 
lian, Edward H., Frederick D., Jay R., and 
Carl S. Mrs. Morgan is a consistent member 
oftheM. E. Church. 

DANIEL MILLER, Bucyrus. The history 
of Crawford Co. would indeed be incomplete 
without the subjoined sketch of the Miller 
family. John Miller, father of Daniel, was a 
native of Little York, Penn., from which place 
to Perry Co., Ohio, his parents removed when 
he was 3'et a child. He learned the cabinet-mak- 
er's trade in early life, and soon after reaching 
his majority', went to Licking Co., Ohio, where 
he worked at his trade. It was in this county 
at Granville that he met Miss L3'dia Murdick, 
to whom he was married, and who was the 
mother of his five children. For some time 
after his marriage, Mr. Miller resided in Perry 



:^ 



BUCYRUS TOWNSHIP. 



779 



Co., working at his trade. In 1825, he came to 
Crawford Co., and settled in Bucyrus, which at 
that time was but a small hamlet on the San- 
dusky River. For some time, he worked at 
carpentering and cabinet-making, and then en- 
gaged in the hotel business and dry goods 
trade. He built the first carding-mill in the 
town, and through his endeavors it proved a 
success, and was, for a number of years, one of 
the leading industries of the count}'. He was 
twice elected Sheriff of the county, and it is 
said by old settlers that the county never had 
a more efficient officer. For a number of years, 
he kept an exchange office and dealt quite 
largely in real estate. He purchased of a Mr. 
Clark 80 acres of land, which he laid out in 
town lots, and which is now known as " Miller's 
Addition " to Bucyrus. He was in fact one of 
the most prominent and successful business 
men of that day, and contributed not a little to 
the building-up and improving of the little citj^ 
he had chosen as his home. This good man 
departed this life in 1858, and was followed by 
his wife in 1871. Daniel Miller was born in 
Perry Co., Ohio, June 1, 1824, and his j'outh 
and early manhood were passed upon a farm. 
He received a good common-school education, 
and soon after reaching his m:ijoritv, began for 
himself as a farmer. His marriage with Miss 
Maria Lemmon occurred in 1847. She was 
born in Seneca Co., N. Y., May 20, 1827, and 
came from there to Seneca Co., Ohio, when a 
child. She is sister of Judge Lemmon, of To- 
ledo, one of the leading jurists of Northern 
Ohio. Mr. Miller's marriage bore the fruits 
of seven children, six of whom are j'ct liv- 
ing — Jennie, John D., Charles R., Francis E., 
Cassius M. and Stansbury L. Jeannette was 
the name of the one deceased. jMr. Miller has 
always been engaged in agricultural pursuits. 
He owns 142 acres of land, one and one-half 
miles west of Buc3'rus, upon which are good 
and substantial farm buildings. Politically, he 
is a Republican. Socially, he and wife are sec- 
ond to none in the county. 

JOHN MEYER, Bucyrus ; was born March 
24, 1832, in Lindach, Oberamt Gmuend, Wur- 
temberg, Germany. He is the son of Caspar 
and Catharina (Esterday) Meyer, who were na- 
tives of Grermany and the parents of six chil- 
dren, viz., Dorotha, Christian, Mary, John, 
Catharina and Barbara. The father was twice 
married, his second wife being Margaret Man- 



gold, who was the mother of two children, viz., 
Rosanna and Magdalena. The father was a 
baker and farmer, and held, during his lifetime, 
many positions of honor and trust in his na- 
tive country. The subject of this sketch at- 
tended school and assisted his father until 14 
years of age. About this time, the father died. 
This compelled young Meyer to care for him- 
self, and the next five 3'ears found him working 
on a farm at $30 per year. He had saved 
some money at the expiration of that time, and 
he concluded to trj^ his fortune in the New 
World. He arrived in the United States in 
1853, and, the same 3'ear, came to Bucja'us, 
Ohio, which he has since made his home. On 
his arrival at Bucyrus, he had but $2, but he 
went to work on a farm, and, for two 3'ears, fol- 
lowed that as a vocation. He then, for a few 
years, worked in a hotel and at brick-making. 
He was united in marriage, April 8, 1858, to 
Miss Margaret, daughter of Jacob and Eva 
(Stichler) Bauer, both natives of Bavaria, Ger- 
many, and the parents of five children. Mi- 
chael, one of the sons, was a soldier in the war 
of the rebellion, and was killed while fighting 
for liis country. Mrs. Meyer was born Oct. 17, 
1838, in Bavaria, Germany. Her marriage 
with Mr. Meyer bore the fruit of seven chil- 
dren, six of whom are now living, viz., Eliza- 
beth, John, Jacob, Catharine, Charles and Frank. 
The name of the one deceased was Amelia. 
Mr. Meyer worked, for some years after his 
marriage, at brick-making. He then entered 
the employ of Vollrath & Blicke, with whom 
he remained some three years, and then pur- 
chased the business of them, in which he has 
since remained. He owns a nice business prop- 
erty on Sandusky street, and is doing a large 
and steadily increasing business. He is a 
Democrat in politics, and has twice been elected 
to the responsible office of Corporation Treas- 
urer. He is spoken of in ver}' complimentary 
terms as an official. 

JOHN R. MILLER, lumber merchant, Bu- 
c^-rus ; was born Nov. 13, 1840, near London- 
derry, England ; he is the son of Joseph and 
Sarah (Henry) Miller, both of whom were born 
in Cheshire, England, and who now reside 
in Perth Co., Out., Canada; Mr. Miller was 
8 years old when his people emigrated from 
England to Canada ; they settled on a farm in 
the same count}' in which they still reside ; 
there the early life of John R. was spent, and 



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780 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



an education received ; at the age of 16 years, 
tie began learning the carpenter's trade with 
one Jacob Bald, of Stratford, with whom he 
remained for two years ; his father buying 
a carriage ftictory, required the help of his son 
to run it ; he therefore quit the carpenter's 
trade to take cliarge of the wood-work depart- 
ment in the shops of his father ; his father 
continued the business for four years, when he 
sold out ; this left young Miller free to make 
new arrangements for his own future ; accord- 
ingly, in the spring of 1863, he came to Seneca 
Co., Ohio, to see an uncle, and, while there, he 
took a contract to Iniild for him a barn ; this 
piece of work served as an introduction for 
him, and, after its completion, he secured 
plenty of contracts for building ; for a time, he 
followed the business of building in the States 
in summer, and returning to his home in Can- 
ada in winter. May 4, 1874, he was married 
to Miss Mary E. McKinstry, of Bucyrus, Ohio. 
For two years after marriage, Mr. Miller lived 
in Seneca Co., Ohio, but, in February of 1876, 
he came to Bucyrus, where he has since re- 
sided ; for one year, he worked at his trade, 
and then became a member of the firm of Os- 
man Miller & Co., manufacturers and dealers 
in lumber ; several changes were made in the 
firm until 1879, when Mr. Miller became the 
sole owner and proprietor ; he has been one of 
the active, energetic business men of Buc3'rus, 
and his success is the result of his own good 
financiering. He is a Republican, and a mem- 
ber of the Knights of Honor ; Mrs. Miller, as 
well as himself, is a member of the M. E. 
Church. They have two children living — Car- 
rie (lertrude and James William. 

C. G. MALIC, merchant, Bucyrus. This 
gentleman, so well known to the citizens of 
Crawford Co., was born in Wurtemberg, Ger- 
many, March 20, 1834, and is the son of Caleb 
and Barl)ara (Heibold) Malic. After receiving 
his education, he sailed to America, and was 
on the ocean twenty-seven days, landing in 
September, 1847. He at once came to Craw- 
ford Co., and commenced work at cabinet-mak- 
ing, at which he continued .some six months. 
He also followed threshing for two years, and, 
in the meantime, attended school, and acquired 
a knowledge of the English language. Liberty 
Corners, in Vernon Township, was the scene of 
his first clerical and mercantile labors. In 
October, 1851, he commenced at that place as 



salesman, and continued for some four years. 
He then purchased a half-interest with John 
Kaler, in Bucyrus, which partnership lasted 
until 1859, when the subject of our sketch pur- 
chased the entire business, and continued it 
until the fall of 1864. In the following year, 
he began business in the place which he now 
occupies, with John Kaler and John Keil as 
partners, dealing in dry goods and groceries. 
Ml-. Keil retii-ed in 1867, and the remaining two 
partners continued the business until 1876, 
when Mr. Malic purchased the entire business, 
and was sole owner until 1878, when James 
(11030! became an equal partner. Thej are now 
running the business together, and have large 
salesrooms on the northwest corner of the pub- 
lic square, one 26x60 feet, devoted to the dry 
goods business, and a carpet room on the second 
floor. The grocer^' occupies a room to the rear 
of the dr}' goods department. The}' are doing 
a flourishing business, and are recognized as 
among the leading business men of the place. 
Mr. Malic was married in May, 1864, to Re- 
becca Gloyd, of West Liberty, and of this mar- 
riage there are four children — Mai'y, the wife of 
C. C. Scott, of Bucyrus ; James B., a clerk in 
the store ; Emma, wife of H. J. Deal, of this 
city, and Charles. Mr. Malic is a self-made 
man, and began without capital, and has brought 
himself into affluence by industry and business 
tact. He is a prominent citizen, taking interest 
in public affairs, and is at present a member of 
the Council of Bucyrus. 

LOUIS K. MYERS, Assistant Postmaster, 
Bucyrus ; is a son of George W. and Mary 
(Hart) Myers, and was born in Gallon Feb. 9, 
1852. His father's family removed to Bucyrus 
in 1856, where our subject went to school until 
his 17th year. Afterward, he was clerk for his 
father until 1869 ; he was then appointed Dep 
uty Postmaster under J. P. Rader, and, the office 
changing hands, he remained one year under 
John Hopley, afterward becoming a clerk and 
book-keeper in the produce business until 
1873 ; he then became an engineer on the At- 
lantic & Lake Erie R. R. ; he was on the en- 
gineering corps until 1874, when he became 
chief clerk for C. W. Timanus, remaining one 
year ; he was next book-keeper for A. M. Jones, 
in the Buckeye Shops. In the fall of 1876, he 
was bill and shipping clerk for Tracy & Avery, 
of Mansfield. In the fall of 1877, himself aiid 
brother entered into the grocery business. In 



BUCYRUS TOWNSHIP. 



781 



1878, he entei'ed the post office again, under 
Ml". Hopley, and has since then remained the 
deput}^ clerk. He was Captain of the Bucyrus 
Light Guards until his departure for Mansfield, 
and has been a steadfast Republican and good 
worker in the cause ; he is also a member of 
the M. E. Church. In discharging his duties 
as clerk in the post office, he has given satisfac- 
tory evidence of his ability in that department 
of the public service. 

WILLIAM MAGEE, farmer ; P. 0. Bucy- 
rus ; son of James and Ann (Moderwel!) Ma- 
gee, was born Sept. 9, 1828, in Sandusky Town- 
ship, this county, where the family were among 
the earliest settlers. His youth was spent there 
on a farm, attending, in the meantime, the dis- 
trict school, until 21 years of age, and worked 
at home for the famil}' until he was 24 3'ears 
old. On Oct. 10, 1850, he married Miss*^Mar- 
garet J. Cleland, of Vernon Township ; two 
children are the fruits of this marriage — Ra- 
chel A., now the wife of Charles McCuen, a 
blacksmith at Wyandot, Ohio, and William W., 
at home. He has also raised a nephew and a 
niece — Fenton (1. Magee and Rachel E. A. Cle- 
land. After marriage, he farmed the homestead 
for one year, then went to North Robinson, 
where he built a saw-mill with Baxter Mayers, 
in which business he remained for about two 
years, and afterward farmed for two or three 
years on rented land. He moved on to his 
present place in 1857, it being owned at the 
time b}- his uncle, John Moderwell. In 1859, 
he bought 80 acres of the farm, and added 18 
acres to it in 1862. It has good buildings, a 
fine orchard of his own planting, and is located 
one mile from Bucyrus. He began life with 
but little except good health and energy, and 
has acquired all he has by his own labor and 
industry. In early times, he bore his share of 
the hardships incident to life in a new country", 
being obliged to plow when he was so small 
that he could not pull the plow loose when it 
caught under a root, but had to hitch his team 
to his end of it for that purpose ; and has also 
plowed barefoot, when his plow would freeze 
fast in the ground at night. He is a member 
of the Presbyterian Church ; his wife also was 
raised in that faith. He is a Republican in 
politics. The father of Mr. Magee was born in 
Washington Co., Penn., about 1788, and was a 
teamster in earlj' life, but afterward learned 
cabinet-raakino:. He was married about 1811 ; 



was in the war of 1812, and marched to Fort 
Meigs, when the war ended. In the spring of 
1824, they drove through to Ohio in a wagon, 
cutting their wa}" from Mansfield, and arrived 
at their destination, after a long journey from 
Washington Co., Penn. He came out on horse- 
back in the fall of 1822, and entered 160 acres 
of land for himself, and 160 also, for John 
Ma^'ers, his brother-in-law, in Sandusky Town- 
ship. Knisely and Ridgely were the only set- 
tlers in that vicinity, which was densely 
wooded, and the Indians lived within forty rods 
of his house. They moved into a cabin which 
had nothing to recommend it but the roof and 
logs. The}'' drove a cow and two calves through 
with them, which died shortl}^ after their arri- 
val ; he lost many cattle after his settlement 
here from murrain and in the swamps. He 
raised a small crop of potatoes the first year 
in his new home ; food was very scarce ; they 
had to pound corn, and sift it through a rag. 
He was a hard-working man, but met with 
many misfortunes, which kept him in debt until 
just before his death. He had considerable 
mechanical genius, and with tools could do 
many different kinds of handiwork, as well as 
building houses. He died April 14, 1850, and 
his faithful wife Oct. 15, 1851. They had nine 
children — Eliza, wife of Samuel Parsons, of 
Gallon ; Mary A., died in her 18th year ; Rob- 
ert, died at the age of 55 ; Belle, is the wife of 
Peter Wert, of Johnson Co., Mo. ; John, died at 
the age of 55 ; William, the subject of this 
sketch ; Margaret E. and Sarah J., both died 
young, one 15, the other 18 years of age, and 
Etheiinda died in her 18th year ; all died rather 
suddenly. Mr. Magee, Sr.. was a member of 
the Presbyterian Church, and a Whig in poli- 
tics. 

W. F. MORRISON, merchant, Bucyrus ; was 
born Oct. 23, 1849, in this county, and is the 
son of John and Mary (Brokaw) Morrison. 
He received a common-school education, living 
on a farm until his 19th year. He then became 
a fireman on the A. & G. W. R. R., running 
from Gallon to Dayton. He was also a brake- 
man, for some time after, on the B. & I. Div. 
He then retired to the farm. He remained on 
the farm with his brother for one year, and 
then rented a farm for three years, with good 
success. In 1875, he began in the mercantile 
business, running a general store at North 
Robinson, in company with J. P. Robinson, for 



in^ 



?83 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



about thirteen months. Robinson retiring, our 
subject continued one 3'ear, at the end of which 
time his brother, R. Morrison, became an equal 
partner, and together they continued in busi- 
ness until the fall of 1879. Sept. 1, he 
formed a partnership with Geo. W. Fisher under 
the firm name of Morrison & Fisher. They are 
now doing an extensive business in merchant 
tailoring and gents' furnishing goods, occupy- 
ing Room 4, Quinby Block. They have con- 
stantly in their employ over twenty experienced 
workmen. Mr. Morrison was married, March 
21, 1872, to Miss Lizzie Chambers, of Crest- 
line, Ohio. They have three children — Oney 
0., Bertha E. and Mabel E. 

JAMES H. MALCOLM, Bucyrus ; was born 
Oct. 18, 1827, in Marlborough, Ulster Co., N. 
Y., and is the son of James and Elizabeth 
(Hayne) Malcolm. He lived on a farm and 
attended district school. His father dying 
and leaving him to fight the battle of life alone, 
he worked in a mill morning and evening to 
pay his board, while he attended school during 
the day. In the summer he worked on a farm. 
At the age of 16, he commenced buying cattle 
for his brother, and was thus employed for 
about three years, his brother being one of the 
first to slaughter and send quartered beef down 
the Hudson to the New York markets. He 
next went to Washington and engaged in selling 
beef by the quarter, and followed this five 
years. During this time he formed the ac- 
quaintance of some of the leading stock-dealers 
of the Sandusky Plains, among whom were the 
Monnetts. In 1851, he went to California, 
taking the water route, the voyage occupying 
thirty-six days. He purchased a tract of land 
in the Santa Clara Valley, and kept a ranche 
for one 3'ear, and then sold it at a fair profit. 
He then located on the I'iver twenty miles be- 
low Sacramento City, on the great Vine ranche, 
and here turned his attention to the raising of 
vegetables. The river overflowing, however, 
ruined a large portion of his crops. He re- 
turned to New York in the winter of 1854, and 
resumed the handling of cattle. In June, 1856, 
he came to Bucyrus and engaged in buying 
and feeding cattle, in partnership with George 
Roberts. They rode five miles each da}' and 
fed 400 cattle. This business union lasted 
three years and was productive of fair success. 
He then continued in the stock business alone, 
and rented the Abraham Monnett " Mud Run " 



farm for one year, when he bought the home- 
stead portion, consisting of 360 acres, living 
here nine years and adding 300 acres in 1868. 
He lived here until May, 1878, when he came 
to Buc3Tus to educate his children. The Mal- 
colm race, of which the subject of our sketch is 
a descendant, are of Scotch origin and of hon- 
ored ancestr3^ His grandfather, James Mal- 
colm, was an aide to Gen. Scott and fell in the 
battle of Luudy's Lane, on which blood}' field 
he was buried, and where now rest his remains. 
The father of Mr. Malcolm was an only son, 
and was born in New York State and followed 
farming. He was in the war of 1812, and 
raised four sons and seven daughters, eight of 
whom are living — Abigail J., Elizabeth, Eve- 
line, Mar}^ Julia, Eleonora, James and Augus- 
tus. Mr. Malcolm was married, Nov. 4, 1862, 
to Miss Alcy Monnett, daughter of A. Mon- 
nett. This union has been blessed with three 
children— Katie E., Gilbert F. and Ella M. 
Mr. Malcolm has alwa3'S been a Republican in 
politics. Himself and wife are members of 
the Methodist Episcopal Church, of which he 
is now Steward and Trustee. 

C. M. MATTHEW, cabinet-maker, Bu(;y- 
rus ; sou of Frederick and Mar}' (Kuntz) Mat- 
thews ; was born April 25, 1825, in Prussia. 
He attended school until his 14th year. At 16 
he commenced learning cabinet-making, serving 
an apprenticeship of three years under Philip 
Heifner, in the village of Thalsang, and was 
compelled to work early and late. He after- 
ward worked as journeyman in several places 
in Prussia. In the early part of 1851, he sailed 
from Antwerp, and, after a tempestuous voyage 
of fifty-five days, landed at New York, in May, 
1851. He went to Milwaukee, Wis., at a time 
when stumps were in the midst of the town. 
He worked on a farm for one year, and then 
went to Detroit, Mich., where he worked at his 
trade for several years. In the same year, he 
went to the copper-mines of Northern Michigan, 
and worked there in company with a party of 
sixt}' carpenters, nearl}' all of whom died of the 
cholera. He remained there a year, and then 
went to Sandusky City, working at his trade 
there for about two years. He next worked at 
Republic, Seneca Co. Here he lived three years 
and then removed to Leipsic, Putnam Co., resid- 
ing there two years. In October, 1860, he came 
to Bucyrus, where he worked in the sash fac- 
tory. The next year he helped build the Bu- 



■?i; 



<K 




/CAJ:~tyOnmxUL>j^ 



t 



i 






BUCYRUS TOWNSHIP. 



785 



cyrus Machine Works, and was employed in 
the wood- work department as pattern-maker 
and foreman, which position he held ten years.. 
In 1872, he opened a cabinet-shop and furniture 
store in partnership with Conrad Strieb, which 
union lasted until Februar}', 1880, when the 
firm name was changed to C. M. Matthew & 
Co. His establishment is on Sandusky avenue, 
where he has a large stock of furniture, and is 
at all times prepared to do undertaking on 
short notice. He received a majority of the 
premiums at the last Crawford County Fair for 
display's of furniture. He is substantially a 
self-made man, and b}' his careful management 
has placed himself in easy circumstances. His 
father died when he was but 2 years old. He 
has one brother, John P., Superintendent of 
Schools at Ludwiller. He was married Aug. 
22, 1853, to Miss Margaret Shaak. of Republic. 
Her parents were born in Bavaria, and came to 
Seneca Co. in 18-19. Her father is still living, 
aged 78. There were nine children, of whom 
Louisa, Elizabeth. Mary. Jacob, Adam and 
John are living. Margaret and Catharine are 
dead, and one died in the old country. Of Mr. 
Matthew's marriage there are seven children — 
Charles F., Louisa, Mary A., Henry J., John F., 
William E. and George. 

L. MANTEL, boot and shoe dealer, Bucyrus ; 
was born in Bavaria March 9. 1839. He re- 
ceived a limited education, having completed it 
at the age of 12. He then learned weaving in 
the town of Mellerichstadt, serving two years, 
and passing a thorough examination when his 
trade was completed. He then, although ver}' 
young, traveled through the principal cities of 
Europe, working at his trade for short periods 
in each jilace, altogether thus occupying three 
years. He then went to England, visiting 
Liverpool and London, traveling on foot. He 
finally settled at Manchester, where he worked 
in a rubber goods manufactor}' for two years. 
He then sailed from Liverpool to New York, 
the voyage occup3'ing thirteen weeks. He 
landed at New York in March, 1861, and, the 
war breaking out soon after, he sold cigars up 
and down the Hudson to soldiers and others, 
and stopped at Albanj^ two months. From that 
time until 1863, he was a sutler in the Union 
army ; was taken sick in that year and went to 
Cincinnati ; after recovering somewhat, he trav- 
eled throughout the Eastern cities ; arrived in 
the fall of 1863 at Cleveland, his health still be- 



ing somewhat impaired. On March 24, 1864, 
he married Miss Henrietta Rothschild, of Alle- 
gheny City, and came at once to Bucyrus, where 
he engaged in buying and shipping produce for 
one year. Values being at a downward tend- 
ency, he lost all that he had earned by hard 
work and economy. In 1865, he bought a horse 
and wagon and a stock of notions and dry 
goods, and followed peddling for about ten 
years ; in the meantime changing his home to 
Cleveland, coming again, however, to Bucyrus. 
In 1874, he went to Allegheny City, where he 
dealt in stock, and afterward run a feed store 
for about nine months. He then returned to 
Bucyrus and started a shoe-store, in which 
business he has been engaged ever since. He 
is now located opposite the First National Bank, 
having a large stock of boots and shoes and an 
extensive, well-appointed establishment. He 
does considerable business in hides, leather and 
shoe findings. Mr. Mantel has three children 
living — Betty, Emanuel and Nathan. 

S. B. MILLS, blacksmith ; is the son of Sam- 
uel and Mary (Tussing) Mills, and was born in 
Rockingham Co., Va., March 21, 1847. At the 
age of 18, he commenced learning the trade of 
blacksmith at New Market, Shenandoali Co., 
and served two and a half years' apprentice- 
ship, afterward working two and a half 3'ears 
as a journeyman. In 1870, he came to Bucy- 
rus and entered his present shop as a workman ; 
but, in 1876, he purchased the establishment, 
and is doing a general business in blacksmith- 
ing, wagon-making and horse-shoeing, employ- 
ing four hands. He has an enviable reputation 
for turning out first-class work, it being invar- 
iably satisfactory'. He was married. Oct. 1, 
1872, to Miss Mary Barth, of this count}-. 
They have two children — Homer 0., born in 
July, 1873, and an infant daughter, born in 
February, 1880. He is a member of the En- 
glish Lutheran Chui'ch, and also belongs to the 
Knights of Honor and the Ro3-al Arcanum. He 
is a Republican in politics. 

JAMES xMcCRACKEN, deceased ; was born 
July 16, 1800, (probabl)') in Westmoreland Co., 
Penn. At the age of seven 3'eai'S, he came 
with his parents to Ohio, and settled in Wayne 
Co. Here he received a common-school edu- 
cation, and, while 3-et a young man, began lay 
ing the foundation for a competency. Accord- 
ingly, he came to this count}- in 1825, and 
learned the trade of a wheelwright, with his 



"Tl' 



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786 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



cousin, Hugh McCracken, liaving, however, 
prior to this, been a tiller of the soil. Until 
the year 1834, he worked here and made spin- 
ning-wheels for a livelihood. During this year, 
he was elected Justice of the Peace, and held 
this office, discharging its duties faithfully, for 
several years. He was also in early da3's, 
Postmaster of the village of Bucyrus. In 1848, 
he removed to a farm south of town, and occu- 
pied it three years, when he removed to a farm 
west of town, which he partly cleared and 
greatly improved, and here lived until his death, 
which occurred Dec. 24, 1875, in the 76th year 
of his age. He died a highly esteemed citizen, 
an upright, conscientious Christian, and a mem- 
ber of the Presb3'terian Church. He was mar- 
ried to Ruth Marquis, of Bucyrus Township, 
Dec. 4, 1832. She still survives him, and is 
living in Bucyrus, occupying a handsome resi 
dence on East Rensselaer street. She was born 
in Belmont Co., Ohio, May 26, 1813. Her 
father removed to this county in 1829, and set- 
tled three and one-half miles south of town, at 
a time when the country was sparsely settled, 
and the Indians were constantly' seen. Her 
father was a native of Manchester, Va., and lived 
for awhile after his first marriage in Washing- 
ton Co. of the same State. About the year 
1800, he was re-married, and moved to Bel- 
mont Co., where Mrs. McCracken was born. 
He died in this county, in November, 1834. 
His wife sui'vived him till 1855, when she also 
died, aged 81. There were ten children of this 
marriage, six of whom only survive — David, 
William, Susan, Mrs. McCracken, Cynthia and 
George. Of the union of Mr. and Mrs. Mc- 
Cracken there were eight children, all of whom 
are living. Portia, formerly a teacher in the 
Bucyrus Union Schools, now living at home ; 
William V., of Columbus ; James K., agent at 
Ft. Wayne for the P., Ft. W. & C. R. R. ; Alex- 
ander M., clerk in railroad office ; Augusta M., 
at home, and a successful teacher in public 
schools ; Harvey M., ticket agent at Ft. Wajme ; 
Charles W., at Cincinnati ; Harriet E., at home, 
formerly a teacher in the city schools. 

JAMES S. McCARRELL, dentist, Bucyrus ; 
was born Feb. 16, 1836, and is a son of James 
and Nancy (Shearer) McCarrell. He first saw the 
light in Armstrong Co., Penn., and was raised 
on a farm, attending the common schools until 
14 years of age, when he entered an academy 
at Hookstown, Penn., studying there for about 



three years, after which he taught school for 
six years. At 24 years, he entered a dental 
office at New Brighton, Penn., where he was a 
student three years. He remained in Brighton 
some two years longer, when he came to Bucy- 
rus, Ohio, June 26, 1866, locating in Picking's 
Block, where he has since practiced mechanical 
and operative dentistry with fair success. He 
married Mary Matthews, of Sandusky City, 
Ohio, Jan. 16, 1867. Two childi-en have been 
born of this union, viz., Maud and Susan. 
He is at present a member of the Town 
Council. 

GEORGE McDonald, Bucyrus ; was born 
in Niagara Co., N. Y., Oct. 20, 1828, and is the 
son of Reuben McDonald. When he was but 
4 3-ears old, his father removed to Liberty Town- 
ship. Here he lived on a farm until he, was 18 
3'ears of age, receiving, in the meanwhile, a 
common-school education. He then commenced 
learning the trade of wagon and carriage mak- 
ing, with Moses Mitchell, of Greenwich Center, 
Huron Co., Ohio. He worked with him but 
twelve months, finishing his apprenticeship with 
Mr. Shonehiter, of Attica, Seneca Co., Ohio. 
In 1849, he returned to his home in Liberty 
Township, and, building a shop, commenced 
working at his trade, and followed it there for 
five 3'ears. He then removed to Wingert's Cor- 
ners, where he remained three 3'ears. He then 
sold his shop, and, bu3'ing a stock of merchan- 
dise, kept a store for four years. During Bu- 
chanan's administration, he was Postmaster at 
Broken Sword. He continued in his store until 
1864, when he sold out, and engaged at his 
trade at Benton, in this county. Five years 
later, he sold this shop and removed to Lykens 
Township, where he bought a farm, and was 
for four years a farmer. In September, 1873, 
he sold the farm, and purchased two lots on 
the Plymouth Road, and built thereon the hand- 
some Gothic residence now occupied by James 
Gloyd, and which he occupied for three 3'ears. 
and then built his present residence and shop. 
Since his residence in Buc3'rus, he has been en- 
gaged at painting, glazing and finishing, also 
paying considerable attention to house building. 
He started in life with nothing, but, by in- 
dustry and good management, has succeeded in 
placing himself in easy, comfortable circum- 
stances. He was married Sept. 15, 1850, to 
Miss Lydia Seitz, of Holmes Township. They 
have two children living — Silas F. and Cyrus F. 



^ 



lLl 



BUCYRUS TOWNSHIP. 



787 



THOMAS McCREARY, farmer ; P. 0. Bu- 
eyrus ; the oldest son of Thomas and Poll}^ 
McCreary, who were of Scotch-Irish descent. 
The subject of this sketch was born in York 
Co., Penn., July 15, 1826, and in 1837 his par- 
ents removed to Crawford Count}' with their 
famil}', and settled on land in Bucyrus Town- 
ship now owned b}- David Marshall. 3IcCreary 
worked for Judge Andrew Taylor for some ten 
3'ears, until he became of age, and then worked 
for D. C. Boyer for some two jears. He was 
married to Miss Eliza, daughter of John Boyer, 
of Whetstone Township, Dec. 28, 1849. They 
were the parents of the following five children : 
J. F. McCreary, now a resident of Nebraska, 
and married to Maria McMichael ; Elizabeth 
McCreary, now Mrs. James Gamble, of Bucy- 
rus Township ; Joseph Reuben, Anna K. and 
Elida B. His first wife died in 1867, and 
Sept. 3, 1868, he married Miss Catherine Cobb, 
and the result of this marriage is the following 
children : Sadie M., Charles H. and Edith N. 
McCrear}-. About Jan. 1, 1850, McCreary pur- 
chased of his father-in-law, John Boyer, the 
160 acres in Whetstone Township now owned 
by Samuel H. Heinlen. He resided on this 
farm for about five j'ears, until he bought, in 
1856, the land now owned b}' William Holmes, 
when he removed to this farm, which he occu- 
pied until 1872, when he sold it to the present 
proprietor. McCreary then occupied his first 
farm for some twelve months and then pur- 
chased his present farm in Bucjtus Township, 
containing 240 acres, of the Shaeff'er heirs. This 
land is now occupied by McCreary's son-in-law, 
James Gamble. AVhen he sold one of his farms 
to William Holmes, he received as part pay 
220 acres in Vernon Township, which he held 
for three 3'ears and then sold to Peter Weaver. 
McCrear}' lived on his farm in Buc3rus Town- 
ship from 1873 to 1876, and then removed to 
Bucyrus, and, after occupj'ing for some months 
the houses now owned by Martin Streib and 
Benjamin R. Boyer, removed in the spring of 
1878, to his present residence, on the land now 
owned by Martin P. Wright. Mr. McCreary 
united with the St. Paul Lutheran Church of 
Bucyrus about the year 1851, and has served 
as Trustee and Deacon in the congregation sev- 
eral different terms. In 1860, his brother, who 
was agent for the South Bend plows at the 
city in which the}' are manufactured, shipped 
six to Mr. McCreary, which were the first South 



Bend plows introduced into Crawford County. 
In 1867, Mr. McCreary purchased the first Cli- 
max Reaper and Mower of Corry, Pennsylvania, 
introduced into the county. He sold several 
of these machines and also the South Bend 
plows, but aside from this his occupation has 
always been a farmer. 

WILLIAM ^NlcCUTCHEN, book-keeper, Bu- 
cyrus ; was born in Franklin Co., Penn., Oct. 
6, 1841. He is a son of James and Louisa 
(Pike) McCutchen, of Pennsylvania. At 11 
years of age he began learning the tailor's trade 
in Green Castle, Penn., and after serving three 
years mastered his trade. For four years he 
worked at his trade in different places in Penn- 
sylvania, and in April, 1861, came to Tiffin, 
Ohio. He remained at this point a short time, 
and then removed to Bloomville, Ohio, where 
he opened a tailor-shop, for custom work. In 
x\ugust, 1861, he enlisted in Co. G, 49th 0. Y. 
I., and was discharged at Louisville, Ky., Nov. 
20, 1865. Mr. McCutchen was in the cam- 
paign of the Army of the Cumberland, and was 
an active participant in all the engagements of 
that memorable campaign. On the same day 
he was discharged, he married Miss Elizabeth 
C. Williams, of Louisville, Ky. She was born 
in Indiana. To this union were born two 
children — George and Mary L., both of whom 
died in childhood. After his marriage, Mr. 
McCutchen came back to Bloomville, where he 
recommenced the tailoring business. Since that 
time he has been in different localities in Ohio, 
working at his trade and selling sewing ma- 
chines. In 1871, he came to Bucyrus, where 
he engaged in selling sewing machines until 
Feb. 1, 1878, when his services were engaged 
by the Franz & Pope Knitting Machine Co., as 
book-keeper and Treasurer, and with whom he 
has continued ever since. Mr. McCutchen is 
a member of F. & A. M., Lodge. No. 443, of 
which he is Secretary. He is a Republican in 
politics, and an intelligent, wide-awake gentle- 
man. 

W. H. McCORMICK, dealer in stoves and 
tinware, Bucyrus ; is the son of Thomas and 
JMargaret (Martin) McCormick, and was bom in 
Franklin Co. Penn., iMay 10, 1840. His par- 
ents removed to Mansfield, Ohio, on ^lay 10, 
1843 ; here he went to school until he was 14. 
He worked at gas-fitting in Mansfield and Woos- 
ter for one and a half years. He then leamed 
the tin trade with Mr. Blendmyer, serving four 



^■. 



788 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



3'ears, at the end of that time becoming fore- 
man of the shop ; he, however, soon retired on 
account of his health, and some time after he 
came to Bucyrus, and worked two years in the 
tin-shop of D. Picking. In the fall of 1861, he 
opened a tin and stove store at Annapolis, this 
county, but remained there only a year. He 
removed to Waterloo, Ind., in the fall of 1863, 
and opened a hardware and tin store, doing a 
large business for three years ; he then returned 
to Bucyrus, and became agent for the sale of 
agricultural implements. In 1867, he entered 
the employ of M. Emrich, operating a branch 
store at Upper Sandusky. After remaining 
there some three years, he returned to Mansfield 
and entered the employ of Blendmyer, and be- 
came foreman for the year. He next became 
foreman of Cuykendall & Freeman's tin and 
hardware store at Plymouth. Ohio, for two 
3'ears. In March, 1876, he returned to Bucy- 
rus, and has since been engaged in the stove 
and tinware business, and also in the sale of 
agricultural implements. He entered his pres- 
ent storeroom in the Gormley building, in 
November, 1879, and here he has a full stock of 
stoves, t'n and glass ware, and is prepared 
to do all kinds of roofing and spouting. He is 
a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
and also of Waterloo Lodge, 303, Waterloo 
Ind. He is a Democrat in politics ; he was 
Government Inspector in the Fifth District dur- 
ing Johnsons administration. He was married 
May 15, 1862, to Miss Rosanna Boyer, of Bu- 
cyrus ; they have two children- — Alvertie and 
Anna K. 

H. W. McDonald, civil-engineer, Bucy- 
rus ; is the son of Reuben and Matilda (Cole) 
McDonald, and was born in Liberty Township 
Feb. 12, 1846. He received his education in 
the Bucyrus Public Schools, and at the age of 
13 years entered a store in that place. At the 
age of 16, he commenced teaching, and taught 
nine terms in all, and also attended school in 
the meantime. In 1858, he commenced travel- 
ing through the Western States, introducing 
new inventions. In about 1862, he was ap- 
pointed by the County Commissioners, to the 
office of County Surveyor, to fill the unexpired 
term of Horace Martin. He was, at the next 
election, elected to fill the place, and, in all, 
was elected for three full terms. During the 
time that he held the office, Mr. McDonald 
surveyed, platted and published the current 



map of Bucyrus, which is the standard publica- 
tion of its kind of the county. He also laid 
out the town by careful surveys, in its present 
system of sewer districts, and superintended 
the construction of the principal sewers of the 
town. The county is also indebted to him for 
many and important suggestions and improve- 
ments on the Infirmar}- farm. Since his retire- 
ment from the office, he has been engaged in 
civil engineering and sui'vejing, and dealing in 
real estate. He has been a member of the City 
Council, and has been instrumental in the im- 
provement of the town lying north of the river. 
Throughout his public life, Mr. McDonald, has 
secured the respect and esteem of his fellow- 
citizens. He began without capital, and bv in- 
dustiy and good management he has placed 
himself in good circumstances. He was mar- 
ried Sept. 1, 1859, to Miss Hattie Perdew, of 
Benton, this county. Three children are living 
of this marriage — Laura, Maud and Mott H. 
Two died in infancy. In politics Mr. McDon- 
ald has always been a Democrat. His grand- 
father, Samuel McDonald, was born in Wood- 
stock, Conn., in January, 17-15, and was of 
Scotch-Irish descent. He enlisted in the Con- 
tinental army at the beginning of the Revolu- 
tion, and served under Washington throughout 
the war. After peace was declared, he removed 
to Berkshire Co., Mass., where he was united in 
marriage to 3Iiss Martha Squiers. He re- 
moved to the State of New York about 1820, 
and settled in the " Holland Purchase," and 
died at the residence of his son in Cambria, N. 
Y., in November, 1829. Reuben McDonald, the 
father of our subject, and a son of Samuel Mc- 
Donald, the youngest of nine children, was born 
in Berkshire Co., Mass., Jan. 12, 1803, and re- 
moved to Niagara Co., N. Y., in 1829, where he 
married Miss INlatilda Cole, removing to Liberty 
Township, in this county, in May, 1832, and 
now resides on Maple street, in North Bucyrus. 
James Cole, the father of Mrs. Reuben Mc- 
Donald, was a native of Nova Scotia, born Nov. 
13, 1752, of wealthy parentage. At the com- 
mencement of the American Revolution, he 
joined a company of Nova Scotia refugees and 
served in the Continental army throughout the 
war, for which he was disinherited ; was at 
Valley Forge with Washington, afterward 
taken prisoner and incarcerated in a British 
prison ship in Boston Harbor, where he was 
badl}' wounded in one of his limbs, by the ex- 



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u 



BUCYRUS TOWNSHIP. 



789 



plosion of a shell, which crippled him for life. 
After the war closed, he was released and re- 
ceived pay for his services in Continental 
money, not worth a — continental — and hobbled 
on his crutch to Cheshire, Western Mass., where 
he hired out to a wealthy farmer, named Jesse 
Mason, working" for him nearly a jear, and in 
the meantime marrying his daughter Elizabeth. 
They removed to Vermont, came back to ^las- 
sachusetts, and afterward removed to Niagara 
Co., N. Y., where he died in November, 1826, 
at the age of 74 3'ears. 

JAMES McKINSTRY ; P. 0. Bucyrus, Ohio. 
James McKinstry was born in Washington Co., 
Penn., June 18, 1811. His father, John Mc- 
Kinstr}', was a native of Belfast, Ireland, and 
came to this country' in 1776, when but 3 years 
old. His mother, Mary Pattou, was born in 
South Carolina, her father being a Captain in 
the Revolutionar}' war, and a brother-in-law to 
Maj. Andre. They wei'e married in the year 
1806, in Franklin Co., Penn., and became the 
parents of three sons and three daughters, all 
of whom are living, the youngest being now 59 
years old. The}- attribute their long life to 
habits of industr}' and sobriet}-. The early life 
of James was spent on the farm, working dur- 
ing the summer and attending school a few 
weeks in the winter. At the age of 14, he com- 
menced teaming to Pittsburgh and Wheeling, 
driving five and six horses before heavil}' load- 
ed wagons, over the mountains. This life, 
which he followed for eight j'ears, threw him 
among men of the most dissipated habits, and 
he, with commendable resolution for those times, 
pledged to himself to forever abstain from the 
itse of spirituous liquors and tobacco, in all its 
forms — which pledge he has never broken. In 
September, 1833, his father's family moved to 
Marion Co., Ohio, and settled near Caledonia. 
The countr}' was new and ver^- thinly inhabited. 
Deer and wild turke3-s were in abundance. He 
and his trusty rifle were constant compan- 
ions, and he can narrate many stirring inci- 
dents of those pioneer days. He possessed re- 
markable physical strength, and was therefore 
in constant demand at clearings and raisings. 
In 1840. he was nominated on the Whig ticket 
as candidate for Sheriff' of Marion Co., but was 
defeated by a small majorit}'. On Sept. 15, 
1842, he married ^liss Rebecca Garberson, old- 
est daughter of William Garberson, lately de- 
ceased, of Caledonia. He settled on a farm two 



miles west of that town, and, by a life of in- 
dustry and frugality, he became the possessor 
of about 600 acres of the best land on the 
Plains. He was one of the prominent wool- 
growers of Marion Co., keeping from 800 to 
1,800 sheep. During the war of the rebellion, 
he drove to Illinois more than 4.000 sheep, and 
fed them there for two years. To afford his 
children the advantages of an education, he re- 
moved to Bucjrus in April, 1863. Between 
1868 and 1870, he engaged in the grocery bus- 
iness. His generous and unsuspicious disposi- 
tion made him frequently the dupe of design- 
ing knaA'es, and, during the panic of 1873, he 
was compelled to pa}' over $20,000 of that hard- 
est of all money to pay — ■ bail money " — by 
which nearh' all the honest earnings of a life 
were swept awa}'. He is the father of ten chil- 
dren, six of whom died in infancy and child- 
hood. Of those living, the oldest is William 
Thomas, who resides on a farm four miles south 
of Bucyrus ; the second is Mar}* E., wife of 
John R. Miller, proprietor of a saw-mill in Bu- 
cyrus ; the third is Ama H., wife of Theo. ¥. 
Shotwell, an attorney at law in Bucyrus ; and 
the fourth is Matthew, who still lives at home. 
Vv^ILLIAM A. McDonald, marble works, 
Bucyrus ; is a son of Daniel and Nancy (Thomas) 
McDonald, and was born Dec. 19, 1827, in Cal- 
edonia Co., Vt. He was raised on a farm until 
he was 16 years old, with but little opportuni- 
ties for obtaining an education. At the age of 
16, he began traveling and selling notions, and 
followed it until 1859, except one year spent in 
Lyndon and Peacham Academies. During his 
19th 3'ear he also taught three months. He 
traveled through all the Northeastern States, 
and a large portion of the Middle and North- 
western States, and the Dominion of Canada, 
with fair success, but his great desire was to 
see the country'. In 1858. became to Ohio and 
engaged in the tombstone business, at Mt. Gil- 
ead, Ohio, until 1867. when he came to Buc^-rus 
and engaged as traveling salesman for the mar- 
ble shop of J. G. Sherwood, continuing as such 
until 1876. In 1877, Mr. McDonald started a 
marble-shop ol' his own in Bucyrus, and has 
since done a prosperous business. In JanuaiT, 
1880. he moved into his present shop, on the 
corner of Warren street and Sandusky avenue. 
At the same time, he became the partner of W. 
H. Houpt, under the firm name of Houpt & 
McDonald, with two large houses — one here 



790 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



and the other at Shelby. Ohio. They employ 
about twelve skillful hands— among them John 
HuUikan. of Rutland. Vt., who is one of the 
most skillful carvers in his profession, his work 
taking premiums over all competitors at the 
Crawford County Fair of 1880. Mr. McDonald 
was married. July 10, 1849, to Miss Jane D. 
Sayward, of Great Falls, N. H. He has two 
children living— Allie J. and H. Scott ; three 
died in infancy. His wife was born in Hollis, 
Me., on the 8th of September, 1830. Both she 
and her husband are members of the M. E. 
Church. 

GEORGE McNEAL, Bucyrus ; is the oldest 
son of Alexander and Jane (Goshorn) McNeal, 
and was born Aug. 8, 1822, in Huntington Co., 
Penn. His father was a native of Pennsjdva- 
nia, of Irish parentage, and a farmer. He 
married Jane Goshorn about the year 1820 ; 
she was also a native of the Keystone State. 
They had twelve children, nine of whom are 
living, the subject of this sketch being the old- 
est ; the others are iMary, John, Matilda. James, 
Alexander, Margaret, Susan and Eliza Ann. In 
1835, his parents removed here and settled four 
miles east of Bucyrus. Here Mr. McNeal was 
compelled to work early and late, in clearing 
the land, and received but little schooling, 
being compelled to work for the support of the 
rest of the family, there being twelve children 
younger than himself. He learned carpenter- 
ing at the age of 21, working three years with 
his brother-in-law, Daniel Parcher. He then 
removed to Bucyrus, where he became Deputj' 
Sheriff under William C. Beal, and served as 
Constable at the same time. He engaged in 
butchering several years, with good success. 
He then became a partner with J. H. Phillips, 
in the grocerj^ and provision business, continu- 
ing from 1867 to 1870. In the spring of 1869, 
he was elected Ma^'or of Bucyrus, serving one 
term. He then became sub-contractor on the 
A. & L. E. R. R., to grade ten miles, in company 
with S. D. Rowse. Since that time, he has been 
engaged in the sale of agricultural implements, 
representing Aultman, Miller & Co., of Akron ; 
C. Aultman & Co., of Canton; Gaar, Scott & Co., 
of Richmond, Ind., and other large firms, and 
is douig a good business. He is now Township 
Trustee, and has been many 3'ears, being also 
one of the leading auctioneers of the county. 
B}' his first marriage, he has four children liv- 
ing — Orlando, railroad conductor, Ft. Wayne, 



Ind.; Maggie, wife of Frank Stauffer, of Bucy- 
rus ; Dilla Hulda, married, and living in Co- 
lumbus ; Mar}' J., Rebecca and Charlotte are 
dead. His first wife died in October, 1870 ; he 
was married to Lavinia Knisely, of Osceola, 
Aug. 8, 1871. He is a member of Bucyrus 
Lodge, No. 139, and a charter member of Ivan- 
hoe Chapter, No. 117. A., F. & A. M. 

DR. A. C. McNUTT, physician, Bucyrus ; is 
the son of Abraham and Jane (Craton) McNutt, 
and was born Oct. 26, 1827, at Petersburg, 
Ohio. He passed his youth here until 12 years 
of age, when his father moved to Liberty 
Township, in this county. Here young McNutt 
worked upon the farm until 22 j-ears of age, 
gaining his education at the common schools, 
save a lew months spent in the school at Bucy- 
rus in 1850. In the following year, he entered 
the Ohio Wesleyan University, at Delaware, 
Ohio. In the spring of 1852, be began the 
study of medicine with Dr. George S. Ziegler, 
of Sulphur Springs, Ohio, and, in the mean- 
while, for several years, teaching school to pay 
his way. He continued with Dr. Ziegler until 
his graduation, in March, 1856, at the Starling 
Medical College, at Columbus, Ohio. He began 
the practice of his profession in Leesville, 
in April, 1857, where he continued two and a 
half 3-ears. In 1860, he removed to New 
Washington, where he was at the breaking-out 
of the war of the rebellion. On Oct. 16, 1861, 
he was commissioned as State Surgeon by Gov. 
Tod, and was transferred to the United States 
service in August, 1862. He was at once sent 
to the post hospital at Raleigh, Va.. where he 
acted as Assistant Surgeon. For some four 
months, be acted as Surgeon of the 11th 0. V. I. 
In the fall of 1862, he was taken seriously ill, 
and returned home. In April, 1863, having re- 
gained his health, he engaged in his practice at 
Caledonia, where he continued with good suc- 
cess until 1874. In May of this year he re- 
moved to Bucyrus, Ohio, where he has since re- 
sided. Mr. McNutt is a member of the Ohio 
State Association, and one of the Vice Presi- 
dents. He was married Sept. 14, 1858, to Miss 
Emily Whittaker, of Leesville, a daughter of 
Annas Whittaker ; she was born there Sept. 14, 
1835. Two children have been born to them — 
Grant A., born July 4. 1864, and Hortensia, 
born Sept. 10, 1867.' 

JEREMIAH MORRIS, deceased ; was the 
son of James and Elizabeth (Pittinger) Morris, 



*7r 



:V 



.k 



BUCYRUS TOWNSHIP. 



791 



and was born in Frederick Co., Md., April 6, 
1793 ; his father, who was a Methodist minis- 
ter and a relative of Bishop Morris, died thi-ee 
years later, leaving only a Bible to his son and 
but little more to his widow : in 1800, Mrs. 
Morris brought the family down the Ohio 
to Portsmouth, and afterward married Isaac 
Monnett, the father of Col. William Monnett. 
During the war of 1812, Mr. Morris, then a 
lad of some 19 years, enlisted in Capt. Daw- 
son's company of Ohio militia, from Ross Co., 
Ohio, in which his step-father held a commis- 
sion; he was stationed at the old fort near 
Upper Sandusky for some time, where, one 
night, while on a trip to Ft. Wayne, he lost a 
horse, stolen by the Indians ; meeting a mes- 
senger, who reported the afltair of Drake's de- 
feat, they turned back, young Morris making 
the sixty miles on foot in one da}^ with noth- 
ing but a raw piece of bacon and a canteen of 
whisky. About 1815, he married Miss Mary 
A. Williamson, of Pickaway Co.. Ohio. Here 
he was made Captain of a militia compan}^, 
and spent his life until 1834, w lien he moved to 
his present residence, in Buc3a"us Township ; 
here he lost his wife, and, some five 3'ears after- 
ward, Oct. 22, 1839, he married Miss Mary 
Parker, of Pickawa}' Co., Ohio ; Miss Parker 
was born in Caroline Co., Md., Oct. 31, 1803, 
and still survives him ; a daughter, Elizabeth, 
is the onl}' child of this union. Mr. Morris 
died Oct. 19, 1874. He was for many years a 
devoted member of the M. E. Church, and pos- 
sessed more than an ordinary share of amiable 
qualities ; he possessed a large and powerful 
frame, was strictly honest, and remarkably 
industrious, and a Republican in his political 
affiliations. He died possessed of some three 
hundred acres of land, most of which he 
gained through his unaided industr3^ 

DR. J. T. MOLLESON, veterinary surgeon, 
Buc^Tus ; the above-named gentleman is the 
only representative of veterinary science in 
this vicinit}', and his calling is one worthy 
of our attention ; the practice of the healing 
art and study of that branch which has refer- 
ence to our noble animals has been a growth in 
this country, and our subject is one who 
strives, b}^ careful stud}' and scientific research, 
to exalt and dignif}^ his profession ; many of 
the aids afforded the practitioner among the 
human species are denied him who would heal 
the dumb suflerers of the brute creation ; the 



diagnosis of these cases must be made by 
an examination at once scientific and difficult. 
J. T. Molleson, son of John D. and Lucy 
(Chamberlain) Molleson, was born March 23, 
1840, at Miamisburg, Montgomery Co., Ohio ; 
while yet an infant, his parents removed to 
Franklin, Warren Co., Ohio, where his boyhood 
was spent in the varied employments allotted 
him on his father's farm until 17 years of age ; 
he then entered his brother's liver^'-stable, 
where he remained some years ; at the age of 
19, 'he began study of veterinary works, having 
been the constant companion and admirer 
of the horse all his life ; by the year 1861, he 
had carefully read some standard works on the 
subject, and began treating some diseases ; in 
1867, he entered upon an elaborate course of 
study of veteruiary medicine with Dr. Ballard, 
of Arcanum, Darke Co., Ohio, a man eminent 
in his profession ; he continued one year, and 
completed a course of study on the treatment 
of horses ; he practiced with good success in 
Southern Ohio until 1875, when he made his 
first trip to Bucyrus, locating pei'manently in 
1877 ; since that time, he has successfully 
treated over one thousand horses, and, during 
the epidemic among horses in the fall of 1880, 
treated in three weeks over one hundred 
horses, without losing a single case. He was 
married, Dec. 21, 1867, to Miss Hattie McFar- 
land, of Tippecanoe, Ohio, and of this union 
five children were boi'n — Fannie, Johnnie, J. 
D., Leon and Daisy. The Doctor is a member 
of De Graff Lodge, No. 549, I. 0. O. F., and 
Demas Lodge, No. 108, Knights of P3'thias. 

JACOB R. MILLER, stock-dealer; P. 0. 
Buc^'rus. The subject of this sketch is a son 
of Henry and Elizabeth (Ramberger) Miller, 
and was born in Dauphin Co.. Penn., Jan. 19, 
1839. The family lived in Dauphin Co. until 
Jacob was 8 3'ears old, when the}' moved to 
Northumberland Co., of the same State, living 
some seven 3-ears there. The3- returned to 
Dauphin Co., where Mr. Miller lived until 1865, 
working hard at farm labor, and going to 
school but little in youth. In 1865, our sub- 
ject went to Schu3'lkill Co., and followed the 
double occupation of stock-dealer and butcher 
in the town of Ashland, Penn., until 1871, 
having good success except for the loss of ac- 
counts during the strike of 1869. In the 
spring of 1871, he came to Bucyrus. where he 
kept the Mader House for one 3-ear. In 1873, 



J^l 



792 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



he opened a butcher-shop on South Sandusky 
avenue, between Charles and Warren streets, 
doing a prosperous business until 1878. when 
he rented the shop to John Heinlen, and has 
since devoted his attention to bu^'ing and sell- 
ing stock, dealing extensively in cattle. Oct. 
22, 18G6, he married Miss Hannah Bensinger, 
of Schuylkill Co., Penn., and of this marriage 
there were five children, two of whom are liv- 
ing — Ulysses G. and Villera L.; tho?e deceased 
are Cora L., died in infancy, in Pennsylvania, 
and lies buried in Schuylkill Co.. while two are 
buried here — Katie 0. and Jennie B. Mr. Mil- 
ler and wife are both valued members of the 
German Methodist Church, and he is an es- 

FREDERICK MASSNER, contractor and 
builder, Bucyrus. A son of Jacob and ^Maggie 
(Snawenbarger) Massner, was born May 13, 
1834, in Wiirtemberg, Germany, and received 
an education under the compulsory laws of the 
land of his nativity. He then began learning 
the carpenter's trade in Ludwigsberg, serving 
with one Charles Bair for four 3'ears, without 
remuneration, and working from 5 in the morn- 
ing until 7 at night, the year round ; subse- 
quently he worked two yeai's as journeyman in 
Zurich, Switzerland. He sailed from Havre, 
and arrived at New York in September, 1854. 
He went to Dayton, Ohio, in search of work, 
and found employment with a farmer five miles 
from the city, with whom he remained for 
about one year, completing, in the meantime, 
his dwelling, which was in process of construc- 
tion. He then went to Greenville, Darke Co., 
Ohio, where he plied his trade for a few months, 
thence to Columbus, Ohio, where he worked 
with a brother for about two years, beginning 
in 1S5(), upon the State house. April 4, 1857, 
was the occasion of his marriage to Miss Fred- 
erieke Nachtraub, of Colurnbus. In May, 
1858, he came to Buc^tus, where he has since 
resided with his family, composed of wife and 
six children, namely — Anna, Henry, Albert, 
Matilda, William and Charles, two having died, 
each in the ninth year of its age. After corn- 
coming to Bucyrus, he began taking contracts, 
building some of the finest residences in the 
city, among them, that of S. R. Harris. He is 
an architect of some note, having made it a 
study in the schools of the old country. His 
business is quite extensive, having several 
workmen employed during the season. He 



and famil}- are members of the German M. E. 
Church, also workers in the Sunday-school, he 
being at present Superintendent, also a Trustee 
in the church. His wife was born in Wurtem- 
berg, Germany, near the place of his own na- 
tivit}-, and came to this country in 1852. Mr. 
Massner, to use his own language, is a " Re- 
publican always." 

JERRY NIM AN, furniture dealer and under- 
taker. Bucyrus; was born in Richland Co.. 
Ohio, Feb. 27, 1841. He is the son of John 
and Margaret (Bradley) Niman. His father 
was a native of Penns^^lvania, and came to 
Richland Co. at an early da}', and there mar- 
ried about the year 1818. He followed farm- 
ing with good success. The subject of this 
sketch is the youngest of six children, and was 
7 years old when his father removed to Mans- 
field, and he received his education in the public 
schools of that city. His brother was a manu- 
facturer of furniture, and while 3'et 3'oung Mr. 
Niman entered the workshop of his brother, 
having a natural taste for such labor. He fin- 
ished his apprenticeship at the age of 21, and, 
having served two apprenticeships at uphol- 
stering, he worked with his brother as journey- 
man until 1861. In 1863, he enlisted in the 
163d 0. V. I., and was at Petersburg and City 
Point, Va. ; was mustered out in September and 
returned to Mansfield. In April, 1865, he came 
to Bucyrus and engaged in the manufacture 
and sale of furniture ; also attending to under- 
taking. In 1874, he built the northern half of 
Niman & Fisher's Block, one of the finest 
brick blocks in the city, his part being 110x21-|- 
feet, and three-stories high. Mr. Niman has his 
furniture warerooms on the second floor, and has 
a large and elegant stock of the latest and most 
desirable styles of furniture. He also makes a 
specialty of undertaking, and is prepared to 
embalm subjects in the most approved and 
scientific manner. His experience of twent}'- 
five 3'ears makes him a man on whom the peo- 
ple may rely. He was married. May 5, 1870, 
to Miss Mary Seamen, of Toledo, Ohio. He is 
a member of the Knights of Honor, and also of 
Roval Arcanum. 

D. W. NUSBAUM, miller, Bucyrus ; is the 
son of David and Rebecca (Getuldig) Nusbaum, 
and was born in Frederick Co., Md., June 6, 
1833. He went to school some during the 
winter, and, at the age of 18 years, moved to 
Seneca Co., Ohio. Previous to this, he had 



BUCYRUS TOWNSHIP. 



793 



worked one year at milling in his native State, 
also assisting his father in the blacksmith-shop. 
After coming to Seneca Co.. he worked a year 
at blacksmithing, and then entered a mill near 
Tiffin and remained three years. He then be- 
came foreman in the construction of the C, S. 
& C. R. R. After the completion of this road, 
he was Division Master for about two and a half 
years, and then went to Toledo, where he was 
foreman in charge of 125 men in building the 
Island House, which occupied two and a half 
years of his time. He then I'eturned to Tiffin, 
Ohio, and engaged again at milling, continuing 
for three years. Next he rented Judge Lugen- 
beel's Mills, above Tiffin, for one .year, and then 
the Honey Creek Mills for three jears. He 
took charge of Kaller's Mills one3'ear, and then 
Benton's Mills, in Crawford Co., were under his 
supervision. His health failing, he purchased 
a farm near Buc^rus, which he still owns, and 
remained but one year. He came to Bucyrus 
in 1865, and has remained here ever since. He 
assisted in the erection of his present mill. He 
was employed in McClau's Mills, Sandusky 
Valley Mills, and in the establishment of VoU- 
rath's. Has been in the present mills since 
1878 as a partner. He has always been a Re- 
publican, true to the principles of the party 
faith. His maternal grandftxther was a soldier 
in the Revolutionary war. He was married, in 
February, 1856, to Miss Elizabeth Sinn, of Craw- 
ford Co. They have three children living — 
Emma J., Charles and David E., and one child 
is dead. 

SAMUEL NORTON and wife, deceased, Bu- 
cyrus ; whose portraits appear in this work, 
were the first settlers of Bucyrus Township. 
For sketch of them see Chapter VIII, devoted 
to that township. 

JOHN Gr. OTT, dealer in stoves and tinware, 
Buc^'rus ; is the son of John Gr. and Mary 
(Aclin) Ott, and was born Nov. 27, 1810, in 
Baden, Germany. He went to school from his 
sixth to his 14th year, and then learned the 
trades of mill-wright and carpenter. At the 
age of 20 he entered the regular arm3% and 
served three years. In the fall of 1834, he 
came to America, making the voyage in twenty- 
eight da3's. He came b}' canal and steamboat, 
from New York to Sandusk}- Cit}-, and by team 
to Crawford County, with a family' named 
Schlater, who settled in Chatfield Township. 
He assisted them to build a cabin, and remained 



during the winter. In May he went to Lower 
Sandusk}-, now Fremont, where he was em- 
ployed at cabinet-making. He then went to 
Ft. Wa^'ne and commenced work as a carpen- 
ter, returning, however, the same year, to Fre- 
mont. In the spring of 1836, he went to 
Springfield, Ohio, where he remained until 1841. 
In 1842, he removed to Kenton, Ohio, where he 
put up a steam saw-mill, and did a large busi- 
ness, remaining until 1 852 ; in the meantime, 
erecting three saw-mills in the county. He re- 
moved to North Washington in that year, and 
remained there until 1867, in which year he 
removed to Buc3'rus, and ran the steam pump 
for the Pittsburgh, Ft. Wayne & Chicago Rail- 
road, filling the position for five years. In 
1872, he bought a stock of stoves and tinware, 
and opened a store on Sandusky avenue, north 
of public square, with his two sons, George 
and August, as partners. The}' have a large, 
complete and attractive stock of stoves, tin- 
ware and house-furnishing goods, and do all 
kinds of roofing, spouting and job work. Mr. 
Ott commenced without capital, and is now 
one of the substantial business men of the 
town. He is a member of Crawford Lodge, 
No. 139, A., F. & A. M. ; Ivanhoe Chapter R. A. 
M. ; also of the Royal Arcanum. He is a 
Democrat in politics. He was married, Jan. 8, 
1838, to Miss Eva Heisel, of Springfield. Ohio. 
Of this marriage, there are five children — 
George, Mary, August, Caroline and Louisa. 
His first wife died in 1854, and he afterward 
married Miss Elizabeth Orth, of Hardin Co., 
Ohio. Of this marriage there are two children 
living — Hamilton and Edward. George M. 
was born April 8, 1844, in Kenton, Ohio, 
and received a common-school education. He 
learned the tinner's trade, and since 1872, has 
been engaged with his father in the business. 
August was born June 3, 1847, and has been a 
member of the firm since 1872. He was mar- 
ried to Miss Elizabeth Shealy, of Chatfield 
Township. Hamilton Ott is a graduate of the 
Bucyrus High School, and is now attending 
the Wittenbe'rg College. J. G. Ott & Sons are 
among the leading business firms of the cit}-, 
and have an enviable reputation for doing good 
work, and giving general satisfaction. 

PHILIP OSMAN, tile manufacturer, Bucy- 
rus ; son of Jacob and Catharine (Eichraan) 
Osman ; was born March 29, 1829. in the town 
of Rutdow, Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany. He 



J^ 



'A 



794 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



left school when 12 3'ears old to learn black- 
smithing. He served an apprenticeship of fonr 
years, during a part of the year working from 
4 o'clock in the morning until 10 o'clock at 
night, and without compensation. He next 
worked in the Province of Baden about eighteen 
months, when he went to France, and there 
worked as journe3'man blacksmith for about 
three and a half years. On reaching the age 
of 21, he sailed for America, landing at Phila- 
delphia in June, 1850. He worked in a car- 
riage factory of that city some seventeen months, 
when he set out for Ohio, reaching Buc^rus in 
December, 1851. Here he was employed by 
Jeflerson Norton one year, when he started a 
shop of his own. He did only custom work for 
some time, then began the manufacture of car- 
riages and wagons. He continued in this busi- 
ness with fair success until 1876, when he re- 
tired, selling his interest to his son Lewis and 
David B. Woodside. In 1870, he became in- 
terested in the manufacture of draining tile, but 
rented the factory until 1877, when he gave the 
business his personal attention, and has since 
done a large business at the factory located on 
the Gallon road. Mr. Osman is one of those 
who started in business without capital, and by 
hard work, and close attention to business, has 
steadily gained the confidence of all, and that 
esteem which is the meed of every worthy and 
useful citizen. Feb. 14, 1854, he united in mar- 
riage with Miss Catharine Hooker, of Bucyrus. 
The fruit of this union was six children, only 
three of whom are living — Lewis, Aquilla and 
jNLittie. The wife and mother of these children 
died July 25, 1866, and he subsequently was 
married to Miss Anna Keller, of Bucyrus. Mr. 
Osman takes an active interest in the cause of 
temperance, and believes in the legal prohibition 
of the rum traffic. 

DAVID PETRY, Bucyrus ; was born July 
4, 1841, in Schuylkill Co., Penn. He is one of 
a family of five children born to Charles and 
Phoebe Petry, both of whom were natives of 
Berks Co., Penn., where they were married, and 
resided until their removal to Schuylkill Co. 
They removed from this to Richland Co., Ohio, 
in 1857, where the father now resides. The 
mother died Sept. 5, 1872. David Petry was 
reared upon a farm, and received the advantages 
of a common-school education. He was mar- 
ried March 28, 1863, to Miss Mary A. Wirt. 
She was born in Bavaria, Germany, Nov. 26, 



1842. The}^ have one daughter — Mary A., born 
March 1. 1864. Mr. Petry came to this county 
in 1870, and has become well and favorably 
known to the people of Bucyrus and vicinity. 
He takes great interest in all educational enter- 
prises, and, by his integrit}- and gentlemanly 
conduct, has surrounded himself with a large 
circle of friends. He owns 132 acres of land, 
which he farms in a successful and systematic 
manner. Politically, he is a Democrat. 

JUDGE JOSIAH S. PLANTS (deceased), 
Bucyrus. Judge Plants, whose portrait ap- 
pears in this work, was a son of Samuel and 
Rachel (Sands) Plants, and was born Dec. 10, 
1820, in York Co., Penn., it is believed. When 
14 3'ears of age, he came to Buc}'rus with his 
parents. They stopped with George Lauck, 
who kept tavern at that time. He persuaded 
them to remain, and he bought land within 
three miles of Buc3'rus. The subject remained 
there two 3^ears, when he learned the shoe- 
maker's trade, but 0UI3' worked at it a short 
time. By his own exertions, he educated him- 
self pl3'ing his vocation with an open book be- 
fore him, and, when he acquired a sufficient 
education to teach, took up a school. When 
his term closed, he entered Ashland Academy, 
alternating for several terms as teacher and 
student. When about 23, he entered upon the 
study of the law with Robert McKell3\ of Buc3'- 
rus. now of Upper Sandusk3', finishing his course 
with Judge Scott, of Buc3a'us. He was ad- 
mitted to the bar in 1842, as noticed in the 
sketch of the legal profession in another depart- 
ment of this work, and practiced until 1858, 
when he was elected Judge of the Court of 
Common Pleas, in which capacit3^ he served 
until his death, which occurred at Davis Station, 
111., bv the accidental discharge of a gun, on 
the 24th of August, 1863. He taught the first 
high school in Buc3-rus, previous to his begin- 
ing the stud3' of law. He commenced life with- 
out capital, and acquired a handsome com- 
petency through his own exertions. He was 
married Jan. 1, 1849, to Miss Amanda C. Lauck, 
of Buc3'rus. Three sons and one daughter were 
born of this marriage — Justinian L., Galen S., 
Frank and Anna J. Since her husband's death, 
Mrs. Plants has cared for and educated her 
family. Justinian lives at Bedford, Iowa, and 
is a Notar3' Public and Real Estate agent. Ga- 
len lives in Concho Co., Texas, and is a stock- 
raiser. Judge Plants is spoken of among his 



g J 



:W 



BUCYRT^S TOWNSHIP. 



795 



large circle of friends, as a faithful friend, hon- 
est counselor, able advocate and just Judge. 
His heart was open as his charity was bound- 
less, and the poor were never turned away 
hungry from his door. 

DAVID PRICE, proprietor of Monnett 
House, BUC3TUS ; son of John and Anna 
(Watts) Price, was born Sept. 6, 1823, in Man- 
hattan Co., Island of Manhattan, then Harlem, 
where he went to school until he was 14 years 
old. His father was a butcher, and our subject 
attended on a stall in Washington market in the 
meantime. Mr. Price has " roamed through 
many lands;" for years he was a sailor, and 
his life was spent " on the ocean wave," his 
home was " on the rolling deep," and to use 
his own words he " never felt so much at home 
as when on blue water." In addition to his 
other sailor experiences and other voyages, he 
made a trading voyage around the world, leav- 
ing New York in 1844. His vessel, which was 
the sail vessel Truscot, sailed from New York 
direct for the Gulf of Guinea, on the coast of 
Africa, where they took on a cargo of ivory : 
thence rounded the Cape of Good Hope ; passing 
across the Indian ocean, the}' touched at Aus- 
tralia ; thence north to Kamtchatka and the 
sea of Okhotsk ; thence among the islands of 
the South Pacific for spices ; thence rounded 
Cape Horn, up the South Atlantic and back 
to New York, after an absence of thirty-nine 
months. He shipped, originally, as a cabin 
boy in the Live Oak. schooner, bound to Flor- 
ida, which he continued at intervals until he 
started on his " voyage round the world." He 
began his nautical career as cabin boy, then 
served as a sailor, and finally as fourth mate. 
In 1850, he left the high seas, intending to con- 
fine his voyages to the lakes ; took one trip to 
Marquette, but, not liking it, he retired from the 
business and settled in Cleveland, where he 
started a butcher shop, which proved success- 
ful. He became clerk in Gorham & Aplin's 
grocery for some time. He was next money 
deliverer for the American Express Co., which 
position he filled for about three years. In 
1872, he became proprietor of the Gibson 
House, at Crestline, and operated it for about 
three years. July 1, 1875, he purchased the 
furniture and fixtures, and leased the Monnett 
House, of Buc^-rus, and has done a good busi- 
ness ever since as its proprietor. The house 
contains fort^-nine light, airy rooms, all newly 



furnished and re-fitted. It has two large and 
elegant sample rooms on first floor, and his ta- 
ble is furnished with all the delicacies in their 
season, and if his guests do not get hold of them 
it is not his fault. He has made such improve- 
ments as render the Monnett House first-class 
in every respect. In September, 1859, he was 
married, at Milwaukee, Wis., to Miss Abbie 
M. Shurbin, of Concord, N. H. 

E. P. PENFIELD, pliysician and surgeon, 
Bucyrus ; is the son of Samuel and Clara E. 
(Woodworth) Penfield, and was born in Huron 
Co., Ohio, April 5, 1833. His home was in 
North Fairfield until he had attained to the age 
of 14 years. He then went to the Normal 
Academy at Norwalk, and received a good edu- 
cation. He commenced the study of medicine in 
1854, with Dr. D. H. Reed, of his native village, 
and graduated at the Homeopathic Medical Col- 
lege in 1859, and immediately after, went to 
Newark, Oliio, where he entered into a good 
practice, I'emaining some three years. He re- 
moved to Bucyrus in June, 1861, and opened 
an office. During this time, he has built up 
an excellent practice, and gained an enviable 
reputation as a skillful physician, being the 
only repi'esentative of the homeopathic school 
in the cit}-. He is a member of the State 
Homeopathic Association, and was, at its sec- 
ond session, elected Secretar}'. On x'^pril 15, 
1857, he was married to Louisa H. Smith, of 
North Fairfield, Huron Co. Three sons are the 
blessings of this union — ^Charles S., Jamie 
W. and Arthur E. The eldest, Charles S., is a 
graduate of Hahnemann Homeopathic School of 
Chicago, and is practicing there at present. 
The doctor's father was a native of Connecticut, 
and his mother of New York. The}' were early 
settlers in Huron Co., where his father was a 
wagon-maker, but followed farming later in 
life. Dr. E. P. Penfield is a member of the 
Presbyterian Church, and has been Trustee for 
nine j^ears. As a ph^-sician, he ranks among 
the first in the cit}', and has been a prominent 
and valuable citizen, and one who is well known 
as a man of principle and true worth. 

WILLIAM POPE, manufacturer, Bucyrus ; 
is the son of Perry Pope and a native of New 
York, having been born in Edmeston, Otsego 
Co., N. Y., Aug. 7, 1825. His earlier years, 
until he had attained the age of 15, he spent 
upon the farm and secured such education as 
was afforded by the common school in his 



:L£ 



796 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



neighborhood. At the age mentioned he began 
the harness trade, working in his native county 
for some five years ; subsequently he engaged 
in work at an art galler}', where he continued 
for some eight j^ears. In the meanwhile he 
read medicine, and, in 1852, he commenced the 
practice of medicine in the Western part of 
New York. In the spring of 1855, he came to 
Crestline, where he continued the practice of his 
profession until 1870. In the meantime, in con- 
nection with William Franz, he became inter- 
ested in the improvement of knitting machines, 
and applied for their first patent in 1868, 
which was granted in the following March. 
Since then they have taken out eight patents 
on these machines and have purchased six 
others. In 1870, Mr. Pope, in company with 
Dr. C. Fulton, James Clements, John Franz 
and others, became incorporated for the pur- 
pose of manufacturing these machines and knit 
goods. Their first machines were put upon the 
market in 1870, when they became quite popu- 
lar and are now used extensiveh' as a family 
machine and by manufacturers. Mr. Pope is 
President and General Manager of this com- 
pany, and has shipped goods to Germany, 
England and Japan. He was married to Cor- 
nelia Waring, of Franklinville, N. Y., on Nov. 
17, 1856. Seven children have been the fruit 
of this union — William W., Lois, Ida, Kate, 
Henrv, Anna and Frank. 

REV. JAMES T. POLLOCK, Pastor of the 
Presbyterian Church of Bucyrus ; is a son of 
William and Fannie R. (Thomson) Pollock, and 
was born in Leesburg, Carroll Co. Ohio, Aug. 
14, 1835. He was reared on a farm and went 
to a common school until he was 16 years of 
age. He was then given the advantages of a 
higher education, and at the age of 22 he grad- 
uated at Geneva College, Logan Co., Ohio. He 
was licensed to preach, April 16, 1860, by the 
Scotch Covenanter Church, and was ordained 
at Utica, Ohio. July 11, 1861. He entered 
upon his ministerial labors at Bovina, N. Y., 
serving from 1861 till 1863 with gratifying 
success. In the following year he enlisted as 
Chaplain of the 91st Ind.'V. I., and continued 
until the close of the war, witnessing the battles 
of Franklin and Nashville, and proving of 
great assistance to the wounded. After the 
war, he was called by the New School Presby- 
terian Church, of Osborn, Greene Co., Ohio., to 
fill their pulpit, where for four years he labored 



successfully. For the three years following, he 
was Pastor of the Church at Monroeville, Hu- 
ron Co., Ohio. The Presbyterian Church of Tif- 
fin next gave him a call and hei'e he labored in 
his chosen calling, until 1877, when he removed 
to Maumee City, remaining but six months, 
and in January, 1879, he came to Bucyrus, 
where he has proven himself a model Pastor 
and beloved of his people. He was married, 
June 12, 1867, to Elizabeth A. Andrews, of 
Montgomery Co., Ohio. Of this union there are 
three children living — Fanny T., Margaret R. 
Melville A. A son, Charles F., is dead. 

ZALMON ROWSE (deceased), whose por- 
trait appears in this work, was one among the 
earliest of Crawford Countj^'s pioneers. He 
was born in December of 1789, in the State of 
Massachusetts. His parents were poor and un- 
able to give him the advantages of a classical 
education. He was endowed with a quick and 
comprehensive mind, and by his own efforts he 
succeeded in getting a good education, which 
he turned to the best advantage by engaging 
in school teaching. When 16 years old he 
went to Wayne Co., Penn., and while there, 
when he had arrived at the age of 19, he was 
married to Miss ^lehetabel Kent, who was then 
16 3'ears old. In the spring of 1821, he walked 
from Wayne Co., Penn. — 500 miles — to Craw- 
ford Co., Ohio, where he entered three tracts of 
land of 80 acres each, after which he again 
walked to his home. In the fall of the same 
year, he moved to this county with his family, 
which consisted of his wife and six children. 
They started on the 12th of October, 1821, and 
with a team of oxen made the journey to Craw- 
ford County b}' the 2d of December following. 
Mr. Rowse first located in Whetstone Town- 
ship on one of his purchases, that now lies 
within one-fourth of a mile of the incorporate 
limits of Bucyrus. He remained there about 
two years and then removed to another of the 
three original eighties, which is now owned 
and resided upon by Col. William ^lonnett. 
Mr. Rowse taught one term of school after he 
came to Crawford County. Shortly after his 
arrival, he was made one of the County Com- 
missioners, and following this he was elected 
Justice of the Peace. He was then appointed 
Clerk of the Court of Crawford County, in ad- 
dition to which he also held the office of 
County Recorder. These different offices he 
held about fifteen years. He was a member of 



BUCYRUS TOWNSHIP. 



797 



the Whig party, and at the organization of the 
Crawford County Militia, he was re-elected 
Colonel. He never engaged in the mercantile 
business, but bought and sold many tracts of 
real estate in and about Buc3TUS. He also 
did contracting of almost an}^ kind. When 
the old Columbus and Sanduskj^ Turnpike was 
built, he contracted and built several miles of 
it, which ran through Bucjn'us. His greatest 
amusement was hunting, at which in those 
early days he had a decided advantage to grati- 
f}' his passion, as game of almost every descrip- 
tion common to the climate was abundant. He 
was a member of the order of A., F. & A. M., 
and for twenty yeai'S previous to his death he 
was a member of the M. E. Church, as was also 
his wife, whose death occurred in 18J:9. Mr. 
Rowse survived his wife until Aug. 16, 1854, 
when he also passed away. They were both 
interred in the old burying-ground, east of Bu- 
cyrus. but subsequently their remains were re- 
moved to Oakwood Cemetery. They left a 
famil}' of children to mourn their loss, among 
whom were the sons, Horace and William, who 
have since become prominent business men of 
Bucyrus, and to whom we are indebted for 
many of the facts and data of this sketch and 
for the portrait of their father, the subject of 
this memoir. Col. Zalmon Rowse. 

WILLIAM ROWSE, merchant, Bucyrus, is 
a son of Zalmon and Mehetabel (Kent) Rowse, 
and was born in Bucyrus April 2-1:. 1824. He 
was among the earliest born in this city, and is 
now, probabl}', the oldest native of the town, 
now living. He spent his 3'outh in tilling the 
soil, and attended school, acquiring a servicea- 
ble education. At the age of 21, Mr. Rowse be- 
gan to labor for himself, and commenced farm- 
ing on the place now owned b}' William Mon- 
nett, which land had been entered by his father, 
Zalmon Rowse. For three years he continued 
to farm this property, and then exchanged it 
for one in Whetstone Township, where, for 
seven years, he lived and farmed, with good 
success. In 1859, he removed to Bucyrus, and, 
in connection with his brother Horace, built 
the Rowse Block. After its completion, they 
opened a general store, and with the exception 
of one year, Mr. Rowse continued in this busi- 
ness until 1876, meeting with splendid success. 
In March, 1878, he opened a store at No. 3 
Quinby Block, and is at present doing a flour- 
ishing business, carrying a general stock of 



dr}' goods, groceries and boots and shoes. He 
was married, in September, 1849, to Catherine 
C. Finn, of Dundafl". Six childi'en were the 
fruits of this union, three of whom are dead. 
Those living are Charles H., Cora A. and Carrie 
A. Mr. Rowse is an old I'esident of the city, 
and one of its influential men. He is a prom- 
inent member of the M. E. Church, being one 
of its Trustees, and is a man of noted honesty 
and integrity, who shares largely in the esteem 
of his fellow-citizens. 

HORACE ROWSE, merchant, Bucyrus, was 
born Sept. 23, 1811, among the hills of Wayne 
Co., Penn., and is the son of Zalmon and 
Mehetabel (Kent) Rowse. The subject of our 
sketch spent the first fifteen years of his life 
on a farm. When aged 10 years, his parents 
removed to this county, and located on what is 
now known as tlfe Ludwig farm, one mile east 
of town. They next moved to the William 
Monnett place, when Horace, who was then 16 
years of age, came to Buc3'rus, and went to 
school the first winter to a teacher named 
William Blowers. He worked for his father on 
the farm till he was 23, and, in the meantime, 
taught his first term of school at the age of 
21 ; continued at intervals, teaching some four 
terms. For three 3'ears he worked for his 
father on a contract of the Columbus and San- 
dusky Turnpike. He and his brother bought 
400 acres of land, about two and a half miles 
from town, whei'e he lived about two 3'ears. In 
1838, he removed to town, and worked on the 
jail and boarded other emplo3^es. In 1842, 
himself and brother opened in the mercantile 
line, but Horace sold out in two years, and re- 
moved to Sulphur Springs, where he kept a 
general store. He was here in business for 
seven years, and then bought the old home- 
stead, where he remained two 3-ears, and then 
selling it to William Monnett in 1853. Return- 
ing to Bucyrus, he opened a store where Malic 
is now. Two years afterward he purchased 
the corner, and exchanged that for 400 acres 
of land in Whetstone Township, which he 
rent 2d. In 1856, he put a stock of goods in 
Rowse's Block, and was there until 1858. 
He and his brother then built the structure 
which he now occupies, and continued business 
for some ten years. In company with his son, 
he opened a shoe store in the Quinby Block, in 
1875, and subsequently put in a stock of dry 
soods. He retired in^ 1878, and, in 1879, he 



*7f? 



798 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



and his son opened a grocery and provision 
store, also a news depot, in wliicli business 
they still continue, and have been successful. 
He was married, in September, 1834, to Cath- 
erine Bell, of Delaware Co., Ohio, and of that 
marriage six children are living — Eva, Ada, 
Theron A., Emma, Kate and Henry. He is a 
member of the M. E. Church, and Steward of 
its organization. Mr. Rowse has been a suc- 
cessful business man, and is a much-respected 
citizen. 

ALEXANDER A. RUHL, Clerk of Courts, 
Bucyrus. The genial and popular Clerk of 
Crawford County was born April 4, 1828, in 
Shrewsbury, York Co., Penn., and is a son of 
Jacob and Sarah (Daws) Ruhl. His father was 
a farmer and came to Ohio in 1833, settling- 
near Gallon, the north part of which city is 
now on land that he once owned. At the time 
of his settlement there, Gallon was composed 
of a few cabins. The subject of our sketch 
gathered chestnuts on what is now the public 
square, and deer were common even in his day. 
Mr. Ruhl, Sr., cleared that portion of the city 
north of the square. He was a member of the 
Evangelical Lutheran Church, a highly re- 
spected citizen, and died at the age of 63. His 
famil}' consisted of nine children, eight of whom 
are still living — Cornelius K., died in July, 
1863; Joanna, wife of 0. T. Hart, of Gallon; 
Margaret, wife of C. G. Rupp, of Bucyrus ; 
James H., farmer in Allen Co., Ind. ; Mary M., 
lives in Gallon ; Louisa M., is now the wife of 
W. H. Clymer, editor of The Times, Van Wert, 
Ohio ; Calvin E., dentist at Findlay ; Sarah G., 
married S. G. Cummings. These, including the 
subject of our sketch, composed the family. 
Alexander was but four years old, when he 
came to Ohio with his parents, and attended 
school but little, the advantages of education 
not being as at present. At the age of 22 he 
entered Wittenberg College, at Springfield, at- 
tending two 3'ears. In 1850, he came to Bucy- 
rus, and entered the dry-goods store of Henry 
Converse, and remained some four years. In 
1859, he was elected Auditor, and discharged 
the duties of that office four years. He trav- 
eled extensively through the West and South, 
during the years of 1866 and 1867. When in 
18(58, the Bucyrus Machine Works were started 
under the direction of a stock company. Mr. 
Ruhl was elected Secretary, and filled the posi- 
tion with satisfaction for some eighteen months. 



when he commenced traveling and selling ma- 
chiner}' for McDonald & Co., of Wooster, Ohio, 
and continued for five years. In 1875, he com- 
menced selling machinery of various kinds in 
Bucyrus, and continued until his election as 
Clerk, in October, 1879. He was married, Dec. 
27, 1853, to Aurelia M. Shauke. of Bucyrus, 
and they have tln-ee children — Ida B., Geo. S. 
and Frank I. Mr. Ruhl is a member of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, and a highly re- 
spected citizen. 

JOHN REXROTH, farmer ; P. 0. Bucyrus ; 
a son of John N. and Anna M. (Writman) Rex- 
roth, was born May 10, 1836, in Bucyrus ; at 
the age of 3 years, his parents removed to 
Winchester, where ten years of his youth were 
spent , he attended school at that place three 
months each year, and returned to Bucyrus 
with his family in 1849. going to school here 
until the winter of 1854, under John Hopley, 
Esq. He and his brother rented land near Bu- 
cyrus, and supported the family by teaming 
and other work. He aided his father in his 
shop until he gave up blacksmithing, about 
1855. The family exchanged town property 
for 80 acres of land, in 1857, lying just south 
of town, to which the}' moved. Here they 
lived some time, and then removed to another 
farm — the Riley Pettitt farm — where they lived 
until 1867 ; his father died there June 15, 
1867. They then returned to Bucyrus. Thus 
far the subject had been a member of the fam- 
ily and its chief support in early part of the 
time ; all working together, however. He was 
married, Dec. 18, 1867, to Miss Maggie S. Frey, 
of Bucyrus, who was born June 14, 1847, in 
Germany, and came to this country when but 
6 years old, and was educated here. They have 
four children living — Charles F., born Oct. 1, 
1868 ; Lilly J., born July 5, 1875; Royal R, 
born Dec. "8, 1877; Clyde N., born Sept. 15, 
1879 ; John Jay died when only 3 years old. 
After marriage, Mr. Rexroth removed to his 
present place, two and a half miles south of 
Bucyrus, where he owns at the present time 
296 acres of fine farming and grazing land, 
with some beautiful groves of light timber, and 
with four flowing springs. These springs have 
been bored to different depths ; the deepest to 
a depth of twenty-one feet, and yields a suffi- 
ciency of water for 1.000 head of cattle. It is 
of mineral nature (slightly impregnated with 
iron). He began life in the spring of 1855, 



■7I< 



fk 



BUCYRUS TOWNSHIP. 



799 



without a dollar, and in twent3'-five years, by 
hard work and careful management, has accu- 
mulated a good property. During the war he 
dealt largely in sheep, buying, grazing and sell- 
ing. He is now engaged in farming and stock- 
raising — breeding a high grade of Merino 
sheep, and has a flue flock. He has alwa3's 
been Republican in politics, and is a member of 
the M. E. Church at Bucyrus. John N. Rex- 
roth, the father of John Rexroth, was born 
Nov. 6, 1800, in the village of Erbach. Hesse- 
Darmstadt, Germany, and went to school there 
from G to 14 years of age, after which he 
learned the trade of blacksmithing. probably 
with his father. He followed his trade in the 
old country until 30 3'ears old. when he came to 
the United States, landing at Baltimore, after a 
voj^age of six months, being wrecked twice on 
the wa}'. At Baltimore, he met and married 
Anna M. Writman, who was born near Carls- 
ruhe of Baden, She came over about the 
same time as himself — ^the only one of her 
family, and they were married March 1, 1831, 
in Baltimore, and at once removed to Grettys- 
burg, Penn.. where the}^ lived little more than 
a year. In 1833, they came to Bucyrus, where 
he followed his trade until 1855, accumulating 
propert}' rapidly. He purchased considerable 
land by his indefatigable industry, but by se- 
curit}- debts for friends, lost nearly all. except 
a comfortable home, and they worked together 
until all the children were educated. Mr. Rex- 
roth was raised a Lutheran, and when he came 
to Bucyrus he united with the Evangelical x\s- 
sociation, but that society did not prosper, and 
he united with the German M. E. Church, and 
was a devoted Christian to the time of his death, 
which occurred June 15, 18G7 ; and was class- 
leader for many years. He had two remarkable 
visions or dreams ; some twenty years before 
his death, when reverses had come upon him, 
and he retired feeling ver}' despondent, like 
Bunyan, he "saw in his dream" a "presence," 
which said, •' Come, and I will show you your 
future : " following it, he saw a house, larger 
than the one then occupied ; they went on for 
some time, when the "presence" said, " Here 
you stop;" these appeared to be like in ap- 
pearance to his future home, and the last was 
the exact counterpart of the place where he 
afterward died. A stranger, a countr3'man, 
once called on Mr. Rexroth, and, after remain- 
ing with him a couple of hours, left, and went 



to his home, some four miles distant ; a few 
weeks later, he had a dream, in which he was 
required to go to his stranger friend, as he 
needed his assistance ; three times this vision 
appeared, each time as if a person talking to 
him and telling him to go ; he went to work in 
the morning, but could not rid himself of the 
impression, and finalh' he decided to go and 
see the man ; upon his arrival, he found him 
dying. Mr. Rexroth was the father of ten 
children, nine of whom grew to man and 
womanhood — -Adam (deceased), Catharine Al- 
bright, John, Daniel, Elizabeth, Sarah, Lj'dia, 
Samuel (now also dead). David, ^largaret (wife 
of S. Kurtz), Elizabeth (is the wife of Rev. G. 
Lease, of Kenton, Presiding Elder) ; Lydia is 
the wife of B. Beal, Esq. 

JAMES H. ROBINSON, County Auditor, 
Buc5'rus ; was born in Chatfield Township, 
Crawford Co., Ohio, Feb. 22, 1839, and is the 
son of James M. and Mary E. (Cooper) Robin- 
son, who were parents of the following family : 
John, James, Nathan (deceased), William, 
Abner (deceased) and Melvina (deceased) ; 
the father was born near Wheeling, Va., 
in October, 1807, and, about the 3-ear 1825, 
he. together with his parents, came to Chat- 
field Township, where our subject was born ; 
the grandfather of James H. was a man of 
considerable means, and, on his arrival, he 
purchased a large tract of land, which he tilled 
for man}' years ; at his death, his son. the 
father of James H., took charge of the farm, 
which he also farmed until his death, which 
event occurred in October, 1874. It was on 
this farm that James H. passed his earl}' 
years ; he received a good education, which 
was finished by attending the Otterbein Uni- 
versity during the winter of 1860-61 ; Mr. 
Robinson then began teaching, and continued 
eight terms with success, three of these terms 
being taught in Richville ; while in the latter 
place, he was in the mercantile business in 
connection with teaching. On July 4, 1865, he 
was united in marriage with Miss Louisa 
Hipp, of Chatfield Township, and by her had 
two children — Minnie, born Nov. 19, 1867, and 
Francis M., who died when 5 years old. Mr. 
Robinson was elected County Surveyor during 
the fall of 1872, and continued in that office 
until 1877, when the people of the county, rec- 
ognizing his ability, selected him for Auditor 
of Crawford Co.; he was elected, and re-elected 



800 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



in the fall of 1880. Mr. Robinson is a consist- 
ent Christian, and takes an active part in the 
advancement of his church. 

WILLIAM P. ROWLAND, retired, Bucy- 
rus ; is the son of John M. and Martha (Mar- 
tin) Rowland, and was born Feb. 6, 1837, 
in Green Township, Richland Co., Ohio ; his 
father was a native of Washington Co., Penn., 
and came to Ohio when very young, and was 
consequently one of the pioneers of that county ; 
his grandfather was in the war of the Revolu- 
tion ; there are two sisters and one brother of 
our subject living — Mary Hickoks, of Denver, 
Colo.; Laura Miner, of Mansfield, and Shan- 
non, of Leadville, Colo. The subject of the 
present sketch attended district school until 
he was 18 years of age, and then became yard 
dispatcher at Crestline, which position he held 
for four years ; next, he spent two years in the 
ticket and freight office ; in the fall of 1861, 
he became proprietor of the St. James Hotel 
(then the Weldon), of Mansfield, and was its 
landlord for two years ; in 1863, he came 
to Bucyrus and engaged in the sale of stoves, 
tin and hardware as a partner in the firm 
of Rowland & Picking, this partnership exist- 
ing until 1874, when Picking died, and Mr. 
Rowland sold out the business to J. (x. Ott & 
Sons, and retired from active business life ; 
since then, he has visited several of the West- 
ern States, and has spent one winter with his 
famil}' at Lookout Mountain, Tenn. He was 
for three years President of the School Board, 
and also a member of the City Council. He is 
a member of Masonic Lodge, No. 272, and of 
the Knights of Pythias, Demas Lodge, No. 
108. He was first married in October, 1858, to 
Miss Lizzie Sloane, who died eleven months 
thereafter ; he was married again, July 9, 
1862, to Miss Kate Picking, of Bucyrus, daugh- 
ter of John Picking ; they have two children 
— Jesse and Mollie. 

CHARLES ROEHR, Bucyrus ; is the son of 
Henry and Caroline (Gresky) Roehr, and was 
born July 26, 1835, in Ihna, Saxon3^ He at- 
tended school until his 14th year, and then for 
six years following he clerked in a store. In 
August, 1855, he sailed for the new world from 
Hamburg, and arrived in New York after a 
voyage of six weeks. He came at once to Bu- 
C3'rus, where lie commenced an apprenticeship 
with George StoU, in the carpenter's trade. 
After serving two years, he' commenced business 



for himself in contracting work, and continued 
until 1868. In October of that year, he became 
a partner in the firm of Stoll Bros. & Co., and 
this business union lasted five ^^ears. John 
Stoll retired at the expiration of this time, and 
Mr. Roehr became an equal partner with Jacob 
Stoll and John Shealy, running a large planing- 
mill and lumber-yard at Bucyrus, also running 
a branch establishment at Upper Sandusk3\ 
Mr. Roehr has managed the business for twelve 
years, which began with the help of eight men, 
while they now employ thirty-five and occupy 
some three acres. Mr. Roehr is a member of 
the German Lutheran Chui'ch. He has dealt 
considerably' in real estate, and has built over 
twent}^ buildings in the town. He was married, 
in November, 1858, to Miss Lizzie Ebertli, of 
Buc^'rus. The}- have eight children — Kate, 
Edward, Emma, William, Helen, Henry, Carl 
and Alma. 

HENRY M. ROWE, liveryman, Bucyrus ; is 
the son of Norman Rowe, and was born March 
22, 1828, in Oswego Co., N. Y. ; was a farmer's 
son, and spent the first sixteen years of his life 
on a farm, working after he was 16 at $8 per 
month. In 1844, he came to Ohio and stopped 
at Newark. He then commenced traveling 
throughout the State selling notions and medi- 
cines until 1853. He also made a trip to the 
West to see the country. Having made Bucy- 
rus his headquarters, he started a liverj'-stable 
here in 1 856, in partnership with C. D. Ward, 
which business relation existed for six years. 
In 1862, Mr. Rowe l)ought out his partner and 
continued the business as sole proprietor until 
1868. During the war he was prominent in the 
shipping of horses, and also was engaged in this 
branch until 1875. In 1868, he sold out his 
stable to John Keil. In 1876, he went to New 
York and engaged in the mercantile business 
with his brother at New Haven. He retired in 
September, 1879, and, in June, 1880, he started 
a new liver}', sale and feed stable in Bucyrus in 
the southwest corner of public square, where he 
is doing a thriving business. Mr. Rowe is a 
member of Crawford Lodge, No. 443, A., F. & 
A. M., also of Ivanhoe Chapter. Has also been 
a member of City Council. He was married in 
September, 1849, to Martha Burke, of Wyandot 
Co., Ohio. His wife died May 5, 1872. 

CHARLES G. RUPP ; P. 0. Bucyrus ; is the 
son of Peter and Ilellena (Earnst) Rupp, and 
was born Feb. 3, 1822, in York, York Co., Penn. 





CtAx..'^%<j^ 




4 



BUCYRUS TOWNSHIP. 



803 



His grandfather, Gottleib Rupp, was a native 
of Germany, and came over late in the eight- 
eenth century, settling at York, where he was a 
butchei". He raised four sons and two daugh- 
ters, of whom Peter, the father of our subject, 
was the third son, and followed the trade of 
his father. Peter married Hellena Earnst, a 
native of York, and they were blessed with four 
sons and two daughters, three of whom are 
now living — Dr. Peter Rupp, of South Bend, 
Ind.; Melvina, widow of Rev. A. Kuhn, for- 
merly of Gallon, and later the widow of David 
Seltzer, of Ci'estline. The father died at York, 
Penn., in 1825, while the mother survived him 
fifty-three 3'ears, dying at Wapakoneta, Ohio, 
in March, 1878, aged 93 years. The subject of 
our sketch received but a limited education, 
and, at the early age of 11 years, he entered a 
store in his native town, where he was employed 
for ten years. In May, 1843, he came to Ohio 
by stage and canal, the journe}- occupying two 
weeks. He remained a year at Gallon, where 
his sister lived, and then went to Leesville, at 
that time a better trading-point than Gallon. 
He kept a general store there for three years, 
and removed to Bucyrus in 1848, and was em- 
ployed as a clerk for four years. He then 
opened a store in partnership with John Mod- 
erwell, continuing two 3'ears, and, upon the re- 
tirement of Mr. Moderwell, Horace Rowse be- 
came a partner for three years. He next en- 
gaged in business with Fisher and Hall, doing a 
large business on the old Kaler corner. Mr. 
Rupp retired from the firm in about a year, on 
account of ill health. He then became a clerk 
for his old partner, Horace Rowse, and contin- 
ued in that capacity until the close of the war. 
He then left mercantile pursuits and purchased 
an interest in a woolen-mill, and also, some 
time after, an interest in the Bucyrus Machine 
Works ; also in a grist and saw mill, selling 
out this last-mentioned venture, however, in a 
short time. About the year 1868, he became a 
partner in the firm of Rupp, Rowse & Lauck, and 
afterward, of William Rowse, in the shoe-store. 
On the failure of the Bucyrus Machine Works, 
Mr. Rupp became assignee and settled up the 
business, which occupied some three years. 
He has also been engaged in settling up some 
fifteen estates. In 1873, he bought a stone 
quarry at Leesville, which has been lucrative, 
the stone being known as the Waverlj^ group, 
and of the same grit as the Berea. and a fine 



stone for building purposes. He was Postmas- 
ter at Leesville during the administration of 
James K. Polk, and was, during the Kansas 
and Nebraska troubles, a Free-Soiler, and is 
now a Republican. He was a candidate for 
County Treasurer in 1858, and made a popular 
run, cutting down the Democratic majority to 
the extent of 600. He was married, July 18, 
1848, to Margaret J. Ruhl, of Gallon. Four 
children — Annie, Clara, Maggie and Lincoln — 
are living, and five died in childhood. 

JOHN ROSS, farmer ; P. 0. Bucyrus ; is the 
son of Linus H. and Jane (Emerson) Ross, and 
was born Dec. 12, 1831, in Pickaway Co., Ohio. 
His father was born near Elizabethtown, N. J., 
Oct. 19, 1799, and was of Scotch-English de- 
scent. He came with his parents to Pickaway 
Co. when 6 3'ears old, and, at the age of 25, he 
was married to Miss Jane Emerson, a native of 
Kentucky. The}- had seven children, thi-ee of 
whom are yet living — Abigail Monnett, of White 
Co., Ind.; Eliza Hostler, of Cairo, 111.; and our 
subject. The father died in August, 1871, in 
his 72d year, the mother dying Sept. 28, 1878, 
in her 73d j^ear. His father commenced life 
poor, first as a brick-burner, and later as a ma- 
son ; but at one time owned 1,700 acres of land. 
The subject of this sketch worked on a farm 
until he was 14 years of age, at which time his 
father's family came to Crawford Co. and set- 
tled in Dallas Township, where, in 1827, the 
father had entered a large tract of land, and 
had grazed large numbers of cattle on it until 
1845, when he removed there. Mr. Ross re- 
ceived a common-school education, and, at the 
age of 17, began handling cattle, doing quite a 
prosperous business. In 1853, he removed to 
his present farm, where he has 340 acres of 
fine farming land. He is at present engaged 
in raising thoroughbred cattle, and has a fine 
herd of fifteen short-horn Durhams, being of the 
finest Kentucky blood. He is also engaged in 
buying and feeding sheep. He is one of the 
prominent, influential men of his township, and 
is enterprising and a good business manager. 
He is a Republican in politics. He was mar- 
ried, Oct. 19, 1853, to Miss Lucinda W. Tharp, 
of Bucyrus Township, the daughter of Joseph 
Tharp and Phoebe (Kinnear) Tharp, and was 
born in Whetstone Township June 20, 1834. 
They have seven children all living — Linus H., 
born Aug. 21, 1854: Jennie, Feb. 15, 1857; 
John P., Dec. 28, 1858 ; Maggie H., March 24, 



l9 



'^W 



804 



BIOGKAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



1862 ; Anna K., Jan. 3, 1865 ; Joseph W., April 
16, 1868 ; and Talmage J., Nov. 28, 1871. | 

JAMES G. ROBINSON, deceased. He was 
born on the 25th of December, 1828, at Wash- , 
ington, Penn., where his father, William Robin- | 
son, a merchant, then resided. At the age of 
14. he entered the printing office of John Baus- 
man to learn the mystery of type-setting, going 
to Pittsburgh a few years later and acting as 
foreman in the office of the Pittsburgh Dispatch. 
Here he began a friendship with D. R. Locke, 
which lasted over a quarter of a century. In 
1853, on the occasion of a printer's strike, he 
left Pittsburgh with Mr. Locke, and in company 
with him revived the Plymouth Advertiser, in 
Huron Co., Ohio. Soon after, in 1855, he and 
his partner disposed of this paper, and pur- 
chased the Mansfield Herald, in company with 
a young lawyer, Rudolph Brinkerhoff. In a 
few months, Mr. Locke sold out his interest and 
bought the Bucyrus Journal, and urged Mr. 
Robinson to join him in this new venture, 
which he did in April, 1857. Here Mr. Robinson 
was marked for his public enterprise, to whom, 
in company with Mr. Locke, is due many of the 
public improvements enjoyed by the citizens of 
Bucyrus to-day. In 1861, he was appointed 
Postmaster, and in 1863, Mr. Locke having ac- 
cepted a position elsewhere, he associated his 
younger brother, J. Ralph Robinson, with him- 
self in the printing business. In September, 
1867, he disposed of his share in the business, 
and engaged in the drug business with Dr. 
Cuykendall, whose interest he purchased in 
January, 1870, and continued the business un- 
til his death, April 14, 1872. He was univer- 
sally esteemed by the community in which he 
lived, was sincerely and conscientiously a Chris- 
tian gentleman, and in his daily life was an ex- 
emplary model for all. He was married to Miss 
Sarah Benscooter, daughter of Dr. Benscooter, 
of Plymouth, Ohio, in October, 1854. Her 
grandfather was a Van Benschoter, one of the 
famous Knickerbocker family who first settled 
New York. The marriage of our subject was 
blessed with six children — three of whom are 
living — as follows : Irene, wife of Rev. C. S. 
Sprecher, of Ashland, Ohio ; Sarah J., and Jay 
Gr. Since the death of her husband, Mrs. Rob- 
inson has resided in Bucyrus, where she has 
educated her family. 

DANIEL REXROTH, farmer, P. 0. Bu- 
cyrus ; son of John N. Rexroth ; was born 



in Bucyrus, Ohio, Oct. 21, 1837. The fam- 
ily were in moderate financial circumstances, 
and young Rexroth spent his youth in town, 
working for the farmers during the busy 
seasons, at $6 per month, doing a man's 
work at 15. During the winter months he 
acquired such education as the public schools 
of the time afforded. At the age of 16, in com- 
pany with a younger brother, with only $45 in 
money, he bought a horse and the necessary 
implements to put in 100 acres of corn. Here- 
tofore he had contributed his earnings to the 
support of the famih^, but thenceforward these 
boys started out for themselves, gaining the 
confidence of the farmers by their honesty and 
industry, and achieving a good degree of sus- 
cess. Marrying in 1862, he enlarged the scope 
of his industry, dealing in sheep for about a 
year. In 1864, he purchased 195 acres of his 
present farm for $11,700, where he has since 
made his home. He has devoted his attention 
since that time entirely to farming, and has 
been remarkably successful. He now owns 
315 acres of as fine farming lands as are to be 
found in the county. It is finely watered, has 
a deep soil of great richness. Here his labor 
has been bestowed with such good judgment as 
to gain the credit of having the second-best 
farm in the county. In 1879, he erected a fine 
frame dwelling of ten rooms, which is an orna- 
ment to the place. He devotes his care to the 
growing of grain and the raising of sheep, 
keeping a flock of some 600 constantly- on his 
farm. Mr. Rexroth's father was a German Re- 
publican, who came to this country for that free- 
dom of speech and action for which this land 
claims pi-e-eminence. The subject of this 
sketch has followed in the footsteps of his 
father, and is, politically^, a member of the Re- 
publican organization. He and his wife are 
members of the Scioto Chapel M. E. Church. 
He was married, Dec. 2, 1862, to Miss Mary 
Purkey, of Bucyrus, a daughter of John and 
Phoebe (Kinnear) Purkey. She was born near 
Gallon Dec. 29, 1835. Four children have re- 
sulted from this union — Edward K., born Sept. 
30, 1866 ; Effle N., March 27, 1868 ; Anno M., 

, Dec. 4, 1870, and Nellie B., Jan. 20, 1872. 

I The reliable CLOTHING HOUSE. 

i Among the substantial business firms of Bu- 

I cyrus, the above-mentioned house has a history 
worthy of note. Joseph Nussbaum, the pres- 
ent proprietor, to whose eminent business qual- 



>^ (i 



:£ 



BUCYRUS TOWNSHIP. 



805 



ities the signal success of the house is almost 
wholly due, was born in Bavaria, Germany, 
Sept. 11, 1853. He was carefully educated in 
his native land until 13 years old, when he left 
school and worked at tailoring one year. In 
1867, he sailed from Bremen, and, after a short 
voyage, he arrived at New York Jul}' 19. He 
came at once to Cleveland, Ohio, where he at- 
tended the public schools for six months. He 
gained a fair knowledge of the English tongue, 
and started on foot through the country to sell 
notions. He followed this occupation about six 
months, then accepted a clerkship in a dr}'- 
goods store, which he held four j-ears. He 
next opened a drj'-goods store of his own in 
the cit}' of Cleveland, where he did a prosper- 
ous business for three years. In August, 1877, 
Mr. Nussbaura came to Bucyrus, and, in com- 
pany with Edward Braun, opened a large stock 
of clothing in Niman & Fisher's Block, where 
they have built up a large and constantly in- 
creasing business. The dimensions of the 
present room are 80x25 feet, making an area of 
2,000 feet, with every available space occupied 
by the different departments of the business. 
The ready-made clothing department is ar- 
ranged on the plan adopted by the large houses 
of the cities, not on high shelves, but on a great 
number of large tables, within easy reach of 
the customer, who may examine the vast 
stock without the aid of clerks. The merchant- 
tailoring depai'tment is represented by a full 
line of imported and domestic cloths, and a full 
corps of skilled workmen, among whom is Ben- 
jamin Nussbaum, lately arrived from Europe, 
brother of the proprietor. He is a tailor of 
ability and experience, who will devote his time 
to the trade. The gents' furnishing and hat and 
cap department furnishes the customer with an 
almost bewildering variety of the latest and 
most attractive st3ies to select from. The en- 
tire stock of this enterprising house is pur- 
chased by Mr. Nussbaum of Eastern manufact- 
urers, at the most favorable seasons of the year. 
His purchases are made for cash, giving his cus- 
tomers the benefit of large discounts thereby. 
Mr. Braun retired in Januar}^, 1880, leaving 
Mr. Joseph Nussbaum sole proprietor. He is 
aided in the different departments by his 
brothers Isaac and Benjamin, who, like himself, 
have been raised in the business, their father 
having been a tailor. They labor constantly to- 
gether to build up the honor and good name of 



the house. Among the factors that have con- 
tributed largely to the success and popularity 
of their store, was the adoption of the one- 
price system in the clothing trade. This has 
produced a much-desired revolution of the old 
scheme of asking overmuch and taking less, 
and is hailed with satisfaction by bu^'ers of 
clothing. The tei'm " reliable " is s^-nonymous 
with the operations of this house, where goods 
are represented as they are, and offered at their 
true value. 

CHRISTIAN RENKERT, shoemaker and 
dealer, Buc^'rus ; was born March 28, 1831, in 
Baden, Germany, city of Freyburg, and is a son 
of Christian and Anna M. (Buckmiller) Ren- 
kert. He went to school from the age of 6 to 
14 years. In his 15th year his parents came 
to the United States, and settled in Erie Co., 
N. Y., about the year 1845. They lived on a 
farm here for three years, but in the meantime 
the subject of this sketch was apprenticed to 
learn the shoemaking business with a man 
named John West, of Buffalo, N. Y., serving 
two years, and remaining one year after his 
term had expired. He came to Bucyrus in 
the fall of 1849, and was employed by Fred- 
erick Schuler for seven j-ears. In 1856, he 
started a shop of his own, north of the railroad, 
where he worked three years. In 1876. he re- 
moved to his present room in Schaber's build- 
ing, where he keeps a full stock of boots and 
shoes of every style and qualit}' ; has a repair- 
shop and manufactory, turning out the best 
kind of work. He was married, Dec. 25, 1856, 
to Miss Helraa Vollrath, of Bucyrus. Eight 
children have been born to them, of whom six 
are living, viz.: Frank, Tillie, Otto, Aggie, 
Frederick and Agatha. Charles died in his 7th 
and Anna in her 18th year. i\Ir. Renkert has 
always been a Democrat, and is now Trustee of 
the township ; was President of the Loan and 
Building Association. He and family are mem- 
bers of the German Lutheran Church, he is also 
a member of tlie Howard Lodge of Knights of 
Honor. He began life with but little capital, 
and by his own energ\' and industry has ac- 
cumulated sufficient of the world's goods to 
render him comfortable. 

WILLIAM M. REID, grain dealer, Bucyrus ; 
was born in Whetstone Township Nov. 23. 1834, 
and is a son of George and Mary A. (Foster) 
Reid. The latter gentleman was born in Ire- 
land Jan. 7, 1812, and came with his parents 



806 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



to America in 1816. stopping near Newburg, 
N. Y.. but shortly afterward removing to Wasli- 
ington Co., Ponn., and some six 3'ears later (in 
1824) to Crawford Co., Ohio, settling near Bu- 
c^TUS, on new land, which his father had entered 
some two years Ix'fore. There was no school 
at that time in the neighborhood, and young 
Reid, who was an only child, was deprived of 
educational advantages. At the age of 21, he 
married Mary A. Foster, and settled on the 
homestead, where he lived until 1863, when he 
removed to Bucyrus. His wife died in 1860, and 
in 1865, he was married to Mrs. M. P. Bodge, 
of Worthington, Ohio ; four children were born 
to Mr. Eeid — Robert, William M. (the subject), 
George and James H. ; two are dead, a sou and 
daughter ; he owned 280 acres of land. Will- 
iam M., whose name heads this sketch, at- 
tended the district school until he was 18 years 
old, when he entered the Bucyrus High School ; 
in 1854, he went to the Granger Commercial 
College, at Columbus, Ohio, from which he grad- 
uated the same summer, and afterwai'd taught 
two years ; in 1857-58. he engaged in the mer- 
cantile business in Bucyrus, but sold out April 
1, 1860, and went to Utah Territory by over- 
land journey. There were four in the part}', 
and, after a pleasant journey of forty-five days 
with a team, they arrived in the vicinity of 
Breckenridge City, where they worked with 
moderate success, returning home in November 
of same j^ear. Upon his return to Bucyrus, he 
commenced buying grain, continuing the busi- 
ness alone until 1866, when John Kaler became 
his partner, and the business is still continued 
under firm name of Reid & Kaler. They leased 
the present warehouse in 1870, and do a large 
business in grain, seeds, pork and wool. He 
was married, Jan. 1, 1862, to Mary E. Moder- 
well, of Bucyrus ; one daughter (Anna M.) was 
born of this marriage. His wife died in 1863, 
and Aug. 16, 1864, he married Emily Mc- 
Cracken, of Ft. Wayne, Ind. Seven children 
have been the fruit of this marriage, one of 
whom is dead ; Edward G., Lathrop F., Will- 
iam T.. Charles, Robert T. and Sue. At the age 
of 15 years, Mr. Reid united with the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, and in 1863. he joined the 
Presbyterian Church, of which body he lias since 
remained a consistent member. He has been 
Superintendent of Sabbath school for sixteen 
years ; Trustee several terms, and is at present 
an Elder in the church ; was Treasurer of the 



State Sunday School Union for six years, and 
is now a member of Executive Committee. He 
has been elected by the people Mayor of Bucy- 
rus, a position he held with credit. 

ALBERT J. RICHARDS, insurance agent, 
Bucyrus ; a son of Samuel R. and Amy (Eg- 
gleston) Richards, was born Oct. 13, 1852, at 
Leroy, Medina Co., Ohio, where he spent his 
youth going to school until about 17 years old, 
when he entered, in 1869, Baldwin Universit}', 
at Berea, Ohio, remaining two years. (His 
father was Postmaster, and in youth subject as- 
sisted him in the office.) In 1872, he became 
the agent of the Ohio Farmers' Insurance Com- 
pany, located at Leroy, but worked Crawford 
County, which has since been his field of opera- 
tions. Dec. 20, 1876, he was married to Mrs. 
Mary E. Charlton, a daughter of W. B. Tobias, 
of Bucyrus, and widow of the late Alexander 
Charlton, by whom she had one son — Marquis. 
Of the present marriage one child is living — - 
Mabel ; one son, Guy, died in his second 
year. After his marriage, Mr. Richards lived 
in Holmes Township until September, 1879, 
when he moved to Bucj'rus. He has done a 
large business in insurance, having over 2,000 
risks in the county at this time. This company 
is a ver}- reliable one, with a cash capital of 
nearly a million dollars. Mr. R. and wife are 
members of the Lutheran Church. His father 
was born in Watertown, Conn., probably in 
June, 1816. He lost his father when about 8 
years old, when the family mov^ed to New York, 
where he learned the trade of blacksmith. He 
came to Akron, Ohio, and worked at his trade, 
and about 1842 removed to Leroy, Medina Co., 
where he now resides. He married Amy 
Eggleston, then living in Medina County. They 
have five children living — Maria, William, 
George. Albert J. (the subject) and Cora. He 
has been Postmaster at Leroy since 1861. In 
1855, he became agent for Ohio Farmers' In- 
surance Company, has worked in the county 
for twenty-five years and is well known and 
respected. 

MRS. LUCY ROGERS, Bucyrus. " Mother 
Rogers," as her friends familiarly call her, one 
of the aged pioneers of Crawford Co., has been 
so long identified with the county as to deserve 
an extended notice in this department. She 
was born Aug. 11, 1802, and is the daughter of 
Eli and Lucy (Green) Widger, of Preston, Che- 
nango Co., N. Y. The ancestry of her family 



f 



^ 



BUCYRUS TOWNSHIP. 



807 



is traced to the "• manors " of England, and her 
father, in his day, was considered a man of 
wealth, being an industrious and prosperous 
farmer. Mrs. Rogers was educated in the 
common schools of her native place, and, at the 
age of 18 years, was married to Ichabod 
Rogers, of Connecticut, who was born Sept. 
30, 1798 ; the marriage was solemnized July 
21, 1821. The first year after marriage, they 
kept a dairy of thirty cows, and, so favorably 
impressed with her frugality and industry- was 
the owner of the dairy, that he offered them $500 
to stay in the same capacity for another year, 
but they had caught the Western fever, conse- 
quent upon the flattering stories told of the al- 
luring prospects of fortunes awaiting all those 
who should go to the rich " country of Ohio," 
and June 30, 1822, they started in a one-horse 
wagon, with all their worldly effects, but rich 
in hope and expectation. They were young and 
buoyant, and thought not of hardships and 
dangers. They were a month on the road, and 
traveled over 600 miles ; the young wife walked 
over 100 miles of the distance, and wore out 
one pair of shoes on the journey. They thought 
to settle at Pittsburgh, but upon their arrival 
there, being disgusted with the smok}' appear- 
ance of the town, they determined to carry out 
their original intention and proceed to Ohio. 
They had about $130 in money ; $100 of this 
was exchanged for a counterfeit bill. Its fraud- 
ulent character was not discovered until the}' 
came to Pittsburgh and attempted to make a 
purchase. When they reached Bucyrus, tired 
and disheartened, they decided to go no further. 
Mr. Rogers left his wife at the house of a Qua- 
ker named Beadle, near the Deardorf place, 
while he returned to Chenango Co., N. Y., to re- 
cover his $100. This attempt resulted in a law- 
suit and a failure to recover the money. Now 
completely moneyless, he borrowed $75 of his 
brother and sister-in-law and returned to Bucy- 
rus. With this he went into business, and he 
and Samuel Norton were partners for one year. 
In 1833-34, he started a hotel on the corner of 
Perry street and Sandusky avenue, where 
Mother Rogers now resides, near the gasworks. 
This tavern was closed in 1838, and ever since 
the building has been occupied by her in the 
quiet routine of home duties. Here for more 
than half a century she has lived ; here she 
spent her best daj's ; here she raised her chil- 
dren from infancy to man and womanhood ; 



here died the husband of her earl}' love, and 
the sharer of her joys, toils and sorrows. Of 
their early life in Ohio, Mrs. Rogers relates the 
following incident : Her V)rotlier George came 
out to see them from New York, and, seeing the 
privations they suffered, he said : " What would 
father and mother say if they knew how you 
suffer ? " Said she, " I do not suffer. I have 
come to a new countr}-, and expect to live here 
and grow up with it. I am not homesick, 
either. Tell them when you go back, that I am 
well, hearty, and smart as a deer, but can't jump 
quite as far. You must not tell them how I 
live, or what privations we endure. Just tell 
them you guess I live well enough, and will get 
along." Six years later, Mrs. Rogers returned 
to her old home in New York on a visit, and 
while at her father's (Eli Widger's) he, referring 
to hard times, said, '■ None of my children know 
what suffering is. I served three years under 
Gen. Washington in the Revolutionary war ; one 
time we were on a scout for three days, and 
nothing to eat but three biscuits ; we finally 
came to a settler's cabin, in a clearing, nearly 
starved." Mrs. Rogers then related her own 
experience in the wilds of Ohio ; how upon a 
certain occasion her husband was taken sick, 
and was for awhile bedfast, and their scanty 
store was exhausted ; how, when starvation 
stared them in the face, she, to save her loved 
ones, went forth to beg — walked through the 
tall, wet grass to William Langden's, told her 
pitiful story, and begged for something to keep 
her husband and babe from starving, and when, 
after getting a little flour, she returned on foot. 
The recital brought tears to all eyes, and even 
the old Revolutionary soldier was forced to ac- 
knowledge that her sufferings had been greater 
than his. Mi's. Rogers made six trips to New 
York to see her parents, and each time crossed 
Lake Erie, once encountering a terrific storm. 
Her husband died Jan. 10, 1853. They had 
five children born to them ; three sons and two 
daughters, all of whom are still living. Rowena, 
widow of the late Alexander P. W' idman ; Jane 
Eliza, wife of John Heinlen, of San Jose, Cal. 
(first girl born in Bucyrus). and George W. 
Rogers, Esq., of Bucyrus ; William B., farmer 
near San Jose, Cal. ; Henry D., of San Francisco, 
Cal. 

SAMUEL SHROLL, Bucyrus. 3Ir. ShroU's 
parents, John and Elizabeth (Coleman) Siiroll, 
were born, raised and married in the ' Key- 



^': 



808 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



stone" State, where they resided until 1822, 
when they moved to Stark Co., Ohio, living 
there until their coming to this county in 1827. 
They were the parents of twelve children, eight 
of whom are now living. In 1834, the father 
died of cholera, as did three of his brothers 
and the wives of two of them who had come to 
the county at the same time. The twelve chil- 
dren were living at the time of the father's 
deatli, and the family endured many hardships 
and privations before they found themselves in 
comi'ortable circumstances. Samuel ShroU was 
born in Bucyrus Township Nov. 8, 1828, and, 
from early boyhood to the present time, has 
found employment upon a farm. He was mar- 
ried to Miss Elizabeth Stockman July 27, 
1855. She was born in Liberty Township, this 
county. Feb. 19, 1837. Four children have 
been born to Mr. and Mrs. ShroU, viz. : Mary 
J., Susan E., Martha A. and Lettie M. Mr. 
ShroU began for himself by working by the 
month upon a farm. He is, in the fullest sense 
of the word, a self-made man, and one who has 
the respect and confidence of the entire com- 
munity. He is a Democrat, but liberal in his 
views regarding men and religion. He has a 
nicely improved farm of 70 acres, upon which 
are good, substantial farm buildings. 

JOSIAH SCOTT, son of Alexander Scott 
and Kachel McDowell, was born near Cannons- 
burg, Washington Co., Penn., Dec. 1, 1803. 
While yet a youth he entered Jefferson College 
— walking from home every day and back — 
and graduated in 1823. After this he spent 
nearly six years in teaching — two years in 
Newtown, Berks Co., Penn., two j'ears near 
Richmond, Va., and two years as tutor in his 
Alma Mater. While engaged in teaching, he 
studied law privately, borrowing books for that 
purpose. He commenced the practice of law 
in Bucyrus in the spring of 1829. Some ten 
years after this he was a member of the Ohio 
Legislature, and, in 1844, was the elector for 
his district on the Henry Clay ticket for Presi- 
dent. In 1850, he removed to Hamilton, Ohio, 
and in 1856 was elected to the Supreme Bench 
of the State, and twice afterward re-elected, 
positively declining a re-nomination. In 1868, 
he returned to reside in Bucyrus, and, in 1876, 
Gov. Hayes appointed him as the head of the 
Supreme Judicial Commission, on which he 
served for the three full years of his appoint- 
ment. He died June 15, 1879, about three 



months after his term of service had expired. 
Mr. Scott never sought any official position to 
which he was chosen or appointed. The office 
sought the man, and not the man the office. 
Although a man of great and varied talent, he 
was constitutionall}' modest and diffident. He 
was a man of extensive learning — a fine scholar 
in all the branches of an academic course. He 
excelled both as a linquist and mathematician. 
He could translate the Greek and Latin authors 
with great ease and accuracy. He learned to 
read the Hebrew Bible without a lexicon, 
grammar or instructor. He was a complete 
master of mathematics, and it is said never 
failed to solve any problem given him that was 
solvable. He was the author of the rules for 
the formation of "perfect magic squares." As 
a lawyer he was logical, eloquent, brilliant, 
humorous, pathetic or sarcastic, as the circum- 
stances dictated. As a Judge, he was learned, 
profound, concise, and thoroughly conscien- 
tious. As a Christian he was humble, devout, 
thoroughly familiar with the Scriptures, and a 
fine theologian. He was a ruling Elder in the 
Presbyterian Church for nearly forty years. 
He had an unusually large head and brain, and 
without effort could concentrate his mind upon 
all questions he was called upon to consider. 
His moral character was above reproach. 
" His life was gentle, and the elemeats 
So mixed in liiin, that niture might stand up 
And say to all the world, this was a man.'' 

FREDERICK SWINGLY, M. D., retired, 
Bucyrus, whose portrait has been chosen to 
illustrate the history of the medical profession 
of Crawford Co., was born in Washington Co., 
Md., in Nov. 22, 1809. He is the son of Leon- 
ard and Prudence (Brentlinger) Swingly, both 
of whom were descendants of earl}- settlers of 
the "Pine Tree State." Up to his 18th year 
the Doctor had tlie advantages of the Hagers- 
town schools, of Marj'land. His first occupa- 
tion after leaving school was that of salesman 
in a dry goods store. He had been engaged 
in that work for about eighteen months, wlien 
his parents removed to the countr}-, whither he 
went with them. The next two years of his 
life were spent at work upon his father's farm. 
Determining, however, to study medicine, he 
secured a place in the office of Dr. Russel, of 
Mt. Vernon, Ohio, under whose instruction he 
remained for about eighteen months, and then 
took his first course of lectures at the Jefferson 



;\: 



BUCYRUS TOWNSHIP. 



809 



Medical College, of Philadelphia. He then at- 
tended the Ohio Medical College, of Cincinnati, 
where he graduated in 1840. He began his 
first practice in Chesterville, Ohio, where he 
remained seven years, and then spent one year 
in practice in Mt. Gilead, Ohio. In December 
of 1843, he came to Bucyrus and at once en- 
gaged in the practice of his profession. In his 
collegiate course and from the begining of his 
practice until locating in Bucyrus, the Doctor 
had devoted much time and hard study to sur- 
gery'. His success as a phj'sician and surgeon 
in former fields of practice becoming known 
to the people of Bucyrus and vicinity, he was, 
shortl}" after his arrival, in the midst of a large 
and lucrative practice. The Doctor was the 
first physician of any standing to locate in 
Bucj'rus, and to him is given the palm of pio- 
neership of all the medical fraternity of Craw- 
ford Co. In those early days his reputation as 
a skilled surgeon spread over an area of many 
miles around Bucyrus. Success to the physi- 
cian, in those days, brought long, hard rides 
in cold and stormy weather, over almost 
impassable roads and across unbridged streams, 
the fording of which, at some seasons, was dan- 
gerous to both horse and rider. The Doctor 
spent many years in this trying practice, but 
later in life he has allowed most of his busi- 
ness to drift into the hands of younger and 
hardier men, until now he has retired from the 
practice. On June 21, 1836, he was married 
to Miss Mary, daughter of Joseph and Mary 
(Trobridge) Denman, of Knox Co., Ohio. Of 
this marriage, there were six children reared to 
honorable man and womanhood. The}^ are now 
situated as follows : Edith V., wife of James B. 
Gormley, banker of Bucyrus ; Ellen M., late 
Principal of the Bucyrus schools ; John R., 
Fruit Culturist and Purser of the Valley City 
Steamer ; Frederick, ex- Auditor of Crawford 
Co.; Mary D., teacher in the public schools of 
Buc3^rus and widow of William Beer, late mem- 
ber of the Crawford Co. bar, and Kate N.. wife 
of H. M. Fulton. Mrs. Swingly, upon whom de- 
volved much of the earl}"^ training and educating 
of her children, and whose noble qualities of 
heart and mind have never been forgotten by 
them, now lies in Oakwood Cemetery. Her 
death occurred on Feb. 29, 1874, and was 
mourned deeply, not only by her own devoted 
family, but b}^ very many tried and true friends 
of her earlier life. For some years after the 



death of his wife, the Doctor made his home 
with his widowed daughter, Mrs. Beer. On 
June 5, 1879, however, he again married — this 
time to Mrs. Barbara R., widow of the late 
Isaac Vanvorhis, and daughter of Geoi'ge Han- 
cock, who was one of the early settlers of Craw- 
ford Co. Their home is in the Southern sub- 
urbs of Buc3'rus, where the closing years of 
the Doctor's life are being spent in peace, plen- 
t}' and contentment. 

JOHN SHULL (deceased), Bucyrus, whose 
portrait appears in this book, was the son of 
Solomon and Catharine (Huber) ShuU ; he was 
born Oct. 3, 1809, in Fairfield Co., Ohio, where 
he lived with his parents on a farm until his 
1 8th year. He then went to Lancaster to learn 
the carpenter's trade, at which he served an ap- 
prenticeship of three years. About the year 
1830, he came to Bucyrus and began working 
at his trade. But little building was done in 
those earl}^ times in the history of Bucyrus. 
In later years, however. Mr. Shull had plent}^ of 
business, and to-daj^ many of the buildings in 
Bucyrus may be pointed out as standing mon- 
uments of his workmanship. Notable among 
these, were the old Methodist Church, also the 
Lutheran Church ; the old Sims House and the 
Bowman Block were also built b}' him. He 
was an active, energetic man, and, more than all 
else, an honorable, upright and respected citi- 
zen. In the year of Van Buren's election to 
the Presidenc}', Mr. Shull was elected Sheriff" of 
Crawford Co. by the Democratic party, but, 
upon the organization of the Republican party, 
he joined their ranks, and ever after cast his 
vote with them. For forty j-ears previous to 
his death, he had been a consistent member 
and an active worker in the Baptist Church. 
His death occurred on the 12th of October, 
1875, in his 66th year. On Dec. 14, 1833, Mr. 
Shull was married to Miss Catharine, second 
daughter of Samuel and Mary (Bucklin) Nor- 
ton (a history of whose lives is also given in 
this book). She was born in Luzerne Co., 
Penn.. on Dec. 17, 1815, and, in her 4th year, 
was brought to Buc^'rus by her parents, who 
were the first white man and wife to settle 
upon the site of the town. The early life of Mrs. 
Shull, like that of her sisters, was spent in the 
wild and uncultivated country of Bucyrus and 
vicinity. The whole country seemed to be 
peopled with Indians and inhabited by wild 
animals. Schools for a time were almost un- 



^ 



810 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



thought of, and, when opened, they were of a 
very modest and unassuming character. With 
such surroundings and advantages, but little 
opportunity was afforded Mrs. ShuU for attain- 
ing an education. Instead of attending the 
fashionable boarding-schools, she learned how 
to card, spin and weave, accomplishments of 
much greater importance at that day than a 
slight knowledge of French and the ability to 
paint a few dizzy pictures in water-colors. Mrs. 
Shull was married at the age of eighteen 
years, and, for some time following this event, 
she and her husband lived on the site of the 
Main Street Mills. In 1834, they removed to 
their home on East Mansfield street, where 
IMrs. Shull still resides. There were born to 
Mr. and Mrs. Shull five children, all of whom 
were daughters, and one of whom, who was the 
wife of J. B. Franz, is now dead. The four now 
living are all married, and situated as follows : 
Lettie, wife of Mr. Field Bush, of Mansfield, 
Ohio ; Mary, wife of James R. Stuart, of Whet- 
stone Township ; Lizzie N., wife of L. C. Cald- 
well, of Bucyrus, and Orpha, wife of Frank 
Felton, of Ft. Wayne, Ind. 

JOSEPH W. SHARROCK, Bucyrus; was 
born in Guernsey Co., Ohio, Nov. 4, 1814. He is 
the son of Benjamin and Constantine (Williams) 
Sharrock, the former a native of New York, and 
the latter of JMaryland. The,}' were married in 
Guernsey Co., and removed from there to near 
Iberia. Morrow Co., in 1817. They were the 
parents of eleven children, six of whom are yet 
living. The father died Nov. 16, 1879, being 
at the time over 100 years of age. He had 
been a soldier of the war of 1812, and was a 
man of much more than ordinary intelligence. 
The Sharrock family are descended from one 
James Sharrock, who came to America in 1775, 
as a British soldier, xlfter learning the true 
cause of the revolt against the mother country, 
he, with others, deserted, and, from that time un- 
til the close of the war, fought with the American 
army under Washington and La Fayette. J oseph 
W. Sharrock was raised upon a farm. He re- 
ceived such education as the schools of that 
early day afforded. His wife. Miss Mary Wood- 
side, was born in Pennsylvania Oct. 17, 1818. 
They were married April 18, 1843, and are the 
pai-ents of six children, viz., Garrett, Charles, 
Oscar, Benjamin F. and James, living. Gardi- 
ner was the name of the one deceased. Two 
years after his marriage, Mr. Sharrock came to 



Crawford Co., which he has since made his 
home. He owns 290 acres of well-improved 
land, which he has obtained by his own hard 
work. He is a Democrat, and a man of broad 
and liberal views regarding man and religion. 
He is one of the county's early settlers, and a 
highly respected citizen. 

PETER STOCKMAN, Bucyrus; was born 
in Stark Co., Ohio, July 11, 1823. His par- 
ents, Jacob and Mary (Bolinger) Stockman, 
were natives of Pennsylvania. They were mar- 
ried in Stark Co., and were the parents of 
eleven children, seven of whom are now living. 
In 1828, they came to Crawford Co., and settled 
in Liberty Township. The father died in 1867. 
His wife survives him, and resides with a daugh- 
ter in Indiana. They were hard-working people, 
and greatly respected by all who knew them. 
Peter Stockman was brought up on a farm. He 
received but a limited education, as his services 
were required at home in assisting to care for 
the large family. He was united in marriage 
to Mrs. Margaret Shroll in 1865. She was born 
in Baden, Germany, June 8, 1834, and her 
maiden name was Bickle. Her first marriage 
was to Mr. Daniel Shroll, one of the early set- 
tlers of this county. From her marriage with 
Mr. Stockman thei'e are six children, viz., George 
P., Mary A.. John W., Margaret M., Aaron A. 
and Esther H. Mr. Stockman began life as a 
poor boy, and has, by economy and hard work, 
made for himself and family a comfortable home. 
He owns 138 acres of land, the greater part of 
which is under cultivation. He is a man whom 
every one respects, and has unbounded con- 
fidence in. Politically, he is a Democrat. 

J. W. STIGER, farmer ; P. 0. Bucyrus ; a 
son of Abraham and Rosenna (Klieman) Stiger, 
was born Feb. 22, 1839, in Lycoming Co., Penn. 
His parents came to Ohio when he was 5 
years old (in 1 844), and settled on a farm, where 
the}' remained about one j'^ear, when they 
moved into the town of Bucyrus. Here he (the 
subject) went to school until he was 16 3'ears 
old, when he went West (in 1 858). Spent one 
year near St. Louis shipping horses, one year 
in Illinois, and two years traveling through 
Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin, buying furs 
and trading with the Indians, running many 
narrow risks of losing his own fur, otherwise 
his scalp. He was especially successful in the 
fur business, and did well for one so young. 
On the breaking-out of the war, he enlisted in 



BUCYRUS TOWNSHIP. 



811 



Co. E, of the 34th (). V. I. (Col. Piatt's 
Zouaves), in Juh', 18G1. He served principally 
in the Kanawha Valley, and participated in the 
battles of Coal River and Fayetteville, and also 
in much skirmishing. He was discharged in 
the fall of 1863, on account of failing eyesight. 
He returned to Bucyrus and engaged in the 
harness and saddle business, which he followed 
for two years ; he then went into the grocer}' 
business, and continued that for about one 
year. His next move was on to a farm in Scott 
Township, Marion Co., where he farmed for 
about six years, and in 1871 removed to his 
present place, on the pike about five miles 
south of Bucyrus. where he owns some 220 
acres of A'ery fine farming lands. He devotes 
considerable attention to raising and feeding 
stock, with good success. He was married, 
May 3. 1865, to Ellen M. Monnett, of Marion 
Co., by whom he has had six children — Charles 
W., Gertie M.. Annie E.. John R., Thomas A. 
and Cora B. Mr. Stiger is a member of the 
M. E. Church ; also, of Oliver Lodge. No. 444, 
A., F. & A. M.. at Caledonia. 

WILLIAM M. SCROCtGS, deceased ; is the 
son of John and Anna (Shawke) Scroggs, and 
was born Ma}- 27, 1825. in Canton. He left 
school at 11 years of age. and entered a tailor- 
shop to learn the trade : he worked in the town 
of Canton until about 14. when became to Bu- 
cyrus with his father's family, in 1 839. He 
here completed his trade with Peter Howen- 
stein, and in a few years opened a shop of his 
own, and in 1851 added a stock of clothing, 
being one of the early mercliant-tailors of Bu- 
cyrus. He retired from the business of tailor- 
ing about the year 1860. April 25. 1849, he 
was maiTied to Miss Margaret A. Byron, of 
Bucyrus ; she was born in Huntingdon Co., 
Penn., and came to Bucyrus in 1835. About 
1850. Mr. Scroggs was elected Mayor of Bucy- 
rus, a position he held for several years, being 
at the same time Justice of the Peace. On the 
completion of the Ohio & Indiana Railroad, he 
was appointed conductor, and run the first reg- 
ular passenger train over the new road. After 
running on the road for some time, he became 
General Ticket and Freight Agent of the road, 
having his office at Crestline. Subsequently he 
returned to Bucyrus and studied law, for which 
he had a profound admiration, and was admit- 
ted to the bar about- 1864. In 1868, he was 
elected Auditor of Crawford Co., and re-elected 



in 1870 by a large popular majority ; he proved 
a faithful and efficient officer. He died peace- 
fully Nov. 6, 1874, in his 50th year. Of his 
family, there is but one daughter living — Frank 
M., a teacher in the Bucyrus schools ; two sons 
aud a daughter are dead — Mary A., Pjdmund 
K. and George B. Mr. Scroggs began life with 
few of this world's goods, and by a life of ear- 
nest labor, left his family in good circumstances. 
Deprived of the advantages of education in 
youth, he sought by personal endeavor to re- 
pair the loss. He studied that book of books, 
the Bible, until he was familiar with every por- 
tion of it. While following his vocation, a con- 
venient volume was ever near him, until he be- 
came one of the best-read men of his day. He 
collected an extensive library, embracing the 
choicest treasures of history and literature, 
over which he pored with an ever- increasing 
delight. He was generous to a fault, and within 
the sacred domain of home, surrounded by his 
family, he deemed himself more favored than 
the monarch on his throne. 

E. D. SUMMERS, farmer ; P. 0. Bucyrus ; 
a son of Abraham and Susan (Wolford) Sum- 
mers, was born Dec. 26, 1841, in Wooster, Ohio. 
He lived there until he was 9 years old, when 
the family removed to this county (in 1850), 
settling permanently in this township, on the 
place now occupied by Magee. He grew up 
within a quarter of a mile of where he now lives, 
attending during the time the district school. 
He began farming for himself at the age of 23 
years. He was married, Oct. 15, 1863, to Lettie 
M. Shroll, a daughter of William Shroll, of this 
township ; the result of this union was five chil- 
dren, four of whom are living — Anna L., born 
June 11, 1867; Charles A., Jan. 17, 1871; Lester 
A., Jan. 19, 1874 ; Hattie F., Feb. 7, 1880 ; 
William F. died at the age of five months. 
Mrs. Summer's family (the Shrolls) settled in 
this township in 1826, and were among the pio- 
neers of the county. They entered the land 
upon which Oakwood Cemetery is situated. 
The elder Shroll probably built the first saw- 
mill in the township. About the year 1860, 
]Mr. Summers bought a farm of 60 acres, which 
he sold in a short time and bought the old 
Shroll homestead of 89 acres, upon which he 
lived for about eighteen months. He lived a 
short time in Tuscarawas Co.; removing in 
July, 1867, to Delaware, Ohio, where he was 
employed in the gas-works until 1876. In No- 



812 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



vember of that year, he removed back to this 
township, where he bought 60 acres of hind, 
upon which he now lives. It is fine farming 
land and is highlj- improved. He votes the 
Republican ticket. Mr. S. started on small 
capital, and has accumulated his propertj* by 
his own labor and industry. 

COL. JOHN W. SHAW, deceased, Bucyrus ; 
a son of Samuel P. and Elizabeth (Lowstetter) 
Shaw, was born March 15, 1820, at Rising Sun, 
Ind. He was about two years old when the 
family moved to this State. His father was an 
itinerant minister of the M. E. Church, and 
moved from point to point in Ohio. Young 
Shaw received a good education, and, at 18, came 
to Abraham 3Ionnett's and assisted him on his 
farm until he was 21 j-ears old, when he began 
farming on 170 acres which he bought in Dallas 
Township. April 24, 18-13, he married Miss 
Mary Monnett, a daughter of Jeremiah Mon- 
nett ; she was born April 2, 1824, in Pickaway 
Co., Ohio. Three children were the fruit of 
this marriage, viz., Placidia, Autistia and Irene. 
They lived on this farm until 1860. He pur- 
sued the study of law with Judge Plants for 
one year, but, not finding it congenial to his 
taste, he gave it up. He was a very successful 
farmer and stock-raiser. In Jul3% 1861, he 
raised a company which became Co. E, of the 
H4th O. M. I., of which he was made Captain 
Aug. 15, 1861 ; Oct. 10, 1862, he was promoted 
to Major of the regiment, and to Lieutenant 
Colonel July 18, 1863. He was mortally 
wounded at the battle of Winchester by a mus- 
ket ball July 24, 1864, and died eight hours 
afterward in the ambulance. He was a consist- 
ent member of the M. E. Church ; was a Stew- 
ard at one time and Class-leader, and Superin- 
tendent of the Sunday school. He was a Demo- 
crat in politics and held various township of- 
fices, in all of which he gave satisfaction. March 
24, 1869, his widow married Rev. Benjamin F. 
Royce, of Seneca Co., Ohio, a minister of the 
M. E. Church. He was born at Essex, Vt., and 
came to Ohio in an early day, settling on wild 
land near Bloomville. He was first married in 
Vermont to Melinda Perry, by whom he had 
eight children, two only of whom are now liv- 
ing. He died Feb. 8, 1874, leaving her for the 
second time a widow. He lived at Bucyrus 
after his marriage to her, where he was a local 
preacher. Mrs. Ro3^ce moved to Buc3'rus with 
her first husband in 1860, and has lived here 



ever since, keeping her family together and 
educating them. 

W. R. SHAW, Bucyrus. This gentleman 
was born April 20, 1823, in Essex Co., N. J. 
He is one of a family of five children born to 
Lewis and Phoebe (Willis) Shaw, both natives 
of New Jersey, where they were raised and 
married. The father died when the subject of 
this sketch was a small child. The mother 
again married, and in 1834 the family- moved 
to Richland Co., Ohio. After remaining in that 
county some five years, they went to Lick- 
ing County, but only remained there a short 
time. In 1838, the family came to Crawford 
Co., which they ever afterward made their 
home. The parents kept a tavern for some 
years three miles from Bucyrus, on the Little 
Sandusky road. W. R. Shaw was raised upon 
a farm and received a common-school education. 
When about 16 years of age, he entered a shop 
and served an apprenticeship of three years at 
the blacksmith's trade, and, for two years after, 
worked at it. He then, for three years, worked 
on a farm. His step-father dying about this 
time, Mr. Shaw took charge of the hotel, which 
he successfully run for two years, when the 
family- removed to Bucyrus, where they re- 
mained some years, and then purchased a farm 
adjoining the town, upon which they resided a 
number of 3'ears. Mr. Shaw was married Dec. 
27, 1846, to Miss Sarah Bankert, who was born 
April 17, 1828, in Stark Co., Ohio. There were 
nine children in their family, eight of whom are 
yet living, viz., Emma J., Sarah F., Minnetta, 
Mary C, Lucy R., Georgiana C, Catharine and 
William H. The one deceased was Albert J. 
Soon after his marriage Mr. Shaw began team- 
ing between Sandusky City and Bucyrus, which 
he followed five years, and then, for some years, 
was in the saloon and restaurant business in 
Bucyrus. Three years ago, he took charge of 
the American House, and has since remained 
in the hotel business. He has held a number 
of positions of honor and trust in the county 
and city governments, and is one of the most 
prominent and influential Democrats in Craw- 
ford Co. 

G. W. STARNER, farmer ; P. 0. Bucyrus ; 
son of George and Katie M. (Van Vleet) Starner, 
was born in Monroe Co., Penn., Nov. 12, 1812. 
His youth was spent on a farm, at hard work, 
with but little opportunity of going to school ; 
the little schooling he received was obtained in 



BUCYRUS TOWNSHIP. 



813 



a log schoolhouse, where he sat on slab seats 
made of logs split in two, and legs put in at 
each end; and the school was taught by sub- 
scription. He was married, June 12, 1835, to 
Susan Stiff, of Monroe Co., Penn., who was 
born in Sussex Co., N. J., and removed with 
her parents to Monroe Co. when about 14 3'ears 
of age. He raised four children — Elizabeth, 
the wife of Jacob Yeaglej ; p]llen, the wife of 
James 0. Holland, of tliis township ; Harriet, 
married John Dobbins, died at the age of 22, 
and lies buried in Henrj' Co., Mo. ; William 
is a farmer in Henry Co., Mo. Mr. Starner 
moved to Ohio in September, 1832 ; came 
through in a two-horse wagon, making the trip 
in four weeks, and landing in Perry Co.. Ohio, 
where they lived six years on a farm, and, in 
the spring of 1843, removed to Crawford Co. 
and settled in the southern part of Bucyrus 
Township, where he lived for seventeen years. 
In April, 1861, he bought 72f acres of land, 
upon which he at present resides. All that he 
possesses he has made by his own efforts. He 
has been a Republican in politics, ever since 
the organization of that party. 

A. SHUNK, Sr., Bucyrus, whose portrait 
appears in this work, is the son of Simon and 
Susan (Harmon) Shunk, and was born March 
23, 1797, in Somerset Co., Penn. He was raised 
on a farm, and was denied the advantages of 
schooling, living at home until he was 21. He 
then made himself tools and commenced work- 
ing at the carpenter's bench, and for tweut}^- 
one years followed this occupation in his na- 
tive State. He seemed especially gifted in this 
line, for, when only 8 years old, he made a min- 
iature wagon, perfect in ever}' particular. He 
never served an apprenticeship — a fact which 
shows his natural skill in the direction of me- 
chanics. In 1843, he bought a patent right for 
the manufacture of a bar-shear plow, in Greene 
Co., Ohio, and, in the following spring, com- 
menced the manufacture of plows at Xeuia, 
Ohio. He also kept a grocery and tannerj' for 
three years. He next worked at Canal Fulton, 
Stark Co., for about a 3-ear and a half In 
October, 1854. he came to Buc3'rus and started 
a plow factory. He had about $1,000 capital, 
and built a V)rick shop the second year of his 
residence, and then had a surplus of $500. He 
is now sole owner of the entire block, which has 
all been made by his own efforts. They turn 
out about 1,400 plows per year, of six different 



kinds, and which have quite an extended reputa- 
tion, there being over 100 local agencies in four 
different States. Since he made his first plow, 
he has made all his own patterns, and has, dur- 
ing the last 3'ear, invented a pattern which ex- 
cels them all. We doubt if there are many 
men, so advanced in years as Mr. Shunk, who 
display so much business activity'. He is a 
member of the English Lutheran Church, and 
has been since his 17th year. His father was 
in the war of the Revolution, serving under the 
great Washington. He was mai'ried, Feb. 1, 
1816, to Miss Mary Banfort, of Somerset Co., 
Penn. There are twelve children living. Of 
this first marriage there are Delilah, wife of Mr. 
Stevenson, of Upper Sandusky ; Allen, machin- 
ist at Ft. Wayne ; Lavinia, wife of Joseph Mil- 
ler, of Springfield, Ohio ; Marian, wife of N. F. 
Albee, of Kent, Mich.; and Adam. His wife 
died Aug. 21, 1844. In 1845, he married Cath- 
arine Bauch, of Springfield, Ohio. Of this 
marriage, there are Francis, Nelson, Theodore, 
Isaac, Thomas W., John L. and Katie. 

D. W. SWIG ART, attorney at law, Bucyrus. 
This gentleman, one of the eminent practition- 
ers of the Crawford Co. bar, is a son of George 
and Elizabeth (Small) Swigart, and was born 
Dec. 12, 1824, in Franklin Co., Penn. His father 
was born in Pennsylvania in 1789, was a farmer, 
and removed to Seneca Co., Ohio, in 1844, 
where he died in 1856. His mother was born 
in 1796, and died in 1874. Their children 
numbered twelve, nine of whom are still living. 
George is a farmer in Knox Co., 111.; John a 
merchant in Bloomville ; WMlliam a farmer in 
Seneca Co.; Joseph R. is at Bowling Green. 
Ohio, practicing law. The daughters are all 
married and settled in Ohio. The subject of 
this sketch spent his boyhood on a farm, and 
attended Marshall College, Mercersburg, Penn. 
He taught in his native State for some time, and 
removed to Seneca Co., Ohio, in 1845, where he 
taught in the winter and worked on the farm in 
the summer. In 1846, he came to Crawford 
Co., where he taught school one term, and, in 
the spring, was made Deputy in the Clerk's of- 
fice, holding this for one year, when he was ap- 
pointed Clerk, and served until 1852. He 
attended the Cincinnati Law School, graduating 
in June, 1852, and was soon after admitted to 
the bar. In 1861, he entered the service of the 
United States army as Assistant Quartermas- 
ter, and. during the three years following, han- 



IT, 



814 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



died some six millions of dollars. He returned 
to Bnc3'rus, and continued the practice of his 
profession until 1869. Tn that year, he was 
elected President of the A. & L. E. R. R., 
serving four years, when he again resumed the 
law. He was married, Oct. 9, 1848, to Rebecca 
A. Sweney, a daughter of George Sweney ; they 
have one child living, Rebecca S. Mi*. Swigart 
was one of the prominent citizens of his city and 
county, and stands high in the estimation of all 
who know him. [Since the above was written, 
Mr. Swigart died suddenly, Nov. 25. 1880.] 

JOSEPH STEWART, retired, Bucyrus, 
whose porti'ait, and that of his deceased wife, 
appear in this book, was born in Carlisle, Cum- 
berland Co., Penn., where he lived until he was 
21 years of age. He was brought up on a 
farm, and his facilities for receiving an educa- 
tion were limited, but, such as they were, he 
made the best possible use of them, and suc- 
ceeded in obtaining sufficient "schooling" to 
enable him to get through the world. Mr. Stew- 
art is one of the pioneers of Crawford Co., and 
has been an eye-witness to the grand stride of 
improvement and civilization made within the 
past sixty years. He came to Ohio in the fall 
of 1821 ; entered land in Columbus, but the 
family remained in Richland Co. during 1822, 
where they raised a crop of grain, and, in 1823. 
located in what is now Whetstone Township, in 
this county. This season all of their horses 
(four in number) died, and they were left in a 
rather bad condition. They then traded a cop- 
per still to Nathan Merriman, of Richland Co., 
for a yoke of oxen, with which a new start was 
made in farming and opening of their land. 
Mr. Stewart's recollection of pioneer days is 
very vivid, and, as a matter of interest to the 
young financiers of the present day, we will let 
him tell us something of early mone}' matters 
in his own words. He says : " My brother 
James and I started down to Carlisle. Penn.; I 
took with me $100 in paper money. When we 
were ready to return West, my $100 would not 
buy me a ticket to come home on. My brother 
James had as much money as I, but his was in 
gold. I had to borrow some money from my 
brother John to enable me to get a ticket to 
bring me home. If a man had $100 in those 
days, he did not know that it would be worth 
anything in a week." Mr. Stewart says rattle- 
snakes were plenty, and when they used to go 
out on the prairies to mow the grass for hay, 



they were compelled to make grass ropes and 
wrap round their legs as a protection against 
these poisonous reptiles, and that thc}^ had 
killed as high as four in mowing " one round." 
Says Mr. Stewart : " The largest and fattest 
deer I ever killed was a fat buck, which, after I 
had skinned and taken out the entrails, was so 
heavy I could not hang up. I took fat enough 
off the entrails to make a kettle of soap. When 
we came here, there were to be seen the paths 
made by the buffaloes going to and from their 
watering places." The following incident is re- 
lated by Mr. Stewart, in illustration of early life 
in the wilderness : "I was awakened one night 
by two men trying to get the door open. I 
called to them ; they said the}' wanted to come 
in. One had a club in his hand, and sprang 
against the door. I went to the window, with 
my loaded gun in my hand, and leveled it 
at his breast. He then came up and wanted a 
drink of water, but I told him if his tongue 
was hanging out of his mouth, I would not 
give him a drop, and that if he did not leave at 
once, I would blow him through. They both 
left without further parley, and I saw them no 
more." In the fall of 1824, Mr. Stewart was 
married to Jane Steen, of Whetstone Township. 
The result of this union was eleven children, 
three of whom are living, viz. : John, a farmer, 
living in Greene Co., Iowa : Charlotte, wife of 
Daniel I. Sheckler, of Bucyrus ; Ruth, widow of 
the late Jonathan Songer, who was wounded in 
the battle of Saulsbury, N. C, from which he 
died March 4, 1872. The children who were 
dead were named Barbara, John, Elizabeth, 
Mary A., Jane, Matilda, Emily, Caroline and 
Joseph. Mr. Stewart has retired from active 
business, and is now a resident of Bucyrus, en- 
joying the fruits of a life of toil. He has been 
a member of the M. E. Church for nearly sixty 
years, and has voted with the Republican party 
since its organization. 

WILSON STEWART, Bucyrus ; is the son 
of James and Sarah (McClintock) Stewart, and 
was born in Columbiana Co., Ohio, April 12, 
1815. He was the son of a miller, and entered 
his father's grist-mill as soon as he was capable 
of work. After the deatli of his father, which 
occurred when the subject of our sketch was 
but 15, he worked by the month, and supported 
his mother. At the age of 17. he commenced 
to learn the machinist's trade at Washington- 
ville, Ohio, under Jacob Miller, and was there 






:|T 



BUCYRUS TOWNSHIP. 



815 



and thus employed for three 3'ears. Having 
attained to his majority, he established a gun- 
smith-shop near West Point, Columbiana Co., 
Ohio, and remained there until the spring of 
1850, when he settled in Riehville, this county, 
and established a shop and saw-mill, and met 
with good success. In November, 1859, he 
came to Bucyrus, and started a shop here on 
East Mansfield street, where he is now engaged 
in manufacturing all kinds of fire-arms, rifles, 
shot-guns, and doing a general repair business, 
as well as model making. Mr. Stewart's work 
has an enviable reputation, and many of his 
manufactures may be found in different States 
of the Union, he never having a gun returned 
to him. Throughout his life, he has been a 
prominent and highly esteemed citizen. For 
eighteen years, he was Justice of the Peace. 
He was Mayor of Bucyrus two 3'ears, in 1863-64. 
He was County Commissioner for six 3'ears, 
serving from 1852 to 1858, during the erection 
of the court house. Since his 19th 3"ear, he has 
been a member of the Seceder Church. In 
politics, he has always been a Democrat, and 
A'oted for Andrew Jackson. He is a member 
of the Masonic fraternity, and is H. P. of Ivan- 
hoe Chapter. He was married, Sept. 13, 1836, 
to Mary Woolan, of West Point, Ohio. Five 
children were the fruits of this union, one of 
whom, Rensetta, is deceased. Those living are 
Joseph, James, Sarah J. and Hibbitts. 

JOHN SIMS, retired, Bucyrus ; son of 
James and Martha (McConnell) Sims ; was 
born May 18, 1817, in St. Clairsville, Ohio. 
He was raised on a farm, and went to school 
but little, walking over three miles, and receiv- 
ing about two years' schooling altogether. He 
left home at the age of 17, and learned the har- 
ness and saddler's ti-ade at St. Clairsville ; he 
worked at his trade in Mt. Vernon for a time, 
and in the spring of 1 845, came to Bucyrus, 
started a shop and worked about eight years, 
when his eyes failed, and he was compelled to 
quit the business. He engaged in a bookstore 
for about three years, and then sold out. He 
next bought the American House, about 1855, 
and kept hotel for a short time. In 1863, he 
bought the Bowman House, now known as the 
Sims House, which he has owned ever since. 
He thoroughly repaired it and added the third 
story. He carried it on as a hotel for about 
seven years, and since then has rented it, ex- 
cept for two short periods. He met with a 



heavy loss, previous to 1860, by a security 
debt. For a number of years he has dealt 
largely in real estate ; he has built over twenty 
houses in the town, and expended more than 
$100,000 ; having at one time owned all from 
the Sims House to Fisher's corner. He has 
been a member of the Town Council for four 
years. He was married, March 1, 1841, to Miss 
Catharine Mefford, of Mt. Vernon, by whom he 
has three children living — Hannah J., wife of 
Greorge S. Harris, of Mansfield, Ohio ; Eugene 
H., of Bucyrus, and Sarah E., wife of James 
W. Spencer, of Iowa. His wife died in August, 
1855, and he was married again, in May, 1857, 
to Miss Susan L. Smith, of Sandusky City. 
She was born Aug. 24, 1836. He was an Old- 
Line Whig, and a Republican since the organ- 
ization of that party. His father, James Sims, 
was born July 15, 1792, in Eastern Maryland, 
and was the son of James and Mar}' (Ewing) 
Sims. He came to St. Clairsville, Ohio, in 1810. 
He was married, Feb. 2, 1815, to Martha Mc- 
Counell, of Belmont Co., Ohio, owning a large 
farm there, which he developed and improved. 
He served during the war of 1812. Five sons 
and three daughters were raised to manhood 
and womanhood : James is a merchant at St. 
Louis ; John, our subject ; William, died in 
Wheeling, W. Va. ; Robert, connected with rail- 
road interests at Atlanta ; Ophelia, the wife of 
Newton Mills, a farmer of Knox Co., Ohio ; Ann, 
widow of the late Charles McWilliams. of Na- 
poleon, Ohio ; Joseph, farmer in Iowa, and Da- 
vid, a merchant in Illinois. The elder Mr. 
Sims is still living at Martinsburg, Knox Co., 
Ohio, with his venerable wife. He is in his 
89th year, and in the possession of all his fac- 
ulties. His mother was a daughter of the Rev. 
John Ewing, who was born June 22, 1732, in 
England, and came to Philadelphia in 1759, 
upon a call from the First Presbyterian Church 
of that city. He filled the pulpit many years 
acceptably. In 1773, he went to England with 
Dr. Hugh Williamson, of North Carolina, to 
solicit subscriptions for the church ; returned 
in 1775, and preached to his old church until 
driven out by the British troops. After they 
evacuated Philadelphia, he returned to his la- 
bors again. The late Thomas Ewing was a full 
cousin to our subject's grandmother, and his 
grandfather, James Sims, came fi'om Scotland 
in 1775, and fought in the Revolutionary war ; 
he was also a Presbyterian. He came with 



816 



BIOGRAPPIICAL SKETCHES: 



Gov. St. Clair here, before Ohio was made a 

State, and they settled at St. Clairsville, then 
called Newellstown ; the place then had a few 
cabins and a block-house ; he died in St. Clairs- 
ville at the age of 99, and his wife at 92 years 
of age. 

EUGENE H. SIMS, livery stable, Bucyrus ; 
was born Sept. 21, 1844, in Mt. Vernon, Ohio ; 
spent his youth in Bucyrus, and attended school 
until 15 3'ears of age. He then assisted his 
father in the American Hotel for about one 
year. He then went into his fother's harness- 
shop to learn the trade, and worked some two 
years at that business. When the war broke 
out, he enlisted in Co. E, 86th 0. V. I., serving- 
four months, when he was discharged and re- 
turned home. He went into the harness-shop 
again for one year. His father bought the 
Sims House, and he took charge of the shop 
alone for a short time. He re-enlisted in the 
136th 0. N. G., and was engaged in pursuit of 
Gen. Mosby and guerrilla bands at Ft. Worth, 
afterward returning to Bucyrus, and becoming 
clerk for the Sims House for four years. In 
November, 1866, he bought a stock of horses 
and buggies, and engaged in the livery business 
until June 23, 1880, when his stable burned, 
and he sustained a partial loss of stock, but 
saved all the horses and buggies. By Septem- 
ber, 1880, another building, larger and more 
convenient, was erected on the old stand, on the 
southeast corner of public square, where he 
is a doing a successful business, in a livery, 
sale and feed stable. 

FRANK J. SHECKLER, Bucyrus ; was born 
July 14, 1857, in Bucyrus, and went to school, 
graduating in the high school at the age of 20. 
He then entered the office of the Eagle Machine 
Works, where he served as clerk, l)ook-keeper 
and financial manager. In the spring of 1879, 
he began buying and grazing stock, and doing 
a general shipping business. He still, however, 
give^his attention to the machine works. He 
was married, May 21, 1879, to Miss Jennie 
Bryant, of Wyandot Co. She is a daughter of 
the late Isaac Bryant, and was born Feb. 22, 
1858. They have one daughter — an infimt — 
born July 6, 1880. Mr. Sheckler is a thriving 
and energetic young business man, who is suc- 
ceeding admirably, and is a valuable citizen of 
Bucyrus. 

DANIEL J. SHECKLER, Eagle Machine 
Works, Buc3Tus ; was born in April, 1824, in 



Bedford Co., Penn., and is a son of Daniel and 
Elizabeth (Needier) Sheckler. His father died 
when he was 1, and his mother when he was 5 
3'ears old. He lived with his aunt in Bedford 
until he was 8, when he went to live with 
his godfather, George Beegle, having been 
christened in the old Lutheran Church. He 
worked with him on the farm until he was 14 
years old. He then returned to the village of 
Bedford, and worked at tailoring for two 3'ears ; 
then worked at cabinet-making, which proved 
more congenial to his tastes. He learned the 
ti'ade with John Stall, working some seven 
3'ears in Pennsylvania, and came to Buc3'rus, 
Ohio, in the fall of 1845. Began work first on 
a farm, and at whatever he could find to do, 
having but 50 cents when he landed. He soon 
found emplo3'ment in the shop of C. Howenstine, 
where he worked one 3'ear at $15 per month, 
and then formed a partnership with him, but 
had run but about six months, when all was 
swept away by fire, having just laid in a stock 
of lumber, which was also destroyed. They 
again started upon Mansfield street, and con- 
tinued about two years, when Mr. Sheckler re- 
tired, and went to work in a machine-shop 
operated b3' James Kelle3'. He worked as a 
hand about eight years — his true emplo3'ment. 
In about 1860. he and F. E. Frey bought the 
stock, Kelie3' & Widgeon having failed. They 
paid for the stock the first 3'ear, and the assignee 
offered the property for sale about 1862, when 
they purchased it for $3,500, and continued the 
business about four 3'ears with good success, 
when, in August, 1867, all was again destroyed 
by fire, leaving them with nothing but $4,000 
insurance. With this the3' began building the 
following winter their present foundr3', which is 
known as Eagle Machine Works. The part- 
ners were F. E. Fre3^, 3Ir. Sheckler (the sub- 
ject) and George Quinb3', each owning a third 
interest. The3' manufacture engines, horse-pow- 
ers and saw-mills, brick machines, and do a 
general foundry' business, and. of late 3'ears, 
make the Eagle Portable Engine. The firm 
cjianged in 1875, when jNIr. Sheckler retired, 
selling his interest to Mr. Quinby, and, in the 
meantime, running the works for the firm. Mr. 
Quinb3' retired in 1877, and William Hoover 
purchased his interest. The firm now is Frey, 
Sheckler & Hoover, Mr. Sheckler having again 
taken an interest. The works at present em- 
ploy eighteen hands, and have six buildings — 






TV 



BUCYRUS TOWNSHIP. 



817 



foundry, machine-shops, blacksmith-shops, en- 
gine house, coke and sand house, store and 
paint-shop, office and pattern-room. Mr. Shecli- 
ler has been married twice — the first time. April 
26, 1848, to Sarah Ann Albright, of this county, 
and, of this maiTiage, all are dead but one 
daughter — Mary. The wife died April 3, 1855. 
He was married a second time to Charlotte 
Stewart, daughter of Joseph Stewart, October 
28, 1857. Eight children have been born of 
this marriage — Fi'anklin J., Jackson, Vaneleer, 
Amelia, Edward, Stewart, Frederick, Jesse. 
Mr. S. votes the Republican ticket, and is a 
member of the M. E. Church, and one of its 
Trustees. 

JOHxN A. SCHABER, Sheriff, Bucyrus ; is 
the sou of J. George Schaber, and was born 
Nov. 2, 1836, in EU-hoffen, Wurtemberg, Ger- 
man}'. He attended school at Wiensbach from 
his 8th to his 14th year. He then entex-ed the 
blacksmith-shop of his father, and remained 
until 1853, when they sailed from Antwerp on 
June 15, 1853. The voyage occupied a period 
of forty-nine days, and they arrived at New 
York Aug. 7. His journey was continued to 
Buffalo, where he engaged at his trade, at Black 
Rock, a suburb of tliat city. In June, 1854, 
he and his father removed to Crawford Count}', 
and on July 4, of that 3'ear he commenced 
work, not knowing that it was a national holi- 
da3^ He was first employed by Phillip Osman. 
A year more and he entered the plow factory, 
and later formed a partnership with John 
Howalt, in the manufacture of buggies. This 
partnership was dissolved in six months, and 
Mr. Schaber enlisted in the " Mechanical Fusi- 
leers," Sept. 12, 1861, and in the following year 
the companies were disbanded b}' the Secretary 
of War. Mr. Schaber then engaged in the pro- 
vision trade, in the old bank building, in com- 
pany with Joseph Sandhammer, and continued 
one year. He then went into the dry goods 
business with Isaac Miller, and in a year, sold 
out this enterprise also. His next venture was 
at Sulphur Springs, where he opened a general 
store, with J. J. Fisher ; some time after, Fisher 
sold his interest to J. N. Biddle, Schaber con- 
tinuing with him in the business, but soon sold 
his interest to him and returned to Bucyrus, 
opening a store in partnership with Thomas 
Furraan, which enterprise was carried on two 
years ; after which, Mr. Schaber went into the 
dry goods and grocer}' business alone, until 



February, 1 877. In October of that year, he was 
elected Sheriff, and commenced the discharge 
of his duties Jan. 7, 1878. He served in an 
able manner, and, in 1879, was re-elected, being 
nominated by acclamation. At his first nomi- 
nation there were ten opposing candidates, but 
he had a majority of 340 over one next highest. 
Mr. Schaber was married, Feb. 4, 1869, to Ber- 
tha W. Margraff, of Crawford Count}'. They 
have three children — Geo. W., Sophia M., 
Charles T. Mr. Schaber is a member of the 
German Lutheran Church, and a gentleman 
who has held various offices of trust, he having 
been Councilman for eight years. Township 
Treasurer for four years, and was Treasurer of 
the Crawford County Loan, Saving and Build- 
ing Association during its existence. As Sheriff 
he has proved himself worthy and efficient. 
In the eai'ly part of 1865, Liberty Township, of 
this county, raised a volunteer fund of nearly 
$25,000, and tendered the responsible position 
of Treasurer to John A. Schaber, not even re- 
quiring bonds of him while handling this large 
sum. He was also first President of the 
Deutsche Gesellschaft, discharging all duties 
with that high sense of honor and integrity 
which has ever distinguished him. 

JACOB SCROGGS, attorney at law, Bucyrus. 
Among the names of prominent men in Bucyrus 
and Crawford Co., that of Hon. Jacob Scroggs, 
deserves especial mention. Jacob Scroggs. son 
of John and Ann (Shawke) Scroggs, was born in 
Canton, Ohio, Aug. 11, 1827. His father was 
born in the city of Baltimore June 9, 1794, 
and was a hatter by trade, having served his 
apprenticeship seven years, in his native city. 
In 1819, he removed to Cumberland Co., Penn., 
where he lived one year, and then removing to 
Columbiana Co., Ohio, where he was married 
in 1821. Was engaged in business at New 
Lisbon for some time, and afterward at Can- 
ton. He removed from Stark Co. in 1839, 
coming to Crawford Co. by team, and settling 
on the site of his son's present residence. He 
died in 1861. Throughout his life he was a 
pure-minded, fervent Christian, a member of 
the M. E. Church. He participated in the war 
of 1812, being engaged in the bombardment of 
Fort McHenry and North Point. His wife's 
fatlier, Jacob Shawke, was a soldier in the 
Revolution. His son Abel Shawke invented 
first steam fire-engine, which was tried in the 
winter of 1851-52, in Cincinnati. The subject 



^1 



818 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



of our sketch, assisted his father in the hat 
trade until he attained his majority, acquiring 
a limited education. He also spent some time 
in the printing office of T. J. Orr, publisher of 
the Democrat-Repuhlican, and, later, with J. R. 
Knapp, of the Bucyrus Forum, as a type-setter. 
After he was 21, he taught school live terms, 
and was also Deputy Sheriff. He was also em- 
ployed in the Clerk's and Probate offices as 
copyist, in the meantime acquiring a knowledge 
of medicine, and was a clerk in Toledo in 1851 
and 1852. He then represented Winthrop D. 
Smith, in introducing the Eclectic school 
books, traveling one season. He then entered 
the law office of D. W. Swigart, having been a 
student of Judge Hall. Next, he attended the 
Cincinnati Law School, graduating in May, 
1854, and was admitted to the bar in Hamilton 
Co. He continued with D. W. Swigart until 
Februar}^, 1855, when he opened an office here, 
beginning without capital, and has worked his 
way into affluence. He was Mayor of Bucy- 
rus from 1855 to 1859. He is now serving his 
eighth year as member of the School Board, 
and fifth as President of that body. Was 
Presidential Elector on the Republican ticket, 
in 1864, for the Ninth District. He was mar- 
ried, in September, 1859, to Julia A. Walwork, 
of Bucyrus, a native of Pennsj'lvania. They 
have one son, Charles J., a promising student 
at Ann Arbor, Mich. 

C. H. SHONERT, County Treasurer, Bucy- 
rus. This gentleman is a son of John H. and 
Frederika (John) Shonert, and was born in 
Saxony April 13, 1832, where he went to school 
until he was 14, and afterward worked with his 
father at blacksmithing for two years. In March, 
1848, he sailed from the port of Bremen, and, 
after a voyage of six weeks, landed at New York 
on May 6. He removed to Crawford Co. with 
his father's family and settled in Lykens Town- 
ship, where Mr. Shonert worked on the farm for 
one year. In April, 1849, he came to Bucyrus 
and learned tanning with Aaron Cary. For 
eighteen years he carried on business for him- 
self, and now has a half-interest in the business 
with Jacob Haller. He early developed a re- 
markable taste for music, and is one of, if not 
the finest musician in the cit}-. He has held 
several cit^' offices, and, in 1875, he was elected 
County Treasurer, and was re-elected in 1877. 
During his terms of office he has shown himself 
capable and energetic, and made himself deserv- 



edly popular. He was married, Oct. 30,1856, 
to Maria W. Miller, of Bucyrus. Seven children 
are the fruit of this union— William, Emma M., 
Francis O., Edwin M., x\nna Z., Clara W., 
Thomas C. Mr. Shonert commenced life poor, 
with no capital but his own labor and energy, 
but he has succeeded admirably in making his 
fortune by his own efforts. 

HENRY STUCKEY, machinist, Bucyrus ; 
was born May 25, 1833, in Canton, Ohio, and is 
the son of John and Mary (Shock) Stuckey ; he 
was raised on a farm, and attended district 
school during winters till his 18th year ; in 
1852, he purchased a farm in Texas Township 
of 80 acres, and lived there until the fall 
of 1861 ; during this time, in connection with 
his farming, he also sold machinery, and did a 
lucrative business ; in 1861, he came to Bucy- 
rus, and bought an interest in the Bucyrus 
Machine Company, and was Superintendent 
during its existence ; in 1868, the firm was 
changed to the Bucyrus Machine Works, and 
Mr. Stuckey was Superintendent until 1876, 
excepting some three years spent as general 
agent for McDonald & Co.; the Bucyrus Ma- 
chine Company failed in 1876, and Mr. Stuckey 
and others bought out the entire stock and 
business in April, 1877 ; he then became Su- 
perintendent for A. Monnett &. Co. for two 
years, and, in April, 1879, he and A. W. Diller 
leased the shops, and are now doing a flourish- 
ing business. He was married, in April, 1854, 
to Miss Catharine Shock, of Seneca Co.; of this 
marriage, there were five children, all of whom 
are living — John, Louisa, Sarah, Annie E. and 
Henry ; his wife died July 10, 1875, and 
he was remarried, Nov. 18, 1876, to Mrs. 
Elizabeth Meyrs, widow of the late Jacob 
Meyrs ; they have two children — Frederick 
and Charles. He was, at one time. Trustee of 
Texas Township, and has been a member of 
the council for twelve years. He is a member 
of the Reformed Church, and is a Trustee 
of the church organization. He is a member 
of Bucyrus Lodge, No. 139, A., F. & A. M.; 
Ivanhoe Chapter, B. A. M.; and Mansfield 
Commandery, Knights Templar. 

THEODORE F. SHOTWELL, attorney at 
law, Bucyrus. Theodore F. Shotwell was born 
at Walesville, Oneida Co., N. Y., on July 30, 
1851. He traces his ancestry through seven 
generations back to the first settlement in New 
Jersey : First — Abraham Shotwell, whose name 



■TT 



ll , /III "# 







iiiii&iniiiilijiii'i;;!,!!;!^^^ 



BLCYRUS T0WN8H1P. 



821 



appears upon the Elizabethtown, N. J., records, 
under date of Feb. 19, 1665, when sixty-five 
persons took the oath of allegiance to King 
Charles the II ; his name stands fourth on the 
list. Second — John Shotwell, who married 
Elizabeth Burton in October, 1679, and died at 
Woodbridge in 1719. Third— John Shotwell, 
who married Mary Thorne and settled at Shot- 
well's Landing, now Rahway, N. J. Fourth — 
Samuel Shotwell, born Oct. 20, 1723, and mar- 
ried at Mamaroneck, N. Y. Fifth — Caleb Shot- 
well. Sixth — Joseph Shotwell, born Feb. 27, 
1789 ; married Sarah, youngest daughter of 
Abel and Sai'ah Dean Randall, and was the 
fatherof eleven children. Seventh — John Max- 
well Shotwell, born Feb. 22, 1821, at Clifton 
Park, N. Y., and mari'ied Salome L., daughter of 
Oliver and Phoebe Turpening Stone, Sept. 14, 
1842. He is the father of three children ; the 
oldest is Carlos B., who is engaged in book- 
keeping in a commercial house in Detroit, Mich., 
and the youngest, William E., is a student in 
Genesee Valley Seminar}', in New York. The 
early ancestors of Theodore F. were Quakers, 
and their names appear frequentl}' on the old 
records of the yearly meetings of that sect. 
His immediate ancestors were Baptists, his 
father for twenty -five years being a clergyman 
in that denomination, and now residing on a 
farm in Allegany Co., N. Y. In early life, the 
subject of this sketch manifested very studious 
habits, standing at the head of all his classes 
and devouring all kinds of literature that came 
into his hands. At the age of 12, he wrote an 
Indian story of nearl}- two hundred pages, 
which, it is needless to say, was never published. 
He manifested a special fondness for mathe- 
matics. His father had promised him a pres- 
ent of a silver watch if he would finish geometrj' 
before he was 15 years old. The morning of 
July 29 came, and the last two books had not 
been looked at. Only one day remained. He 
shut himself up in his room, and at night he 
could repeat every theorem, draw every figure 
and demonstrate every proposition in Davies' 
Legendre. He obtained the watch, but in less 
than a month all knowledge of the last two 
books had vanished from his memory. He pre- 
pared himself for college in Genesee Valley 
Seminar^', and, at the age of 18, he entered the 
Sophomore class of Oberlin College, from which 
institution he received the degree of Bachelor 
of Arts on Aug. 7, 1872. In scholarship he 



ranked among the best of his class ; held the 
position of " Class Poet," and represented the 
" Phi Kappa Pi " society at its anniversary. 
While in college, he supported himself by teach- 
ing winters and working during vacations. 
Upon leaving college, his health was so impaired 
he deemed it imprudent to engage in literary or 
sedentary employment ; so he commenced sell- 
ing Bibles, and he met with such extraordinary 
success that he followed the business for several 
years, selling thousands of copies in the coun- 
ties of Northern Ohio, and selling in Crawford 
Co. alone over one thousand Bibles, aggregating 
in value over $10,000. In 1874, he commenced 
the study of theology in Oberlin, but, his ideas 
not harmonizing with the doctrines taught in 
the seminary, he left Oberlin, and, in December, 
1875, commenced the study of law in the oflflce 
of Wickham & Wildman, of Norwalk, Ohio. In 
the spring of 1870, he came to Bucyrus, Oiiio, 
and, forming the acquaintance of Anna Mc- 
Kinstry, daughter of James McKinstry, Esq., 
the} were married on Nov. 3 of that year. 
He continued his law studies in the office of S. 
R. Harris, of Bucyrus, and, on March 28, 1878, 
he was admitted to the bar. He has since been 
engaged in the practice of his profession, his 
oflSce being in Rowse Block, Bucyrus. In 
1879, he ran on the Republican ticket for Prose- 
cuting Attorney, and, in the spring of 1880, was 
nominated by the Citizens' Convention as can- 
didate for Maj'or, but declined the nomination. 
He is now Secretar}' of the County Republican 
Central Committee. He is a member of the 
Presbyterian Church and a teacher in the Sun- 
day school. He has two children — Charles 
William, born May 22, 1878, and Becco, May 1, 
1880. 

WILLIAM STREMMEL, Bucyrus. This 
gentleman, who has figured extensively in pub- 
lic life, was born Dec. 2, 1846, in Baltimore, 
Md., and is the son of Lewis G. and Frede- 
ricke (Feiring) Stremmel ; the first eight years 
of Mr. Sti'emmel's life were spent in the Monu- 
mental City, where he received the rudiments 
of his education ; his father removed to Bucy- 
rus in 1854, arriving about April 1 of that 
year ; he completed his education in the public 
schools at 16 years of age, and then entered 
the law office of Judge A. Somers, where 
he I'emained as a student until he had attained 
the age of 18 years ; he then took a course in 
the commercial school, under the instruction of 



!!£: 



822 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



Prof. Rosscutt, and graduated in the fall of 
1867. In the following spring, he was elected 
City Clerk, which office he filled acceptably un- 
til 1869, and, in the election of that year, 
he was again placed in charge of that office, 
and was also Township Clerk until 1 872 ; 
in June of this ^-ear, he was nominated for 
County Recorder, and in convention received 
over two-thirds of the whole vote cast, a fact 
which showed plainly Mr. Stremmel's popular- 
ity ; he was elected, and assumed the duties of 
the office on Jan. 6, 1873 ; after serving with 
eminent satisfaction, and having gained a sure 
hold on the esteem of the people, he was 
renominated by acclamation, and was again 
elected, and discharged the duties of the office 
in a manner peculiarly satisfactory, until 1878 ; 
since that time, he has been Deputy Recorder 
under the present incumbent of the office, Mr. 
D. 0. Castle ; in the spring of 1880, he was 
elected City Clerk and also Clerk of Bucyrus 
Township, the duties of which offices he is at 
present discharging in that efficient manner 
which has characterized all his public services. 
Mr. Stremmel was mari'ied, March 11, 1875, to 
Catharine Derfler, of Holmes Township, who 
still lives to bless his pathway through life ; 
three children are the blessings of this union, 
the eldest being Augusta M., born Nov. 3, 
1876 ; Lydia A., Nov. 11, 1878, and Cora, May 
10, 1880. Mr. Stremmel is a member of the 
German Reformed Church, having been con- 
firmed at the age of 14, in this city, by Rev. 
Eli Keller. He has been identified with public 
life since the attainment of his majority, and 
his services have been such as have brought 
him into high esteem among the citizens of 
both cit}'^ and county. 

HON. GEORGE SWENEY, deceased, whose 
portrait appears in this work, was born Feb. 
22, 1796, and died Oct. 10, 1877, in the 
82d year of his age. The following notice is 
taken from an obituary published in the Bucy- 
rus Journal : Mr. Sweney graduated at Dick- 
inson College, in Pennsylvania, then a very 
prominent institution, and commenced the 
practice of law at Gettysburg, where he was a 
cotemporary and competitor for forensic honors 
with Hon. Thaddeus Stevens and others, who 
were afterward elevated, like himself, to honor 
and distinction by admiring fellow-citizens. 
Oct. 9, 1821, he married Miss Rebecca Hetich, 
sister of the late Paul I. Hetich, of this place, 



but at that time of Franklin Co., Penn. This 
venerable lady survives her honored husband, 
in the 79th year (1877) of her age. The fruits 
of this union were a family of eight children, 
six of whom still survive — two sons and four 
daughters. In 1830, he removed to Bucyrus, 
where he has continued to reside, with the ex- 
ception of four years (from 1853 to 1856) spent 
at Geneseo, 111. From 1838 to 1842, he rep- 
resented this district in Congress. At that 
time this was, as now, the Fourteenth District, 
composed of the counties of Seneca, Crawford, 
Sandusky, Hancock, Wood and Ottawa. How 
satisfactorily he executed his trust may be de- 
duced from the following resolution, passed at 
a county convention, July 7, 1840 : " Resolved, 
That the uniform and firm support given dur- 
ing the present session of Congress to Demo- 
cratic principles and measures by our worthy 
fellow-citizen, Hon. George Sweeney, merits our 
decided approbation." When in Congress, he 
was cotemporary with Martin Van Buren, Gen. 
Jackson, Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, John C. 
Calhoun and Amos Kendall ; also with Wilson 
Shannon, Ben Tappan and William Allen, 
of Ohio. But the honorable gentleman was a 
ripe scholar and a student, and the turmoil of 
public life was distasteful to him. At the end, 
therefore, of his second term, he declined to be 
a candidate for renomi nation, and was suc- 
ceeded by Hon. Henry St. John, of Seneca Co. 
Since his withdrawal from Congress, he has 
lived a quiet and retired life, unostentatiously 
devoting himself to study, scientific research, 
and the education of his children. During the 
past five or six years of his life, as old age wore 
more and more deeply into his energies, he has 
seldom been so much on the streets, an occa- 
sional visit to the store being the extent of his 
outdoor walks, but, although not seriousl}' ail- 
ing, he has remained quietly at home, living 
mostly with his books and in the past. In per- 
son he was tall, handsome and dignified ; of 
courteous and pleasing address ; he was an 
agreeable companion, overflowing with interest- 
ing conversation, which ever abounded with val- 
uable information ; and he will long be remem- 
bered by those who knew him as a highly 
cultivated gentleman of the old school. Mrs. 
Rebecca H. (Hetich) Sweney, widow of Hon. 
George Sweney, was born in Chambersburg, 
Penn., June 3, 1799, and is a daughter of 
George and Martha (Immel) Hetich. In 1812, 



:|V 



BUCYRUS TOWNSHIP. 



823 



she entered boarding-school at Baltimore, Md., 
and was present at the confirmation of Jerome 
Bonaparte, on Easter Mondaj', the son of the 
brother of the first Emperor Napoleon ; at the 
same time, the bells tolled the alarm that En- 
glish ships were in the bay, but they proved to 
be American ships. She graduated from the 
Haj'ward Seminary in 1817. After her mar- 
riage with Mr. Sweney, they lived for nine years 
in Gett^-sburg, Penn., where he practiced law 
successfully. In September, 1829, they started 
in a carriage, and came through to Bucyrus, 
being twenty-two days on the road. Upon 
their arrival, they tried in vain, for a time, to 
rent a house, or even a room. At last they 
found a vacant cabin near where the Infirmar3' 
now stands, where they spent the winter. He 
bought 80 acres of land near town, upon which 
he fitted up a house. He had previously en- 
tered 200 acres in Whetstone Township, but 
was persuaded to move into town. He built a 
brick house, probably the second in town. No 
chairs could be bought near by, and he ordered 
a lot from Fredericktown. Mrs. Sweney was 
tlie mother of eight children, five of whom, at 
the present writing, are living — Charles E., a 
merchant at Cleneseo, 111. ; Rebecca A., wife 
of D. W. Swigart, of Bucyrus ; Carrie D., wife 
of Silas L. St. John, a cotton-merchant at Pick- 
ens' Station, Holmes Co., Miss. ; Paul A., livery- 
man at Geneseo, 111. ; Augusta M., wife of Jo- 
seph R. Swigart, of Bowling Green. Ohio ; Lot- 
tie E. Hoffman, deceased (see sketch of John 
Hoffman) ; Martha C, deceased, wife of E. E. 
Kearsley ; one son, George A., is dead. 

FREDERICK M. SWINGLY; P.O. Bucyrus; 
is the second son of Dr. Frederick and Mary 
(Denman) Swingly, and was born in Bucyrus, 
March 27, 1846. He attended the Bucyrus 
Union Schools until 16 years of age, when he 
enlisted in the 86th 0. V. I., and served for 
three months under Col. Barnabas Burns, when 
he enlisted in the 60th 0. V. I., and served 
during the war. The 60th Ohio formed a part 
of the old Ninth Army Corps, and Mr. Swingly 
participated in all those decisive battles which 
gave that shattered legion a renown which is 
scarcely excelled in the annals of warfare. 
He enlisted as a private soldier, and by his 
gallant and orderly conduct rose to the rank of 
Adjutant. In 1865, he returned to Bucyrus, 
and for some time was copyist in the Recorder's 
ofi3ce, and subsequent to this became Deputy 



Auditor under Samuel Hoyt, for three years, 
and served in the same capacity under Auditor 
William M. Scroggs during his term. In 1873, 
he was elected to the office of Auditor of Craw- 
ford Co. b}' a large majority, and after serving 
two years, received a unanimous nomination, 
and was re-elected to the same office in 1875. 
Since 1877, he has been Clerk of the Commit- 
tee on Public Expenditures and Library, in the 
National House of Representatives. Nov. 23, 
1873, he was married at Tipton, Iowa, to Miss 
Lizzie Garberick. Three children have been 
born of this union, named as follows — Guy D., 
Nellie G. and Mary. 

NATHANIEL STEEN ; P. 0. Bucyrus ; is 
a son of John and Mary (Davis) Steen, who 
resided in Liberty Township, this county, at 
his birth, which occurred Oct. 7, 1834. He 
spent his youth on the farm, and, in the mean- 
time, receiving such an education as boys were 
able to acquire from the schools held in the old 
log schoolhouses of that time, his books being 
the speller and English Reader. He left his 
father's house at 19 years of age, and began 
working bj' the U)onth, and continued to do so 
until 24 years of age. His marriage occurred 
at that time, Sept. 22, 1858, to Miss Elizabeth 
Peterman, of Liberty Township. This union 
not being blessed with issue, they have adopted 
a daughter — Ella Finnegan. Subsequent to 
his marriage, he labored by the day for about 
one 3'ear ; then engaged in the butchering bus- 
iness with David Crum. In October, 1862, he 
went into the army, serving ten months in Co. 
C, 49th O. V. I., and was mustered out of serv- 
ice at Tullahoma, Tenn., in 1863, returning 
to Bucyrus and engaging again in the butcher- 
ing business, which he followed, with other 
parties, until September, 1867, when he became 
proprietor of a meat market, continuing the 
business until July, 1880, meeting with success, 
and accumulating some valuable property. He 
is a member of the Ivanhoe Ciiapter, R. A. 
M., of Bucyrus ; also, of La Salle Lodge I. 0. 
0. F. He is a member of the City Council, and 
in his political belief a Democrat. His father 
was a native of "auld Ireland." emigrating to 
this country when but 12 years of age, and aft- 
erward learning the carpenter's trade. Having 
attained his majority, he was married to Mary 
Davis, of Cumberland Co., Penn., and migrated 
to Crawford Co. in the year 1827, which was 
also about the time of the arrival of the Peter- 



■^\ 



V 



824 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHEtS: 



man family. He raised a family of ten chil- 
dren, four of whom are living — John, a black- 
smith, in Hancock Co., Ohio ; Joseph, a farmer 
in Liberty Township, this county ; James, an 
agriculturist in Hancock Co., also, Nathaniel 
the subject of this sketch, the youngest of 
the family now living. The father died in 
April, 1875, aged 95 years ; the mother, May 
8, 1876, aged 86 years. When they landed in 
this county, their earthly possessions amounted 
to $100, which they invested in a piece of 
heavily wooded land, the improvement of which 
made their early settlement in this county a 
life of hardship and much sufiering. 

WILLIAM B. TOBIAS, retired^ farmer ; P. 
0. Bucyrus ; was born Oct. 1, 1815, near Car- 
lisle, Cumberland Co., Penn., and is a son of 
Benjamin and Sarah (Clouse) Tobias. He lived 
on a farm until fifteen years old, receiving but 
three months' schooling, and that at a night 
school. He then went to Carlisle, where he was 
apprenticed to a cabinet-maker to learn the 
trade, and served four and a half years with a 
man named George Spangler. He worked about 
six months, after his time was up, as a journey- 
man, and went to Grreencastle, Penn., about the 
year 1836, where he started a shop, working at 
his trade until about 1849. His health failed, 
and he closed his shop and rented a farm in 
Franklin Co., Penn., where he farmed until 
1864, and then came to this county, locating in 
Liberty Township. Here he lived some four 
years, when he sold out and removed to Holmes 
Township, and farmed there until 1877, when 
he sold his farm there, of 70 acres, and removed 
to Bucyrus, where he purchased a handsome 
property on Sandusk}^ avenue. He married, 
Feb. 11, 1841, Miss Catharine Mills, a native of 
Greencastle, Penn. He has six children living, 
and two dead — William F., a farmer in Ashland 
Co.; Jane C, wife of John Richardson, of 
Holmes Township ; Elizabeth, wife of A. J. 
Richards, of Bucyrus ; John L., at home : 
James C. (see sketch) ; and Daniel M., of Bu- 
cyrus. Mr. Tobias began the world without 
any superfluous wealth, his father dying when 
he was 8 years old, leaving him to fight his 
battles as best he could. By energy and indus- 
try, he has accumulated a handsome property. 
When the late war broke out, he lived four 
miles from the Mar3'land line, and the army of 
Gen. Lee marched through his farm and de- 
stro^^ed much of his property. The State 



militia destroyed his stock without scruple, 
taking all but six horses. He is a member of 
St. Paul's English Lutheran Church, and is a 
Democrat in politics. 

JAMES C. TOBIAS, attorney at law, Bucy- 
rus ; is a son of William B. and Catharine 
(Mills) Tobias ; born on the 11th of November, 
1856, in Greencastle, Penn. When but 8 years 
old, his father moved to a farm near Sulphur 
Springs, this county. Here he lived and la- 
bored until 16, when he attended the Cold Run 
Academy one term, and, in the spring of 1872, 
entered Oberlin College, where he studied until 
the following September, when he entered the 
Mt. Union College, remaining there about three 
3^ears. During this period, he taught school in 
winter, thereby paying his own way in college. 
In the winter of 1876-77, he began the study 
of law, entering the law oflSce of Finle}' & Swi- 
gart in the following April. He was admitted 
to the bar at Delaware, Ohio, July 2, 1878. He 
has since practiced in the courts of this county, 
and is located at present in Malic's Block, 
where he is doing a large commercial and in- 
surance business. Mr. Tobias is a Democrat, 
and did efficient service as Secretary of the 
Hancock and English Club of Bucyrus. On 
Sept. 24, 1879, he was married to Miss Amina 
J. Monnett, daughter of Abraham Monnett. 
He and his wite are both consistent members of 
the Methodist Episcopal Church of Bucyrus. 

CHARLES W. TIMANUS, deceased ; was 
the second son of William and Harriet (Fisher) 
Timanus. His father was born in Baltimore, 
Md., and learned the trade of miller. He came 
to Mansfield, Ohio, in about 1829, where he 
lived until 1834, moving in tliat year to Mt. 
Gilead, and there resided for ten ^-ears, when 
he came to Bucyrus, probabl}' in 1844. He 
resided in Bucyrus except five years spent in 
Missouri, until his death, in 1877. He had a 
family of eight, all deceased but two daughters 
— Mrs. Miller, of Mansfield, and Mrs. Lowry, of 
West Alrginia. Tlie subject of this memoir 
was born Feb. 13, 1845, in Bucyrus, Ohio. He 
spent his early life in the village, going with 
the tamily to Missouri in 1856. They lived in 
Missouri until 1861, when the family removed 
to Baltimore, Md., but remained only a few 
months, when they returned to Bucyrus. Dur- 
ing this period young Timanus received a good 
common-school education, and, when only 18 
3'ears old, enlisted in the arm}- in Co. C, of the 



BUCYRUS TOWNSHIP. 



825 



86th 0. V. I. He served about three 3'ears ; 
coming to Bacyrus at the close of the war, he 
accepted a clerkship in the store of George 
Myers, Avhere he remained until about 1868. 
He then formed a partnership with Joseph 
Kimmel. They bought out Bowers & Kefer, 
grocers, and for two years did a prosperous 
business both in groceries and fruits, which 
they shipped South. In 1872, Mr. Timanus 
purchased the interest of Mr. Kimmel, and in- 
augurated the "cash system," being the first 
merchant of Bucyrus who adopted it. The 
measure proved a success. He built up a large 
trade in the grocery and dry goods business, 
continuing until 1874, when he sold out to J. 
J. Fisher & Bro. His next venture was buy- 
ing and shipping hay, which was attended with 
such inconveniences that he abandoned it. In 
about 1875, he bought a tract of timber land 
west of Bucyrus, and removed the timber, 
which his industry converted into lumber. In 
two winters he had the timber removed, and 
sold the land and bought another larger tract, 
on the Nevada road, realizing a handsome 
profit from the timber. In February, 1879, 
Mr. Timanus, in company- with Elias Blair, of 
Bucyrus, purchased 835 acres of heavy timber 
land, near Inwood, Marshall Co., Ind. During 
the winter he took two large saw-mills there, 
and put the heavy machinery in order. He 
built boarding-houses for his men, and was al- 
most ready for sawing. While drawing a large 
stump which obstructed one of the passage- 
ways, Mr. Timanus was aiding and directing 
his men, when the main bolt which fastened 
three large upright pieces together, broke, and 
these pieces fell, crushing Mr. Timanus to the 
earth, and when they were removed he was 
found to be paralyzed from the waist down. 
Ttus sad event occurred March 24, 1 879. He 
showed remarkable courage and fortitude dur- 
ing this trying ordeal, and while 13'ing on his 
bed gave directions to his men at work. On 
the 28th of April, he was brought to Bucyrus, 
where he died May 8, 1879. He was a man of 
great activity and energ}-, and had a host of 
friends. In 1874, he purchased 27 acres of 
land in South Bucyrus, and after selling the 
residence now occupied bj' D. C. Cahill, laid 
out seventy-six town lots, which is known as 
Timanus' Addition to Bucyrus. Jiy his own 
efforts in after life he acquired a good educa- 
tion, and although starting in life without 



capital, he was successful and aided in the 
support of his father's famil}- for several j-eai's. 
March 21, 187-, he united in marriage with 
Miss Lila Plants, daughter of the late Jeremiah 
Plants, of Bucyrus. One child was born of 
this marriage, named Claudie, who died in in- 
fancy. He was a member of the Knights of 
Honor. 

WILLIAM VOLLRATH was born Aug. 2, 
1842, in Stadtilm, Germany, and came to 
America in his 6th year. He attended school 
until he was 13, and assisted in the planing- 
mill until he became partner, making a visit to 
his native land in 1866. He worked in the 
planing-mill until he purchased the interest of 
his father and became a partner. He was mar- 
ried Jan. 18. 1877, to Miss Louisa M. Hine, of 
Wooster, Ohio ; they have one child, Gertrude. 
He is a member of Bucyrus Lodge, No. 139, F. 
& A. M., and of Ivanhoe Chapter, No. 17, of 
Royal Arch Masons ; he is also a member of 
La Salle Lodge, No. 51, and of the Royal Ar- 
canum, Council, No. 15. The father, Gottleib L. 
Vollrath, whose sons are prominently men- 
tioned in this work, was born in Stadtilm 
Sept. 29, 1804, and received a good education. 
He learned the trade of cabinet-making, and, 
at the age of 23, married Frederike Meissn,er, of 
the same town ; of this marriage there were 
twelve children, six of whom are living in Bu- 
cyrus — x\lbert, Charles, Helma (wife of Christian 
Renkert), Theresa Blicke (wife of Frank Blicke), 
Frederick A. and William. Mr. Vollrath was a 
very skillful workman and was active in busi- 
ness until 1875. The mother died Aug. 24, 
1875. Mr. Vollrath built a house when he 
first came to this town, and has lived in it ever 
since. The family is one of intelligence and 
enterprise, and they are valuable citizens, of 
whom Bucyrus should be proud. 

CHARLES VOLLRATH, manufacturer, Bu- 
C3'i*us ; was born May 16, 1835, in Saxony, Ger- 
many, and is the son of Gottleib and Fredericke 
(Meissner) Vollrath. He attended school seven 
j-ears, and came to this country with his father's 
family. They came to Rochester, N. Y., where 
they lived one year, and, in May, 1849, came 
to Bucyrus, and were at the time in moderate 
circumstances. Our subject began learning the 
carpenter's trade upon his arrival with his father 
and brother, and followed the business until 
1855. He then received an interest in the plan- 
ing mills which were established in that year. 



826 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



The firm name was, at first, G., A. & C. Voll- 
vath, consisting of the father and two sons ; 
but, in 1867. William Vollrath purchased the 
share of the tather, and the firm is now Vollrath 
Bros., the brothers being Albert, Charles and 
William. In 1868, they erected the present 
brick building of three stories, and are doing 
an extensive business in the manufacture of 
sash, doors, blinds, flooring and siding ; also 
dealing in lumber, shingles and laths. Their 
yards occupy- over an acre of land, and they 
employ about twenty hands. March 23, 1858, 
Ml'. Vollrath was married to Elizabeth Hocker, 
of Bucyrus. She is a native of Baden, and was 
born in June, 1831. Five children of this mar- 
riage are living — Edward C, Lydia, Eva E., 
Marly M. and EUy C. Louis Otto and Alex- 
ander A. are deceased. The wife and family 
are members of the English Lutheran Church. 
He is a Democrat in politics, and a member of 
La Salle Lodge, No. 51, I. 0. 0. F. ; also a 
Knight of Honor, and a member of the Royal 
Arcanum. 

ALBERT VOLLRATH, manufacturer, Bu- 
cyrus ; was born Jan. 31, 1830, in Stadtilm, 
Germany, and attended school from his 6th to 
his 14th year. He was apprenticed to his father 
for three years, learning the trade of (jabinet- 
making, and was a journeyman three years 
longer, when he came to Bucyrus and worked 
for Stoll ife Knecht for one year, and then com- 
menced building by contract until 1855, when 
he became a partner in the planing mill. He 
was married, Ma}^ 27, 1856, to Miss Catharine 
Mader, of Bucyrus. She was born in Wurtem- 
berg, Germany, March 17, 1835, and came with 
her parents to this country in 1852. They have 
four children living — Theresa, Louisa, Melinka 
and Caroline. William is deceased. Mr. Voll- 
rath is a Democrat in politics, and was a mem- 
ber of the Council in 1863. His family are all 
members of the Lutheran Church. He is one 
of the oldest members of La Salle Lodge, No. 
139, I. O. 0. F., and of the Ro3'al Arcanum. 

WILLIAM S. WILLIAMS, retired, Bucy- 
rus ; a son of Mordecai and Sarah (Smart) Will- 
iams, was born Februar}- 26. 1802. in Fairfield 
Co., Ohio, where he was brought up on a farm 
until he was twelve years old, when his parents 
removed to Richland Co. Only three or four 
families then lived in Monroe Township ; in the 
fall of 1814 there were but a few roads and 
trails through the county. There he grew to 



manhood, farming, clearing land and improving 
it. Went to school but little, as there were no 
schools for a number of years, but studied at 
home. He was married Sept. 2, 1824, to Martha 
Cunningham, who was born at Beaver, Penn., 
Dec. 15, 1802 ; nine children were the result of 
this union, five of whom are living — Sarah, 
died in infanc}- , Jane, now wife of Elbert Racy, 
of Henry Co.; Nancy died April 5. 1873, was 
the wife of Norman Tucker, a lawyer of Lima, 
Ohio ; Margaret, wife of Josiah Galbraith of 
Henry Co.; James, now of Bucyrus ; Joseph, a 
tarmer of Putnam Co.; William N., fell at the 
battle of Gettysburg, and is buried in the 
National Cemetery there ; Thomas J., a farmer 
of this township ; Isaac was wounded at Mur- 
freesboro, and thrown into Libby Prison, and 
by an accident caused by the breaking of a 
bridge near there he was disabled and died at 
the National Home at Dayton, where he lies 
buried. His wife died March 12, 1868, and he 
married a second time, June 29, 1871, to Mrs. 
Mary J. Hight, of Bucyrus. Mr. Williams 
farmed in Richland Co., where he owned eighty 
acres of land, until 1854, handling timber in 
the meantime extensively-. In September of 
this year, he moved his family to this township, 
where he bought thirtj'-seven acres with a saw- 
mill on it ; he now owns sixty-eight acres ; he 
ran the saw-mill twelve years, during which 
time he sawed large lots of lumber. He retired 
from active life in Januar}', 1879, and came to 
Bucyrus ; although nearly 79 years old, he is 
very active and industrious, has always been a 
hard working man. At the age of 24 years, he 
united with the Presbyterian Church, of which 
he has ever since been a faithful member ; has 
been an Elder of the church, and a member of 
the session, and has alwa^'s taken an active in- 
terest in Sabbath schools. He was an Old- 
Line Whig, and, after the organization of the 
Republican party, has acted with it. 

CHRISTIAN WISMAN, Bucyrus; was 
born in Waynesboro, Franklin Co., Penn., Sept. 
15, 1827. He is the son of Fredrick and Eliza- 
beth (Heinlen) Wisman, both natives of Wur- 
temberg, Germany, from which country they 
came when children. They were married in 
Pennsylvania, and resided there until their re- 
moval to Crawford Co., in 1828, The father 
was a wagon-maker, but after he came to this 
county devoted his time to farming. He was 
an industrious man and much loved by his 



*7- 



^i^ 



BUCYRUS TOWNSHIP. 



827 



neighbors and acquaintances. His wife died 
some fifteen 3'ears after their coming to the 
county, and he Feb. 18, 1867. They were the 
parents of nine children, seven of whom are yet 
living. Christian's youth and early manhood 
were passed in assisting his father upon the 
farm. His education was obtained in the log 
schoolhouses of that early day. He was united 
in marriage with Miss Elizabeth Conkle Oct. 
17, 1850. She was born in Columbiana Co., 
Ohio, Sept. 30, 1830. Three children have been 
born to them, viz., Adam J., living, and Eliza- 
beth and Amanda, deceased. Mr. Wisman 
owns a well-improved farm of 171 acres nicely 
situated on the west bank of the Sandusky 
River. He started in life with nothing but a 
stout heart and willing hands, and by frugalit}' 
and industry has placed himself in good cir- 
cumstances. He is a Democrat and a gentle- 
man, whose integrity' has won for him the con- 
fidence and esteem of his neighbors and friends. 
W. S. WELSH, proprietor of Western House, 
Bucyrus ; a son of Mannington and Annie 
(Comstock) Welsh, was born June 15, 1851, in 
Wyandot Co., Ohio. He lived on a farm until 
1870, receiving a common-school education. 
In the fall of that year (in September), he en- 
teved the Freshman Class at Bethanj- College, 
where he remained two 3'ears, then returned to 
W3'andot County and engaged in mercantile 
pursuits for three years, when he removed to 
Little Sandusky, and was employed there one 
and a half years. In 1873, he crossed the AUe- 
ghanies with stock, visiting Eastern cities. 
The latter part of 1873 and 1874 was spent in 
Indiana, handling, feeding and shipping stock. 
In Ma}', 1880, he leased the Western House, at 
Bucyrus, which has been newly refitted and re- 
furnished. It is two stories high, has thirt}^- 
five large and commodious rooms for guests ; 
fine sample rooms on first floor; large, cheerful 
dining-room, and a table that is first-class in 
every respect. The famous sulphur pump is 
just in front of the house, the water of which 
is well known far and wide. Every attention 
is given to the care and comfort of guests. 
August 28, 1874, he was married to Miss Ida 
Burks, of Nevada, Ohio, by which union he has 
two children — Frankie and Tressie. He has 
always been a Democrat. His father was born 
in Virginia, in 1816, and his mother in New 
York State, and about the year 1817, they 
came to Wyandot County, being one of the 



very first white families who settled in that 
county, and were familiar with all the shades 
of Indian life. They settled on the banks of 
Sandusky Creek, at the point where Little 
Wj'andot now stands, being the first white set- 
tlers in that vicinity. Our subject's father was 
a farmer and stock-raiser. He had a family of 
four sons and one daughter — William, a farmer 
of Wyandot Co. ; W. S., our subject ; Charles, 
a farmer ; Frederick and Alice. 

CHRISTOPHER WALTHER, contractor 
and builder, Bucyrus, oldest son of Christo- 
pher and Elizabeth (Doll) Walther, was born 
June 16, 1833, in Baden, county of Durlach, 
(xermau}', where he went to school until 12 
years old, when his parents came to the United 
States, landing at New York July 1, 1845. 
The}^ came at once to Sandusky City, where an 
uncle of our subject lived, and here they re- 
mained until September, when thej^ came to 
Crawford County, settling on the Broken Sword, 
in Liberty Township, where the father bought 
50 acres of land and engaged in farming with 
good success. Until 18, 3'oung Christopher 
aided his father on the farm, when he was ap- 
prenticed to learn the carpenter's trade with 
Michael Lutz. He worked over three years, 
only receiving $160. Dec. 4, 1859. he married 
Margaret Schuler, of Bucyrus, Ohio. Of their 
union five children are living — Annette C, 
Frank A., Frederick E., Lena C. and Lizzie E. 
Two children died in infancy. Mrs. Walther 
is a daughter of Frederick and Eve (StoU) 
Schuler. Her father was a native of Baden, 
Grerraany, who came to New York, 1832, where 
he married Miss Eve Stoll, iVugust, 1837. In 
September, 1838, he came to Bucyrus, where 
he, for many years, followed the trade of shoe- 
maker. Her parents are still living in Bucyrus, 
and are among the few who still live to recall 
the struggles of pioneer times. After complet- 
ing his trade, our subject went to Fa3'ette Co., 
Iowa, in 1856, where he worked as journeyman 
and contractor until 1859, when he made a trip 
to Bucyrus, returning with his wife in the same 
year. They lived in Iowa until 1861, when he 
returned to Bucyrus and located permanently. 
In the same 3'ear, he began taking contracts and 
has since emplo3'ed from six to eight men. He 
has gained an enviable reputation as a first-class 
workman, having put up some of the largest 
public buildings and private residences in the 
city, among which may be mentioned the L^nion 



828 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



School building, which he erected in 1867-68. 
Mr. Walther began life without capital, and 
has, by hard work and close attention to busi- 
ness, raised himself and famil}' into comforta- 
ble circumstances. He and family are mem- 
bers of the German Lutheran Church, in which 
he has served as Trustee and other offices. He 
is a Democrat. His parents were both natives 
of Baden, where they were married, about 1830, 
and settled in Liberty Township of this county 
in 1845. They raised five children — whose 
names were Christopher, Magdalena, Philip J., 
Caroline and Henry. The father died Aug. 14. 
1879, and the mother died Sept. 9, 1878. 

LUDWIG WEBER, grocer and express 
agent, Bucyrus ; is the son of Jonathan and 
Annie (Fritt) Weber, and was born Aug. 18, 
1821, in Cumberland Co.,Penn. He was raised 
on a farm until his Ifith year, when he went to 
Lexington, Ohio, to learn tailoring, and was 
there four 3'ears. He next went to Ontario, 
Richland Co., and there lived until 1850, hav- 
ing worked at his trade until two 3'ears previous 
to this date, and also carried on the Ontario 
House. He went to California by the overland 
route, the trip occupying ninety-two days. He 
met with varying success, and returned in 1852. 
The following year, he removed his familj^ to 
Crestline, and there he embarked in the grocery 
business, continuing for eight years with good 
success. He then removed to a farm near there, 
and, for eight years following, he tilled the soil. 
Li 1872, he sold his farm and came to Bucyrus, 
where he opened a groceiy and became agent 
for the Adams Express Co. His business is 
flourishing, and he is one of the first grocers in 
the town in point of business. During Pierce's 
administration, Mr. Weber was Postmaster of 
Ontario. He was also for three terms Trustee 
of Jackson Township. He was married May 
30, 1844, to Jerusha J. Martin, of Martin's 
Mills, Ohio ; of this union, eight children are 
living, two having died when 3'oung. Those liv- 
ing are Aveline A., wife of A. M. Pinne}', of 
Chicago ; Ellen V., wife of Engineer Fitzsim- 
mons, of Allegheny, Penn.; Flora G., wife of C. 
D. Sheffier, conductor, Chicago ; Cora, wife of 
F. D. Mann, of Kansas City, Mo., formerly of 
Pittsburgh ; Harry L., County Surveyor ; Madge 
B., Mettie and Jennie at home. 

HARRY L. WEBER, County Surveyor. Bu- 
cyrus ; is the son of Ludwig and Jennie (Mar- 
tin) Weber, and was born July 16, 1856, in 



Crestline, Ohio. Until his 8th year he lived on 
a farm. He attended school in Bucyrus in 
1871 ; he came to Bucyrus and attended school 
here. After leaving school he went into the 
employ of Adams Express Co., as assistant 
agent. April 8. 1879, he was appointed Sur- 
veyor to fill the vacancy occasioned by the 
death of Frank L. Plants. In October follow- 
ing, he was elected to fill the office and ran 
ahead of his ticket handsomely. He entered 
upon the discharge of his duties Jan. 5, 1880, 
being but 23 years of age. On April 8, 1880, 
he was married to Flora Hoover, of Bucjrus. 
Mr. Weber is a young man of considerable 
talent, and is, indeed, a rising young man, of 
whom much will yet be expected should life be 
spared him. 

ANSON WICKH AM, attorney at law. Bucy- 
rus : is the son of Williard and Phcebe (Penning- 
ton) Wickham, and was born in Likens Town- 
ship June 19, 1850. He spent the first 16 
years of his existence on a farm and in attend- 
ance upon district school, when he entered the 
union schools of Bucyrus. He taught seven 
terms during the time he was receiving his ed- 
ucation. He entered Otterbein University, at 
Westerville, in the spring of 1867, and gradu- 
ated in May, 1873. In August of that year he 
came to Bucj'rus and commenced the study of 
law, with Scott & Harris, and was admitted to 
the bar Sept. 17. 1875. Since that time he 
has become noted as a rising young lawyer, be- 
ing especially successful in criminal cases. He 
was appointed School Examiner in I874. and 
held the office two _years. 

WILLIAM WISE, furniture dealer and un- 
dertaker, Bucyrus ; is the sou of George and 
Charlotte (Moore) Wise, and was born in Fair- 
field Co., Penn., Sept. 1, 1824. The first eight- 
een years of his life were spent on a farm, va- 
ried with a short season of schooling in the win- 
ters. His parents removed here when he was aged 
10 j-ears. When 18 years of age, he commenced 
to learn the cabinet-maker's trade with C. How- 
enstine, his apprenticeship lasting three years. 
He afterward spent one year working at his 
trade, in Valparaiso, Ind. Returning from 
thence he formed a partnership with Howen- 
stine, which lasted some twelve years. At this 
time the subject of our sketch commenced in 
business for himself at his present place on 
Main street, and has been there since 1866. 
He has now a large stock of furniture, and 



BUCYRUS TOWNSHIP. 



829 



makes a specialty of undertaking, in wliich 
department lie has had twenty-five years' expe- 
rience. He was married, July -L, 1850, to J]liza 
J. Deardorf, of Bucyrus. Of this marriage 
nine children are living — Mattie, wife of Rev. 
George Heindle, of Belleville, Ohio ; Rebecca, 
at home ; Elizabeth, John Pressley, William R., 
Millie R., Greorge L., Frederick A. and Joseph 
D. Mr. Wise was a Free-Soiler and is now a 
stanch Republican in politics. He is a mem- 
ber of St. Paul's English Lutheran Church, and 
for thirty years has led the choir of that 
Church, serving also as one of its Deacons. 
His parents were natives of Pennsylvania. His 
father was a blacksmith by trade, but in later 
years followed farming. He came here in 
1833, and for one year was a resident on Bro- 
ken Sword. He then removed south of town 
some three miles, and lived there till 1853, dy- 
ing ten years later, his wife having died in 
1858. They reared eight children to man- 
hood, and were conscientious Christians and 
members of the Lutheran Church. 

R. K. WARNER, farmer; P. 0. Bucyrus; 
was born April 8, 1825, in Lycoming Co., Penn., 
and is the son of Benjan5in and Mar}' (Walton) 
Warner. He was about 2 years old w4ien his 
parents removed to Whetstone Township, this 
county, being among the first settlers. Hei'e 
he was raised among the Wyandot Indians, and 
played with the •' Johnn}' Cake " boys many a 
daj^ and learned their language. When he was 
8 years old, his father removed to this town- 
ship, and settled on the pike. It was in 1836 
that the subject of our sketch attended his first 
school, taught in Dallas Township, by Miss 
Susan Bovee. He attended school until he was 
about 20 3'ears of age, in a log schoolhouse near 
the residence of Thomas J. Monnett. In 1847, 
he rented a farm for two 3'ears, and afterward 
purchased 120 acres, where he now lives. He 
now owns 440 acres of fine farming laud. He 
has dealt extensively^ in sheep, cattle and hogs, 
and has been very successful. He was raised 
a Quaker, but is not a member of an}* church. 
In politics, he was formerly a Whig, and later, 
a Republican. He was married in December, 
1846, to Miss Martha Monnett, daughter of 
Jeremiah Monnett, who was born in Pickaway 
Co. Jan. 22, 1827. He has raised four chil- 
dren — Ellen, born Aug. 30, 1849, now the wife 
of Thomas McKinstry ; Mary, born Jan. 1, 1856, 
married Albert Yaker, and died in January, 



1874 ; Harriet, born Dec. 27. 1861 ; Louisa, 
born June 25, 1871. In 1875, Mr. Warner 
erected a fine frame dwelling of sixteen rooms, 
which is an evidence of his good taste, and an 
ornament to the vicinity. His father, Benja- 
min, was born in Lycoming Co., Penn., about 
1801, and was married in 1822, coming to Ohio 
in 1827, driving here in a four-horse wagon. 
Four miles from Gallon their wagon sunk in 
the mud, and they walked four miles to a rela- 
tive, leaving the wagon behind. He lived in 
the county all the rest of his life, and died May 
8, 1872, in Kankakee, 111., where he had gone on 
a visit. His wife survived him until March 7, 
1877, when she, too, closed her earthly labors, 
and went to her rest. Harriet Welsh, of Mis- 
souri, and Louisa Everett, of Bucyrus, are still 
living. Five died young. He was a Quaker in 
belief, the family for several generations back 
holding to that faith. 

GEORGE HENRY WRIGHT, farmer and 
stock-raiser ; P. 0. Buc3'rus ; son of George 
and La Vendee (Woodard) Wright, was born 
Aug. 16, 1828, in Jackson, Washington Co., N. 
Y., and spent his boyhood on a farm. He at- 
tended common school, and at the age of 16 
years entered Argyle Academy, under the in- 
struction of his brother, Prof D. W. Wright. 
He began teaching at the age of 20, and taught 
nine terms, six of which he taught while yet 
living in New York. In 1853, he came to this 
count}', teaching during the winter, and dealing 
in stock during the summer ; finally abandoned 
teaching and devoted his time wholly to the 
stock business, packing beef with his brother, 
T. H. Wright, of Huron, Erie Co. In 1856, he 
bought 480 acres of land in Wood Co., Ohio, 
which he improved. Dec. 29, 1857, he was 
married to Miss Martha E. Monnett, a daugh- 
ter of Abraham Monnett, and in March, 1858, 
he removed to his land in Wood Co. Nine 
children were born of this marriage, eight of 
whom are living — Earl P., Helen A.. Gertrude 
M., Oda M., Libbie B., Charles H.. Carrie and 
Clark W. ; Mattie died in infancy. His wife 
made a visit to her father in October, 1859, 
and, returning home, reached Fiudlay, when a 
snow two feet deep fell on October mud, which 
was then extraordinarily deep. She was twen- 
ty-two miles from her destination, and almost 
gave up going ; after trying other means, she 
hired a horse and set out alone on horseback, 
determined to reach home, if possible. Shortly 



Ml 



e 4^ 



830 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



after starting, she overtook a man, who ex- 
claimed, " My God ! lady, I shall expect to find 
your head sticking out of the mud." She 
reached home at 11 o'clock at night, crossing 
the " Black Swamp " (fourteen miles wide), in 
safety ; there were very few people living on 
the route. Mr. Wright built substantial houses 
on his farm and improved it well, remaining on 
it until the spring of 1861, when he removed 
to his present farm of 225 acres, on the pike, 
four miles south of Buc3'rus, where he is en- 
gaged in farming and stock-raising ; he makes 
a specialty of sheep and cattle. He has erected 
large and handsome buildings, and has one of 
the most attractive places on the road. Both 
he and his wife are members of the Presbyte- 
rian Church. He was formerly connected with 
the M. E. Church, and was Superintendent of 
Sunday school at Monnett Chapel ; he was 
raised in the Associate Presbyterian Church. 
His wife was born in Scott Township, Marion 
Co., Ohio. He is a Republican in politics, and 
has acted with that party since its organization, 
but was previously a Democrat. He held vari- 
ous offices in his native State ; is of Scotch 
descent ; his early ancestors lived in Connecti- 
cut. His father was born in Cambridge, N. Y., 
about the year 1790, and was a soldier of 1812, 
and served on Lake Champlain. He raised 
twelve children, five sons and seven daughters, 
named respectivel}^ — Daniel W., Franklin H., 
Earl P., Olive M., Delana P., Mary Y., La Ven- 
dee, Sophronia J., George H. (subject), Eliza- 
beth v., Sarah S., Edwin W. — all of whom are 
living at this date, except the oldest and the 
youngest. The oldest, D. W., was Principal of 
Argyle Academy for many years, and died Oct. 
29,"'l847. 

HON. CHAPMAN D. WARD, Justice of the 
Peace, Bucyrus. This representative of an old 
and honored family traces his ancestrj' through 
a genealogical account, published in 1851 b}^ 
Andrew Henshaw Ward. The first representa- 
tive in this country was William Ward, who 
settled in Sudbury, Mass., in 1639. His pro- 
genitors were Normans, who came over to En- 
gland with William the Conqueror in 1066, as 
one of his noble Captains was named Ward, 
and the name of William de la Ward appears 
in English history as a resident of Chester in 
1175. " William Ward, of Sudl)ury, Mass., was 
made a freeman in 1643, and the next year rep- 
resented Sudbury in the General Court, and 



was for several years Chairman of the Select- 
men. He, in common with many others, en- 
dured great hardships during the Indian hostil- 
ities, especially during King Philip's war, in 
1675-76, when his buildings were fired, his cat- 
tle destroyed, and one of his sons slain by the 
enemy. Through several generations, the Wards 
continued to take an active part in govern- 
mental affairs, and we again take up the thread 
of famil}^ history. William, of Sudbury, had 
fourteen children, of whom his son William was 
the seventh child, born Jan. 22, 1640. He mar- 
ried Hannah Eames, at Marlboro, in 1679. 
Their oldest son, William, born March 27, 1680, 
was Colonel of the militia, and married proba- 
bly Jane Cleveland, of Boston. Fourteen chil- 
dren were born to them, of whom Charles was 
the youngest son, born Oct. 27, 1722. He is 
the great-grandfather of our subject, and mar- 
ried xlbigail Pike, Aug. 25. 1742. He enlisted 
in the expedition against Cape Breton, and died 
at the siege of Louisburg, in 1745, leaving 
three children, of whom William, born Sept. 12, 
1743, was the oldest. He married Luc}' Church, 
Dec. 11, 1763, and removed to Poultney, Vt., in 
1775, becoming one of the first settlers of the 
town, and was one of that sturdy band who brave- 
ly resisted Burgoyne's army and participated in 
its capture. In the meantime, his wife, with 
her helpless children, was exposed to the rav- 
ages of the British soldier}' and their savage 
allies, then within a few miles of her dwelling. 
She fled to Bennington, forty miles through the 
wilderness, on foot, with her children, canying 
the youngest in her arms, without a man to 
protect or guide her, finding her way by the 
blazed trees. The}' reached there in safety, and 
quickly the battle of Bennington and the sur- 
render of Burg03'ne followed. The Hon. Will- 
iam Ward returned to Poultney. Vt., where he 
resided until his death. Aug. 3, 1819, in his 76th 
3^ear. He was a member of the convention 
which framed the Constitution of the State, and 
was for six years one of the Judges of the 
County Court of Rutland, and Judge of the 
Probate for the District of Fairhaven twenty- 
two years. He was a Justice of the Peace 
forty 3^ears, and Representative in the Legisla- 
ture eighteen years. He was a much-esteemed 
citizen and a devoted Christian gentleman, hav- 
ing a family of twelve children, who all grew 
to manhood and womanhood except one. His 
fourth son, Elisha, born July 30, 1780; is the 



^- 



BUCYRUS TOWNSHIP. 



831 



father of our subject. He married Miss Zelina 
Denslow, of Kent, Conn., Nov. 14, 1803. Ten 
children were the fruits of this happy union — 
Lucy M., Eliza, Polly D., William "C, Clark 
Kendrick, Zelima, Publius G., Rosetta, John 
W. and Chapman Denslow. The latter, whose 
name heads this sketch, was born June 22. 
1823, in Reading, Steuben Co., N. Y., and, in 
1835. came to Huron Co. (now Erie Co.), where 
the family settled on the prairie. He remained 
there until 1847, working on the farm until he 
was 21 years old, when he went to bu}' stock, 
and passed through this section in 1845. In 
the spring of 1847, he removed to the village 
of Buc3'rus and began buying and selling stock, 
and, in 1850, in order to have better facilities, 
went on to a farm about two miles from town, 
where he remained five years. In 1848, he 
bought cattle, horses and sheep, and drove them 
through to Milwaukee, Wis., where he sold them 
to emigrants. He was married, Sept. 19, 1850, 
to Mary A. J. Harper, a daughter of John Har- 
per. Two children were the fruits of this 
union — Harper J. and Blanche E. He (!ame 
back to Bucyrus in 1855, and, in 1857, was ap- 
pointed Postmaster b}^ President Buchanan, 
which office he held until 18G1, when he was 
elected Justice of the Peace — the first Demo- 
crat ever elected Justice of the Peace in Bucy- 
rus — serving one year, when he resigned. He 
at once began buying horses, and, in the spring 
of 1863, in partnership with Rowse and Thomas, 
he, with a number of hands, drove ninety-eight 
horses to California, the journey taking over. 
100 days. The venture was successful, and, re- 
turning the same 3'ear, he took a second lot in 
1864, drove from Omaha, completing the jour- 
ney in fift^^-six days, and without losing a single 
horse. He returned in the fall of 1864. and, in 
the spring of 1865, he was elected Ma3'or of 
BucjTus, serving some two ^ears with satisfac- 
tion. In 1867, he began shipping horses to 
Lake City, Minn., which he kept up for two 
years. He also shipped stock to the East. In 
the fall of 1875, he was elected Justice of the 
Peace, and Mayor in 1876, serving until 1880 ; 
was re-elected Justice of the Peace in 1878, 
in which capacity he is still serving. He has 
served in Council for man}- j-ears ; has always 
been a Democrat, and first voted for Polk and 
Dallas. 

HON. CLARK K. WARD, banker, Bucy- 
rus ; is the second son of Col. Elisha and Ze- 



lina (Denslow) Ward, and was born in Reading, 
Steuben Co., N. Y., Oct. 17, 1812 ; his boyhood 
and youth were spent on the farm of his 
father ; at the age of 19, he began the struggle 
of life, with little capital except stout hands 
and good purposes ; he at once found employ- 
ment as teacher in the public schools for three 
winter terms ; in 1833, he became clerk in 
a store in Yates Co., N. Y.; here he remained 
until 1841, in the meantime becoming proprie- 
tor ; in April, 1844, he removed to Erie Co., 
Ohio, near Sandusky City, and, in June, 1845, 
he united in marriage with Miss Mar}- A. Por- 
ter, of Erie Co.; one daughter, Sarah A., wife 
of George C. Gormly, is the only child of this 
marriage. On coming to Ohio, Mr. Ward be- 
gan dealing in stock, until 1847, in Erie Co., 
Ohio ; in April of that year, he came to Bucy- 
rus, where he became one of the leading stock- 
dealers of this vicinity, being among the first 
to pay cash for corn. In the fall of 1850, Mr. 
Ward was elected to the (3hio Legislature from 
the counties of Richland and Crawford for one 
year ; he was re-elected for two years in 1851. 
He continued in the stock trade until 1878, in 
the meantime dealing quite extensively in real 
estate. In 1866, he was elected a Director in 
the First National Bank of Bucyrus, and, 
in January, 1879, its Vice President, a position 
which he now holds. 

MAJ. J. H. WILLISTON, editor of Forum, 
Bucyrus : was born in Fayetteville, N. C, 
June 15, 1833 ; his parents, William K. and 
Annis C. (Chapman) Williston, removed to 
Geauga Co.. Ohio, when he was 1 year old, and 
located on a farm ; he is of Scotch-English de- 
scent ; his father was born in Connecticut and 
his mother in Massachusetts ; his maternal an- 
cestors came over in the Mayflower. In 1845, 
his father was elected Auditor of Geauga Co., 
and the family removed to Chardou, the county 
seat, where the subject remained until 1850, 
when, at the age of 17 years, he went to Cleve- 
land and entered a job printing office as an ap- 
prentice ; he served in this capacity for four 
years, closing his apprenticeship in the office of 
the Leader : he worked in Cleveland as a jour- 
neyman and proprietor until March, 1861, 
when he purchased the Ottaica County Demo- 
crat, at Port Clinton, which he published for 
four months. During the snmmer of 1861, he 
raised a company of troops, which was as- 
signed to the 41st 0. V. I., and of which he 



:±i 



832 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



was elected First Lieutenant ; in about one 
montli, he was promoted to Captain, and, 
in the spring of 1863, was promoted to Major 
of the regiment ; he was wounded in a skir- 
mish before Atlanta, July 15, 1864, and from 
which cause he was mustered out of the serv- 
ice on the 31st of October. 1864. He at once 
returned to Cleveland, and engaged in the 
printing business until 1872 ; in 1873, he pur- 
chased an interest in the Marion Mirror^ be- 
coming the partner of James K. Newcomer, a 
pai'tnership which continued until August, 
1876 ; on the 15th of April following, he came 
to Bucyrus and purchased the Crawford Coun- 
ty Formn, which he has ever since managed 
with success ; he, in connection with his paper, 
conducts a job office, and employs in it an effi- 
cient corps of workmen ; his paper is the 
organ of the Democratic party of Crawford 
Co., and of which pai'ty he has always been an 
able supporter. He was married, Nov. 27, 
1854, to Miss Helen M. Newcomb, of Cleve- 
land ; three children is the result of this 
union. Maj. Williston was Supei'intendent of 
Police in Cleveland in 1869. 

MRS. JULIA A. WALTER, Bucyrus. The 
above-named lady is a daughter of Abram Hahn, 
one of the pioneers of Crawford Co. He was 
born in Frederick Co., Md., in the year 1796, 
and moved to Ohio in 1822. He first settled 
in Stark Co., but, in 1828, removed to Bucyrus. 
He built the Sims House in 1829 and continued 
as its landlord until 1843, when he removed to 
Mt. Gilead, where he resided until his death, 
which occurred Jan. 21, 1867. In August, 
1838, while digging a mill-race near Bucyrus, 
he uncovered the bones of a mammoth, which 
were sold at Columbus, Ohio, and then passed 
into one of the Eastern museums. Mr. Hahn 
was a man of great energy, unwavering integrity'' 
and a devout and earnest Christian. In early 
manhood, he united in marriage with Julia 
Ernst, and the union resulted in ten children, 
only four of whom are living, as follows : Dr. 
Charles Hahn. Auditor of Marion Co., Ohio ; 
Mrs. Walter (subject) ; Alexander, undertaker 
at Mt. Gilead ; and Mrs. Mary Cooper, of Mt. 
Gilead, Ohio ; six are dead — Maria, Melvina, 
William, Henry, James and Henrietta. Julia 
A. Walter was born in Bucyrus August 29, 
1828. She spent her girlhood here until 15, 
when the family removed to Mt. Gilead, Ohio, 
where the subject of these lines lived until Nov. 



11, 1847, which was the occasion of her mar- 
riage with George Walter, of Bucyrus. He was 
born in the town of Ophingen, Baden, April 3, 
1824. When but 9 years old he left Germany 
with his widowed mother and came to Bucyrus. 
He was a good scholar and fine penman, and 
was made Deputy Clerk under Zalmon Rowse 
when but a mere boy, as he talked German flu- 
entl3^ This proved a necessity with the large 
German-speaking population of those early 
times. After sei'ving one year as Deputy Clerk, 
he was employed as clerk by Potter & Quinby 
for five years. He was next employed by 
Henry Converse to conduct a mercantile busi- 
ness for him at diflterent times for about four 
years, which brings us to the time of his mar- 
riage. He continued in mercantile pursuits 
about seven years, and came to New Washing- 
ton, this county, in August, 1854. The village 
was then in its infancy, and he opened a store 
and post office there, which he kept for three 
years. He came to Buc^'rus in April, 1867, 
and opened a paint-shop and employed a num- 
ber of hands. He was a successful and skill- 
ful painter, and, during the last years of his 
life, produced some fine specimens of oil paint- 
ings. He died Sept. 10, 1861, leaving the fol- 
lowing famil}- : Scott is a member of the United 
States Signal Service ; Clara and Lora at home; 
Lunette, wife of W. L. Penfleld, Esq., lawyer at 
Auburn, Ind. ; Edgar and Harry still reside at 
home. Under the trying circumstances of be- 
reavement, our subject has reared and educated 
her family by intelligent forethought and force 
of character. 

DAVID B. WOODSIDE, carriage manufact- 
urer, Bucyrus. The subject of these lines was 
born in Chester Co., Penn., Nov. 23, 1847, a son 
of William S. and Caroline (Crosb}') Woodside, 
who were residents of the village of Woodside's 
Corners, where 3'oung David lived until the late 
war ensued. Being a mere boy, he enlisted in 
7th Penn. V. C, in February, 1864, and served 
until the close of the war, participating in the 
battles of Atlanta, Kenesaw Mountain and all 
the engagements of the Kilpatrick raid. He 
was mustei'ed out at Macon, Ga., Aug. 23, 1865, 
and returned home, where he attended school 
for some time ; then went to Wilmington, Del., 
and there served an apprenticeship of three 
years at carriage-smithing. He worked at his 
trade at different points in Delawai'e and Penn- 
sylvania until 1870. He then traveled through 



BUCYRUS TOWNSHIP. 



833 



several of the Western States, tarrying at Lin- 
coln, 111., and Fond du Lac, Wis., becoming 
foreman of a carriage-shop at the latter place. 
In 1874, he returned to his native State, and 
worked at the cit}^ of Pittsburgh for about six 
months, when he came to Bellefontaine, Ohio, 
in the fall of 1874, and from thei'e to Findlay, 
where he worked until 1875. He came to Bu- 
cyrus in April of that year, and worked for one 
year in the carriage manufactor}^ of Philip Os- 
man. In 1876, Mr. Woodside, in company with 
Lewis P. Osman purchased the carriage fact- 
ory of Philip Osman, and conducted the business 
one year under the firm name of Osman & Wood- 
side. June 25, 1877, the firm was enlarged by 
the accession of P. Osman, Gr. W. Teel and 
Greorge Welsh, and the business was conducted 
one year under the firm name of Philip Osman 
& Co. In September, 1878, Mr. Woodside pur- 
chased the entire establishment, and has since 
carried on the business with good success. He 
employs about eight hands, and turns out from 
75 to 100 carriages and buggies per year. His 
work comprises the most attractive and stylish 
patterns, and has gained an enviable reputation 
for durability and cheapness. 

SAMUEL D. WELSH, painter, Bucyrus ; 
is the son of Benjamin S. and Rebecca A. 
(Drake) Welsh, the former a native of Jeflerson 
Co., Va., from whence he moved to Ross Co., 
Ohio, in 1807. He lived there until 1823, and 
then moved to Wyandot Co. The mother is a 
native of Marion Co., Ohio, and the daughter 
of Judge William S. Drake, who was a Captain 
in the war of 1812, and the hero of the cele- 
brated Drake's defeat. The subject of this 
sketch was born Oct. 4, 1830, near the Wyan- 
dot Reservation, in what is now Wyandot Co., 
Ohio. His youth, until 17, was spent on the 
farm, with only the advantages afforded by the 
common schools. He attended an academy 
then located at Wyandot one year, by hard 
study laying the foundation for future useful- 
ness. In 1849, he went to Springfield, Ohio, 
where he learned the trade of painting, with a 
man named John Black, and at the expiration 
of his apprenticeship he became a journeyman 
painter in the true sense of the word. During 
this period, he visited several cities, and at each 
point sought the best instructions that could 
be obtained. He continued to work in this way 
until 1855. Oct. 4, 1855, he united his fortunes 
with Miss Mary White, of Dallas Township, 



of this count3^ Of this marriage there was 
one daughter, named Nellie, who died in in- 
fancy. After marriage, Mr. Welsh followed 
farming and house-painting in Dallas Township 
until the war broke out, when he enlisted, in 
September, 1861, in the regimental band of the 
15th 0. V. I., as member of the first class. He 
was at the same time special field artist for 
Harper Brothers, of New York, and in that ca- 
pacity furnished sketches of battle-scenes and 
historical locations. He was taken sick in Jan- 
uary, 1862, and taken to the hospital at Louis- 
ville, Ky., and afterward came home. In 1863, 
he sold his farm and removed to Newark, Ohio, 
where he kept a music store one year. He then 
came to Bucyrus, in 1864, and resumed his 
trade, which lie has since followed with good 
success. He has taken several large contracts, 
employing as high as twent3'-six hands at one 
time. He is Superintendent of painting for 
the Ohio Central Coal Co., at Corning. Since 
1869, Mr. Welsh has gained an enviable repu- 
tation as a decorative and fresco artist. His 
specimens of oil painting have for several years 
taken diplomas wherever exhibited, and have 
attracted considerable attention among lovers 
of art. The first wife of Mr. Welsh died March 
3, 1869, and he was a second time married, 
Oct. 4, 1871, to Miss Minnie E. Brown, of Ly- 
kens Township. There is one child born of 
this union, Rebecca E. Mr. Welsh was for 
eighteen years a member of the Presbyterian 
Church, when he united with the Advent Chris- 
tian Church, at Nevada, Ohio. In October, 
1877, he was ordained an Elder in that body, 
and has for some years preached to his breth- 
ren. He is Secretary and Treasurer of the 
State Conference of the the Advent Church. 
He served eight years as Justice of the Peace, 
and filled acceptablv other offices of trust. 

GEORGE H. WELSH, farmer and stock- 
raiser ; P. 0. Bucyrus. Perhaps there is no 
family in all Crawford Co. that has a more in- 
teresting history than that of the ftimily of 
George Welsh. Zachariah Welsh was of En- 
glish-German descent, and a native of the State 
of Maryland ; he came to Fairfield Co., Ohio, 
from Virginia, at an early day, and shortly 
after the war of 1812 removed to Marion Co., 
Ohio, near the Wyandot Reservation. He and 
wife, Hannah S. (Steen) Welsh, remained here a 
number of years, and to them were born four- 
teen children, only the ten following being alive 






884 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



*7r. 



— Benjamin, Betsey, Madison, Lorena, Eldmund, 
Jane A., Munnington, Mary A., George H. and 
Rebecca. On the breaking-out of the war of 
1812. Mr. Welsh offered his services in his 
country's behalf and was immediately com- 
missioned Colonel. He served all through the 
war. participating in many a hard-fought bat- 
tle. It was after the war that he moved to 
Marion Co. George Welsh was born one mile 
south of Wyandot, then in Clarion Co., April 
11, 1826. His father being a poor man, and 
needing his services on the farm, deprived him 
of school advantages the boys of to-day have. 
When 18 years of age. his father died, and the 
burden of supporting the family fell upon him. 
May 29, 1855, he married Miss ^largaret Ag- 
new, of Lake Co.. Ind.. and by her had one son 
— Agnew, now a merchant in Ada. Ohio. Mrs. 
Welsh departed this life in April, 185G, being 
a wife only about one 3^ear. Mr. Welsh's sec- 
ond marriage took place Dec. 2, 1867. his wife 
being Miss Amelia Palmer, of Nevada. Ohio. 
To this second marriage were born four chil- 
dren — Effle, Algee, Savenie and Ernest. Mr. 
Welsh owns 400 acres of valuable land, which 
is well improved. Besides farming, Mr. Welsh 
deals quite extensively in fine stock, some of 
them coming from the famous Bourbon County 
herds of Kentucky. Mr. Welsh's political 
record is without blemish. His first vote Avas 
cast for Gen. Taylor. He was identified with 
the Whig part}' until 1860, and on the break- 
ing-out of the war between the North and the 
South, threw his influence with the Republican 
party, with whom he has ever since remained. 
The battle of Brand3'wine was fought on his 
grandfather's farm, and as such is a matter of 
local historical importance. Mr. Welsh is a 
member of the M. E. Church, and although a 
Republican in a strongl}- Democratic county, 
he has held various local political offices. 

ABRAHAM YOST, retired, Bueyrus ; is the 
son of John and Chloe (Freeland) Yost, and 
was born Jan. 2, 1816, in York Co., Penn. His 
father was a farmer and also a gunsmith, which 
trade he learned in Little York, Penn. He was 
married about 1808, and followed fai-ming, also 
working somewhat at his trade. In the fall of 
1828, he came to Bueyrus in a three-horse 
wagon, and was almost a month on the road. 
He bought a lot where Main street now crosses 
the railroad, and on this he erected a log cabin. 
Here they moved and Mr. Yost, Sr.. opened a 



gunsmith-shop, and did a thriving business, 
a great portion of it with the Indians. He 
died in 1861. his wife having died the year 
previous, leaving four sons — John F., Abraham, 
Jeremiah and Jacob. When the subject of our 
sketch first came to Bueyrus, he attended 
school in a small brick edifice, which stood 
where the Monnett House now stands. His 
first teacher here, however, was a Mrs. Hobbs, 
who taught in her own house. In 1836, he 
left school and commenced learning to make 
spinning wheels, serving an apprenticeship of 
six years under James McCracken. He then 
followed the business for twenty years, adding 
to his trade that of chaii'-making. Since 1859, 
he has followed turning for different factories 
of Bueyrus, until in 1879 he retired. Mr. Yost 
began without capital and is now the owner of 
70 acres of well-improved farming land, and a 
first-class city property- on Sandusky avenue. 
He is a member of the English Lutheran 
Church. He is a Republican in politics, and 
was a Whig before the birth of the new party, 
having cast his first vote for Gen. Harrison. 
He was at one time a member of the City 
Council, and has always been a prominent and 
influential citizen. He was married, Aug. 25, 
1842, to Barluira Aurant, of Buc3'rus. They 
have two children — Laura, wife of James Ken- 
dall, of Bueyrus, and Ophelia, wife of Frederick 
Shealy, of the same city. 

JACOB YEAGLEY, farmer ; P. 0. Buey- 
rus ; is the son of George and Elizabeth 
(Shram) Yeagley. and was born Oct. 29, l827, 
in Lebanon Co., Penn.; until the age of 16, he 
was given the educational advantages afforded 
by a common school, and divided his time be- 
tween the school and his labors on the fiirm ; 
afterward, he learned the shoemaker's trade 
with his uncle. Adam Yeagle}', servinsr two and 
one-half 3' ears' apprenticeship ; in June. 1847, 
he came to Crawford Co. on foot and bj' canal 
route, arriving here with but 30 cents ; out of 
this, he had but a shilling left when he had 
paid for lodging and breakfast ; he then hired 
out to a farmer, working for a monthly stipend 
of $11, and continued for two months, when 
he rented a farm on the shares for two years, 
after which he again hired for $15 per month ; 
after the expiration of one .year, he rented 160 
acres at cash rent, paying John A. Gormley 
$100 per year, and continuing four years ; dur- 
ing this time, he made a handsome sum by 



IV 



BUCYRUS TOWNSHIP. 



835 



hard work and economy ; he next bought and 
fed hogs for one season, but, by a reverse of 
fortune, he lost all his hard-earned property, 
and was involved to the extent of $1,100 be- 
sides ; he cleared himself of debt, however, 
and commenced in the same line of business, 
and again lost, this time to the extent of $600 ; 
he then resumed farming, and rented for some 
ten 3'ears ; in 1864, he purchased his present 
farm of 160 acres of good farming land, and 
here he has since made his home ; in 1872, he 
erected a fine frame residence of nine rooms, 
finished handsomely'. Of late years, Mr. Yeag- 
ley has turned his attention to raising sheep, 
and is also a noted corn-raiser, often cultivat- 
ing 1 50 acres a year ; his first crop of corn on 
60 acres of his present farm realized for him 
the snug sum of $2,800. Mr. Yeagley is a 
member (^f the United Brethren Church of Bu- 
cyrus ; he was formerly connected with the M. 
E. Church for eighteen years, during which 
time he was Class-leader and Trustee ; in poli- 
tics, he has been a Republican since the forma- 
tion of the part}', and was previously a Whig. 
He was married, Nov. 2, 185-4, to Catharine 
Miller, of Whetstone Township ; there are two 
sons of this marriage — La Fa3'ette, born April 
7, 1856, and Alfred C, July 11, 1858. His 
wife died Feb. 23. 1859, and, March 22, 1860, 
he married Elizabeth Starner, of Dallas Town- 
ship ; there is one child of this marriage — Ed- 
win, born Dec. 2, 1861 ; Mrs. Yeagley was born 
in Peny Co., Ohio, Jan. 4, 1838, and came with 
her father's famil}' to Bucyrus Township in 
1843 ; here she grew to womanhood, receiving 
a common-school education ; she united with 
the M. E. Church when 12. and has ever taken 
a great interest in Sunday-school work, having 
been for many years a teacher in the Sunday 
school. Mr. Yeagley 's father was born in Penn- 
sylvania in 1801. and his mother in the same State 
in about 18(14 ; they were married in 1822, and 
farmed during the summer following, weaving in 
the winter ; besides Mr. Yeagle}', there were 
six children in his father's family — Rebecca, 
Henr}', Catharine, Mary, John and Samuel ; the 
mother died in 1871. and the father in 1873. 



G. K. ZEIGLER, Main Street Mills, Bucy- 
rus ; son of Abraham and Rachel (Krouz) 
Zeigler, was born Dec. 4, 1834, in Montgomery 
Co., Penn., where he lived on a farm until he 
was 19 years of age, attending school less than 
one winter, all told. In his 19th year, he entered 
a mill on Perkioming, in Pennsylvania, as an 
apprentice, remaining one 3'ear, and became 
foreman ; in two years he ground over 42,000 
bushels of grain. He remained in this mill 
about two and a half years, and in summer of 
1855, he came to Ohio, and settled at Bloom- 
ville, where he worked for Simon KoUer six 
months. He then returned to his native State 
and remained one 3'ear ; was a partner in dr}' 
goods for about a 3'ear, with John Hunsicker, 
when he sold out and lost all he had invested. 
He removed to New Washington about 1858- 
59, and was engaged in a mill for some fifteen 
months, when he came to Bucyrus and worked 
for McClain over two j^ears, after which he 
took charge of Honey Creek Mills for two 
j'ears more, when he returned to his former 
employers here, for about three years ; he then, 
in partnership with Martin Koller, bought the 
Osceola Mills, which were successful ; they 
owned them about five 3"ears, making repairs 
and improvements ; he and Koller next bought 
Hone3' Creek Mills and ran them for two 3'ears. 
From there he went to Napoleon, Ohio, and 
with Koller Brothers ran mills there for two 
years, and built an elevator, costing SIO^OOO. 
In April, 1876, he came to Bucyrus, where he 
became proprietor of the Main Street Mills, 
which he has since successfull3' operated. Mr. 
Zeigler has had about twent3'-seven 3'ears' ex- 
perience in milling and understands the busi- 
ness. His present mills are written up else- 
where in this work. He is and has alwa3'9 
been a Democrat. Twenty-two 3'ears ago, he 
lost all and was left in debt ; now, he is one of 
the solid men of the town. He was married, 
Oct. 24, 1857, to Miss Ann M. Koller, of Sene- 
ca Co., Ohio, and has two children living — An- 
na Mary and Josiah Martin; one daughter 
(Jennie) died in her 4th year. 



ir. 



♦jy^=^ 



836 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



[hL 



POLK TOWNSHIP. 



JOHN C. BELTZ, farmer; P. O. Gallon. 
Mr. Beltz was born in Center Co., Penn., April 
19, 1823. He is a son of Christopher and 
Elizabeth (Wetzel) Beltz. His father was born 
in Philadelphia, Penn., July 8, 1791, and his 
mother in Dauphin Co., Penn., in August, 
1789. They came to Crawford Co., in 1829, 
and located where Gallon now stands, and, in 
the spring of 1880, purchased 160 acres of 
land of John Brown, Avhere their son John 
now resides, paying $450 for it. Christopher 
Beltz died in September, 1858, but his wife is 
still living with her son. She is over 90 
years old; is the oldest person in the township, 
and, although at such an advanced age, she is 
hale and hearty, and in possession of all her 
faculties, being troubled with only a slight 
deafness. The subject of this biography 
worked on his father's farm until he was 22 
years old, and, April 18, 1815, he was married 
to Miss Haney Reed, daiighter of David and 
Elizabeth Reed, of Polk Township. For 
three years he lived on his mother-in-law's 
farm, and, in 1850, went to Indiana, but only 
remained there a few months. Returning to 
Polk Township, he bought 60 acres of land 
of Samuel Geltman, and farmed it for live 
years, when he sold to John Waters, and 
rented one year of the Johnsons — on the 
Plains. He then moved to near Leesville, 
and bought, in partnership with his brother 
Ellas, a mill property, consisting of grist and 
saw mill, for $4,500. They improved the 
grist-mill by putting in steam-power, and ran 
the mill for two years, when they sold to John 
Whitman and Adam Heller. In 1861, he 
moved back to Polk Township, and bought 
out the heirs of his father's old farm, and has 
since resided upon it. The farm at jiresent 
consists of 158 acres of fine improved land, 
located a few miles from Gallon, on the Bucy- 
rus road. He has improved the property by 
new buildings, draining the land until it 
is a valuable and desirable piece of real 
estate. He has six children living — Sarah J., 



Jemima J., William M., Alonzo P., Elizabeth 
and Haney M., and five deceased — Ellas, 
Wllliard J., Elizabeth G. and two infants. 
Mr. Beltz, wife and family, are all members 
of the English Lutheran Church. He is a 
prominent and energetic member of the Dem- 
ocratic party, and takes an active and deep 
Interest in the afiairs of the county manage- 
ment. He is at present serving a term as 
Township Trustee. 

JOHN BLYTH, baggage-master, C, C, 
C. & I. R. R., Gallon; was born in Kirkcaldy, 
County of Fife, Scotland, Aug. 22, 1841. At 
the age of 14 he emigrated to Cornwall, Canada 
West. He came to Gallon in 1863, and worked 
on the construction of the A. & G. W. R. R. 
In December, 1863, he enlisted in the 3 2d O. 
V. I., Company B, and was in service until he 
was wounded, in front of Atlanta, July 22, 

1864. The wound became gangrenous, and, 
after lying in various hospitals for several 
months, he was finally discharged, March 14, 

1865, in consequence of the wound. Return- 
ing to Gallon, he again entered into the em- 
ploy of the A. & G. W. R. R., and remained 
with that company until 1868, when he en- 
gaged with the C, C, C. & I. R. R. as baggage- 
master at Gallon. He was married, in 1868, to 
Miss Louisa C. Wittibslager, daughter of 
Jacob and Hannah Wittibslager, of Polk 
Township. She was born in Buffalo, N. Y., May 
29, 1849. They have four children living — 
Lester W., Thomas O., Bertha A., and Edith 
J. ; also one deceased, George L. His mother, 
Margaret Blyth, emigrated to this country 
in 1867, and is still living with him; she was 
born in the county of Fife, Scotland, Aug. 17, 
1817. Mr. Blyth has always taken an active 
interest in the educational affairs of Gallon, 
and is one of the School Directors at the pres- 
ent time. He is a member of Gallon Lodge, No. 
414, F. & A. M. He was elected Master of 
this body in 1873, and has held the office up 
to the present time; he is also a charter mem- 
ber of Crawford Chapter, a charter member 



:^ 



'^y 



4- 



POLK TOW^vSIIlP. 



839 



of Mutual Lodge K. of H., No. 32, and a 
member of the Grand Lodge of Ohio, K. 
of H. 

A. M. BROWN, foreman machine shops, 
N. Y., P. & O. R. R., Galion. Mi-. Brown 
was born in Essex Co., Mass., May 19, 1833. 
His early life, up to 19 years of age, was 
sj)ent in Massachusetts. He learned his trade 
as machinist at Andover, Mass., and from 
there, in 1852, went to Dunkirk, N. Y., re- 
maining there but six months, when he went 
to Toronto, Canada, working at his trade there 
for a short time. In 1853, he went to Marion, 
Ohio, and engaged with the C, C, C. & I. R. 
R., working there until the shops were moved 
to Galion, in 1854, when he came there and 
I'emained in the shops until June, 1861, when 
he went to Ft. "VVayne, and M'orked for the 
Pennsylvania Company, until October, 1864, 
when he returned to Galion and engaged with 
the A. & G. W. R. R., and then with the N. Y., 
P. & O. R. R., and has been with that company 
up to the present time. He was appointed 
foreman of the machine shops, in June, 1873, 
which position he still holds. He was married 
Nov. 22, 1853, to Miss Nancy Catlier, of Dun- 
kirk N. Y. 

JAMES W. COULTER, lawyer. Gallon; 
was born July 4, 1846, in West Bedford, 
Coshocton Co. His father, R. M. Coulter, now 
deceased, was born in Pennsylvania. His 
mother, who is now living with her son-in-law, 
O. W. Aldi'ich, L.L. D., Editor of the JlontJdi/ 
Jurist, at Bloomington, HI., was born and 
reared in Ireland; her maiden name was 
Phcebe Greer. The subject of this sketch is a 
fair type of the " self-made " men, who are the 
strength and pride of our commonwealth. 
IVIi". Coulter was educated at Spring Mountain. 
Coshocton Co., Ohio. By his own personal 
exertions, he supported himself and paid his 
way at school, receiving no pecuniary assist- 
ance from home. He read law with Hon. A. 
M. Jackson and Hon. Thomas Beer, of Bucy- 
rus, who is now Judge of the Court of Com- 
mon Pleas of that district. He was admitted 
to the bar in 1866, when he immediately 
located in Galion, and commenced the prac- 
tice of his profession, in which he has been 
very actively and successfully engaged since. 
For four years, he was Prosecuting Attorney 



of the county; six years a member of the 
Board of County School Examiners ; also, four 
years a member of the Board of Education of 
the Galion union schools, and was President 
of that board. He has always been a Demo- 
crat, but in no sense a partisan politician; is 
now 33 years of age, unmarried. Mr. Coulter 
is a thorough bu.siness man, and has been very 
successful in a pecuniary way; in fact, his 
judgment and practical ability in this respect 
are first-class, both in the management of his 
own interests and in conducting others that 
may be intrusted to his care. His opinion 
has much weight with local capitalists, and in 
point of public spirit he stands in a front 
rank in the community where he resides; has 
uniformly seconded his views by liberal in- 
vestments or donations, and habitually helps 
to advance the private enterprises of his fel- 
low-citizens, as far as he can consistently with 
correct business principles. As a lawyer Mr. 
Coulter is keenly perceptive, incisive, logical 
and spirited in debate, yet courteous. In 
religion, he is tolerant, extending the same 
charity to others that he desires from them. 
With good health and the greater part of an 
ordinary lifetime before him, judging from 
the last decade, it is easy to predict what, in 
all probability, the future has in store for Mr. 
Coulter, now one of the successful self-made 
men of his native State. 

C. S. CRIM, banker, Galion. Prominent 
among the energetic and prosperous business 
men of Galion, and one worthy of especial 
mention, is C. S. Crim, banker and capitalist. 
Ml". Crim was born in Lancaster Co., Penn., 
in 1820. He is the son of Jacob and Eliza- 
beth (Smith) Crim. His father being a farm- 
er, his early life was spent ujoon the farm, 
and his education such as the cormnon schools 
of the times afforded; he also attended select 
school at Lexington, Ohio. In 1839, Mr. 
Crim started out in life for himself, as clerk 
in a dry goods store in Lancaster, Ohio. He 
received no pecuniary aid from home, and his 
success in life is due to perseverance and 
industry, coupled with good judgment and 
practical ability. In 1843, he removed to 
Jeromeville, Wayne Co., Ohio, and engaged in 
the mercantile business for himself, and also 
ensacred in the same business in Johnsville. 



840 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



Morrow Co., remaining at the latter place 
until 1851, when he removed to Gallon, and 
has since been identihed with numerous enter- 
prises there. In 1854, he started a dry goods 
store on the corner of Main and Columbus 
streets, and at the same time engaged in the 
grain and produce trade, which he is still 
interested in. In 1864, he established the 
First National Bank of Gallon, and has been 
its President ever since. This bank has a 
capital of $50,000, and does business aggre- 
gating several millions yearly. In 18(-)(), in 
connection with John S. Davis and H. P. 
Stentz, the Exchange Bank of Monroeville, 
Huron Co., was organized, and, in December 
of 18G9, it was changed to a national bank, 
and is now known as the First National Bank 
of Monroeville. Mr. Crini is a Director of 
this bank. He is a Republican, but has never 
taken an active part in politics, his time being 
occupied in the management of his numerous 
business interests. Mr. Crim was married, 
on April 8, 1858, to Miss Martha R. Casner, 
of Ohio, who received her education at Ober- 
lin, Ohio. They have four children living — 
Ollie E., Ella E., Charles S. and Don. Another 
son, Georgie S., died, Feb. 6, 1880, aged 6 
years. He and his wife and daughters belong 
to the Methodist Church. Mr. Crim, by in- 
dustry, economy, pluck and fair dealing, has 
accpiired great wealth, which he uses in a 
quiet, unostentatious way, to advance every 
public enterprise that possesses merit. As a 
man of public spirit, devoted to his family, 
loyal to his church and his business, he has 
few equals and no superiors, and presents a 
bright and shining example to the young men 
of to-day of what it is possible for them to 
accomplish by acquiring correct habits and 
adhering to honest convictions and scrupulous 
integrity. 

T. COSSLON, conductor, Gallon; was born 
in Springfield, Ohio, in 1854. He has been 
railroading for the past ten years, and, during 
that time, had three fingers taken ofif in an 
accident. At the present time he is running 
a train on the C, C, C. & I. R. R. 

O. S. CULP, livery, Gallon; was bom in 
Pennsylvania, in 1888, and received a good 
common-school education, and. in 1854, went 
into the livery business at Vieat Newton, West- 



moreland Co., Penn., and remained there until 
1865. He then went to Warren Co., 111., and 
farmed for five years. At the exjiiration of 
that time he removed to Cleveland and en- 
gaged in the livery business, again remaining 
there for over six years, when he removed to 
Gallon, and has been engaged in the livery 
business up to the present time. He was 
married in 1854, to Miss Anna F. Carl, of 
Westmoreland Co., Penn. They have nine 
children. 

P. F. CASE, wholesale hardware, Gallon; 
was born in New Haven, Hui-on Co., Ohio, in 
1848. His parents moved to Vernon Town- 
ship, Crawford Co., in 1850. His education 
was limited to country schools. He came to 
Gallon in 1866, and clerked three years with 
Roger & Duck, in the hardware business. He 
began business for himself in 1870, in the 
retail hardware trade, and, in 1875, he 
changed from retail to wholesale, and is en- 
gaged in that line at the present time (1880). 
He has just completed one of the largest build- 
ings in the city for the better accommodation 
of his increasing trade. In 1879, he started 
a brass band of thirty pieces, named after 
himself. It is considered one of the best 
bands in this locality. He was married in 
1872, to Dora Monnett, daughter of Dr. Mon- 
nett. They have three childi'en — Laiu'a, 
Frank L. and May. He was a member of the 
Common Coimcil for two years. 

ROBERT COWDEN, Postmaster, Gallon; 
was born in this county, May 24, 1838, and 
had the benefits of but a limited education. 
At the age of 5, death robbed him of his 
father, and, at 15 years of age, he commenced 
carpentering as an apprentice, which business 
he followed on his own accou.nt from the age 
of 19. By dint of close private study, he 
prepared himself to teach in the common 
schools of his time, which he practiced during 
winters. At 19 years of age he was converted, 
and joined the United Brethren Church. At 
21 he was married to Miss LydiaT., daughter 
of Daniel Miller, who is also a native of this 
county. In the spring of 1857, he moved to 
Franklin Co., Kan., where he worked at his 
trade, and where, on the organization of the 
county, he was elected its first County Clerk. 
About the first of the year 1860, he returned 



V 



^•. 



FOLK TOWNSHIP. 



841 



to his native county. On tlie 9tb of Septem- 
ber, 1861, lie enlisted as private in Company B, 
1st U. S. Mechanic Fnsileers, but on the organ- 
ization of Company H, which he had aided in 
recruiting, he was appointed First Lieutenant 
of that company, but, because of informality in 
the enlistments, this regiment was mustered 
out, by order of the Secretary of War, on the 
29th of January, 18G2, and he immediately 
enlisted as private in Company I, 1st 111. 
Light Artillery. He was rapidly promoted to 
Corporal, Sergeant and First Sergeant, and, 
in May, 1802. for meritoi'ious service at the 
battle of Pittsburg Landing, Tenn., he was 
commissioned Second Lieutenant. On the 1 Itli 
of May, 18()8, he was appointed to aid in the or- 
ganization of the 89tli U. S. Colored Infantry, 
and was commissioned Major of the regiment, 
and, on the 18th of May, 1864, was promoted 
to Lieutenant Colonel. He was in command 
of the regiment fi'om December, 1863, until 
its muster-out on on the 31st of January, 186(), 
at Memphis, Tenn., except while incapacitated 
by wounds. At the head of his regiment, he 
received a severe gun-shot wound in his right 
hip, at the disastrous engagement at Gun- 
town, Miss., on June 10, 1864. from which he 
has suffered ever since. The principal en- 
gagements in which he participated were 
Pittsburg Landing, Corinth, Vicksbiu'g, Jack- 
son and Guntown. After the war, he be- 
came noted as a leader in Sunday-school 
work, and was Secretary of the Ohio Sabbath 
School Union six consecutive years, from 1871 
to 1877. He has been Secretary of the Sun- 
day School Union of this county ever since its 
organization, in 1867, till this time (1880). 
He has also been General Secretary of the 
United Brethren Sabbath School Association 
since May, 1877, in which capacity he has 
traveled over much of the United States, hold- 
ing Sunday School Nonnal Institutes. His 
commission as Postmaster in Gallon is dated 
January 29, 1878, and he entered on his duties 
on the 4th of March of the same year. 

R. W. CHASE, physician. Gallon; was 
born in Chautauqua Co., N. Y., in 1842. He 
had the benefit of a good common-school edu- 
cation, and taught school in 1858 and 1859, in 
Charlotte, Chautauqua Co., N. Y., after which 
he spent 1861 and 1862 attending college, 



after which he clerked in a dry goods store 
in the years 1863, 1864 and 1865. In 1866, 
he bought a half-interest in a dry goods 
store in Chautauqua, Chautauqua Co., N. Y., 
and remained in said business three years, 
and sold out in 1869, and commenced study- 
ing medicine with Dr. D. S. Pickett, of Chau- 
taiKpia, N. Y., and remained one year, and 
completed his studies with Dr. Fenner, of 
Fredunia, N. Y. In 1874, he commenced the 
practice of medicine in Chautauqua, N. Y., 
where he remained three years, when he went 
to Bradford and remained three years, and 
graduated at the Eclectic Medical College, in 
1875. He came to Gallon in June, 1880, and 
is established in practice on West Main 
street. 

S. G. CUMMINGS, attorney, Gallon. Mx. 
Cummings was born in Crawford Co., Ohio, in 
October, 1839. In 1861, he commenced to 
read law with Bartly & Johnston, of Mans- 
field, Ohio, and remained with them until 
1864. He was admitted to the bar in Janu- 
ary, 1864, at Columbus, Ohio, when, in April, 
1864, he went to Montana, and engaged in 
gulch-mining until 1866, and was successful, 
and then came to Gallon, Ohio, and com- 
menced to practice law there in 1867. He 
was elected Prosecutor of Crawford Co., Ohio, 
in 1873, and again in 1875, and served four 
yeai's. He has been elected several times a 
member of the School Board and Council, 
and is a member of both at the present time. 
Is also a member of the fii'm of Cummings & 
Meuser, attorneys at law, who have a good 
practice. He married Miss Sarah G. Ruhl, 
of Gallon, Ohio, in January, 1867, and has 
one son. 

HERBERT DECROW; physician. Gallon, 
was born in Licking Co., Ohio, in 1846, and 
received a good education at the union school 
at Johnstown, Ohio, and at Dennison Univer- 
sity, at Granville, Ohio; he lived on a farm 
until 20 years of age, and when not at school 
canvassed for books. In 1867, went to Quincy, 
111., with Dr. Decrow, dentist, and worked in 
his ofiice, and studied medicine with Dr. 
Baker, and remained there three years, when 
he came home and traveled sixteen months 
for the Austin Powder Company, of Cleve- 
land, Ohio. He then taught school and read 



842 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



medicine under Drs. Stinson & Williams, of 
Alexandx'ia, Ohio, until the fall of 1873, when 
he went to Cincinnati, Ohio, and attended 
lectiu'es at the Eclectic Medical Institute, and 
graduated in the spring, having attended his 
lirst course in 18(3U and 1870, in Jefferson 
Medical Institute, and Pennsylvania Dental 
College at Philadelphia. He commenced the 
practice of medicine at Utica, Licking Co., 
Ohio, March 1, 1874, and remained there 
until April 1, 1880; he then moved to Galion, 
Ohio, and has established a first-class practice, 
bei/ig very successful. He was married to 
Lucy A. Holmes, of Brownsville, Licking Co., 
Ohio, and has three boys. 

THOMAS C. DAVIS, grocer, Gallon; was 
born in that portion of Richland Co. which is 
now Morrow Co., in October, 1837, and re- 
mained there until 1861. He then enlisted in 
Company C, 15th O. V. I., and served four 
years and four months. He served two years 
as private, then was commissioned as First 
Lieutenant, and afterward as Captain. He 
returned from the army in March, 18(36, and 
commenced the grocery and daily market busi- 
ness at 26 West Main street. Gallon, Ohio, 
where he is still in business. On his return 
from the army he mairied Angeline Rinehart, 
daughter of John and Catharine Rinehart. 

JOHN D. DeGOLLEY, attorney, Gallon, 
was born in Washington Co., Md., May 
26, 1850, and received his education at the 
Quincy Academy, of Franklin Co., Penn. In 
1868, he commenced reading law with D. 
Watson Rowe (Judge of Court of Common 
Pleas), and took a three years' coui'se, and was 
admitted to the bar at Chambersburg in 1871. 
He came to Gallon, Ohio, May 27, 1874, and 
was admitted to the bar at Columbus, Ohio, 
Jujie 6, 1876, and has been practicing law in 
Gallon, Ohio, ever since. He was elected the 
first City Solicitor of Gallon, in April, 187U. 
He was married in October, 1878, to Miss Anna 
M. Parsons, of Gallon, Ohio, and has one son. 

REV. E. P. ELCOCK, Pastor Presbyterian 
Chiu-cli, Gallon; was born in Covington, Miami 
Co., Ohio, Aug. 20, 1847. His education was 
commenced at home, his mother having been a 
teacher in the pul)lic schools at Dayton, Ohio, 
before her marriage. He commenced the 
study of Latin at the age of 7 years, assisted 



by his father. Rev. Thomas Elcock; also 
attended public school at Van Wert, Ohio, and 
Decatur, Ind. He was also sent to Vermillion 
Institute, Ashland Co., Ohio, remaining there 
about three years. At times, during his at- 
tendance there, he taught school at various 
places, having at one time a select school in 
Decatiu', Ind., of 125 pupils. From Vermill 
ion Institute he went to Cannonsburg, Penn., 
attending Washington and Jefferson College, 
graduating in 1869. After spending three 
years at Theological Seminary at Princeton, 
N. Y., he was installed as Pastor of the First 
Presbyterian Church at Port Deposit, Md., on 
May 7, 1872. He remained there fifteen 
months, and then went to Bridgeville, Del., 
remaining there nearly three years. He came 
to Gallon in August, 1875, and has been Pas- 
tor of the First Presbyterian Church vip to the 
present time. 

JAMES H. GREEN, bank cashier. Gallon; 
son of Aaron and Nancy Green, he of Penn- 
sylvania, she of Tennessee. He was born 
March 4, 1834, at Norton, Delaware Co., Ohio, 
and during his youth attended the common 
schools of his neighborhood, and in 1850 he 
went to Cardington, Morrow Co., and clei'ked 
in a hardware store until 1856, when he went 
to Mt. Gilead, and carried on the merchant- 
tailoring business until 1861. He enlisted in 
Co. B, 43d O. V. I., and served three years and 
a half, then went to Cardington, Ohio, for two 
years, as Assistant Cashier of the First Na- 
tional Bank. In August, 1866, he came to Gal- 
ion, Ohio, and has been Cashier of the Citizens' 
Bank and Citizens' National Bank up to the 
present time. He owns and superintends four 
farms and two stone quarries, and a wholesale 
oil and varnish jobbing house. He was mar- 
ried to Miss Lola H. McLain, of Gallon, Ohio, 
and has four children. 

JOSEPH S. GRAVER, hotel. Gallon; was 
born in Philadelphia, Penn., in 1844, and had 
the benefit of a good common-school educa- 
tion. He commenced to learn the butcher's 
trade in 1854, and stayed at that one year, 
then worked in a morocco manufactory until 
1859, when he started a milk-wagon, and ran 
that until 1861. He then enlisted in Com- 
pany F, 8d Penn. V. C, and remained three 
years, and came home in 1864, and went to 



w - 
"^1 



POLK TOWNSHIP. 



843 



Alliance, Ohio, to work for the P., F. W. & C. 
R. R., in 1SG5, after that going to Philadel- 
phia, and remaining eighteen months. He 
returned to Alliance, Ohio, in 1867, and com- 
menced railroading as conductor until 1872. 
In 1873, he went back to Philadelphia and to 
New York City, then to Savannah, Ga., in the 
hide business, for three months. He then 
traveled extensively thi'ough the Southern and 
Western States, to Cincinnati, Ohio, and 
Pittsburgh, Ft. Wayne, Lafayette, Ind., Tole- 
do, Ohio, Mansfield, Ohio, then in the fall of 
1873, he came to Gallon, Ohio, and com- 
menced with the A. & G. W. R. R., and left 
in the spring of 1874 and went to work for 
the C, C, C. & I. R. R., and remained there 
until August, 1879, when he took the National 
House, near the depot of the N. Y., P. & O. 
R. R., and is still there. He was married to 
Minnie Scott Mathews, of Allegheny City, 
Penn., Aug. 20, 1872, and has two children 
living and two dead. 

ASA HOSFORD, miller and farmer; P. O. 
Gallon. Among the early settlers of this 
county, and one worthy of special mention, is 
Asa Hosford, the subject of this sketch. He 
was born in Richfield, Mass., m 1799. At the 
age of 6 years, his parents removed from Litch- 
field, Conn., to Jefferson Co., N. Y., and located 
upon a farm, remaining there for fourteen 
years, when they again removed to Ontario Co., 
N. Y., remaining there for four years. Mr. Hos- 
ford then being of age, and having a strong 
desire to see Ohio, he, in company with his 
brother Horace, started upon a tour. They 
came to Cleveland upon the first steamboat 
upon the Lakes, and then started for the in- 
terior of Ohio on foot. This was in the fall 
of 1819. Mr. Hosford remained in Huron 
Co. all winter, and in the spring was joined 
by his parents, who located in what is now 
Crawford Co. Mr. Husford worked for several 
years to get his first $U)0, when he entered 
80 acres of land near Gallon. In 1824, he 
opened the first hotel in the neighborhood. 
It was located somewhere in the present site 
of Gallon, and for eight years was the pro- 
prietor. He finally sold the hotel property to 
Ruhl for $000, and invested this money in 43 
acres of land, which was situated where the 
heart of Gallon is to-day. It was the inten- 



tion of Mr. Hosford to lay out a town. Ruhl 
also had the same intentions, and finally 
bought the 43 acres of Mr. Hosford. He 
then, in 1832, bought the mill property in 
Polk Township, where he still resides, build- 
ing a mill which is in operation to-day. 
He was married in 1825, to Miss Alta Kent, 
of Bucyrus. They have three childi-en living 
— Rebecca, Eri and Stephen. Mr. Hosford 
has been honored by many oifices of trust by 
his friends, and in all has discharged them 
with ability and honor. His connection with 
the railroad, in which he deserves great credit, 
appears in the history of Gallon. 

J. R. HOMER, foundry and machine shop, 
Gallon; is the present Mayor of Gallon, Ohio. 
Although a Republican in a Democratic com- 
munity, he was elected by twenty-five ma- 
jority. He was born in Monson, Me., April 
7, 1833. He attended the common schools and 
also an academy two terms. He worked on a 
farm when not at school until he was 21 years 
of age, and afterward served his time in a 
foundry at Gallon, Ohio, and worked five 
years as journeyman, and also as foreman 
three years. In 1802, he enlisted in Company 
E, 101st O. V. I., and served three years in all 
the offices except Orderly Sergeant up to First 
Lieutenant, and came home in 1805, and took 
a position as foreman in a foundiy for two 
years. He then bought a half-interest in a 
foundiy and machine shop, known as the Gal- 
ion Machine Works. He has served several 
terms as a member of the Council, and has been 
President of the School Board, and has been 
Director of a building association through its 
full term. He was maiTled to Jane E. Nave, 
of Gallon, and has one son, who works in the 
machine shop, and one daughter, who teaches 
in the public school at Gallon, Ohio. 

J. W. HOLMES. The subject of this 
sketch, whose portrait a})pears in this work, 
was born Sept. 13, 1821, at Dulton, Mass. 
When 18 months old, his father, Joseph 
Holmes, was called to England. He was lost 
at sea while on his return to his family, which 
left the son with no other care but his mother. 
He was taken in charge by different ones, and 
when 10 years old was }nit on a farm until 16 
years of age, when he was bound an appren- 
tice to the cabinet-making trade, serving his 



vf 



f 



•i^ 



844 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



time until the age of 21 years; he then com- 
menced business for himself. In 1850, he 
was burnt out, by which means he lost his 
wife and all his property, leaving him desti- 
tute. At this time he went to Bridgeport, and 
entered into a contract, with fifteen others, to 
go South to assist in piitting the rolling stock 
upon the Alabama & Tennessee River R. R. 
(now the S9lma,Rome & Dalton R. R.). From 
there he returned and entered the employ of 
the N. Y. C. R. R., in May, 1852, and con- 
tinued in said business at Rochester, N. Y., 
and Niagara Falls, being in charge of the car 
department until Jiine, 1862, at which time 
he commenced to raise a company for active 
service in the 129th N. Y. V. I., under com- 
mand of Col. P. A. Porter; mustered into the 
United States service Aug. 22, 1862, and 
marched to the city of Baltimore, where the 
regiment was put in the defense of Baltimore 
and vicinity. In December, 1862, the regiment 
was changed from 12Uth V. I. to the 8th N. 
Y. Heavy Artillery, and recruited up to a reg- 
iment of 1,900 officers and men, and continued 
in the military duties of the Middle Depart- 
ment until July 2, 1808, whan they were 
ordered to Maryland Heights, opposite Har- 
per's Ferry, to protect the rear of the army at 
Gettysburg. On the 1st of September, he 
was ordered back into the defenses of Bal- 
timore, and detailed as Provost Marshal of 
Fort McHenry, in charge of all Union and 
confederate prisoners at that point, and inti- 
mately connected with the secret service, 
which contributed so much to the success of 
our arms. In May, 1864, was relieved from 
the duties of Provost Marshal, for the pui'pose 
of accompanying the regiment to the front, 
joining the army at Spottsylvania Court 
House, on the 18th of May, 1864, with 1,900 
men assigned to the 2d Corps, 2d Division, 
commanded by Gen. Tyler. On the 19th, 
participated in the repulsing of an attack in 
force by Ewell's Corps; on the 23d and 24th, 
in the engagement of North Anna ; on the 80th 
and 81st, at Cold Harbor; June 8, made a 
charge on the enemy's works, in which 600 
men of the regiment were killed and wounded; 
crossed the James on the 15th of June; as- 
saulted the Confederate works before Peters- 
burg, on the evening of June 16; supported 



an assault on the 18th, at which time, for gal- 
lant conduct, was promoted to Major, he hav- 
ing acted as such since June 3. On the 22d, 
assaulted and captured works held by the 
Confederate forces. From this time, the reg- 
iment was employed on breast-works, fortifi- 
cations, and covered ways, until Jul/ 26; 
ordered to the north side of James River, and 
participated in the assaults on the enemy's 
lines at Deep Bottom, capturing their outer 
works; also participated in severe fighting at 
Deep Bottom, Aug. 12. On Aug. 25, in a 
severe engagement at Ream's Station, on the 
26th, being in command of the regiment, which 
when mustered, but 5 officers and 110 men 
reported for duty, thus showing the effects of 
severe duties which they had performed, and 
the loss which they had sustained since join- 
ing the army at S^iottsylvania, on the 18th of 
May. At this time, the regiment was given a 
short rest, which was improved in receiving 
recruits, and the return of men from hospital, 
at which time he was promoted to Lieutenant 
Colonel. The regiment was again put on 
active duty, and participated in all the engage- 
m3nts until the surrender of Lee's forces, 
April 9, 1865. In June, 1865, was ordered to 
Rochester, N. Y., with his regiment, and mus- 
tered out of the service of the United States 
and returned to peaceful pursuits of life. In 
August, 1865, entered the service of the A. & 
G. W. R. R., at Kent, Ohio. In September, 
the same year, promoted to the position of 
Superintendent of car repairs at Gallon, 
Crawford Co., Ohio, at which place he now 
resides, where he has been intimately con- 
nected with the Masonic and other kindred 
organizations, having, in 1850, became a Mas- 
ter Mason; in 1856, a Royal Arch Mason; 
received the degrees of Royal and Select Mas- 
ters, and dubbed and created a Knight of the 
Red Cross, Knight Templar and Knight of 
Malta. Since living in Gallon, he has been 
intimately connected with the organization of 
Gallon Lodge, No. 414, A., F. & A. M. ; Craw- 
ford Chapter, No. 142, R. A. M.; Mansfield 
Commandery of Knights Templar, No. 21, and 
now 32d degree member of Ohio Consistory, 
A. & A. S. Rite, at Cincinnati; to mutual insur- 
ance organizations, a goodly portion of his 
attention has been given, being foremost in 



- 1® 



^1 



POLK TOWNSHIP. 



845 



the organization of Mutual Lodge, No. 32, K. 
of H. ; G-alion Council, No. 20, R. A. ; was 
prominent in the formation of the Grand 
Lodge, K. of H., of Ohio. July 29, 1875, and 
was elected its first Grand Dictator; also, the 
Grand Council of the R. A. of Ohio, April 4, 
1878, and was elected, at its second session. 
Grand Regent. In all of the above organiza- 
tions, he has done his full pro2:)ortion of the 
work to make each a success. 

G. L. JOHNSTON, foreman building and 
bridge department, C, C, C. & I. R. R., Gallon. 
In the carpenter and wood-work department of 
the C, C, C. & I. R. R. shops, we find Mr. G. 
L. Johnston, as Foreman and Superintendent. 
He was born in Knox Co., Ohio, in 1811, and 
when a youth learned the carpenter's trade. 
In November, 1875, he entered the employ of 
the C, C, C. & I. R. R., at Shelby, and, in 
1878, was called by that company to Gallon, 
to assume his present position. He has the 
entire supervision of the construction of build- 
ings, bridges, freight trucks, etc. He was 
married in 18G9, to Miss Polly E Hayes, at 
Mount Gilead. Thev have two children— 
Wilbiir H. and Ralph P 

HENRY KAEMPHER, Priest, Gallon. 
The grandparents of Father Kaempher were 
French, and emigrated toWestphalia at the time 
of the first French Revolution. He was born in 
Westphalia in December. 1848, and gradu- 
ated with honors at the University of Munster. 
He is also a graduate of the College of Rheine, 
and studied in the college nine years, and in 
the university four years. He came to Cleve- 
land, Ohio, in 1874, and went to Putnam Co., 
Ohio, and remained three years, and in April, 
1878, he came to Gallon, Ohio, and took charge 
of the two Catholic Churches there, and is 
building up good congregations in each. 

DR. HIRAM R. KELLEY, M. D., Gallon; 
was born in Northumberland Co., Penn., on 
the 7th of February, 1835. He attended the 
common schools until 13 years of age, when he 
entered a store and served two years as junior 
clerk. In 1851, he began teaching school, 
continuing until 1853, when ho left Pennsyl- 
vania and removed to Ohio, settling in Perry 
Township, Morrow Co. He re.sumed his occu- 
pation as school-teacher for a year. In 1854, 
having resolved to become a physician, he 



attended the Ohio Wesleyan University at 
Delaware, and engaged in study until 1856, 
when he attended a full course of medical 
lectures at Cincinnati. He commenced the 
practice of medicine at West Point, Morrow 
Co., Ohio, remaining there until 1805, when, 
going to Columbus, he attended a full course 
at Starling Meilical College, and graduated 
there. Returning to West Point, he resumed 
practice there until the spring of 1870, when 
he removed to Gallon, and has since been in 
active practice there. For upward of twelve 
years, he has been a member of the State 
Medical College, and siu'geon of the A. & G. 
W. R. R., now N. Y., P. & O. R. R.; for eight 
years, has also been appointed sui'geon for the 
C, C, C. & I. R. R. In May, 1878, he was 
a])pointed Trustee of the Girls' Industrial 
Home, at Delawai'e, Ohio. Since 1873, he 
has been a member of the Gallon Board of 
Education. Although enjoying an enviable 
reputation as a physician, his greatest success 
has been in surgery, having performed several 
difficult major operations successfully. He 
was married in 1858, to Miss Matilda Emma 
Keech, of Chester Co., Penn. They have one 
son — J. Webster Ivellev. 

DR. J. WEBSTER KELLEY, M. D., Gal- 
ion; was born at West Point, Morrow Co., 
Ohio, in 1859. He graduated at the High 
School, Gallon, and, having resolved to be- 
come a physician, he attended Dennison Uni- 
versity, and afterward the Ohio Wesleyan 
University, at Delaware, Ohio. From there 
he went to Starling Medical College, Colum- 
bus, Ohio, and while there carried off the 
"Surgeon's prize," in 1878. He then entered 
the office of Prof. Pooley, Professor of Sm-gery 
at Starlincp, and afterward went to Bellevue 
Hospital, N. Y., and graduated in March, 1880. 
He then returned to Gallon, and entered into 
partnership with his father, and is now in 
practice there. He was man-led, Aug. 26, 
1880, to Miss Ella E. Crim, daughter of C. S. 
Crim, President of First National Bank. 
Since his i-eturn to Gallon, Dr. Kelley has 
reported several articles to medical joiirnals 
in New York and Columbus. 

REV. J. H. KLEIN, D. D.. Gallon: was 
born in Baden, Germany, in 1829. He at- 
tended the common schools in Germany, and 



.y; 



846 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



emigrated to America in 1849, locating at 
Sandusky City, Ohio. He attended the Hei- 
delberg College and Seminary at Tiffin, Ohio, 
graduating in 1S54, and entered the ministry 
of the German Reformed Church. He served 
at a number of missionary points, and at five 
difierent preaching charges in Sandusky Co., 
Ohio. Receiving a call from the St. John 
German Reformed Church of Fort Wayne, 
Ind., he removed there, and remained as Pas- 
tor until 1SG8, when he was called to a pro- 
fessorship at the church seminary at Sheboy- 
gan, Wis. Served two years there, but, on 
account of the climate, he resigned, and 
accepted a call as Pastor of Fii'st German 
Reformed Church of Louisville, remaining 
there until 1878, when he removed to Gallon, 
and is now located there as Pastor of German 
Reformed Church. Since coming there, he 
has added tifty-seven members to the church. 
He was married in 1854, to Catharine Weis, 
of Tiffin, Ohio. They have four children — 
Emily L., Caroline C, Catharine H. and 
Charles D. 

ROBERT LAIRD, foreman boiler shops, 
N. Y., P. & O. R. R., Gallon. Mr. Laird was 
born in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1841. His 
parents emigrated to this country when he was 
8 years old, locating at Mount Savage, Md. 
In 1855, he went to work for the B. & O. 
R. R., at Piedmont, W. Va., and remained 
with that company until 1862, when he came 
to Zanesville, Ohio, and engaged with the 
Central Ohio R. R., working at his trade of 
boiler-making. In 1864, he enlisted as a 100- 
day man in the 159th O. S. V. I. After serv- 
ing his time, he returned to Zanesville, and 
was married to Miss Jennie Mcintosh, Dec. 
2y, 1864. He then went to Cincinnati, and 
for nearly three years worked at his trade for 
the C, H. & D. R. R. He came to Gallon in 
1867, and worked at his trade for the C, C, 
C. & I. R. R., until January, 1870, when he 
engaged with the A. & G. W. R. R., now the 
N. Y., P. & O. R. R., and has been with that 
company ever since, as Superintendent of the 
boiler shops. He resided for three years at 
Kent, where the principal shops of this com- 
pany were located, but, on their removal to 
Gallon, has made his home there. He has 
one child — John. JMi-. Laird is a member of 



Gallon Lodge, No. 414, F. & A. M., Gallon 
Chapter, No. 142, and Mansfield Commandery, 
No. 21. 

HENRY LAUGHBAUM, farmer; P. O. 
Gallon. Mr. Laughbaum was born in Rich- 
land Co., Ohio, in 1828. He is the son of 
Solomon and Margaret (Heist) Laughbaum, 
natives of Pennsylvania, both being born near 
Lancaster. When Henry was a youth, his 
father bought 20 acres of land in Jefferson 
Township, Crawford Co., and then was stricken 
down by disease from which he never recov- 
ered, but lingered along for years, a helpless 
invalid. This threw the support of the family 
upon the boys, and their early life was one of 
extreme toil. He maiTied Miss Nancy Pfeiffer, 
daughter of Peter Pfeiffer, in 1849. She was 
born in Cincinnati, Ohio, June, 1832, and, at 
the time of her marriage, was an orphan. Mr. 
Laughbaum's business at this time, until 1865, 
was running a saw-mill in Whetstone Town- 
ship. In 1 865, he bought 80 acres of land, in 
Polk Township, where he now resides. Since 
that time he has added 20 acres more to the 
original purchase, and has improved it in 
buildings, fences, etc., u.ntil to-day it is one of 
the most valualtle pieces of land in the town- 
ship. In the summer of 1880, he built a new 
and elegant residence, which adds much to the 
value of his property. His farm lies a few miles 
northwest of Gallon, and, as Mr. Laughbaum 
devotes his time exclusively to the improve- 
ment and cultivation of his land, he will have 
a home, in time, second to none in the county. 
During his residence in Whetstone Town- 
ship, he served four years as Constable, seven 
years as Township Clerk, and one year as 
Township Titistee. Mr. and Mrs. Laugh- 
baum have tenchildi'en — Ellas W., Aaron H., 
Sarah J., Louisa C, Melissa B., Otterbine F., 
Deborah E., Maransa C, Horatio T. and 
Weston S. Aaron H. is married to Ellen Shu- 
maker, and they are living in Sandusky Town- 
ship; Sarah J. is married to William O. Shu- 
maker, residing in Polk Township. 

M. MANLEY, Superintendent of Public 
Schools, Gallon; was born in 1841, at New 
Salem, Fairfield Co., Ohio. His parents were 
of Scotch and English descent. In 1848, they 
moved to New Lexington, Perry Co. He at- 
tended the public schools there until 1854, 






i)J> 



POLK TOAVXSIIIP. 



847 



when he removed back to Fairfield Co., and 
entered Fairfield Academy in IS 57. He taught 
school during the winters and attended the 
academy during the spring and fall until 
1800, when he entered as freshman in the 
classical course of the Ohio Wesleyan Univer- 
sity, at Delaware, Ohio, teaching school to pay 
his tuition while there. He graduated in ISGO, 
and took charge of the north district of the 
union school at Lancaster, Ohio; resigned at 
the expiration of one year, on account of fail- 
ing health, and accepted the agency of Apple- 
ton & Co.'s school books, until 1S70. He had 
charge of Carroll School, in Fairfield Co., 
until 1872; was Principal of the high school 
of Lancaster until 1874, when he came to 
Gallon, and was Principal of the high school 
one year, and, since that time, has been Super- 
intendent of public schools, being elected to 
serve until 1888. Prof. Manley served two 
years in the army, in the 17th and 146th O. 
V. I. He is a Mason, and a member of the 
Knights of Honor. 

JACOB G. MEUSER, lawyer. Gallon. 
Prominent among the leading men of Craw- 
ford Co. and of Central Ohio, is J. G. Meuser. 
He was born on April 4, 1844, in Sandusky 
Township, Richland Co., within a few miles 
of Gallon, and is the son of Peter F. and 
Katherine (Swayne) Meuser. His early life 
was passed upon a farm. He received a good 
education, commencing with the common 
schools, and finishing at Capital University, of 
Columbus, Ohio, after which he taught school 
from 1864 to 1870. After determining to 
make the practice of law his profession, he 
entered the office of S. G. Cummings, of Gal- 
ion, and commenced reading. He was admit- 
ted to the bar by the Supreme Court of Ohio, 
in 1872, and has been engaged in this profes- 
sion, in partnership with S. G. Cummings, up 
to the present time. Politically, IVL*. Meuser 
is a Democrat, and has always taken a deep 
interest in the affairs of his party, being con- 
sidered one of its leaders in Ohio. Among the 
nu.merous offices which Mr. Meuser has held, 
we may mention the following: In April, 1874, 
he was elected Mayor of Gallon, and, in 1875, 
he was chosen to represent his district in tbe 
State Legislature. In 1877, he was re-elected, 
and, during the latter term, was Chairman of 



the Judiciary Committee, the Committee on 
Rules, and of the committee to revise and 
consolidate the statutes. In 1879, he was em- 
ployed by the State to edit the present Re- 
vised Statutes of Ohio. Mr. Meuser is also 
one of the proprietors and the editor of the 
Gallon In qui re/-, one of the leading Democratic 
organs in Central Ohio. Socially, he is hu- 
morous, genial and agreeable. Possessing 
great executive ability, and endowed with 
perseverance, energy and industry, Mr. Meu- 
ser is to-day one of the rising young men of 
his native State. 

DAVID MACKEY, architect and builder, 
Gallon; was born in Franklin Co., Penn., 
April 3, 1835. His parents removed to Ohio 
when he was 8 years old, locating in Musk- 
ingum Co. He attended the common echools 
until he was 13 years old, when his parents 
moved to Crawford Co., Polk Township, in 
1848. His father was a carpenter and build- 
er, and David assisted him in that business 
until he was 21 years of age, when he com- 
menced taking lessons in drawing and archi- 
tecture. In 1854 or 1855, he entered the car 
department of the Indiana Division of the C, 
C, C. & I. R. R., and worked in that depart- 
ment for twelve years, since which time he has 
been in business for himself as an architect 
and builder. In 1878, he erected Mackey's 
Block, and is also the builder of the Citizens' 
National Bank, and a large portion of the best 
buildings in Gallon. He was married in 1854, 
to Miss Sarah L. Traul, of Gallon. They 
have two children living — Mattie and Sadie. 
Mr. Mackey has been a member of Common 
Council for two terms before the city was in- 
corporated, and is now serving his second 
term. He was a Director in the old Gallon 
Building Company, and is now President of 
the Citizens' Building Company. IMr. Mackey 
and wife are members of Presbyterian Church. 

O. N. MONROE, foreman carpenter depart- 
ment, N. Y., P. & O. R. R., Gallon; was born 
in Medina Co., Ohio, in August, 1831. His 
father was a farmer, and his early life was 
passed upon a farm, until, at the age of 17, 
he went to learn the carpenter's trade in Lorain 
Co. After three years in that county, he went 
to Huron Co., and went to contracting for 
himself. Wliile there, he engaged with the 






i'' 



jj^ 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



Lake Shore R. R. Company, and worked in 
their shops at Norwalk for thirteen years, and 
was foreman of the shops for ten years. In 
August, 1869, he engaged with the A. & G. 
W. R. R., and went to work for that company 
at their shops at Kent, Ohio. In December, 
1801), the shops were removed to Galion. and 
he has, since that time, made his home there. 
He has been foreman of his department ever 
since his connection with the road. He was 
married, Dec. 6, 1853, to Miss Julia Petteys, 
of Huron Co. They have four children — 
Albert W., Eugene A., Orin N., Jr., and Beele. 

J. C. MoILYAIN, M. D., Galion; was born 
in Mansiield, Ohio, March 23, 1845. He at- 
tended select schools until the inauguration of 
the public schools, which he attended u.ntil 
14 years of age. He then, through the influ- 
ence of John Sherman, member of Congress, 
received an appointment as cadet to West 
Point or Annapolis. He selected Annapolis, 
but was rejected on his physical examination, 
on -account of a crippled arm. Through the 
influence of Secretary of the Navy Toucey, 
he was passed, however, and remained in the 
navy two years, on the frigate Constitution, 
when he resigned, and entered the 120th O. 
V. I. Served in Grant's 13th Corps, and was 
with Sherman all thi'ouo^h the sieore of Vicks- 
burg. "WTiile with Banks' expedition, up the 
Red River, he was taken j^risoner, and lay 
thirteen months in rebel prisons in the inte- 
rior of Texas. He was mustered out late in 
18(35, and suffered severely for a year, from 
the effects of prison confinement. After re- 
gaining health, he went to Michigan and 
served six years as civil engineer. He com- 
menced the study of medicine in ISGD, and 
graduated in 1872, at the University of Mich- 
igan, Ann Ai'bor. First commenced practice 
near Lansing, Mich.; practiced also in the 
lumber regions and at Grand Rapids, ISIich. 
Came to Galion in the fall of 1878, and is 
now engaged in active practice there. 

W. A. McKEAN, foreman car department, 
C, C, C. & I. R. R., Galion. Among the 
ofiicials of the C, C, C. & L R. R., is Mr. W. 
A. McKean, superintendent of the car depart- 
ment. He is a native of Ohio, and was born 
in Holmes Co., in 1837. He came to Galion 
in 1858, and worked at cabinet-making for 



four years. He then entered the employ of 
the above-mentioned railroad, and has been 
connected with that road ever since. In Octo- 
ber, 1879, he was appointed foreman and 
superintendent of the car dej)artment, which 
position he still holds. 

HENRY ROISTER, boots and shoes, Gal- 
ion; was born in Germany, in 1845, and emi- 
grated to this country in 1854, with his par- 
ents, and located in Galion. He attended 
school until 18(32, and then entered the C, C, 
C. & I. R. R. shops, and worked as carpenter 
until 186G, when he went to Indianapolis and 
worked in the railroad shops there. Retiu-ned 
to the Galion shops in 1871, and worked until 
1877. He then went into partnership with 
C. F. Beck, in the dry goods and boot and 
shoe trade. In the spring of 188(J, he dis- 
solved partnership, and is now carrying on a 
boot and shoe store on Main street. He was 
married, in 1870, to Miss Louisa H. Beck. 
They have one child — Clara. He is a mem- 
ber of the German Reformed Church. 

T. L. PITTON, yard-master, N. Y., P. & 
O. R. R., Gallon; was born in Canada, in 1845, 
and his early life, up to 19 years of age, was 
spent there. He then went to Salamanca, N. 
Y., and went to work for the A. & G. W. R. 
R., now the N. Y., P. & O., and has been in 
the employ of that road up to the present 
wi'iting. He came to Galion in 1867, and 
has been yard-master ever since his residence 
there. He was married to Miss Susanna Rick- 
ets, of Galion, in 1869. They have two chil- 
dren — Thomas J. and Minnie. Mr. Pitton is 
a member of Galion Lodge, No. 414, F. & A. 
M., and Mutual Lodge, K. of H., No. 32. 

WILLIAM PRICE, foreman blacksmith 
shops, N. Y., P. & O. R. R., Gallon; was born 
in Breconshire, South Wales, in 1833. He 
emigrated to America in 1857, and located in 
Pittsburgh, and worked at his trade there for 
three years. He then, in 1859, removed to 
Crestline, and was employed in the Pittsburgh 
& Fort Wayne railroad shops until 1864, when 
he removed to Galion, and engaged with the 
C, C, C. & I. R. R. Co., remaining with them 
until 1866. He then began 1,o work for the 
A. & G. W. R. R. Co., now the N. Y., P. & O. 
R. R., and has been with them up to the pres- 
ent time. In 1867, he was appointed foreman 



'A 



POLK TOWNSHIP. 



849 



of his department, whicli position he still 
occupies. He was married in Wales, in 1857, 
to Miss Hannah Herbert. They have four 
children living — Thomas, now working in the 
shops with his father, William, Eliza and 
Clara I. He is a member of Gallon Lodge, 
No. 215, I. O. O. F., and has been a member 
of the Gallon Common Council. 

W. C. QUIGLEY, superintendent black- 
smith-shops, C, C.,C. & I. R. R., Gallon; was 
born in Mansfield, Ohio, in 1840, and his 
early life, until he was 16 years old, was spent 
in that place. At this time, he came to Gal- 
ion, and has since made his home there. For 
a miinber of years he worked at several trades 
at the C, C, C. & I. R. R. shops, attending 
schools at intervals in the meantime, until 
1862, when he enlisted in the 81st O. S. V. I., 
and was in active service for three years, with 
Sherman's army. At the close of the war, he 
returned to Gallon, and again entered the 
employ of the C, C, C. & I. R. R., and has 
been with that company up to the present time. 
For the past nine years, he has been superin- 
tendent of the blacksmith-shops. He is the 
inventor of a " railway frog and crossing com- 
bined," which is used exclusively upon the C, 
C, C. & I. R. R., and he is also the inventor 
and patentee of a lawn rake, a most valuable 
improvement upon any other rake now in use. 
He was married, in Gallon, to Miss Emma 
Fague, Aug. 6, 1865. They have two children 
— Harry N. and Samuel T. He is a member 
of Gallon Lodge, No. 414, F. & A. M., and, 
together with his wife, a member of the Meth- 
odist Church. 

WILLIAM H. RAYMOND, superintendent 
of stock-yards, C, C, C. & I. R. R., Gallon. 
Mr. Raymond was born in Shelby, Ohio, in 
1848. His father was a cooper by trade, and 
also followed farming. He remained at home, 
working upon the farm, xuitil 22 years old, 
when he went to Crestline, and entered into 
the employ of the C, C, C. & I. R. R. in the 
stock-yards there. In 1870, he removed to 
Gallon, and has since resided there. He is 
superintendent of the stock yards there, and 
one of Gallon's most esteemed citizens. He 
was married in 1872, to Miss Mary Hall, of 
Crestline. They have two children — Grace 
and Jessie. Mr. Raymond is a Mason, and is 



a member of the present (1880) school board. 

V. H. REISINGER, dentist, Gallon; was 
born in Gallon, Ohio, Jan. 31, 1854, and was 
educated in the Gallon Union School. He went 
into a drug store a short time, and, at the age 
of 16 years, commenced to study dentistry 
with Dr. S. Waggoner, of Gallon, Ohio, and 
remained with him about three years, and then 
commenced the study of dentistry in the Bid- 
timore College of Dental Sm'gery, and contin- 
ued through two terms, and then removed to 
Belleville, Richland Co., Ohio, and practiced 
there in 187(3 and 1877, about nine months. 
The Baltimore College of Dental Sm-gery 
having consolidated with the Maryland Col- 
lege of Dental Surgery, he completed his 
course there, and graduated with honors, 
March 7, 1878. He then came to Gallon and 
commenced the practice of his profession in 
Mackey's Block, Gallon, Ohio, where he is 
building up a first-class practice. He was 
married, Jan. 25, 1876, to Miss Amanda 
Mackey, of Gallon, Ohio, and has two chil- 
dren. 

J. P. REISINGER, Notary Public, Gallon; 
was born in Gallon, in 1849; is a son of the 
late Dr. Reisinger. He had the advantage of 
a high-school education, and, at the age of 16 
he began the tinner's trade, serving an appren- 
ticeship of three years, and working at his 
trade for two years, and, during this time, 
studying book-keeping in the evening. In 
1869, he went to Tiffin, and engaged as book- 
keeper for William Sullivan, a hardware mer- 
chant ; also, was clerk at the Shawhan House, 
remaining in Tiffin until 1871, when he re- 
turned to Gallon, and was clerk at the Central 
Hotel for a short time. He then engaged 
with H. D. Lee, in the knitting-machine busi- 
ness, as business agent, having his headqiiar- 
ters at York, Penn. Mr. Reisinger traveled 
over several States in the interest of Mr. Lee. 
In 1871, he came to Ashland, Ohio, and mar- 
ried Miss Cynthia Mcllvaine, she returning 
with him to Pennsylvania, and traveled with 
him, assisting him by operating the machines 
at fairs, etc. Mr. Reisinger remained with 
Mr. Lee until 1874, when he removed to Ash- 
land, Ohio, and ran the St. Nicholas restaur- 
ant for two seasons. He then purchased, with 
H. Tucker, the Ohio Publishing Company, 



■^ 



850 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



wliich proved a bad investment. He then re- 
turned to Gallon, in 1870, and is novs^ engaged 
in the real estate business, and is a Notary 
Public. Politically, Mr. Reisinger is a Demo- 
crat, and takes an active interest in the work- 
ings of the party, and is now the Secretary of 
the Central and Executive Committees of that 
party in the county. Mr. Reisinger is also 
Secretary of the Pioneer Association, and was 
the first Land Appraiser elected by the city. 

WILLIAM E. RIBLET, County Treasiu-er; 
was born in Sandusky Township, Richland 
Co., in 1885. He attended the common 
schools of those times. In 1851, he came to 
Gallon, and worked at the tinner's trade for 
eight years. He then went to Mansfield, and 
clerked in the post office until he secured a 
situation as route agent from Crestline to In- 
dianapolis, on the " Bee Line:" served in this 
capacity during 1859 and 1860. In 1801, 
he went into the shoe business in Gallon, and 
from that to the hardware business in 1802, 
remaining in that line until 1874, when he 
sold out and went into real estate. In 1800, 
he laid a farm out in town lots; it is now 
called" William Riblet's Addition to Gallon." 
Mr. Riblet served as Corporation Treasurer 
for three terms, as Township Treasurer two 
terms, and was elected County Treasurer in 
1879. He was man-led, in 1801, to Caroline 
H. Edson. They have three childi-en — Ella 
E., Clement W^. and Richard E. He is a 
Democrat in politics. 

HUGH ROSS, foreman rail shops, N. Y., P. 
& O. R. R., Gallon. One of Gallon's most 
esteemed citizens is Mr. Hugh Ross, who was 
born in Dingwall, Rosshlre, Scotland, Sept. 
21, 1828. He emigrated to Toronto, Canada, 
in September, 1843, and worked at his trade 
as blacksmith there until February, 1802, 
when he crossed over to Buffalo, N. Y., and 
worked there until April, 1802. He then 
went to Meadvllle, Penn., where the Atlantic 
and Great Western R. R. had reached in con- 
struction, and built for this company the first 
steam shovel on the road. He operated this 
shovel for two years, in the construction of 
the road. He was then placed in charge of 
the repair shops at Urbana, Ohio, remaining 
there for two years. He then was removed to 
Gallon, and has had charge of the rail shops 



up to the present writing. IVIr. Ross was mar- 
ried in Canada, in the year 1841, to Miss 
Margaret Irvine; she was born in Ireland, in 
1821. They have four children living — Fin- 
lay, now living in Kansas; William, a black- 
smith ; Elizabeth, married to Peter Meuser, of 
Gallon; George, a machinist, and three de- 
ceased — Harriet, Annie and Hugh A. He is 
a member of Gallon Lodge, No. 215, I. O. O. 
F., and, together with his wife and daughter, 
a member of the Presbyterian Church. 

W. J. RYAN, hotel proprietor, Gallon; was 
born July 0, 1857, in Orange, Delaware Co., 
Ohio. He received a good education, attend- 
ing the schools at Delaware. He then learned 
telegraphy, and his first office was at Linn- 
dale, Ohio. After operating in different towns, 
he was sent to Gallon, in 1875, as night oper- 
ator. From there he was sent to Delaware, 
and worked in the train dispatcher's office for 
six months, when he was given the day office 
at Gallon, and continued there until Sept. 1, 
1880, when he removed to Bucyrus, and en- 
gaged in the book and stationery business. 
In October, 1880, in connection with H. H. 
Elliott, of the Sims House, Bucyrus, he be- 
came one of the proprietors of the Capitol 
House, Gallon. He was married June 8, 1880, 
to Miss May Beck, daughter of M. Beck, of 
Gallon. Mr. Ryan is now located in Gallon, 
as the managing partner of the Capitol House. 
It is the intention of Elliott and Ryan to make 
the " Capitol " one of the best hotels in Cen- 
tral Ohio. 

J. K. SHERER, farmer; P. O. Gallon; was 
born in Whetstone Township in 1845. He 
is the son of John and Sarah (Kelfer) Sherer, 
who now reside in Whetstone Township. His 
early life was spent upon his father's farm, 
until he was 21 years old. In October, 1800, 
he was married to Miss Nancy M. Beck, of 
Polk Township, and bought the farm where 
he now resides. His farm now embraces 210 
acres of fine, improved land, lying three miles 
west of Gallon. He has improved it in build- 
ings and fences until it ranks as one of the 
finest farms in Polk Township. For the past 
five years, he has been dealing extensively, 
buying and selling stock, and at present is 
devoting his time exclusively to that branch, 
his farm being worked by his nephew, G. W. 



!l^ 



POLK TOWNSHIP. 



851 



Bair. He has six children — Martin L., Flor- 
ence L., Ai'vene E., Bessie Gr., Oi-ra D. and an 
infant unnamed. He, with his wife, is a 
member of the English Lutheran Church. 

REV. J. A. SCHULZE, German Evangel- 
ical Lutheran, Gallon; was born in Mieste, 
Prussia, in 1828. He obtained a common- 
school education; emigrated to America in 
1S47; began his study for the ministry in 
18-18, at the Capitol University of Columbus, 
Ohio, graduating in 1851. His first charge 
was at Trenton, Butler Co., Ohio, preaching 
tc several congregations in the vicinity. He 
was called to Columbus in 1856, preaching to 
a number of congi-egations, and engaged on 
the staff of a Lutheran periodical, and in the 
publication of Lutheran books and literature. 
Receiving a call from the church in Gallon, 
he came there in 1875, where he is now 
located. 

C. B. SHUMAKER, Justice of the Peace, 
Gallon. Mr. Shumaker was born in North- 
umberland Co., Penn., in 1835. At 19 years 
of age, commenced to clerk in a diy goods 
store in Jersey Shore, Penn., in 1854, and 
remained there until 1857. Coramenced in 
the restaurant business at Williamsport, 
Penn., and remained one year, and then com- 
menced to farm and contract for railroad ties, 
for six years, some of which time he was raft- 
ing on the Susquehanna River. In 186-1, he 
came to Gallon, Ohio, and went to work in 
the railroad shops, and remained here eight 
years. He served as Constable for five years, 
and is at present serving as Justice of the 
Peace, and, together with his son, is conduct- 
ing a photograph gallery at Id^ East Main 
street. Gallon, Ohio. 

JAMES J. SPITTLE, foreman copper-shop, 
N. Y., P. & O. R. R., Gallon; was born in 
Wales, in 1836. His parents emigrated to 
America when he was but six months old, and 
located in Pittsburgh, Penn., remaining there 
for ten years. From there they went to Lo- 
rain Co., Ohio, and, after a short period there, 
went to CiTyahoga Co. In 1848, they removed 
to Sandusky City, where Mr. Spittle learned 
his trade as coppersmith. He came to Gallon 
in 1856, and went to work for the "Bee Line" 
R. R., at his trade. He has also worked for 
the Pittsburgh Co. and the Pan Handle road. 



at Richmond, Ind. He returned to Gallon in 
1866, and has been with the A. & G. ^\. R. 
R. (now the N. Y., P. & C. R. R.) ever since. 
In every shop in which he has worked has 
been foreman of his department. He married 
Miss Alvina Winfield, of Sandusky City, in 
1857. She was born in Prussia, in 1838. 
They have two childi'en living — William A., 
born in Gallon Sept. 25, 1858, and is working 
with his father in the railroad shops, and Car- 
I'ie L., born in Richmond, Ind., Nov. 28, 1865. 
Fannie L., deceased, was born in Sandusky 
City, in 1861, and died in 1865. Mr. Spittle 
is a member of Gallon Lodge, No. 414, F. & 
A. M., and Gallon Lodge No. 215, I. O. O. F. 

EDWIN STOUGH, brakeman. Gallon; was 
born Feb. 14, 1854. For the past four years, 
has been brakeman on the A. & G. W. R. R. 

A. M. STEWART, general traveling agent, 
C, C, C. & I. R. R., Gallon; was born in St. 
Albans, Me., in 1835. He attended the com- 
mon schools until his parents removed to Bos- 
ton, Mass., in 1847. He began his career for 
himself by selling newspapers on the passen- 
ger train running on the Boston & Maine 
Railroad. He was then working under Charles 
Minot, who seemed to take an interest in him, 
and gave him a position on the New York & 
Lake Erie R. R. He served on what is called 
the "telegraph gang," and put up over 400 
miles of telegraph wire. After this, he ob- 
tained a position as a machinist in the rail- 
road shops in New York City. After learning 
his trade, he became a fireman, and followed 
up this business until 1853, when he came to 
Gallon and obtained a position as engineer 
on the Bellefontaine & Indianapolis R. R. 
At this time he was only 17 years old, and, in 
1857, was given chai'ge of the railroad shops 
at Gallon. He served in this capacity until 
1864, when he built the Gallon Stock Yards, 
in conjunction with Oliver Duck. In 1877, 
he was appointed stock agent of the C, C, C. 
& I. R. R. and, in 1880, was made general 
traveling agent of this road. He is at present 
administering both these offices for the com 
pany. He was married in 1856, to Miss Han- 
nah McClellan, a native of Columbiana Co., 
Ohio. They have one daughter — Nellie H. 
Himself and wife are members of the Meth- 
odist Chm-ch. Is a Republican in politics. 



=rr^ 



852 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



JOSEPH E. WILLIAMS, teacher, Galion; 
was born in Gallon in 1848. He completed 
a common-school course in 1870, and went 
to Hillsdale, Mich., and attended the Hills- 
dale College, graduating in 1875. He was 
elected Principal of the High School of 
Cxalion, and served until 1880, when he was 
elected Superintendent of Public Schools of 
Cambridge, Ohio. He was married, in 1880, to 
Miss Ada R. Gochenour, of Gallon. Both are 
members of the Baptist Church. Mr. Will- 
iams is a Mason, belonging to Gallon Lodge, 
No. 414. 

L. H. YORK, yard-master, C, C, C. & I. R. 
R., Gallon; was boi-n in Ulster Co., N. Y., in 
1885. His early life was passed upon a farm. 
In 1 855, Mr. York removed to Wisconsin and 
engaged in farming in Dane Co, remaining 
there about three years. In January of 1858, 
he came to Gallon, and has been in the employ 
of the C, C, C. & I. R. R. ever since. He has 
had charge of the yard the -e for twenty years. 
Mr. York was married in 1858, to Miss Martha 
F. Bryfogle, of Gallon. They have one child 



— Frankie L. He is a Mason, also a member 
of the Royal Ai'canum, and of the American 
Legion of Honor. In politics, Mr. York is a 
Republican, but does not take an active part, 
as his time is fully occupied in the faithful 
discharge of his business. He has been a 
member of the Common Council of Gallon, 
and is one of its honorable and upright busi- 
ness men. 

JOSEPH A. YOCHEM, dry goods. Gallon, 
Ohio. The father and mother of Joseph A. 
Yochem came from Germany to Gallon in 
1850, and were married in Gallon. The sub- 
ject of this sketch was born in Gallon, Ohio, 
July 15, 1850, and is one of Crawford's most 
enterprising young men, and is doing a good 
business at the northwest corner of Main and 
Columbus streets, Gallon, Ohio. He attended 
the 2:)ubllc schools of Gallon, and went to clerk 
for S. C. Kanaga, April 27, 1874, and con- 
tinued with him until May 1, 1878, when he 
bought his employer out, and has enlarged 
the business, and is at present carrying it 
on at the old stand with good success. 



JACKSON TOWNSHIP. 



M. C. ARCHER, Superintendent Water- 
Works, Crestline; was born in Cayuga Co., N. 
Y., in 1820, of American parents, and came 
to Auburn ToAvnshlp, Crawford Co., in 1837, 
and residexl there until 1853, when he came 
to Crestline, and was employed at railroading 
for thirteen years. In 1876, he went to Co- 
lumbus, and was in the employ of the C, S. 
& C. R. R., until 1880, when he returned to 
Crestline, and is now engaged as Superintend- 
ent of Water- Works. He was married Nov. 
14, 1840, to Mary Hill, daughter of Lewis 
Hill, of Richland Co. They have three chll- 
di-en — Caroline D., Thomas A. and John J., 
who is now General Ticket Agent of Scioto 
Valley R. R. Mr. Archer has always been a 
Republican, and has served one term as mem- 
ber of Common Council of Crestline, and was 
Deputy U. S. Marshal during the administra- 
tion of Lincoln. 

DANIEL BABST, Sr., banker, Crestline; 
was born near Strasbourg, France, in 1810. 



Came to this country in 1832, and lived in 
New York for tlu'ee years, and came to Stark 
Co., Ohio, in 1834. From there he went to 
Canal Fulton, and lived there until 1852, 
when he came to Crestline, and has resided 
there ever since; was married to Catharine 
Arter in 1832 ; was married again to Margaret 
Yost in 1841 ; they have seven childi'en by last 
marriage — Emeline, born August 20, 1842; 
Caroline, born Feb. 26, 1844, died May 26, 
1845; Jacob, born Feb. 11, 1846; Daniel Jr., 
Oct. 19, 1847; Louise, Aug. 28, 1849; Thomas, 
Oct. 23, 1853; Willis H., June 5, 1858. Mr. 
Babst entered into the hotel business on com- 
ing to Crestline, as proi)rletor of the old 
American House, afterward known as Franklin 
House, and remained in the hotel business 
about four years. In 1871, he built and estab- 
lished Babst's Banking House. Mr. Babst 
retired from all active business in 1878, and 
was succeeded in the banking business by his 
sons, Jacob and Daniel, Jr. Mr. Babst has 



!ki 



JACKSON TOWNSHIP. 



853 



added considerably to Crestline in buildiuors, 
and is one of the largest i>roperty owners in 
the town. He is now livincr in retirement at 
his beautiful residence south of Crestline. 
jMi'. Babst has a vineyard of one acre of choice 
grapes, in which he takes great pride, making 
yearly about twenty barrels of wine. Fine 
pears, plums and fruits of all kinds are to be 
found upon his ample grounds. Mi\ Babst 
is a member of the Lutheran Church. He 
has always been a Republican. 

DANIEL BABST, Jr., lawyer, Crestline; 
was born Oct. 19, 1847, in Canal Fulton, Ohio, 
and came to Crestline with his parents in 1852, 
and has always resided there. He read law 
with M. Jones, Esq., of Crestline, and was 
admitted to the bar in 1870, and commenced 
practice in 1872. Was elected Solicitor for 
the corporation of Crestline in 1878, appointed 
Mayor in 1879, and elected in 1880. IVL-. 
Babst is also a member of the Board of Ex- 
aminers. The subject of this sketch is a young 
man of great energy and ability, and is also 
very popular. In politics, Mr. Babst is an 
Independent Republican. 

JACOB BABST, banker, Crestline; was 
born in Canal Fulton in 184G, and came to 
Crestline with his parents in 1852, and has 
always made it his home. He is a tinner by 
trade, following it for ten years; also carried 
on a tin and stove store for three years, while 
working at his trade. He married Matilda C. 
Stoll, daughter of George Stoll, of Bucyrus, 
in 1869. They have thi-ee children — Daniel 
Earl, born July 6, 1870, Jessie Fremont, born 
March 2, 1872, Bertha Stoll, Dec. 6, 1878. 
Matilda Stoll, his wife, was born March 20, 
1848, in Upper Sandusky, Ohio. Mr. Babst 
and his w4fe are both members of the Presby- 
terian Chui'ch. He went into the banking 
business in 1871, and in 1873 was appointed 
Cashier. Since the retirement of his father 
from the bank, in 1878, he has had the entire 
management of it, as his brother Daniel, Jr. 
(who is joint owner), is immersed in his law 
practice. Mr. Babst has always been a Repub- 
lican. 

JAMES LEROI BOOTH, M. D., Crestline. 
He was l^orn in Holmes Co., Ohio, in the year 
1835. He attended the common schools until 
14 years of age. The following three years 



were spent at Haysville College. He taught 
district school for one year, when he was 
elected Superintendent of the Sullivan County 
Seminary. This institution being out of the 
State, it brought him in contact with stran- 
gers and educational influences. In 1854, he 
began the study of medicine under Dr. Boyer, 
at Sullivan, Ind. The following year he 
taught mathematics in Marshall Academy, in 
Clark Co., 111., for one yeai', at the same time 
continuing the study of medicine with Dr. 
White, an eminent physician of Eastern Illi- 
nois. He completed his study with his brother 
Edwin, at Brownsville, Knox Co., Ohio, in 
1856. In 1857, removed to Vaughnsville, 
Putnam Co., Ohio. He remained thei-e one 
year, when the death of his brother. Dr. Mil- 
ton H. Booth, of West Cairo, Ohio, called him 
to this place, where he took his practice. In 
1861, he raised a company, and was commis- 
sioned Captain of Company D, O. V. I., 118th 
Regiment. He returned to Cairo, in 1864, 
and practiced medicine a short time, when he 
was elected Captain of Company C, 151st O. 
V. I., without a dissenting vote. He remained 
with his company until his time of service 
expired. He returned to Cairo and resumed 
his practice until 1871, when he retired from 
practice for one year. Began a practice in 
La Grange, Indiana, and continued for two 
years. He came to Crestline in 1876, and 
has at present a very extensive and lucrative 
T3ractice. 

REV. MICHAEL B. BROWN, Catholic 
Priest, Crestline; was born near Plattsbm'g, 
N. Y., in 1840. At the age of 12 years he 
removed with his parents to Sandusky City, 
Ohio. At the age of 17, he entered St. Mary's 
Preparatory Seminary, at Cleveland, and, in 
1859, entered the University of Notre Dame. 
In 1860, he applied for admission into the 
congregation of Holy Cross, and was received 
into the novitiate in March of the same year. 
In June, 1862, he received the degree of 
Bachelor of Arts, and in the following Sep- 
tember began his theological studies, which 
he continued until June 10, 1867, when he 
was ordained Priest. In 1868, he was ap- 
pointed to the Professorship of Moral and 
Mental philosophy. He continued teaching 
until 1872, when he became Vice President of 



854 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



the Association, and had sole management of 
all the classes, over forty teachers, until 1874, 
when he went to Watertown, Wis., and took 
the management of College of "■ Our Lady of 
Sacred Heart." He remained there until 1876, 
when he gave up college life, and went to 
Youngstown, Ohio, as assistant of his brother, 
who was Pastor, and came to Crestline in July, 
1877, and has been Pastor of Catholic Chui'ch 
there ever since. 

WILLIAM F. CROWE, grocer, Crestline; 
was born in Ireland, in 1841, and came to 
America with his mother in 1810, and located 
for about six months in Vermont, when he 
came to Ohio, locating in Columbiana Co., 
remaining in that county a short time. He 
also resided for a short period in Stark and 
Richland Counties, and came to Crestline in 
April, 1853, and has made his home there 
ever since. He was married in 1871 to Ellen 
Haley, of Marion. They have five children — 
Mary, Catharine, Ellen, Annie and Jane. Mr. 
Crowe served seven years as Corporation Treas- 
urer of Crestline, three years as Justice of the 
Peace, and has also been a member of the 
Common Council. He is agent for the Inman 
line of steamers, and also an insurance agent. 
He has always been a Democrat. 

D. H. CASSEL, hardware, Crestline; was 
born in Richland County in 1813, and re- 
mained in that county until 1862, when he 
came to Crestline and learned the tinsmith's 
trade, with G. W. Pierce. In 1871, he went 
into partnership with George W. Zint, under 
the firm name of Cassel & Zint, in the hard- 
ware, tinware and stove business, and has 
been engaged in that line up to the present 
time (1880). Was married in 1867, to Maggie 
Cramer, of Upper Sandusky, and has two 
children by first wife — Dora D. and Flora D. 
Mrs. Cassel died in 1869. He married again 
in 1872, to Maggie McGuire, of Richland 
County. They have one child — Daisy May. 
Mr. Cassel has been a member of the Common 
Council of Crestline, is a member of the 
Knights of Honor, and also an Odd Fellow. 
Has always been a Democrat. 

CRESTLINE "ADVOCATE." The Advo- 
cdtc was established in July, 1869, by Adam 
Billow and son, D. C. Billow, in the Union 
Hall Block, second floor. Upon the death of 



his father, which occurred May 20, 1876, D. 
C. Billow assumed sole management and has 
made the Advocate one of the best papers in 
the county, having a good solid list of sub- 
scribers and doing an extensive job business. 
The office is sup|)lied wdth power by a Backus 
Water Motor. The Advocate is independent 
in politics. 

DR. I. S.COLE, Crestline; was born in Al- 
legheny City, Penn., Feb. 19, 1836, and at- 
tended the Institute at Haysvilie, Ashland Co., 
Ohio. He afterward read medicine with Dr. 
Glass, and graduated from Cleveland Medical 
College. He began the practice in Reeds- 
burg, Ashland Co., Ohio, and removed to West 
Salem in 1873, remaining there until 1880, 
when he came to Crestline and married Ruth 
A. Smith, daughter of James B. Smith, of 
Ashland County. They have four children- 
Frank, Minnie B., Rufus I. and an infant. 
Mr. and Mrs. Cole are both members of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church. 

JOHN DODANE, real estate, Crestline ; was 
born in France in 1825, and came with his 
parents to America in 1836, and located in 
Stark County, working on his father's farm 
until 1853, when he started for California, 
remaining there until 1857, digging gold. In 
1857, he came back to Ohio on a visit, but re- 
turned to California in 1858, and remained 
there until 1866, when he came to Crestline, 
and has resided there ever since, engaged in 
the real estate biTsiness. He was married in 
1867, to Anna Dodane, of Crestline, widow of 
his brother. They have two childi-en — Min- 
nie, born in 1870, Delia, born in 1867. Mrs. 
Dodane died in 1873. Mr. Dodane has been 
one of the Trustees of the Water- Works of 
Crestline two terms. Has always been a 
Democrat. 

J. P. DAVIS, dry goods merchant, Crest- 
line; was born in Columbiana Co., Ohio, in 
1824, of American parents, and came to Craw- 
ford County in 1833, and has always made it 
his home. He was agent for the C, C, C. & 
I. R. R., at Shelby, for three years, and came to 
Crestline in 1852, and was agent for the same 
company until 1862, when he engaged in the 
dry goods business. First went into partner- 
ship with John McGraAv, succeeding R. Lee 
& Co., continued with McGraw for a year and 



JACKSOX TOWXSIIIP. 



857 



a half. McGraw then sold his interest to 
John McKean. the firm then being Davis & 
McKean, for two years, when McGraw bouoht 
the interest of Mr. Davis. He then went into 
partnership with Martin Davis & Co., and 
continued for about two years, when the Davis 
Brothers bought the interest of Martin, estab- 
lishing the firm of J. P. & J. ^\. Davis. Two 
years after, they dissolved partnership, and 
v/ent to his present location, in Union Hall 
Block, remaining there vmtil 1875, when he 
sold his stock, and retired from business 
for about four months, when he again went 
into partnership with H. A. White, under the 
firm name of Davis & White, and they have 
continued in business up to the present time 
(ISS*)). Mr. Davis was man-ied to Catharine 
Mickey, of Kichland Co., in 1850. They have 
eight childi-en — Wilbur E., Florence A., Ed- 
win P., George P. (deceased), infant (deceased), 
Lillie May, Robert L., Augustus. Mr. Davis 
has alwavs been a Republican. 

BENJAMIN EATON, mail agent, Crest- 
line; was born in Somerset. Perrv Co., Ohio, 
in 1821. In 1837, he went to B.:4mont Co., 
Ohio, remaining there until 183*.), when he 
went to Wheeling, W. Va., and learned the 
harness-maker's trade. In 1840, he returned 
to Ohio, working at his trade, and also at 
peddling. He came to Crestline in 1859, and 
has since made it his home. He was married 
in 1849, to Hamet A. Martin, of Richland Co. 
Mr. Eaton was depot policeman for two 
years, and, during the war, was the agent of 
the sick and wounded: also, eni-olling master 
for Yernon and Jackson Townships. For the 
past few years, has been in the employ of the 
Govennnent as mail agent. He is a Knight 
Templar, and a Republican. 

C. F. FRANK, diy goods, Crestline; was 
born in Southern Germany, in 1832, and came 
to America with his parents in 184G, locating 
in Western Pennsylvania, remaining with his 
parents and working on a farm for five years, 
when he went to Johnstown, Penn., and 
learned the diy goods business, and came to 
Crestline in the spring of 185(3, and engaged 
in the clothing business, remaining there 
about two and a half years, when he returned 
to Pennsylvania, and went into the provision 
business until the following spring, when he 



engaged in the hardware trade, and contin- 
ued until the fall of 18G4. He retui'ned to 
Crestline in August, 1865, and engaged in 
the diy goods business, and has been there 
ever since. He was married in 1859, to Em- 
ma Babst, daughter of Daniel Babst, of Crest- 
line. They have five children — Daniel, Ger- 
tie, Maud. George. Paul. Has been a member 
of the Common Council of Crestline, and is 
now sei'ving second term as City Treasurer. 
Mr. Frank and wife are members of the 
English Lutheran Church. 

C. P. FRANK, coppersmith, Crestline ; was 
born in Butler Co., Penn., in 1839, and went 
to Pittsburgh in 1855, residing there imtil 
1859. when he removed to Cleveland, remain- 
ing there about one year. In 18G0. he went 
to Gallon, where he resided until 18(34, when 
he came to Crestline, and has since made it 
his home. He has been in the employ of the 
railroad shops in Crestline for sixteen years. 
He was married in 1802, and has four chil- 
dren — Edward, Retta, Willie and Alice. He 
is a Republican. 

SAMUEL GEE, express agent, Crestline; 
was born in England in 181(5. and came to 
this country and located in Youngstown. Ohio, 
as Pastor of the Methodist Protestant Church, 
in 1845, and continued preaching in various 
places in the State until 1860, when he was 
appointed express agent at Crestline, Craw- 
foi'd Co., and has since made it his home, 
fie was married in the city of Hull, England, 
in 1842, to Mary Ann Radmall. They have 
five children — Samuel W., Allison W., Frank 
B., Lauretta S.,, Cynthia E. As there is no 
Methodist Protestant Church in Crestline, IVIi". 
Gee and wife are members of that chm-ch at 
Middletown, Crawford Co. Mr. Gee has 
alwa\'s been a Republican. 

L.'P. HESSER, blacksmith, Crestline; was 
born in Stark Co., Ohio, in 1826. Went to 
Wood Co. in 1832, and removed to Mansfield 
in 1834, remaining there until 1856, when he 
came to Crestline, and has since made it his 
home, with the exception of a trip to Califor- 
nia in 1862. He is the oldest blacksmith in 
the railroad-shops in Crestline. He was mar- 
ried in 1851, to Rachel S. Grant. Her father 
was the first tanner in Mansfield, and a dis- 
tant relative of U. S. Grant. They have six 



^ k" 






8.-)8 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



children — Minerva M., Ora B., Mary, George 
(t.. Rosa, Elizabeth R. Mr. Hesser is a Dem- 
ocrat, and has occupied several township and 
corporation offices, among which we may men- 
tion as a member of the School Board for 
fourteen years; also on committee for school 
buildings and improvements, and it was owing 
to the active part taken by this committee that 
the union school, with its beautiful park, was 
secm-ed. Mr. Hesser also was a member of 
Common Council for four years. 

CHARLES W. JENNER, physician, Crest- 
line; was born in Richland Co. in 1S41. 
Came to Crestline in the fall of 1857, and has 
resided there ever since. Dr. Jenner is a 
graduate of the University of Wooster, Cleve- 
land, Ohio. Was married in April, 186(3, to 
Mary V. Emmett, of Crestline. They have 
one child — Daisy L. I. Jenner, born October, 
1875. Mrs. Jenner is a member of the Pres- 
byterian Church. Dr. Jenner has obtained 
the reputation of being one of the most skill- 
ful and reliable physicians of the county. He 
came from a medical family, his father and 
an elder brother both being members of that 
profession. He has alwavs been a Democrat. 

NATHAN JONES, lawyer, Crestline; was 
born in Westchester Co., N. Y., 1882, and 
came with his parents to Norwalk, Ohio, 1883. 
In 1857, Mr. Jones went to Upper Sandusky, 
and published the Democratic Union until his 
office burned down, when he removed to Jefr 
ferson Co. and engaged in the business of 
dealer in musical instruments. He came to 
Crestline the 30th of September, 1859, and 
has resided there ever since, where he has 
been actively engaged in the practice of law. 
Mr. Jones commenced reading law when 17 
years old, and was admitted to the bar April 
25, 1855, at Norwalk, Ohio, and was admitted 
to the United States Courts at Cleveland, 
Sept. 28, 1SG5. He was elected Recorder of 
the corporation of Crestline for four success- 
ive terms, and also Mayor for fom- terms. He 
was elected Prosecuting Attorney of the 
coimty in 18(35, and again in 18(37. Mr. Jones 
is one of the most prominent Odd Fellows in 
the State. Having tilled all offices of the sub- 
ordinate lodge, in December, 1875, he was 
elected M. W. Grand Master of the order of 
the State of Ohio. At the end of his term of 



office, he was presented by the Grand Lodge 
with a purse of $300, and an elegant jeweled 
badge, valued at $70. In December, 1878, 
he was elected by the order in Ohio as Grand 
Representative to Grand Lodge of United 
States. He served part of one term, but was 
compelled to resign on account of its interfer- 
ence with professional duties. He is also a 
Knight Templar of the Masonic Order. Mr. 
Jones prides hiaiself as being a self-made 
man, earning money when a boy to enable 
him to attend school, and to pursue his law 
studies. He is regarded as one of the most 
able lawyers of the county. 

F. W. MARCUS, German Reformed minis- 
ter, Crestline; was born in Germany, in 1852, 
and came to this coxmtry with his parents, 
and located in Louisville, Ky., in 1855. He 
attended public school at Louisville, and went 
to Franklin, Sheboygan Co., Wis., where the 
schools of his church are located, and gradu- 
ated in 1876. He came to Crestline in 1879, 
and was married, in October of same year, to 
Mary Hildbold, of Gallon. He has a mem- 
bership of 175 (in 1880) in his church. 

JOHN McKEAN, physician, Crestline; 
born in Hook Town, Penn., in 1810, of Amer- 
ican parents. After completing a thorough 
classical and mathematical education, he 
began the study of medicine with Dr. Samuel 
Quigley, of West Union, Ohio; he also 
attended lectures at Lexington, Ky., and 
received the necessary papers for practice in 
October, 1831. He entered into partnership 
with Dr. Marshall, of Burgettstown, Penn. 
One year after, they dissolved partnership, 
and he removed to Calcutta, Ohio, and two 
years after, in 1834, he removed to Leesville, 
Crawford Co., and practiced there until 1867, 
when he removed to Crestline, and has resided 
there ever since. Since 1841, he has been 
Ruling Elder of the Presbyterian Church. In 
1847, he was elected a member of the Philo- 
sophical Society of Wittenberg College. He 
has been Mayor of Crestline for one term. 
He was married to Rebecca McClaskey in 
October, 1835. They had ten children — five 
living and five deceased. (From Physicians 
and Surgeons of U. S., by Atchinson.) 

A. MOOREHEAD, livery, Crestline; was 
born in Mansfield, Ohio, in 1842. When at 



^ 



^ 



JACKSON TOWNSHIP. 



859 



the age of 15, came to Crestline, and has ever 
since made it his home. About 1865, he went 
into the hotel business, as proprietor, at j 
Franklin and Crestline, for a few years, when 
he established a livery and feed stable, and 
has since been engaged in that business. In 
1879, Mr. Moorehead bought out Shank's har- 
ness-shop, and is now running that branch 
in connection with his other business. Mr. 
Moorehead was married in August, 1865, to 
Maggie Miller, of Crestline. They have four 
children — Charlie, Flora, Lizzie and Howard. 
Mr. Moorehead and wife are both members of 
the Methodist Church. He has always been 
a Democrat. 

F. NEWMAN, lawyer, Crestline ; was born 
.in Germany, in 1839, and came to this country 
in 1854, and first settled in Crestline in No- 
vember of 1854. He went to Maryland and 
remained there until 1858, and returned to 
Crestline in 1860, and remained there until 
1862. He lived in Annapolis, Md., from 1862 
to 1865, when he went to New York, remain- 
ing there nearly one year. In 1866, he 
returned to Crestline, remaining there until 
1876, when he went to Florida, and remained 
there nearly one year, when he again returned 
to Crestline, where he has remained ever since. 
He was married, in 1868, to Emma T. Smith, 
daughter of John S. and Jane Smith, of Crest- 
line. They have four children — Florence, 
Elnora, Edna and Earl. Mr. Newman and 
wife are both members of the Presbyterian 
Church. Mr. Newman has been practicing 
law for the past twelve years. He has always 
been a prominent Democrat in the township. 

DAVID OGDEN, Justice of the Peace, 
Crestline; was born in Knox Co., Ohio, in 
1819, and came with his parents to Crestline 
in April, 1828, being one of the pioneers of 
the county. Mr. Ogden first learned the mill- 
er's trade, and worked at that business for 
about fifteen years. Since that time, he has 
been engaged in various occupations, and, 
for the past twenty years, working in the car- 
shops of the P., F. W. & C. R. R., at Crest- 
line. Mr. Ogden was Justice of the Peace 
from 1853 to 1862; has also been Township 
Clerk for a period of six years. He drew up 
the papers and petition for the boiindaries of 
Crestline, and was its first Mayor. Mr. Ogden 



was also tlie prime mover in securing the 
union school in 1858, his brother, John Ogden, 
now Principal of the Ohio Central School, 
delivering a lecture upon that siibject at that 
time, which tended to help the movement. 
Mr. Ogden has always been a friend to every 
movement tending to improve Crestline in any 
form. He was married in 1844, to Mary J. 
Kirkland, of Richland Co. They have only 
one child living — Ellen. Mr. and Mrs. Ogden 
are both members of the Presbvterian Chiu'ch. 

A. M. PATTERSON, P. M.," Crestline; was 
born in Jefferson Co., Ohio, in 1842. He 
came, when a boy, with his parents, to Jack- 
son Township, and has resided there ever 
since. He was appointed Postmaster of Crest- 
line in 1864, and has continued to hold the 
office up to the present time. Mr. Patterson 
is a nifuiber of the Presbyterian Church, and 
is considei'ed one of the leading, enterprising 
men of Crestline. He has always been a 
Republican. 

WILLIAM ROBINSON, machinist, Crest- 
line; was born in W^ashington Co., Penn., 
Aug. 1, 1830, and came to Crawford Co. with 
his parents in 1831, locating near North Rob- 
inson, that town being named after his father. 
Mr. Robinson taught district school for ten 
winter terms, spending two years of this time 
in Iowa. He came to Crestline in 1860. He 
was Township and Corporation Clerk in 1861 
for one year; also elected Justice of the Peace 
in 1865. He was a member of the school 
board for six years. Mr. Robinson has served 
in several other township offices, and, for the 
past few years, has been employed in the 
railroad shops there. He was man'ied in 1 860. 

D. W. SNYDER, blacksmith, Crestline. 
The subject of this sketch was born in Cum- 
berland Co., Penn., in 1832. He came to 
Ohio in 1836, locating in Richland Co. Fi- 
nally he came to Crestline, in 1856, and has 
since made it his home. He has been a prom- 
inent man in the 1 i tory of Crestline, serving 
in various offices, among which we may men- 
tion as a member of the Common Council for 
four terms, as a member of the School Board 
three terms, and also as Townshij:) Treasurer. 
He was married in 1856, and has been in the 
employ of the P., F. W. & C. R. R. for twen- 
ty-five years. 



l9 



860 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES : 



JOHN A. THOMAN, deceased; was born 
at Sosehiem, in the Palatinate, on tlie 1 1th of 
Jnne, 1807. He came to America in 1834, and 
located in New York, working for the United 
States, with Gen. R. E. Lee. Lee then was 
Captain in the United States army. The 
friendship between the two lasted all through 
life. Mr. Thoman came to Crawford Co. when 
it was a wilderness, and Crestline not in 
existence — about November, 1845. By honest 
industry he amassed a handsome fortune, 
and assisted many of his countrymen with 
money in time of need, and to homes to make 
them comfortable in after life. In all public 
enterprises he took an active part and a deep 
interest, always giving largely, and more lib- 
erally than any other citizen. He died March 
30, 1875, at 67 years of age, deeply mourned 
bv the cormnunitv. 

^HON. T. J. WHITE, Crestline; was born 
in Perry Co., Penn., in 1828, and came to 
Jackson Township previous to the laying-out 
of Crestline, locating on the old White farm. 
He heljied clear the ground where Crestline 
now stands; bought the first lot and built the 
first thi'ee houses in the town. He has been 
a member of Cormnon Council two terms, a 
member of the School Board two terms, and 
served two terms, in the Ohio Legislature — 
from 1871 to 1875. He has also been one of 
the Trustees of Jackson Township for six 
terms. Mr. AVliite taught school in the Dap- 
per District for two winters. He owes his 
success in life to his own energy and perse- 
verance, being what is termed a "self-made 
man." 

J. M. WERTZ, conductor, Crestline; was 
born in Holmes Co., Ohio, June 9, 1837. He 
taught school for three years in early life, and 
studied medicine with Dr. Joel Pomerene, of 
Mt. Hope, Ohio. He attended lectures at Ann 



Ai'bor, Mich., in 1858, and commenced prac- 
tice in 1860, at Dundee, Ohio, remaining there 
for three years, when he was appointed Assist- 
ant Surgeon 2d U. S. Colored Infantry, and 
served until the close of the war. He prac- 
ticed three years at Loudonville, Ohio, and for 
the past twelve years has been railroading, 
being at present conductor on P., F. W. & C. 
E. R. 

JOHN C. WILLIAMS, coppersmith, Crest- 
line; was born in Butler Co., Penn., in 1843. 
He entered the army in 1861, and served 
until its close. He came to Crestline in 1865, 
and has since made it his home. He was mar- 
ried in 1867, to Anna Auten. They have 
four childi'en — Frank, Jessie, Ei'le and Belle. 
Mr. Williams has been a member of the Com- 
mon Council two terms. He is at present 
working at his trade in the railroad shops at 
Crestline. Mr. Williams and wife ai'e mem- 
bers of the M. E. Church. 

DR. P. B. YOUNG, Crestline; was born 
in Columbiana Co., Ohio, in 1832. Went 
to Beaver Co., Penn., in 1849, attending the 
Beaver Academy, taking a fu.ll course of stud- 
ies. After deciding to make the medical pro- 
fession his calling, he attended the Jefferson 
Medical College, at Philadelphia, Penn., grad- 
u.ating in 1860. His first location was at 
Freedom, Beaver Co., Penn., remaining there 
for two years, when he entered the army as 
assistant surgeon. He was promoted to sur- 
geon in 1863, and remained in that important 
position all through the war. At its close, he 
came to Crestline, in 1865, and has since been 
in active practice there. Dr. Y''oung has been 
surgeon for the P., F. W. & C. R. R. since 
1874, and is now examining surgeon for pen- 
sions. He was married in 1862, to Sarah M. 
Gormly. They have one child — Howard. 






AUBURN TOWJsSHIP. 



8G1 



AUBURN TOWNSHIP. 



E. E. ASHLEY, fanner and stock-dealer; 
P. O. Tiro. There is no family more worthy 
of notice in the history of Crawford Co., than 
the Ashley family. Ebenezer Ashley, the 
father of our subject, was born in New York, 
May 6, 1804, and came to Aubiirn Township, 
Crawford Co.. Ohio, in 1S80. Mary Aumend, 
the mother, was a native of Pennsylvania, and 
was born in 1812. Her father, Adam Aumend, 
came with his family to Aubiu-n Township in 
1810, it then being an almost unbroken wil- 
derness. Ebenezer Ashley and Mary Aiunend 
were united in marriage in Aubiu'n Township, 
Nov. 21, iS^jO, and to them were born six 
children — Clarissa, Philo, Franklin, E. E., 
Leonora and "William. All are living except 
Clarissa. ]\Ii-. Ashley died July 28, 1843. 
Mrs. Ashley remarried July 11, 1844, her sec- 
ond husband being Elijah Ashley, a brother 
of her former husband. To the second mar- 
riage were born two sons — Jerome and Jud- 
son. Mrs. Ashley's second husband died 
April 21, 1850. The subject of this biogra- 
phy was reared upon a farm. His education 
was limited, being confined to the common 
schools. He was imited in marriage with 
Mary Cummins, daughter of Thomas Cum- 
mins, Jan. 17, 1861, and by her has the fol- 
lowing fainily — Frank S., born Julv 10, 1862; 
Ella L., born July 6, 1864; Philo A., born 
Nov. 27, 1866; Edsou C.,born July 29, 1869, 
and Ida A., born June 12, 1873. All of these 
are single, and are living at home with their 
parents. Politically. Mr. Ashley is a Piepub- 
lican; religiously, a Baptist. He is a mem- 
ber of the I. O.' O. F. at Tiro. He owns 80 
acres of well-improved land, and is a promi- 
nent and inlluential man in his neighborhood. 
His family are among the first in Crawford 
Co. 

EEY. W. P. BURCHAED, minister and 
farmer; P. O. Tiro; is a native of Auburn 
Township, and was born Nov. 26, 1834. His 
parents were John and Mary (Robertson) 
Burchard. His father was born in Delaware, 



in 1790, and his mother in Pennsylvania, in 
1791. They were married in Jefferson Co., 
Ohio, Dec. 23, 1819, and moved to Auburn 
Township, Crawford Co., in 1830. They were 
parents of five children — James R., Sarah J., 
John B., Catharine B. and William P. Of 
these all are dead except William. His mother 
died Oct. 2, 1875, and his father is yet living, 
at the advanced age of 90 years, and makes 
his home with his son. William was raised 
upon a farm. He received a good common- 
scliool education when young, and by study 
and thought in after years has become a man 
of good learning, and of more than ordinary 
intellect. He was married Feb. 23, ]8()5, to 
Sarah King, daughter of Hemy and Mary 
(Cupland) King, and by her has the following- 
family — Ernest A., born Nov. 12, 1866; Mary 
I., born Sept. 19, 1869, and John, born Aug. 
29, 1875. All are living at home with their 
l^arents. Mi'. Biu'chard is a Republican in 
politics, and belongs to the religious denom- 
ination known as the Chxu-ch of God. He was 
ordaiiied a minister of that chm'ch in 1872, 
and at present has charge of the New Wash- 
ington and Crawford County Circuit, in which 
he is meeting with good success. He owns 
10(1 acres of excellent farming land in Eastern 
Auburn Township. 

ENOCH BAKER, farmer and stock-dealer; 
P. O. North Washington; was born in Wash- 
ington Co., Ohio, Oct. 25, 1808. Is a son of 
Joseph and Rachel (Hutchinson) Baker. The 
father was born and raised in Yirginia, and 
the mother in Maryland. They came to Ohio 
in 1810, and to Auburn Township in Decem- 
ber. 1826. They were the parents of foiu* 
chikh'en — Margaret, Martha and Ruth, twins, 
and Enoch, the latter being the oldest one in 
the family. Enoch's early years were passed 
on the old place, assisting his father in clear- 
ing and improving the place. He was ma*-- 
ried, March 8, 1832, to Sarah Hutchinson, a 
daughter of James Hutchinson, and by lier 
had the followins? family: Rachael, born Nov. 



29, 1832, married Lewis "Warner, and died, 
leaving four children to mourn her loss; 
Nancy, born Aug. 26, IX'Si, and died when quite 
young; Keziah, born Ajoril 15, 1837, died a 
few days after Nancy; Ephraim, born Jan. 
22, 1839, married, and lives in Auburn Town- 
shijj; James S.,born June 22, 1842, and died 
when 7 years old; Phoebe is the wife of Gus 
Groifmiller, and lives in Auburn Township; 
John was born Jan. 30, 1848, married, and 
lives on the old place; and Matilda, born 
Sept. 2, 1850, and dying when but 7 years old. 
The mother died Jan.'^^O, 1851. She was a 
kind wife and mother, and her loss was deeply 
felt by her family and friends. Jan. 8, 1852, 
Mr. Baker remarried, his second wife being 
Elmira Wood, widow of Dr. Wood. His sec- 
ond wife died May 6, 1878. She was a con- 
sistent Christian, and a member of the M. E. 
Church. Mr. Baker is one of the old land- 
marks, and is one of the prominent and suc- 
cessful farmers of Auburn Township. When 
but a boy, he made his start in life, by pick- 
ing cranberries off of the "ma'sh," and sell- 
ing the fruit. His present property, of 160 
acres, was acquired by dealing in stock to a 
considerable extent. He is a stanch Kepub- 
lican, and a member of the M. E. Chvu-ch for 
the past thirty years. His son Ephraim has 
a certificate of meritorious conduct, that shows 
he was a gallant and brave soldier in Com 
pany C, 101st O. Y. I. 

WILLIAM CUiVBIINS, farmer and stock- 
dealer; P. O. Tiro; son of David and Mary 
(Wilson) Cummins; was born in Indiana Co., 
Penn., March 28, 1831. His father was a 
native of Pennsylvania, and was born in 1804. 
and his mother a native of Ireland, born in 
1810. The parents were married in Indiana 
Co., Penn., in 1831, and to them were born 
the following family: John D., David, Joseph, 
Caroline, T. H. B., A. J., Elizabeth M. and 
AVilliam. William passed his youth on the 
farm, and in going to school. He commenced 
for himself when 21 years of age, by entering 
the mercantile business in his native county! 
Aug. 25, 1864, he was united in marriage with 
Mary J. Morrow, daughter of David C. Morrow, 
and granddaughter of Charles Morrow, who 
came to Auburn Township in 1817. By her 
Mr. Cummins has this family: Sarah M., born 



1865; David M., born 1867; Cora E., born 
1867; David W., born 1869; Jeanette, born 
1871; Joseph D. and John S., twins, born 
1874; Julia B. M. and Nancy S. C, twins, 
born 1876, and one born in 1880, that died 
soon after its birth, without being named. Of 
these five are living — Cora E., David W., 
Joseph D., Julia and Nancy. Mr. Cummins 
was a commissioned Captain of the 78th O. 
V. I., Company A, and served in that capacity 
until his health failed, which compelled him 
to resign, in August, 1873. He is a Democrat 
in politics, and is one of the largest land-own- 
ers living in Auburn Township; 280 acres of 
his land lies in Richland Co., and 320 in 
Crawford Co. Mr. Cummins is a well-edu- 
cated and enterj^rising gentleman, and is 
among the most prominent and successful 
farmers of Crawford County. 

HUGH CALDWELL, farmer; P. O. Plym- 
outh; was born in Eichland Co., Ohio, Jan 
uary, 1835. He is a son of Thomas and Mary 
(Miller) Caldwell, who were parents of nine 
children— George, Elizabeth, James, Hugh, 
Susanna, Hannah, Catharine, William, and 
one that died in infancy. Our subject was 
reared on a farm, and farming has always 
been his chosen occupation. He was married 
Nov. 5, 1857, to Elizabeth Bevier, and by her 
had five childi-en — Florence, William, Frank- 
lin, John, and one that died without name. 
Florence is dead; the balance of the childi-en 
are living at home with their parents. Mr. 
Caldwell was in Company B, 60th O. V. I., in 
the late war, where he served his country with 
distinction. He was in quite a number of 
noted engagements, and among them might 
be mentioned Petersburg, the battle of the 
Wilderness, and others. It was in the army 
that Mr. Caldwell was taken with the measles. 
Not having proper care, they settled on his 
lungs, and to-day he is a mere wreck of the 
robust soldier he was when he enlisted in 
February, 1863. Mr. Caldwell is a member 
of the Church of God, and a Republican in 
politics. He owns 20f acres of land, is well 
known, and a good and useful citizen in the 
township. 

R. R. CURTIS, farmer and stock-dealer; 
P. O. New Washington; is a son of Josiah 
and Mary (Rockwell) Curtis, and is of English 




'Il, 



AUBURN TOWNSHIP. 



863 



descent. He was born in 1817, and. like his 
father before him, chose farming as his voca- 
tion in life. He was married in the spring 
of 1889, to Margaret De Witt, daughter of 
Tjerick and Margaret (Dean) De Witt, and to 
this union were born five children — Mariam, 
Mary J., Elizabeth, George W. and Calista 
J. Mariam is the wife of Samuel Wynn, and 
lives in Lucas Co., Ohio; Mary J. is dead; 
Elizabeth lives in Adams Co., Ind., and is the 
wife of David Wynn; George married Mary 
E. Smith, and lives in Lucas Co. Mr. Cvirtis 
owns 165 acres of good land, 40 acres of it 
being in Cranberry Township, and the bal- 
ance in Auburn Township. He is a Repub- 
lican, and a member of the Ba]3tist Church. 
Mr. Curtis is an enterprising and upright man 
in his dealings with men, and is highly 
respected l3y all who know him. 

JOHN O. DAVIS, merchant. Tiro; is a son 
of Jolm and Mary (Hamilton) Davis, and was 
born in Crawford Co., Ohio, in 1839. His 
father was a native of Maryland, and was born 
in 1791. The mother was a native of Penn- 
sylvania, and was born in 1796. They were 
married in Columbiana Co., Ohio, and came 
to Crawford Co. in 1832, locating in Sandusky 
Township. There were born to them the fol- 
lowing family — Julia A., Susan, Jonathan, 
Keziah, Henry, Mary, James, Jefferson, 
Joseph, Louisa, William, Martha and John O. 
Of these, Susan, Keziah, Mary and Joseph 
are dead. Julia is the widow of John Mcln- 
tire, and lives in Illinois; Susan married a 
Mr. Mills; Jonathan married Margaret Hud- 
son, and lives in Hardin Co., Ohio; Keziah 
married Dr. T. A. Mitchell; Henry married 
M. A. Stone, and lives in Shelby, Ohio; Mary 
married Samuel Anderson; James married 
Catharine Mickey, and lives in Crestline, Ohio; 
Jefferson married Amanda Fox; Joseph mar- 
ried Louisa Fisher; Louisa is the wife of G. 
H. Lee; William married Leah McCrady, 
and lives in Gallon, and Martha married John 
Dempsey, and lives in Shelby, Ohio. John 
was reared and educated in the country. In 
1859, he was united in marriage with Rachel 
M. Rigby, daughter of Nimrod Rigby, and by 
her has three children — William B., born Nov. 
8, 1860; George H., born May 3, 1868, and 
John H., born Jan. 7, 1872. Mr. Davis owns 



80 acres of land in Auburn Township, and 
160 acres in Kansas. He also owns a fine 
business house in Tiro, the upper story being 
the I. 0. O. F. Hall. The store in the building 
is as fine a grocery store as is usually found 
in large cities. The firm name of the owners 
is Davis & Mitchell, Mr. Davis being the jun- 
ior partner. Mr. Davis is a member of the I. 
O. O. F., and a Republican in politics. He 
served faithfully in the late war, enlisting in 
Company H, 123d O. V. I. He was discharged 
June 15, 1865. He was in some of the hard- 
est contested battles of the war; was taken 
prisoner at Winchester, and for thirty days 
was confined in Belle Island. After being 
exchanged, he again joined his regiment, and 
was again taken prisoner, and served some 
months in Andersonville and Florence, suffer- 
ing all the agorries of starvation and disease. 
He was finally exchanged, Dec. 6, 1864, and 
since that time Mi'. Davis makes Dec. 6 his 
holiday. His brother William was in the 
101st Regiment, and served as Quartermaster 
Sergeant, but was promoted to lieutenancy. 
Mr. Davis was a Sergeant in his regiment. 
Both John and William Davis were said to 
have been brave and gallant soldiers, and were 
always found in the thickest of the fight. 
Much honor and credit is due them for the 
heroic part thev took in the war. 

ELIZABETH DAUGHERTY, Tiro. Re- 
solved White was a native of Connecticut. 
He moved to New York when but a lad, and 
lived there until the year 1818, then emi- 
grated to the West in search of a home. In 
1819, he came to Auburn Township, Crawford 
Co., and there purchased 160 acres of land of 
one IVIr. Laugherty, paying for the same 
$3.75 per acre. On this farm was a small 
log house. In 1820, Mr. White returned to 
New York. In 1821, he married Lucy Searl, 
and the same year he, together with his young 
wife, emigrated to their wilderness home in 
Ohio. There were born to them six children 
— Philo, Elizabeth, Resolved, William W., 
one that died in infancy, and Lucy. Elizabeth 
and Lucy are the only ones living. Lucy is 
the wife of Dr. Cuykendall, of Biicyi'us; Eliz- 
abeth, on the 31st of March, 1842, was united 
in marriage with Ezekiel Daugherty, a son of 
Daniel and Lydia (Smyers) Daugherty. He 



864 



BIOGRAFHICAL SKETCHES: 



was born in New Jersey Feb. 5, 1818, and 
was reared upon a farm. In 1832, he came 
to Auburn Township, and began working for 
the farmers by the month. His marriage with 
Elizabeth bore the fruit of six children — Alva, 
Melissa, Searl, Orrissa, Resolved and Clara. 
Alva and Searl are dead. Melissa is the wife 
of Martin V. B. Wood, and lives in Auburn 
Township; Orrissa is the wife of John Hahn, 
and lives in Delaware, Ohio; Resolved lives 
on the old place with his mother. In Febru- 
ary, 1879, he married Catharine Bender, and 
by her has one daughter — Orrissa, born May 
8, 1880. Clara is at present going to musical 
school in Columbus, Ind. Mr. Daugherty 
is now dead. His widow and her son live on 
the old place first bought by Resolved White. 
They own "221 acres of excellent land. Mrs. 
Daugherty is a descendant of Perigrine White, 
of Plymouth Rock notoriety. Of Puritan 
ancestors, the Daughertys are honest and 
upright people, and are highly respected in 
the community in which they live. 

SAMUEL S. GREEN, farmer; P. O. Tiro. 
The oldest settler living in Auburn Township 
is the subject of this biography. He was 
born in Indiana Co., Penn., June 25, 1807. 
Is a son of William and Martha (Stanton) 
Green, who were married in Luzerne Co., 
Penn., in ISOO. The father was a native of 
Berkshire Co., Mass., and was born in 1778, 
and the mother was born in New London Co., 
Conn., in 1788. In 1813, they came to Lick- 
ing Co., Ohio, where they remained three 
years. In 1815, Mr. Green came to Auburn 
Township, Crawford Co.. Ohio, where he 
entered 040 acres of land in the southeastern 
part of the township. In December. 1816, he 
moved his family to the log house he had on 
his clearing in Auburn Township. Mr. and 
Mrs. Green were the parents of eleven chil- 
dren, one dying in infancy without any name 
— Samuel S., Caroline, W^alter, Julia A., AVill- 
iam, Martha M., Daniel, John, Mary and Han- 
nah J. Those named are all living. The 
father died in 1802, and the mother in 1805. 
Samuel S. was 9 years old when they came 
to Aulmrn Township, and ranch of the Auburn 
Township history was learned from him. He is 
single; owns 80 acres of land, and is a Democrat 
in politics, and a genial, wide-awake gentleman. 



DANIEL HOWE, farmer and miller; P. 
O. Tiro. Nelson S. and Sarah B. (Gunsau- 
lus) Howe were natives of the State of New 
York, the former being born May 3, 1808, and 
the latter in 1810. They were married in 
Richland Co., Ohio, Nov. 4, 1830, and to this 
union were born the following family: 
Amelia, Philanda, Alonzo and Daniel. 
Amelia and Alonzo are dead. Philanda is 
the widow of Zebediah Morse, and lives in 
Auburn Township. Daniel was a young man 
of considerable push and enterprise. When 
the v/ar broke out, he enlisted in Company H, 
64th O. V. I., and was chosen Second Lieu- 
tenant, and during the latter part of the war 
was promoted to Captain. He was in some 
of the hardest fought battles of the whole 
war, amoncr which might be mentioned Shi- 
loh, Corinth, Chickamauga, and through the 
entire campaign of 1864, in Georgia, under 
Gen. Sherman. He received a severe flesh 
wound at Chickamauga, from the explosion 
of a shell. He was married April 28, 1859, 
to Amanda D. Abbott, a daughter of Rev. J. 
R. Abbott, of Bowling Green, Wood Co., Ohio, 
and by her has seven children — Flora C, 
born Sept. 20, 1859; Adel M., born March 
22, 1867; Lisle A., born May 18, 1869; Frank 
L., born June 2, 1871; Earl E., born Dec. 24, 
1873; Grace E., born Dec. "24, 1876, and 
Addie, born Dec. 22, 1878. The youngest 
died Feb. 10, 1879. Flora married Isaac A. 
Metcalf, and lives in Richland Co., Ohio; the 
rest are all single, and live at home with their 
parents. Mrs. Howe was born Dec. 11, 1842. 
Mr. Howe is a Republican in politics. Oavus 
50 acres of well-improved land, and also one 
of the best saw-mills in Crawford Co. He is 
a member of the I. O. O. F. at Tiro. Mr. 
Howe is an honest, straightforward man, and 
is well respected and highly esteemed by all 
his friends and acquaintances. 

J. HILLS, farmer and stock-raiser; P. O. 
Plymouth: is the son of Rufus and Dinah 
(DeWitt) Hills, who were the parents of nine 
children, three of whom are yet living. They 
were natives of New York, the father being 
Ijorn in 1807 and the mother in 1812. Their 
children are Susan, AVilliam, one that died 
in infancy, Jedediah, Louisa, Cynthia, Eliza, 
Clinton and Alvira. Alvira, William and Jede- 



V 



AUBUEN TOWNSHIP. 



865 



diah are tlie only sxirvivors. Mr. Hills, Sr., 
died Aug. 22, 1872, and was folio-wed by his 
wife Sept. 5, 1875. They were among the 
early pioneers of Richland Co., having come 
to that county about the year 1820. He was 
an excellent farmer, and an honest, enterpris- 
ing man. His son, Jedediah, was born in 
Richland Co., Dec, 16, 1828, and was reared 
on a farm, and to-day is one of the best farm- 
ers in Auburn Township. He followed farm- 
ing steadily until 18(30, when he pm^chased 40 
acres of land in Auburn Township. Since 
that time, he has sold and bought land, until 
he now owns 120 acres of Auburn Township's 
best land, and 40 acres in Adams Co., Ind. 
He was married, Sept. 19, 1852, to Maria, 
daughter of William and Sarah (Noggle) 
Crouse, and by her had four childi-en — Julius 
J., born Dec. 23, 1853, died May 31, 1877; 
Matilda B., born Feb. 27, 1857; Sarah E., 
born Aug. 11, 1858, died July 22, 1873, and 
Clement L. V., born March 25, 1863, died 
June 15, 1864. Mrs. Hills was born Sept. 12, 
1830. Matilda is the only one of the children 
living. She is the wife of Ezekiel Rooks, of 
Richland Co., Ohio. Julius married Alvira 
Steele, and by her had two children — Flora 
B. and Pearly J. His death was caused by 
consumption, and was much regretted through- 
out the neighborhood. Mr. Hills is a Demo- 
crat in politics, and an intelligent and enter- 
prising citizen. He takes an active part in 
all laudable enterprises, and much credit is 
due him for his libei'ality in assisting educa- 
tional affairs in his township. 

GEORGE HAM^IOND, farmer and stock- 
raiser; P. O. Tiro; was bom in Aubiun Town- 
ship, June 26, 1824, His parents were George 
and Sai-ah P. (Wliite) Harmnond. The father 
was born in Plymouth Co., Conn., and the 
mother in Massachusetts, where they were 
maiTied. From Ontario Co., N. Y., they came 
to Auburn Township, Crawford Co., Ohio, in 
February, 1822. Here he bought 160 acres 
of land from a Mr. Clark, who had entered it 
some time before. This property is sitviated 
on the northwest quarter of Sec. 28, and is 
now owned by his son George. These parents 
had the following family: Albert, Alfred, 
Harvey, Nannie, George, Rowland and Sarah. 
Albert, Nannie and George are the only ones 



living of this family. The father died Dec. 
30. 1868, and the mother April 4, 1840. Al- 
bert married Catharine Groesbeck, and lives in 
Williams Co., Ohio. Nannie is the wife of 
Cornelius L. Newkirk, and lives in Macon Co., 
Mo. George, Jr., passed his youthful days 
with his parents on the farm, going to school, 
etc. He was manned to Hannah A. Groesl^eck, 
Sept. 1, 1846, and by her had two children — 
Emma E., born April 27, 1847, married B. F. 
Crouse; Filmore, born June 9, 1849, and 
married Josephine Crouse. Mrs. Haimnond 
died Feb. 19, 1851. Mr. Hammond's second 
wife is Mary Lewis, daughter of Joseph and 
Elizabeth (Masters) Lewis, to whom he was 
married March 22, 1855. By her he has two 
children — L-ene, born Sept. 27, 1856; she is 
the wife of T. S. Groesbeck, and lives in Co- 
lumbiana City, Ind.; Sarah, born Nov. 17, 
1863; she is single, and lives at home with 
her parents. Mrs. Hammond is a member of 
the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. Ham- 
mond is a Republican in politics, and is one 
of the best farmers of Auburn Township. 

JAIVIES HANNA, farmer; P. O. Tiro: was 
born in Harrison Co., Ohio, Dec. 14. 1818: is 
a son of Samuel and Elizabeth (Duff) Hanna. 
The father was born in Westmoreland Co., 
Penn., in 1795, and the mother in the same 
county in 1794. They came to Belmont Co., 
Ohio,"March 25, 1818, and from there to Au- 
burn Township, Crawford Co., in 1819. Sam- 
uel Hanna, grandfather of James, entered the 
farm for his son in about 1815. Mr. and Mrs. 
Hanna are the parents of eight childi-en — 
James, Samuel, John, Margaret A., Eliza J., 
Archibald, Thomas and William. Of this 
family all are now dead except James, ]Mar- 
garet^ Ai-chibald and William. IVIr. Hanna 
departed this life June 22, 1862, followed by 
his wife March 11, 1875. Their daughter, 
Margaret is the wife of Andi-ew Dickson, and 
lives" in Vernon Township; Archibald married 
jMary Gribben, and lives in Hancock Co.; 
William married Mary A. Spangle, and also 
lives in Hancock Co. James was reared upon 
a farm. He secured but a limited education, 
owing to poor schools, and not having much 
time to attend them. He was married April 
1, 1847, to Clarrissa Scott, daughter of Samuel 
and Catharine Scott, and by her had three 






'A^ 



866 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



children — Catharine, born Dec. 25, 1847; 
James M., born Jnne 27, 1851, and William 
S., born Aug. 31, 1857. The oldest married 
James Cahill, and lives in Aubiu-n Township; 
James married Harriet Chambers, and lives 
in Auburn Township; William is single, and 
lives at home with his parents. Mr. Hanna 
is a Republican in politics and a United Pres- 
byterian in religion. He owns 140 acres of 
excellent farming land, which is highly im- 
proved. The Hannas are among the best 
farmers and citizens in Crawford Co. 

CATHERINE A. HANNA, Tiro. The sub- 
ject of this sketch was born in Franklin Co., 
Penn., July 31, 1824. She is the daughter 
of John H. and Mary E. Hofman. Mr. Hof- 
man was educated for the ministry, as his 
father was before him, but, his health failing, 
he was compelled to* relinquish his studies. 
After this ho learned the jeweler's trade, which 
business he followed until his death. Mr. 
Hofman was born in Virginia, in 1708, and 
his wife in 1802. They were married in 
Chambersburg, Penn., in 1821, and to them 
were born eleven childi'en. The parents came 
to Mansfield, Richland Co., Ohio, in 1826. It 
was here that Mrs. Hanna was reared and 
educated. On the 24th of November, 1844, 
she was united in marriage with Samuel 
Hanna, son of Samuel and Elizabeth (Duff) 
Hanna, of whom appropriate mention is made 
in the biography of James Hanna, in this 
work. Mr. Hanna was born Sept. 22, 1820. 
His union with Miss Hofman bore the fruit 
of nine children — James J., John F., William 
L., Mary E., Clara A., Emma J., Charles E. 
and two others, twins, who died in infancy. 
James lives in Mansfield, and is a commercial 
traveler; he married Mary Anderson. John 
married Nettie V. Rankin, and lives in Hen- 
derson Co., 111. William L. married Serena 
Wilson, and lives on the old homestead with 
his mother. Mary is the wife of Lorenzo 
Blackman, and lives in Richland Co. Clara 
and Emma are single and live at home. 
Charles E. is single, lives at home, and will 
take charge of the farm in 1881. Mr. Hanna 
died Jan. 3, 1868. He was a man of kind 
and affectionate disposition; he had the confi- 
dence and good will of the people. His death 
called away a good man and a prominent citi- 



zen. The heirs own 79 acres of well-improved 
land, and all are well known and universally 
respected in the community. 

MRS. B. HANDLE Y, Tiro; was born in 
Stark Co., Ohio, April 5, 1835. She is a 
daughter of Frederick and Mary (Mundz) 
Staley. Her father was born in Grerniany, 
December, 1800, and her mother, in January, 
1797. They were married in the United 
States, and came to Cranberry Townshi]:) in 
1841. They were the parents of six children 
— Ann M., Christina C, Barbara S., Anna C, 
Frederick and Elizabeth. Ann, Christina and 
Anna are dead. Mrs. Handley's parents were 
farmers, and she was reared and educated in the 
county. On the 6th of December, 1856, she 
was united in marriage with John Handley, son 
of William and Jane (McDermott) Handley, 
who came to Sandusky Township in 1822. To 
this u.nion were born three children — Emma 
E., born Oct. 10, 1857 ; Cassius H., born July 
8, I860; Jessie A., born Sept. 3, 18()3. Emma 
died Feb. 9, 1875. Cassius and Jessie are 
single and live with their mother in Auburn 
Township. Mr. Handley died in Cranberry 
Township Jan. 16, 1865. He was a man of 
good education, and of moral and upright 
character. The following is a copy of the 
resolutions adopted by the Sandusky Literary 
Association, on the death of Mr. Handley: 

'■Resolved, That in the death of Mr. Hand- 
ley, this society has lost an exemplary and 
influential member. As a member he was 
amiable, kind and coui'teous; he was a great 
humorist and a keen satirist; as a debater he 
excelled; as a citizen he ardently loved his 
country; he expended liberally in the sup- 
pression of the recent rel:)ellion; he was the 
soldier's fast friend. As an individual, he was 
honest and obliging; he was an affectionate 
husband and a kind father." 

In addition to the above, we could add that 
IVIi'. Handley was a man beloved by all who 
knew him, and no name could be better spoken 
of than that of John Handley. His family 
live in the little village of Mechanicsburg, 
where they are well known and highly 
respected by all who know them. 

ADAM HICtH. farmer and stock-raiser; P. 
O. Plymouth; is a native of Germany, and 
was born August 18, 1827. His parents, 



^ <j 



AUBUKX TOWXSITIP. 



867 



Adam and Elizabeth Scliafer High, were 
both natives of Germany, and parents of six 
chilch'en, all of whom were born in the old 
country. Their names respectively are Val- 
entine, Elizabeth, Michael (deceased), Michael, 
Margaret and Adam. The High family came 
from Germany to Cranberry Township, Craw- 
ford Co., Ohio, in 1838, where they lived for 
a number of years. Mrs. High departed this 
life Nov. 22, 1866, followed by her husband 
July 1, 1867. Mr. High was a hard-working, 
thrifty and enterprising farmer. He was a man 
of good morals, and kind and considerate 
toward his family. His death and that of his 
wife are mourned by an affectionate family 
and a large circle of neighbors. Adam went 
to school in his youthful days, and when 18 
years of age he was a})i:)renticed to learn the 
wagon-making trade. At the end of three 
years, he mastered his trade, and since that 
time has made that his business in life, until 
the past ten years. He formerly owned the 
land on which the depot at New "Washington 
now stands. He at present owns 80 acres of 
well-improved land in Auburn Township. 
He was married, Oct. 23, 1851, to Matilda 
Hesse, daughter of Augustus Hesse, of Perry 
Co., Ohio, and by her has twelve children — 
Emma, born Oct. 11, 1852, died April 2, 1855; 
William O., born March 17, 1854, and mar- 
ried Elizabeth Wiiford, July 4, 1875; Lewis 
J., born July 3, 1855, died Aug. 6, 1856; 
Franklin C, born June 8, 1857, died Aug. 13, 
1857; Gustavus L., born July 13, 1858, died 
June 13, 1859; Jefferson C, born March 17, 
I860; Augustus H., born March 13, 1862; Lo- 
rena E., born Feb. 25, 1864; Amanda L., born 
February, 1866; Caroline E., born Aiig. 17, 
1868: Edmund A., born Sept. 1, 1870, died 
Sept. 1, 1871; Addison, born Nov. 13, 1873. 
Mrs. High was born Oct. 10, 1830, This fam- 
ily are hospitable, enterprising and intelli- 
gent. Mr. High is a Democrat, and liberal in 
his religious views. He is one of AubiU'u 
Township's successful farmers. 

SAMUEL HILBORN, farmer and stock- 
dealer; P. O. Tiro; was born in Richland 
Co. June 28, 1826. His parents, Isaac and 
Nancy (George) Hilborn were both natives of 
Pennsylvania. The father was born Aug. 11, 
1798, and the mother was born May 22, 1801. 



They were the parents of nine children — 
Polly, Robert, Samuel, Amos, William. Eliza- 
beth, Isabella, John and Sarah. Polly, Eliza- 
beth, Amos and Isabella are dead. The father 
died April 30, 1865, and the mother April 17, 
1841. Mr. Hilborn was one of the early set- 
tlers of Auburn Township, and more will be 
said about him elsewhere in this work. Sam- 
uel received a good common-school education 
when young. At the age of 17, he commenced 
learning the blacksmith trade, which he fol- 
lowed for a number of years. He is at pres- 
lent one of Aubiu'n Township's most intelli- 
gent and prosjierous farmers. He was mar- 
ried Jan. 31, 1850, to Elizabeth Irwin, and 
by her has the following family : Isaac N., 
deceased, Lodema, deceased, Zella, Ellsworth 
and Charles. Zella is the wife of James 
Michener, and lives in Auburn Township; 
Ellsworth and Charles are single, and live at 
home with their parents. 

JOHN HILBORN, Tiro; was born Nov. 16, 
1838, in Liberty Township, Crawford Co., 
Ohio. He is a son of Isaac and Nancy 
(George ) Hilborn. ( For a full record of jVIi'. 
Hilborn's parents and their family, see the 
biography of his brother.) John was raised 
on the farm. His education is only moderate, 
owing to the schools of that day being very 
poor as compared to what we now have. He 
served his country well and faithfully in the 
late war, enlisting in Company I, 15th O. Y. 
I., on the 7th of September, 1861. His dis- 
charge was dated in Texas, November, 1865. 
He was in quite a number of engagements, 
and among them Corinth, Atlanta, Liberty 
Gap, Resaca, Buzzard's Roost and Pickett's 
Mills. He was also in the running fight that 
extended from Chattanooga. Tenn., to Atlanta, 
Ga. He was a brave and efficient soldier, and 
had many a thi'illing experience in the army. 
At Pickett Mill he was severely wounded, and 
to-day is a victim of the traitorous leaders of 
our great civil war. At the conclusion of the 
war he retiu-ned home, and, on the 15th of 
June, 1866, he was united in marriage with 
Miss Emeline Clark, daughter of Martin and 
Nancy Clark. Mrs. Hilborn died April. 1868. 
Mr. Hilborn's second wife is Sai-ah J. Davis, 
daughter of James K. Davis, of (Crawford Co., 
to whom he was married on the 29th of June, 



'^ 



868 



BIOGEArHTCAL SKETCHES: 



1869. Mr. Hilborn is at present engaged in 
the livery business. He owns between four 
and five acres of valuable land within the lim- 
its of the village of Tiro. He is a stanch 
Republican in politics, and is well known and 
has the well wishes and friendship of his fel- 
low-townsmen. 

WILLIAM H. HILBORN, farmer and 
stock-dealer; P. O. Tiro; was born in San- 
dusky Township June 25, 1831. He is a son 
of Isaac and Nancy (George) Hilborn, a 
sketch of whom is found in the biography of 
Robert G. Hilborn, his brother. Like his 
other brothers, William was reared on the 
farm. Two years prior to his marriage, he 
worked out by the month, the first season 
receiving $11 per month, and the next season 
$12.50. This was his mari'iage start. He was 
married Jan. 3, 1855, to Elizabeth Grouse, 
daughter of Abner and Harriet (Thoman) 
Grouse, and to them were born three children 
-^Ira O., born in September, 1856; Anna L., 
born in May, 1858, died when 4 months 
old; Mary A., born in May, 1861. Mrs. Hil- 
born was born Jan. 6, 1836. From his mar- 
riage up to 1865, Mr. Hilborn has made many 
changes. He at one time owned the saw-mill 
near where his house now stands. He now 
owns 80 acres of well-improved land in West- 
ern Auburn Township. IVIi-. Hilborn is a 
Republican in politics, and a hard worker in 
the cause of advancement in our public schools. 
He is intelligent and entertaining, and com- 
mands the resjtect of a large circle of friends. 

I H. IRWIN, blacksmith. Tiro; was born 
in Ghester Co., Penn., Jan. 18, 1835. He is 
a son of Israel and Hannah (Millard) Irwin. 
The father and mother were natives of Penn- 
sylvania, the former being born in 1802, and 
the latter in 1800. They were married in 
Ghester Go., Penn., April 1, 1823, and came 
to Aubui'n Township in 1835. The father 
died July 19, 1837, and the mother July 22, 
1877. Mr. Irwin was a man beloved and 
esteemed by all who knew him. He was a 
local minister in the M. E. Ghurch, and lived 
a life full of usefulness. Mr. and Mrs. Irwin 
were the parents of the following family: 
Thomas M., Margaret A., Joseph, Sarah J., 
Garoline M., Elizabeth A., I. H. and Jared A. 
Thomas, Margaret, Joseph and Jared are dead. 



Sarah is the wife of George Byers; Garoline 
is the widow of James Ovens, and Elizabeth 
is the wife of Samuel Hilborn, whose biog- 
raphy accompanies this work. All live in 
Aiiburn Township, Crawford Co., Ohio. The 
subject of this biography lived with his mother 
until she married Isaac Hilborn, and then he 
lived w^ith his step-father for about ten years. 
He was apprenticed to a blacksmith when about 
13, with whom he lived four years, serving 
out his apprenticeship. Since that time he 
has been continually engaged in that business 
in Mechanicsburg, excepting one year, that 
being a year he farmed. He was married 
Dec. 20, 1854, to Margaret L., daughter of 
Abner and Harriet (Thoman) Grouse, and by 
her has one daughter — Almeda, born July l4, 
1856. Almeda is the wife of John D. Mich- 
ener, and by him has one daughter — Annie I., 
born Oct. 6, 1875. Mr. Irwin is a Republican 
in politics, and a member of the Lutheran 
Ghurch. He has held various township offices 
and is well known and highly respected 
throughout Auburn Township. 

D. G. JEFFREY, merchant, Tiro; was born 
in Niagara Co., N. Y., Oct. 26, 1834. He is a 
son of Thomas and Lydia Ann (Chittenden) 
Jeffrey, who were parents of nine children — 
D. G., S. W., Mary, T. Alonzo, Melissa, Will- 
iam, Amos, G. M. and Lewis. The father 
was a native of New Jersey, and was born in 
1790. The mother was born in Vermont in 
1810, and they were married in Niagara Co., 
N. Y., in 1833. Their son, S. Yf., is one of 
the prominent men of Auburn Township, and 
his biography accompanies this work. I^Iary 
is the wife of A. C. Daley, and lives in Da- 
kota; Alonzo is in the mercantile business 
in Toledo, and married Susan Gibbs; Melissa 
married Edward Gregory, both of whom are 
now dead; William married Nora Munson, 
and is a carpenter and joiner in Toledo ; Amos 
died at home from disease contracted while 
in his country's service; Lewis is single and 
lives in Dakota Territory. D. G., our subject, 
was reared upon his father's farm. His 
father becoming involved in some financial 
trouble, young Jeffrey was kept away from 
school a greater share of the time to assist on 
the farm. He was married, Nov. 11, 1860, to 
Miss Laura Hutcheson, daughter of Lombard 



AUBURN T0WN3HIP. 



8G9 



and Lucinda (Kibbey) Hutcheson, and by her 
has four children, all of whom are living — ■ 
Fred M., born March 27, 1862; Ella A., born 
Nov. 6, 1865; Willie H., born Sept. 19, 1870, 
and John F., born Oct. 23, 1872. The mother 
was born Jime 14, 1811. Her parents had a 
family of nine — Esther, Maria, Mary, Rhoda 
and Rhuda (twins), Lombard, David, Laura 
and Hiram. Mary, Rhoda, Lombard and 
Hiram are dead, the latter being killed in the 
army. ]Mr. Jeffrey's father died April, 1860, 
and his mother October, 1872. ^Ixs. Jeffrey's 
father died in 1850, and her mother in 1872. 
Ml". Jeffrey started in life a poor boy, and by 
industry, frugality and hard labor has acquired 
the nice property he now owns. He is a Re- 
pul^lican in politics, and quite liberal in his 
religious views. He takes an active part in all 
educational affairs, and always uses his influ- 
ence in matters tending to advance the best 
interests of his county. Mr. Jeffrey owns the 
only drug store in the rapidly increasing town 
of Tiro. His stock consists in a full line of 
the best di'ugs, medicines, etc., which is men- 
tioned appropriately elsewhere in this work. 
SAMUEL W. JEFFREY, farmer, P.O. Tiro; 
is a son of Thomas and Lydia Ann (Chittenden) 
Jeffrey, who were parents of a family of nine 
childi'en, seven of whom are yet living. Sam- 
uel W. passed his youth on a farm. He was 
united in marriage with Amanda C. Aumeud, 
daughter of David and Clarissa (Ashley) 
Aumend, and by her has one child — Willai'd 
F., born Dec. 80, 1867. 1VL-. Aumend, the 
father of IVIi's. Jeffrey, was born in Pennsyl- 
vania, May 9, 1810. He was a son of Adam 
and Clu-istina (Allbright) Aumend, who came 
to Auburn Township in 1819, it then being 
an unexplored wilderness. Here Mr. Aumend 
was reared. On the 16th of August, 1833, he 
was married to Clarrissa Ashley, and by her 
had the following family: Willard H., Lucre- 
tia, Laura J., Francis M. and Amanda. The 
latter married Mr. S. W. Jeffrey, as stated 
above. Mr. Jeffrey is a Republican in poli- 
tics and a member of the Church of God. He 
well and faithfully served his country in the 
late war between the North and the South., 
He enlisted in Co. C, 23d O. V. I., and served 
until the close of the war, when he was dis- 
charged, July 26, 1865. He was first under 



the command of Col. Rosecrans, but after- 
ward was under Col. (now President) Hayes. 
JVIi". Jeffrey was in quite a number of engage- 
ments; was severely wounded in the neck, 
October, 1864, in Shenandoah Valley, Va. He 
is a young man of considerable enterprise and 
push, and is an intelligent citizen. 

LUCY (SAWYER ) KELLOGG, Plymouth : 
was born in Auburn Township, in 1827. Her 
parents, Erastus and Sally (Snider) Sa^^yer, 
were both natives of New Y^ork, the former 
born in 1800, and tlie latter in 1802. They 
were married in Aubiu'n Township, Dec. 19, 
1822, and were the parents of the following 
childi'en: Albanus, Franklin and Lucy. All 
are living, the former in Aubiu'n Township, 
and the latter in Norwalk, Ohio. The Sniders 
came to Auburn Township, Crawford Co., Ohio, 
in 1820, and the Saw vers in 1821. Lucy mar- 
ried Delos Carlisle, Nov. 14. 1850. Mr. Car- 
lisle was a son of David and Dorcas ('^^^iite) 
Carlisle. His marriage with Miss Sawyer 
bore the fruit of four children. The oldest 
died in infancy; the next, Maraldi E., boi'n 
Dec. 26, 1852, and died June 13, 1S55; Ella 
W., born April 29, 1855, and is living at home 
with her mother. Jay D., born Nov. 10, 1857, 
is at present in Kansas. Mr. Carlisle Avas 
born July 3, 1823, and died of consumption, 
Aug. 4, 1857. He is a Republican, and a 
member of the Baptist Church. A man of 
few words and temperate habits, he had the 
respect and esteem of all who knew him. Mrs. 
Carlisle is the present wife of David B. Kel- 
logg, to whom she was married May 24, 1870. 
She has by him one daughter, May, born July 
1, 1873. Mr. KellocTg is a son of Solomon 
and Margaret (Millhollen) Kellogg. He was 
married prior to his marriage with IVIi's. Car- 
lisle, his wife being Helen Snider, and by her 
had three childi-en — Catharine, Margaret and 
Theodore. All are living in Wyandot Co., 
and all are man'ied. 'Mxs. Kellogg's brother 
Franklin was a Lieutenant Colonel in the 
army, and after the war, was commissioned 
Brevet General. Mrs. Kellogg owns 97 acres 
of good land. Further notice of her parents 
will be found in the history of Aubui'n Town- 
ship. 

GEORGE LASH, farmer and stock-raiser; 
P. O. Tiro; was born in Wayne Co., April 30, 



<^ h- 



:lA 



870 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



1830. He is a son of Peter and Mary (Fred- 
line) Lash, who were parents of nine children. 
The father was a native of New Jersey, and 
was born in 1808. The mother was born in 
Somerset Co., Penn., in 1812. They were 
married in Wayne Co., in about 1828. The 
names of their ehildi'en are George, Charity, 
Leah. Peter, Benjamin, Mary, Phoebe, Francis 
and Lucinda. These children are all living, 
and all are in Ohio. ]\Ir. Lash emigrated to 
Ohio when it was but a Territory, and from 
Wayne Co. he emigrated to Crawford Co. in 
]8-?r"). locating in Auburn Township. He was 
a thrifty, hard-working farmer, and by his ster- 
ling honesty and kindness made many warin 
and sincere friends. He departed this life in 
1851, leaving behind an honest and upright 
record many might profit by following. His 
widow still survives him. George Lash lived 
with his parents through youth and early man- 
hood, assisting them in clearing and improv- 
ing the place. He received a good common- 
school education, and on the 16th of October, 
]8r51, he was united in marriage with Sarah 
E. Hutson, daughter of Benjamin Hutson, of 
Cranberry Township. To this union were 
born four children — William M., born April 
6, 1858; Elmer E., born Aug. 12, 18G1, died 
Sept. 15, 1870; Benjamin E., born June 1, 
18(U, and George F., born May 9, 1866. Mrs. 
Lash was born April 14, 1835. William, Ben- 
jamin and George are living at home with 
their parents. Mr. Lash owns 80 acres of 
good land in Western Auburn. He is a Dem- 
ocrat in politics, and a member of the Good- 
Will Methodist Episcopal Church. He is a 
prominent and influential man in his neigh- 
borhood, and he and his family are well known 
and highly respected throughout the neigh- 
borhood. 

JOHN MORROW, farmer; P.O. Tiro; was 
born in Auburn Township, July 13, 1851. 
He is a son of James and Margaret (Ake) 
Morrow, and grandson of Charles Morrow, 
who came to Aubxirn Township in 1817. His 
father and mother were natives of Pennsylva- 
nia. The former was born in 1809, and the 
latter in 1812. They were married in Auburn 
Township Se])t. 9, 1830, and to them were 
born six ehildi'en, viz.: William, Mary A. 
(deceased), Charles, David (deceased), James 



and John. Those living are all in Auburn 
TovsTiship. John passed his youth and early 
manhood on his father's place and going to 
school. He was married, Dec. 10, 1874, to 
Susan N. Cory, daughter of Thomas Cory, 
and to them were born two sons — Hurry B., 
born Dec, 20, 1875, and Charley J., born May 
18, 1878. Mr. Morrow owns 160 acres of 
well-improved land, and is a Democrat in 
politics. His father was a man of good, 
steady habits, and was well respected by h's 
friends and neighbors. He died March 8, 
1875. His mother lives on the old place with 
him, in Auburn Township. 

CHARLES McCONNELL, Tiro; was born 
in Richland Co., Dec. 18, 1844. He is a son 
of Charles and Nancy (Taggart) McConnell, 
who were parents of the following family: 
Samuel, Mary, Susan, James, John, William, 
Charles, Josiah and Isaac. James, John, 
William, Charles and Josiah served faithfully 
in the late war. James was killed in battle 
at Rocky Face Mountain, Ga. ; William died 
at Green Lake, Tex., from disease contracted 
while in the army; Josiah died at home, four 
days after his discharge, also from disease 
contracted in the army. Those in the family 
living, are Samuel, Mary, John, Charles and 
Isaac. Samuel married Charity Lash, and 
lives in Auburn Township; Mary lives in 
Auburn Township and is the wife of John 
Wynn ; John is single, and lives at home with 
his mother; Isaac is single, and lives in Van 
Wert Co. Charles was raised and educated 
in the county. He has an excellent practical 
education, and is a school teacher of thirteen 
terms' experience. His occupation is that of 
school teaching, and dealing in chromos, 
picture frames, tobaccos, toys and notions. 
His shop is located in the northern part of 
Tiro, and in it is a barber's chair, run by 
James Michener. The McConnell family are 
Republicans in politics, and too much praise 
cannot be given them for the heroic and gal- 
lant part they took in helping to quell the 
war of the great rebellion. And how much 
honor is due to the mother who raised seven 
sons from infancy to manhood, sending five 
to battle for the right, three of whom now 
sleep in soldiers' graves. All honor to such 
mothers, and may their names be immortal- 



AUBURN TOWNSHIP. 



871 



ized, and written forever in the hearts of the 
American people. 

B. W. McKEE, M. D., physician and sur- 
geon, Tiro; was born in Wayne Co., Ohio, 
in 1840. He is a son of John and Margaret 
(Wallace) McKee, who were the parents of 
eleven children — James, Margaret, Robert, 
B. W., Thomas B., William A., Mary, John, 
and three others that died in infancy without 
names. James is practicing medicine at Des 
Moines, Iowa; Margaret married a Mr. Nee- 
ley, and lives in Adair Co., Iowa; Robert died 
from disease contracted while in his country's 
service; Thomas is the present minister of 
the United Presbyterian Church at De Kalb; 
William is in Wooster; Mary is in Richland 
Co., Ohio, the wife of J. W. Dougal, and John 
is in Wayne Co. Our subject passed his 
youth on the farm and going to school. He 
commenced the study of medicine April, 1865, 
under the instructions of his brother James, 
and afterward under Prof. Firestone, who has 
now charge of the Insane Asylum at Colum- 
bus. He commenced attending medical lect- 
ures at Cleveland, in 18()9, where he contin- 
ued steadily until his graduation, which was 
in 1870. On the 16th of June, 1870, he was 
united in marriage with Ruvilla Weirich, 
daughter of Christian and Adaline (Miller) 
Weirich, and by her had two children, the 
first of whom died in infancy without a name, 
and the one living is Cruveilhier W., born 
April 15, 1875. Dr. McKee first located in 
Northfield, and after one year moved to De- 
Kalb, where he remained eight years, and at 
the expiration of that time removed to Tiro, 
where he has ever since resided. His grand- 
father, Robert, and brother, Logan McKee, 
came from Ireland to America the year before 
the war of Independence began. Logan was 
among those who gave his life in defense of 
his adopted country. Dr. McKee and his 
brothers, James, Robert and Thomas, served 
faithfully in the war of the rebellion. Mrs. 
McKee was born Oct. 9, 1848. The Doctor 
is an excellent physician, and he has a large 
and lucrative practice, which keeps him busily 
engaged. 

AMOS MORSE, farmer; P. O. Tiro; was 
born Feb. 7, 1810, in Huron Co., Ohio. His 
parents, Rudolphus and Huldah (Williams) 



Morse, were natives of Massachusetts. The 
father was born April 17, 1791, and his wife 
June 26, 1794. They were married in Onta- 
rio Co., N. Y., Nov. 13, 1816, and moved to 
Huron Co., Ohio, June, 1818, and in March, 
1820, came to Auburn Township, Crawford 
Co., where he remained all his life. They were 
the parents of six childi-en, viz., Amos, Amanda, 
Joel, Joseph W., Zebediah and Malin D. 
Amos and Malin are the only ones in the fam- 
ily now living. The parents came to Auburn 
Township when the country was but very 
thinly settled. Their financial means were 
very small, and, coming as they did into a 
new country, their start depended mainly on 
their own phvsical exertions. The father 
died Oct. 11, 1872, and the mother May 26, 
1873. Mr. Morse was one of the most influ- 
ential men of his neighborhood, holding sev- 
eral offices of honor and trust in his township. 
Amos passed his youth with his parents, and 
when he reached his majority began for him- 
self. On the 13th of May, 1849, he was mar- 
ried Mehetabel, daughter of David and Dor- 
cas (White) Carlisle, and by her had three 
childi-en — Frank R., born May 17, 1852, and 
Amanda and Adelia, twins, born Sept. 5, 
1854. The mother was born Jan. 8, 1819. 
Frank married Alvira B. Stock, in 1873; 
Delia married Samuel A. Stock, in 1876, and 
Amanda married Milton W. Griffeth, in 1877. 
In his earlier years, Mr. Morse was a school 
teacher. He is a Republican in politics, and 
although in a Democratic neighborhood has 
held the office of Justice of the Peace for the 
past twenty years. Owns 160 acres of land. 
He is a Baptist in religion, and is a man of 
more than ordinarv intelligence. 

MRS. G. W. OVENS, Tiro; daughter of 
John and Maria (Staherin) Brenerd, and was 
born May 12, 1838, in Crawford Co., Ohio. 
In the fall of 1858, she was united in mar- 
riage with Aaron Daugherty, and to this union 
were born three children, respectively — Lucy, 
born Aug. 12, i860; Sherman, born Dec. 14, 
1863. and Rebecca, born Feb. 15, 1865. Mr. 
Daiigherty was born Jan. 18, 1818, and died 
May 22, 1871. He was a brother of Ezekiel 
Daugherty, mention of whom is made in the 
liiography of Elizabeth Daugherty. Mr. 
Daugherty was a gi-eat farmer and a hard- 



4 



872 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



working man. He was temperate in his hab- 
its, and affectionate in his disposition toward 
his family. He was a man universally 
respected by all who knew him. Mrs. Daugh- 
erty, on the 5th of March, 1872, was married 
to George W. Ovens. Mr. Ovens was born 
July 22, 1840, and is a son of William and 
Eleanor (Robinson) Ovens, and is of Irish 
descent. His father and mother were parents 
of six childi'en — James, Anna, "William, John, 
George and Kate. The Ovens family came 
to the United States from Ireland in 1842, 
and to Crawford Co., Ohio, ten years later. 
In kis father's family James is the only one 
dead. He was murdered for his money in 
Hardin Co., Ohio, in 1862. Mr. Ovens is 
a Democrat in politics, and a straightfor- 
ward, honest and upright man. On the death 
of her first husband, Mrs. Ovens and her chil- 
dren were left a valuable farm of 240 acres, 
which she still retains. Mr. and Mrs. Ovens 
live happily together with her children on the 
old place left them in Aubui'n Township, and 
no family are more respected in Crawford Co. 
than this family. 

R. R. ROSS, farmer and stock-raiser ; P. O. 
Plymouth; was born in Auburn Township, 
Crawford Co., Ohio, Nov. 25, 1832. He is a 
son of A. C. and Celia (Emmons) Ross, who 
were the parents of four children — Phoebe A., 
Melissa, one that died in infancy, and Royal 
R. Royal is the only one living. Mr. Ross' 
biography will be found in connection with 
the biography of A. C. Ross, in another part 
of this work. Mrs. Ross, mother of oui' sub- 
ject, was born April 8, 1802, in New York. 
She died as she lived, a conscientious Chris- 
tian. Her death occurred in Auburn Town- 
ship in 1836. Royal R. lived on a farm until 
he was 23 years old, and on the 4th of October, 
1860, was united in marriage with Mary A., 
daughter of Adam and Susanna (Harley) 
Aumend, and by her had five children — Em- 
mons W., born Sept. 13, 1861; Willie B., 
born April 23, 1865; Amelia, born Sept. 24, 
18()8, died December 11, 1868; George H., 
born Sept. 10, 1872, died Dec. 28, 1879, and 
Freddie R., born Sept. 27, 1878. Mrs. Ross 
was born July 6, 1840, in Auburn Township. 
Both of these parents are the descendants of 
old and honored settlers, who came into the 



wilderness in search of a home. The present 
condition of their children and grandchildren 
attest the success with which they were met. 
Mr. Ross is a Republican in politics, and he 
and wife are members of the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church. They own 160 acres of highly 
improved land, where they live happily 
together, making no pretensions, but having 
the respect and good-will of all their friends 
and neighbors. 

A. C. ROSS, farmer; P. O. Tiro; was born 
in Auburn Township, Crawford Co., Ohio, 
June 11, 1842. His father was Abel C. Ross, 
who came to Auburn Township in 1825, it 
being then an almost unbroken wilderness. 
The father was married fii'st to Celia Emmons, 
Sept. 22, 1822, and by her had the following 
family: Phoebe A., Melissa A., Royal R., and 
one that died in infancy without being named. 
The wife died Feb. 23, 1837. Mr. Ross remar- 
ried March 5, 1838, his second wife being 
Laura (Carlisle) Ross. From the second 
marriage the following family were born: 
Byron H., Alfred C. and Celia A. The father 
was born April 28, 1800, and died Dec. 17, 
1875. The mother is yet living, and makes 
her home with her son A. C. Bp'on was a 
member of Company H, 64th O. Y. I., in the 
late civil war. He is now dead. Celia is 
married. A. C. Ross was reared upon a farm; 
was married, Sept. 22, 1871, to Mary J. Hoak, 
a daughter of Jacob and Mary (Kaylor) Hoak, 
and bv her had one son and one daughter — 
Mary A., born Dec. 29, 1873, and Royal H., 
born May 31, 1876. The wife w^as born July 
30, 1849. Mr. Ross is one of Auburn Town- 
ship's best farmers. He owns 111|^ acres of 
well-improved land. Belongs to the United 
Brethren Church, and is a Republican. The 
death of his brother Byron and his widow 
left two children — Alvin E. and Bertha A. 
The former lives with our subject, and the 
latter with his half-brother. Royal R., in 
Aubiu-n Township. 

A. C. ROBINSON, farmer; P. O. Tiro; 
was born in Aubm-n Township, Crawford Co., 
Ohio, July 21, 1846. He is a son of Barber 
and Mary (Morrow) Robinson, and is one of a 
family of nine children, their names being as 
follows: Charles, Campl^ell, David, Mary J., 
Ellen, James, Robert, William and Florence. 



¥ 



AUBURN TOWNSHIP. 



875 



All of these are living, as are also his parents. 
The subject of this sketch passed his youth 
upon a farm. He received a good common- 
school education, and on the 2Gth of May, 
18G8, he was united in marriage with Han- 
nah E. McNutt, daughter of Abraham and 
Jane (Crayton) McNutt, of Lawrence Co., 
Penn., and by her has one daughter — Nora, 
born April 14, 18G9. Mrs. Robinson was 
born Dec. 14, 1846. Mr. Robinson's parents 
were born in Ireland. Mr. Robinson is a 
Democrat in politics, as is also his father. 
He owns 100 acres of well-improved land near 
Tiro. He is enterprising and industrious, 
and takes an active part in all laudable enter- 
prises that tend toward advancing education 
or building up the county. 

S. B. RAUDABAUGH, carpenter and join- 
er, Tiro; was born in Cumberland Co., Penn., 
in 1842. He is a son of Henry and Lydia 
(Hahn) Raudabaugh, who were the parents of 
the following family: William, Samuel, Cath- 
arine, David, Elizabeth, Daniel, Rebecca, 
John, Ellen, Henry, Nancy and Sarah. 
David, Elizabeth and Henry are dead. The 
rest are all living in Ohio except Kate, who 
lives in Indiana. Samuel passed his youth 
at home. In 1861, he enlisted in Co. I, 15th 
O. V. I., and was discharged in November, 
1865, having passed about five years in fight- 
ing for his country. He was a participant in 
the battles of Shiloh, Stone River, Chicka- 
mauga, Chattanooga, Atlanta, Corinth and a 
great many others. He was in actual service 
about five years, and during tliat time never left 
his regiment or was wounded. After the war 
close;!, he came to Aubui'u Township, prose- 
cuting bis trade. On the 10th of June, 1869, 
he was united in marriage with Martha Eckis, 
daughter of Jacob and INCartha (Crouse) Eckis, 
and to this union were born four children — 
Albertis. born Feb. 4, 1870, died Feb. 10, 
1870; Howard L.,born Aug. 3, 1871; Vinnie, 
born June 28, 1876, died Aug. 19, 1876, and 
Ralph K., born Aug. 8, 1877. Mrs. Rauda- 
baugh was born April 16, 18;)9. Mi*. Rauda- 
baugh owns oi acres of land in Mechanics- 
bui'g. He is a Republican, and one of the best 
carpenters in Crawford Co. He received but a 
limited education, but by reading and study he 
is one of the best-posted men in the township. 



JOHN P. SHECKLER, farmer and stock- 
dealer; P. O. Plymouth; was bom in Auburn 
Township, March 3, 1829. He is a son of 
John and Rachel (Pettit) Sheckler. The 
father was a native of Pennsylvania, and the 
mother of Virginia. They were married in 
Richland Co., Ohio, in 1820, and were the 
parents of eight childi-en — Elizabeth, Catha- 
rine, David, Thomas, John P., Christina, 
James and George. David is dead. Thomas 
and George are in Indiana, Christina is in 
Richland Co., and the balance are in Auburn 
Township, Crawford Co., Ohio. Mr. Sheck- 
ler died in 1860, and Mrs. Sheckler in 1835. 
They came to Auburn Township in 1821, and 
were of that class of pioneers that dangera 
and hardships did not daunt. Mr. Sheckler 
was said to have been one of the best and 
most respected men that are identified with 
Auburn Township's early history. His son 
John was reared on the farm. He received a 
good common-school education, and was mar- 
ried in 1862 to Lenora Ashley, a daughter 
of Ebenezer and Mary Ashley, and by her has 
the following family: Rachel E., born March 
9, 1863, and died Sept. 10, 1864; Mary, born 
Aug. 15, 1864, and E. Blanche, born Jan. 1, 
1867. Mr. Sheckler is a prominent Repub- 
lican and farmer in Auburn Township. He 
owns 112 acres of excellent farming land, and 
is highly respected by his friends and neigh- 
bors. 

JOHN H. TRAGO, fanner and stock-raiser; 
P. O. Tiro; was born in Auburn Township, 
Crawford Co., Ohio, May 31, 1840. His par- 
ents, Daniel and Sarah (Waters) Trago came 
from Pennsylvania to Ohio in 1838, locating 
in Auburn Township, Crawford Co. They 
were the parents of ten children — Samuel W., 
Ann E., Elmira, Agnes, Francis M., Vincent 
T., John H., Alice A., Mary and Morris W. 
The father was born May 8, 1796, and died 
in Richland Co., Ohio, Jan. 3, 1876. The 
mother was born Jan. 1, 1806, and departed 
this life May 22, 1871. Mr. Trago was one 
of the prominent and influential men of his 
neigliborhood, and a Quaker of sterling hon- 
esty and upright dealings. John H was 
reared upon a farm. Oct. 21, 1866, he was 
united in marriage with Nancy A., daughter 
of James and Jane Mount, of Richland Co., 



\ -^ 

-e^- 



876 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



and by her has foiir children — Fannie, born 
Sept. 1, 1867; Justus, bom May 28, 1S73; 
Andrew E., born Aug. 18, 1876, and John H., 
born July 9, 1879. Mr. Trago is a success- 
ful and enterprising farmer, owns 120 acres 
of well-improved land, and is a Republican in 
politics, and is highly respected by his friends 
and neighbors. 

MARY E. TRAGO, Tiro; was bom in 
Holmes Co., Ohio, in 1843. Her first husband 
was AVesley Dull, and by him she had two 
children — Malin M., born in 1867, and one, 
E. W., who died in infancy. Mr. Dull 
departed this life Jan. 23, 1867. Mrs. Dull 
remarried May 5, 1870, her second husband 
being Vincent T. Trago. She bore IVIi-. Trago 
two sons — Marion W., bom April 9, 1872, and 
Harry D., born Aug. 9, 1875. Mr. Trago was 
First Lieutenant in the late war, and was in 
some of the most hotly contested battles. A 
few of the principal engagements he was in 
are Shiloh, Corinth, Chickamauga, Kenesaw 
Mountain, Peach Tree Creek, Atlanta, Nash- 
ville, Columbia and others. It is said of him 
that he was a brave and kind officer, and a 
splendid soldier. Dm'ing the spring of 1880, 
he was sti'icken down with disease, and he 
died the death of a Christian, April 14 of the 
same year. His death was greatly deplored 
by his friends and neighbors, and especially 
by his devoted wife. JVIrs. Trago lives on the 
place, 160 acres, left by him. For a more 
detailed account of ]VIr. Trago's family con- 
nection, see the biography of his brother, 
John H. Trago, which will be found in an- 
other part of this work. 

B. S. VAN TILBURG, merchant. Tiro. 
One of the most prominent business firms of 
Tiro is I. & B. S. Van Tilbm-g, dealers in 
groceries, dry goods, notions, grain, etc. The 
junior partner, B. S., was born in Richland 
Co., Ohio, Nov. 1, 1851. His parents, Vin- 
cent and C. E. (Musser) Van Tilburg, were 
married in Ri -hland Co., Ohio, in 1849, and 
to them were born the following family: B. 
S., F. O., M. L., J. M., Eva M., Emma E., 
Charlie G., Ettie and Adda, and one who died 
in infancy. Our subject was reared on his 
father's farm. He received a good common- 
school education, and on the 19th of Febru- 
ary, 1878, he was united in marriage with 



Miss Elizabeth Bender, daughter of Jacob 
Bender, of Vernon Township, and by her has 
one daughter— Edith M., Ixjrn Sept. 24, 1878. 
Mr. Van Tilburg is a Republican, and mem- 
ber of the Lutheran Church. He owns a 
half-interest in one of the best stores in Tiro, 
Crawford Co., Ohio. 

IRA VAN TILBURG, merchant. Tiro; was 
born in Richland Co., Ohio, April 15, 1839. 
He is a son of Peter and Hannah [Kennedy] 
Van Tilburg, who were parents of twelve 
children — William, Margaret, Eliza, Nancy, 
Vincent, Frank, Kate, Mary, Maria, Ira, Mar- 
tha and Lovina. All of these are living except 
Frank, who died in California. Peter Van 
Tilburg was a native of New Jersey, and was 
born in 1802. Mrs. Van Tilburg was also a 
native of New Jersey, and was born in 1801. 
They were married in Jefferson Co., Ohio. 
IMi-. Van Tilburg died dvu-ing the fall of 1876, 
but his widow still survives him and is living 
in Mansfield, Ohio. The subject of this biog 
raphy passed his youth and early manhood on 
a farm, and going to school. When 19 years 
of age, he went to California, where he en- 
gaged in the mining business, which he fol- 
lowed in California and Nevada for ten years. 
On the 5th of October, 1868, he was united 
in marriage with Miss A. E. Ewing, daughter 
of J. D. Ewing, Esq., of California. To tins 
union was born one son — Frank, born Dec. 
22, 1869. The mother was born in March, 
1851. In 1871, Mr. and Mrs. Van Tilburg 
came to Richland Co., Ohio, Mr. Van Tilburg 
engaging in the mercantile business at Olives- 
burg. In 1873, he formed a copartnership 
with his nephew, B. S. Van Tilburg, at Tiro, 
Crawford Co., Ohio, under the fii'm name of 
I. & B. S. Van Tilburg. This was the first 
business house in Tiro. They started on a 
small capital, and to-day are one of the heav 
iest firms of any town in the coianty. Besides 
a general dry goods and grocery store, they 
run a butter and e^^ house separately, and 
are also the only grain-buyers at De Kalb 
Station. They keep a force of from fom' to 
five men constantly engaged. MJr. Van Til- 
burg is a radical Republican in politics, and 
is a hard and earnest worker in that cause. 

PETER WRIGHT, farmer; P O. Plym- 
outh; was born in Plymouth Township, 



-^|v 



SANDUSKY TOWNSHIP. 



877 



Richland Co., Ohio, January, 1835. There 
were born to his parents, Joseph and Christina 
(Kinnamen) Wright, five children — Peter, 
Sophia, Susanna, Manuel and Haymen. Peter 
was reared on a farm, and received a good 
common-school education. He was married, 
October, 1859, to Sarah Bevier, daughter of 
Alexander and Almira (Birch) Bevier. They 



have no children of their own, but have raised 
one child from infancy to manhood. Mr. 
Wright owns 80 acres of well-improved land. 
He is a member of the Church of God, and a 
Republican in politics. He is well informed 
on the issues of the day, and is a prominent 
citizen in northern Auburn Township. 



SANDUSKY TOWNSHIP. 



REV. JOHN B. BLAYNEY, retired clergy- 
man, Tiro. Rev. John B. Blayney, well known 
to the citizens of Ci'awford Co., was born March 
29, 1811, and is a native of the " Old Domin- 
ion." He is the son of George Blayne^' and 
Margaret Buchanan. His father removed from 
Virginia to Morrow Co., Ohio, where he died at 
the age of 70. John B is a graduate of Wash- 
ington College, Pennsylvania, and was licensed 
to preach in 1840. He first commenced his la- 
bors in Delaware Co., where he served various 
stations for about a year, when he was placed 
in charge of the new church at Iberia. He was 
the first Pastor of this Presbyterian Church, 
and so continued for twent}' years, during which 
time, by his labors, the church grew to be self- 
sustaining. Mr. Blayney did excellent work in 
this viue3'ard of Christ, and, as an instance of 
his good work, we may say that he never held 
a communion service but what some were ad- 
mitted to the church. He was married, in 
1840, to Tamar Elliott, who died in 1848, leav- 
ing two children — David B. and Tamar. Mr. 
Blayney was remarried, Oct. 30, 1851, to Mrs. 
Catharine Stockton Extell. Five children are 
of this marriage — John B., a Presbyterian cler- 
gy-man ; Francis S., a graduate of Wooster, who 
is also a minister, and who, in August, left for 
Omaha to commence his labors in the Master's 
vineyard ; Anna Mar}', Martha, Margaret, Sarah 
Catharine. The three last-named daughters 
are at home. Mr. Blarney was one of the gen- 
tlemen who organized the Central College at 
Iberia, which,is now quite an institution. He 
has now retired from the pulpit and is living 
on his farm, surrounded by all that tends to 
make life pleasant, and enjoying the respect of 
his neighbors. He has been distinguished as a 
devoted worker in the cause of Christ, and his 



reward will be given with the words of Script- 
ure, " Well done, thou good and faithful 
servant ; enter thou into the joys of thy 
Lord." 

CHARLES A. BROWN, farmer ; P. 0. Sul- 
phur Springs ; was born in Wittenberg, Ger- 
many, Nov. 13, 1831, and is the son of John 
and Rosanna (Gruber) Brown, or Braun, as 
it is in the original German. His parents came 
to the United States in 1832, and were thirty 
days in crossing the ocean. They first set- 
tled in Columbiana Co., and the following year 
removed to Crawfoi'd Co. and settled in this 
township, where Mr. Brown's father lived till 
his death in 1856. Here our subject was reared 
and schooled, and has always followed farm- 
ing. He has been a successful farmer, and 
has, b}' hard work and shrewd business habits, 
amassed considerable property. He is living 
now near the center of the township, and has 
a fine farm and pleasant home, being blessed 
with a good family of loving and bright chil- 
dren. He was married in 1871 to Lavinia Eas- 
terda}', of Vernon Township. They have four 
children — Wilson, Albertus, Milton and one 
unnamed. 

WILLIAM COX, retired farmer ; P. 0. Lib- 
erty Corners ; is the son of Emmor and Eliza- 
beth (Hough) Cox, and was born in Pickaway 
Co., Ohio, Aug. 12, 1805. His father was a na- 
tive of Pennsylvania, and was raised in Chester 
Co., where he lived throughout the Revolution. 
The subject of our sketch was reared on a farm 
in Franklin Co., eight miles southeast of Colum- 
bus. Here he received his education, his first 
teacher being Rhoda Goodrich, of Delaware 
Co. While a young man, Mr. Cox commenced 
teaching, and himself and brother were among 
the first school-teachers in Franklin Co. He 






Ml 



878 



BIOGEAPIIICAL SKETCHES: 



also continued at farming, and was married in 
1829 to Sarah Ward, of Franklin Co., who was 
born on Blennerhasset's Island. Two years 
after this marriage, in 1831, he came out to 
Ohio, and settled in Sandusky Township, thus 
being one of its oldest living pioneers. Here 
he followed farming, and also for several years 
was school-teacher during the winter, so that 
he is also one of the pioneer school-teachers of 
the county. Mr. Cox lived with his first wife a 
little over fifty 3'ears, and of this union there 
were eight children — Hannah Eliza djing at the 
age of 8, leaving the following now living 
and doing well : G. W. Cox, living in Paulding 
Co. ; Lydia Jane, Grreenwood, Mo. ; Margaret, 
near Upper Sandusky ; Emmor, in Crestline ; 
Sarah, Seymour, Indiana ; John, in Paulding 
Co., and Mary, the wife of Obadiah Fry, liv- 
ing in Sandusky Township. Mr. Cox was re- 
married, July 16, 1878, to Eliza Walter, widow 
of Antony Walter, of Sandusky Township, and 
they are now spending their last days in ease 
and retirement, honored and respected by all 
who know them. 

J. C. COLE, farmer ; P. 0. Biddle ; was born 
in Auburn Township, this count}", on April 
17, 1824. and is the son of Barnett Cole, 
who was one of the very earliest settlers of 
that section. Mr. Cole, the subject of our 
sketch, is one of the first white children born 
in Auburn, and is, therefore, one of the oldest 
living pioneers of the count}'. A short time 
after his birth, his father removed into Vernon 
Township, and settled below what is now called 
Liberty Corners. Mi'. Cole was brought up 
amid the difficulties incident to pioneer life, 
and was, like many others, educated in a rude 
schoolhouse. contrasting greatly with the com- 
modious structures of to-day. He was reared 
on a farm, but after reaching manhood he 
learned the trade of weaving fancy coverlets, 
and followed this trade for a number of 3-ears 
with good success. Since then, he has paid 
considerable attention to farming, and is now 
running a cider press on his place. By habits 
of industry he has gathered around him a nice 
property, and is one of the most respected citi- 
zens of his township. He was married in 1858, 
to Miss Mary A. Warner, of Vernon Township, 
a sister of P]squire Warner, of Liberty Corners, 
whose history occurs elsewhere. This union 
was blessed with nine children, three of whom, 
Amos, Sarah, and an infant, are dead. Those 



living are Samuel F., George, John B., Clara, 
Alexander and Albert. 

ANDREW DICKSON, Sr., farmer; P. 0. 
Sulphur Springs. Andrew Dickson, Sr., one 
of the prominent members of his family, is 
a son of Andrew Dickson and Sarah Frazer, 
and was born in Indiana Co., Penn., June 24, 
1811. He removed to this county at the age 
of 20, and has since resided here. He was 
married, first in 1833, to Mary T. Cummins in 
this count}', who died in 1834, leaving one 
child, Sarah J., who is the wife of J. D. Brown, 
of Tiro. Mr. Dickson was re-married in 1841, 
to Mary Clemons, who is still living. Nine 
children are the fruits of this union, three, how- 
ever, being deceased. Those living ai-e Mary 
Ann, wife of Geo. Johnson ; John Andi'ew, 
Eliza Catharine, Maria Celina, Elizabeth E., 
Hannah J. Mr. Dickson has been one of the 
prominent men of Crawfoi'd County, and by 
his integrity has won for himself a high place 
among his fellow-citizens. He has been en- 
gaged principally in stock-raising and farming, 
and it is said that his farm is one of the finest 
in the county. He has been Justice of the 
Peace for several years, and served two terms 
as County Commissioner. He was also Presi- 
dent for three years of the Crawford County 
Mutual Fire Insurance Company. In 1871, he 
was a member of the State Board of Equaliza- 
tion, of which Hon. W. S. Groesbeck, of Cincin- 
nati, was President. Mr. Dickson has been a 
prominent man in the aflfairs of his county, and 
his ability and good judgment entitle him to a 
front place among Crawford County's citizens. 
His family is one of the oldest in the county. 
Seldom have so large families been found 
where Christianity has been ever a controlling 
element, and whose members take delight in 
the ways of righteousness and paths of peace. 

A. D. GllOGG, farmer ; P. 0. Biddle ; was 
born April 25, 1847, in Liberty Township, this 
county, and is the son of Abraham and Anna 
(Bowers) Grogg, who are still living and highly 
esteemed residents of Liberty Township. Her 
father is a native of Pennsylvania, and came to 
this county from Stark Co., Ohio. The subject 
of this sketch was reared in Liberty Township, 
and received a good education, fitting him espe- 
cially for business life. His father has always 
been a farmer, and his son is now one of the 
most successful young farmers in Sandusky 
Township. He was married on Nov. 28, 1867, 



;|^ 



'k. 



SANDUSKY TOWNSHIP. 



879 



to Eliza Jane Cobb, of this county. They have 
three children living — Drusilla A., Daniel E. 
and Abraham L. ; two other children djnng 
when very young. Mr. Grogg is a life-long 
Republican, but is a man universallj- respected 
in his township, and, although it is strongly 
Democratic, he was recentl}' elected Justice of 
the Peace, but refused to serve. He is a man 
of enlightened opinions, and of that agreeable 
disposition that makes him popular with all. 

JOHN KNISELY, farmer; P. 0. North 
Robinson ; was born in Tuscarawas Co., Ohio, 
near what is now New Philadelphia, Jan. 20, 
1822 ; he is the son of Samuel Knisely, who 
was a native of York Co., Penn., and who was 
one of the earliest settlers in Sandusky Town- 
ship, coming here in 1828. He settled on the 
place now owned by Joseph Kniseh'. The sub- 
ject of our sketch was reared on a farm amid 
the privations of frontier life, and denied the 
educational privileges that now exist ; he, how- 
ever, being a man of considerable natural tal- 
ent and love of knowledge, improved himself as 
time and circumstances would allow, and ac- 
quired thereby a good self-education. He has 
a fine farm, well improved, and a fine residence 
which is an ornament to the neighborliood. 
He has served in several township offices, with 
credit to himself and satisfaction to his neigh- 
bors. He has been identified with the stock 
trade to a considerable extent, and is now one 
of the most efficient agents of the Mutual In- 
surance Company of Norwalk, Ohio, for which 
he is doing valuable work. He was married. 
June 10, 1846, to Elizabeth Esterline, of Ver- 
non Township ; they have four children living 
— Lydia Jane, Mary Louisa, William J. and 
Rosa Lucinda, all of whom are married and 
doing well. 

PHILLIP KELLER, farmer ; P. O. Sulphur 
Springs; was born in January, 1818, in North- 
ampton Co., Penn., and is the son of John H. 
and Maria (Engler) Keller. The family record 
can be traced back to the great-grandfather, 
and, being interesting, we have copied the record 
from the family Bible, as follows : Joseph Kel- 
ler, born March 15, 1719 ; died. Sept. 17, 1800. 
His consort, Maria I]. Good, born Sept. 15, 
1718; died April 22. 1802. Phillip Keller, 
born March 29, 1763 ; died Oct. 2, 1842 ; first 
wife, Sarah Miller, born Sept. 27, 1703 ; died, 
Oct. 16, 1804 ; second wife, Susanna Niemeier, 
born Nov. 22, 1770 ; died, Dec. 4, 1859. John 



H. Keller, born Dec. 24, 1786 ; died Sept. 10, 
1867. Maria Engler, born July 4, 1797 ; still 
living in Bnc3-rus, aged 83. The family history 
of the Kellers is very interesting. Two broth- 
ers of Phillip (grandfather to our subject) 
were in the Revolution, and in most of the 
hard-fought battles under Gen. Washington. 
In the family of Mr. Keller's father, there were 
six brothers and two sisters, of whom Phillip 
is the oldest. Two brothers, Amos and Aaron, 
were killed at the battle of "Stone River,'' dur- 
ing the late war. His father removed from 
Northampton Co., Penn., to this State in 1856, 
settling in this county, and Mr. Keller has been 
engaged in farming ever since. He was mar- 
ried in 1845, to Hannah Stocker, in Pennsylva- 
nia. IMost of his life has been spent in farm- 
ing, except some four years in which he taught 
school. He has living, seven children — Maria 
B., Sabina E., John Henry, Ellen S., Abbie L., 
Lydia Ann, Francis Amos. Those deceased 
are Susanna and Sarah Ann. Mr. Keller has 
been Justice for some time, and is now Presi- 
dent of the Crawford Co. Mutual Fire Insurance 
Company. He has a fine home, is surrounded 
by a loving family, and has gathered around 
him the requirements and many of the luxuries 
of life. Mr. Keller is a Republican, and a man 
held in high esteem throughout the county. 

JOSIAH KELLER, faraier ; P. 0. Tiro ; was 
born in Noi'thampton Co., Penn., Oct. 14. 1846, 
and is the son of Joseph and Lavinia (Kline) 
Keller. He received a good education, and at 
the age of 11, he with his parents removed to 
this State, settling where the son now lives. 
The father is now a respected and esteemed citi- 
zen of Annapolis. The subject of our sketch 
has lived on a farm, and has been a successful 
farmer. He was married in May, 1871, to Miss 
Maggie Reynolds, of Kansas. Of this mar- 
riage there have been three children — Lillie D., 
born Dec. 22. 1873 ; Lavinia B., born April 7, 
1877, and died Nov. 30, 1879, and an infant 
born on the 8th of January, 1880. Mr. Keller 
is an enterprising, successful farmer, a man of 
enlightened views, and a Christian gentleman. 
He is a Republican in politics, and has alwaj's 
clung to that faith. He is a member of the 
church, and in every wa}' an upright and sub- 
stantial citizen. 

LEWIS LITTLER, farmer ; P. 0. Leesville ; 
was born in Hardy Co., Va., Dec. 13, 1811. and 
is the son of Abraham and Sarah (Moore) Lit- 



^l 



'k. 



880 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



tier. His father was a farmer, and remained in 
Virginia until 1832, when he removed to Craw- 
ford Co., Ohio, and settled in Jefferson Town- 
ship, where he lived until his death. His father, 
Thomas Littler, was engaged in the Revolution 
under Washington. Lewis' father was born 
June 24, 1780, his wife, Sarah Moore, was born 
Nov. 9, 1783. They were married the 11th of 
June. 1803. The fruits of this union were 
eleven children, as follows : Nathan, born Jan. 

12, 1804; Mahala, April 19. 1806 ; Joel, Jan. 
31, 1808 ; Scotty, Nov. 26, 1809 ; Lewis, Dee. 

13. 1811; Elizabeth. Nov. 30, 1813; Isaac, 
Oct. 30, 1815 ; Magdalen, June 3, 1817 ; Dor- 
sey, March 21, 1819; Cecelia, May 16, 1821 ; 
William, Oct. 9, 1823. Lewis was one of the 
pioneers of Sandusky Township, and was 
obliged to work very hard in order to succeed ; 
he has always been a farmer, and a successful 
one. Mr. Littler has been a prominent citizen 
of the county, and has served in several posi- 
tions of trust ; he was County Commissioner 
for two terras, and is counted as one of the 
best Commissioners that the county ev^er had. 
He was married Oct. 14, 1841, to Mary Cham- 
bers, of Jackson Township, who was born in 
Washington Co., Penn., March 21, 1812. They 
have had six children — AVilliam S., born Nov. 
3, 1842 ; Abraham D., July 29, 1844 ; Sarah P]., 
May 3, 1846 ; Emeline C, May 30, 1848 ; John 
W., April 1, 1850; Frank P., in December, 
1852. Mr. Littler is one of the most substan- 
tial citizens of his township, and has a fine 
home, surrounded by all that makes life pleas- 
ant. 

R. B. McCAMMON, farmer and stock-raiser ; 
P. 0. Sulphur Springs ; was born in Ohio Co., 
W. Ya., Sept. 19, 1841, and is the son of James 
and Mary (Blayney) McCammon. His father 
is still living on the old homestead, where he was 
also born and raised. Mr. McCammon removed 
to this State and county in 1867, and settled in 
Sandusky Township. He was a soldier in the 
12th W. V. I. under Hunter and Sigel, and, later, 
under Sheridan and Grant, at the surrender of 
Appomattox. He was married in this township 
Oct. 13, 1838, to Sarah E. Stephenson, whose 
father, John Stephenson, was one of the most re- 
spected citizens of the community; he died Sept. 
2, 1879 ; his wife died in March of the same year. 
Mrs. McCammon is now the only child living, 
a brother being dead. Mr. JMcCammon is one 
of the enterprising business men of his town- 



ship, and, although young, has control of more 
land than any man in it, his farm compris- 
ing 607 acres of as good land as there is in the 
county. He has been successful as a farmer, 
and has a great amount of energy. He is a 
gentleman that one likes to meet, and has a 
pleasant, hospitable home, in the very center of 
the township. They have four children — Lee 
Anna, Edmund, Francis Milton and John Ste- 
phenson. 

OLIVER P. McKEP: HEN, farmer ; P. 0. Sul- 
phur Springs ; is the son of Samuel and Elizabeth 
(Anderson) McKeehen, and was born in Indiana 
Co., Penn., May 27, 1838. His father removed 
to Ohio when our subject was quite young, and 
settled in Richland Co., and then near De Kalb. 
He next removed to near Leesville, and then 
to Loudonville, and from there to Sandusky 
Township and located on the farm now owned 
by his son Oliver P. Here our subject lived 
till he was 22, and worked on the farm. After 
one more year spent in work for his father, he 
commenced buying and shipping stock, and 
followed this until after the war, being verj'^ 
successful. He then I'ented his father's farm 
and farmed it for three years, after which he 
bought 60 acres opposite his present farm, and 
lived there three and a half 3'ears, when his 
house was burned to the ground. He soon after 
bought the farm where he now lives, of his 
father, and has been living there ever since, 
having built upon it a fine brick residence and 
otherwise improved it, so that it is one of the 
best and most desirable in the township. He 
was married Nov. 29, 1865, to Martha J. Smith, 
daughter of Alexander Smith, whose biographj' 
appears elsewhere in this work ; they have six 
children — Laura Etta, Charles Edgar, Clara 
Edith, Anna Eurilla, Oliver Francis and Smith 
Lero3^ Mr. McKeehen has been one of the 
most enterprising and successful farmers of his 
vicinity, and is a man held in high esteem by 
all who know him. 

JAMES NAIL, farmer; P. O. Sulphur 
Springs ; is the oldest living settler of Craw- 
ford Co., and is one of those noble-hearted 
pioneers who are quicklj' passing away, and 
who will soon be gone, leaving only history and 
tradition to tell the tale of their suffering and 
privations. James Nail came to this county, 
and made a settlement in 1817, in the south- 
east corner, near Gallon. Here he lived until 
1822, when he married Susan Brown, this mar- 



& 



SANDUSKY TOWNSHIP. 



881 



riage being the first ever solemnized in the 
county, Ml. Nail being compelled to go to Del- 
aware for a license. His son, Henry Nail, now 
living in Grant Co., Mo., was perhaps the first 
white child born in the county. Mr. Nail tells 
strange and interesting stories regarding early 
times. He was born in 1797, and is conse- 
quently at this time at the advanced age of 83. 
He is one of the grand old gentlemen of his 
township, being genial and hospitable, with a 
kind word for ever^'body, and has always been 
a man who commanded the respect of all who 
knew him. 

AARON RADER, farmer; P. 0. Sulphur 
Springs. One of the most prosperous farmers 
of Crawford Co., is Aaron Rader, who, with his 
family has been a resident of the county since 
1856. He was born. May 29, 1817, in North- 
ampton Co., Penn., and is the son of Peter 
Rader and Catharine Fried. Mr. Rader, during 
the early da3's of his manhood, learned milling, 
and followed the business for a number of years, 
and later engaged in farming. He was mar- 
ried 8th of September, 18-10, to Sabina Bauer 
and their union has been blessed with several 
children, eight of whom are yet living, one hav- 
ing died recently. They are as follows — Owen 
Henr\r, James Peter (deceased), Enos G., 
Franklin, Maria Catharine, Jacob Thomas, 
John David, William Benjamin Francis Owen. 
Owen H., James P. and Enos George were in 
the late war, enlisting in the 49th 0. V. 
I., and were in the battle of Stone River 
along with the Keller boys, of whom mention 
is made in the history of Phillip Keller. Mr. 
Rader's children have all been well educated, 
and are now all in splendid circumstances. 
They are all of them young men of estimable 
worth and ability. Two are in Clyde, Ohio, 
engaged in business; Jacob is agent for the 
Clyde Nurser}', and the others are engaged in var- 
ious pursuits, James B. was at one time Post- 
master at Bucyrus, and afterward was a Gov- 
ernment clerk in the Treasury Department at 
Washington. He was an estimable young man 
of promise. He died at Bucyrus, Jan. 7, 1880, 
of consumption, in the very prime of his man- 
hood. He was born April 1, 1843, being, at 
the time of his death, 36 years of age. Mr. and 
Mrs. Rader are estimable people, who stand 
high in their community. They have a pleas- 
ant and beautiful home, and are in possession 
of a fine farm. Mr. Rader is a man of noted 



integrity, is a steadfast Republican, as are also 
his sons. 

WILLIAM A. ROBERTSON, farmer ; P. 0. 
Leesville ; was born in Jefferson Co., Ohio, May 
27, 1809, and is the son of David and Sarah 
(McCune) Robertson. His father and mother 
were both natives of Pennsylvania. He settled 
in Ohio in 1793, and was married in that State 
in 1796. William lived in Jeflferson Co., Ohio, 
for many years, and was engaged there in the 
woolen mills. With his family he removed to 
Jefferson Township, Crawford Co., in 1856, 
where he now owns a farm. He is now living 
in Sandusk}^ Township, on the farm of his 
brother, who died about a year ago. He was 
married, in 1834, to Sophia Dean, in Jefferson 
Co. She is a native of Pennsj'lvania. There 
are now living the following children : David, 
Robert, Abbie J., Elizabeth and Margery. Mr. 
Robertson and all his family are earnest Chris- 
tians, and are well educated and well read. Mr. 
Robertson is a stanch Republican and a hospit- 
able Christian gentleman. His son, David Rob- 
ertson, is one of the best read and informed 
men in the township, possessing a large and 
comprehensive library, and being also a great 
lover of art and literature. 

ALEXANDER SMITH, farmer ; P. O. Sul- 
phur Springs , was born in Washington Co., 
Penn., June 2, 1821, and is the son of Joseph 
and Jane (Hogan) Smith. His father was born 
in Pennsylvania in 1797, and came first to Ohio 
in 1821. He entei-ed 160 aci'es of land and 
settled on it permanently in 1825, being one of 
the earliest settlers in the township, there being 
but five families then there. He settled on the 
land now owned by his son. He lived here and 
exerted himself to improve his land until his 
death, in 1843, at the early age of 46. The 
subject of our sketch was left, as the eldest of 
six children, to look after the interests of both 
farm and family, which he did in a creditable 
manner, working hard and being economical. 
He earl}' took a livel}' interest in religion, and 
has been, throughout his life, a consistent, earn- 
est Christian worker, who has devoted much 
time and means to the advancement of Christ's 
cause. He was one of the earliest residents of 
his township, and is now probably the oldest 
living settler. He was married, in 1843, to 
Nancy Jane Dicks, of Columbiana Co. Of this 
marriage, there are five children living — Martha 
Jane, Joseph Marion, Porter Willis, Ada and 



883 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



Alexander. Phoebe Murilla and Tabitha Ann 
are dead. Mr. Smith has been one of the most 
successful farmers of the township, and is one 
of its most prominent men. 

WILLIAM R. STONE, farmer ; P. 0. Tiro; 
was born in Washington Co., Penn., Jan. 2, 
1826, and is the son of Adam and Mary Love 
(Robinson) Stone. His father was born in Jef- 
ferson Co., Ohio, seven miles from Steuben- 
ville, on Island Creek. His mother was born 
on Cross Creek, Washington Co., Penn. Mr. 
Stone removed to this State with his parents 
when he was 5 j-ears old. at a time when it was 
as yet in its infancy, being wild and unculti- 
vated. Here Mr. Stone endui'ed all the priva- 
tions of pioneer life in bringing up the land to 
its present state of cultivation. His father 
lived here until his death, d^ing at the age of 
75, his wife having died some time pl-evious. 
He was a carpenter and cabinet-maker, and 
learned his trade with Barney McNutt, of 
Pennsylvania. He made the first coffin in this 
township, and also one of the first barns. In 
1850, Mr. Stone went to California, remaining 
there two years, and returned to his farm in 
Sandusky Township. He was married, in Feb- 
ruary, 185-J-, to Mary Ann George, of Pennsyl- 
vania. Her folks are at present residents of 
Clarke Co., Mo. Of this union, thei*e were four 
children : Viola, the eldest, is married to 
George W. Cole, and living in Sandusky Town- 
ship ; Amanda Eleonora and Eva Esther are 
those that are living ; James, the only son, was 
born in 1858, and was a j-oung man beloved 
by all who knew him. He was taken sick May 
27 with t^'phoid pneumonia, and died June 8. 
He was a young man of whom any father 
might well be proud. His death was greatly 
lamented, and he was laid to rest in Sandusk}' 
burial-ground, followed by the largest con- 
course of any funeral ever held in the town- 
ship. Peace to his memor}', for peaceful is his 
rest, as he awaiteth the day of final meeting in 
the land where partings shall be no more. 

SAMUEL STONEffarmer; P. 0. Tiro; was 
born on the place where he now lives, June 25, 
1832. He is the son of Samuel and Mary 
(Robinson) Stone, who came from Pennsylvania 
in 1831 and settled in Sandusky Township. 
At the time of their settlement, there were few 



residents of the township, and the subject of 
this sketch was consequently inured to the 
hardships and privations of pioneer life. He 
was reared on a farm, and received a fair edu- 
cation. His life has been spent in tilling the 
soil, and all but four 3'ears has been on the 
farm of his father. He was married, Sept. 14, 
1858, to Elizabeth Dickson, of Vernon Town- 
ship, a daughter of Jonathan Dickson, nil sis- 
ter of James Dickson, Jr., whose biography ap- 
pears elsewhere in this work. Of this union 
there are three children — Lottie Elizabeth, Ella 
and Clifton. Mr. Stone is a man of enlight- 
ened views, and his famil}^ has been given the 
advantages of education, so that their home is 
one of liberal culture and refinement. 

ADAM WERT, farmer ; P. 0. North Robin- 
son ; was boi'n in Dauphin Co., Penn., June 5, 
1817. He is the son of one of the earliest set- 
tlers in Sandusky Township, his father coming 
here in 1826, when Mr. Wert was but 9 3-ears 
old. He has ever since been a resident of the 
township. His father was a man of religious 
principles, and much devoted to the success 
and furtherance of the cause of Christ. To his 
honor it may be said that he inaugurated the 
first Sunday school ever held in the county. 
He was one of the first to help in the organiza- 
tion of a church, and was throughout his life 
an Elder, and a devoted worker and worshiper 
in the vine3'ard of his IMaster. Twent^'-five 
3'ears ago he died, an old man, yet honored in 
his old age, and respected by all who knew him 
as a man who loved righteousness and eschewed 
evil. His sons all followed in his footsteps, and 
are of those who are living faithful and upright 
Christians. The subject of our sketch was mar- 
ried, in 1840, to Mary Mc3Iannis, a native of 
Penns\'lvania. There were nine children of this 
union, all of whom are living — William H. is 
in Putman Co. ; Sarah Elizabeth in Sandusky 
Co. ; Peter F. in Richland Co. ; Matilda Ann in 
Sandusky ; A. J. in Williams Co., while Nicholas 
B., John A., Mary Emeline and Belle are at 
home. His children are all doing well, and 
have been brought up in accordance with those 
principles of religion and right which have 
governed ihe lives of their father and father's 
father before them. 



^ 



f^ 



jy< 






WHETSTONE TOWNSHIP. 



883 



WHETSTONE TOWNSHIP. 



MICHAEL AUCK, Bucyrus. Christopher 
Auek, father of Micliael, was born in Wnrtem- 
berg, Germany, Jan. 31, 1813. He received a 
good education, and, when quite young, entered 
a sliop, serving an apprenticeship at the tailor's 
trade. In 1831, he came to tlie United States, 
and located in Pennsylvania, where, in 1841, he 
was united in marriage with Miss Rachel Wag- 
ner. From this marriage were three children — 
Michael and Elizabeth living — Mary, deceased. 
He removed from Penns3lvania to Crawford 
Co., Ohio, in 1848, and purchased a farm in the 
" Gibson Neighborhood." His wife died Sept. 
2, 1875. He was maiTied to Mrs. Catharine 
Flick Sept. 7, 187G. Michael Auck was born 
in Lycoming Co., Penn., July 23, 1842. He 
received a good common-school education, and 
has been doing business for himself ever since 
he reached his majority, although he and his 
parents always made their homes together. He 
was united in marriage with Miss Caroline 
Ehman Sept. 20, 18(56. She was born in Wur- 
temberg, Germany, Feb. 9, 1845. There are 
six children from this union — Mary J., John C, 
Lucy E., William H., Priscilla S. and Samuel E. 
Mr. Auck owns 204 acres of well-improved land, 
and is one of the prominent and influential men 
of Whetstone Township. He is the present 
Township Treasurer. He is a Democrat in 
politics, and a member of the German Reformed 
Church. 

JOSEPH ALBRIGHT, retired, Bucyrus; 
was born May 1(J, 1801, in Huntingdon Co., 
Penn. His parents, Daniel and Hester (Wag- 
ner) Albright, wei'e also natives of the Keystone 
State, where they lived during their lifetime. 
This family of Albrights are descended from 
three brothers of that name, who came from 
Germany to America in colonial times. As a 
famil}', the}' are noted for their frugality, mo- 
rality and force of character. These character- 
istics have manifested themselves in the sub- 
ject of this sketch in a noticeable manner 
throughout his long and eventful lifetime. At 
a very early age, he was placed in his father's 
brick^^ards, where he was kept to work earl}' 
and late, receiving but little or no education. 



He remained with his father until about 27 
years of age, although after reaching his ma- 
jority, he had an interest in the business. His 
marriage with Miss Hannah Jury was solem- 
nized Oct. 11, 1827. She was born in Loudoun 
Co., Va., March 1, 1809. They are the parents 
of ten children— Daniel B., Emanuel, Joseph J., 
George W., John T., Mercia, Hannah and Frank 
living — Sarah A. and Hester A., deceased. In 
1830, he and his young wife left their native 
State and came overland to the then new and 
sparsely settled county of Crawford, Ohio. He 
began burning brick soon after his arrival, and 
has to a greater or less extent burned and man- 
ufactured brick and tile ever since. The first 
piece of land he purchased was 20 acres of un- 
improved woodland. From this he has gone 
steadily forward until he now owns about 600 
acres of well-improved land. In all his under- 
takings in life, he has found in his good wife a 
sound counselor and ready helpmeet, and it is 
in a great measure owing to this good woman's 
help and advice that he has been successful. 
He and wife have been, for a number of 3'ears, 
members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 
Mr. Albright was formerly an Old-Line Whig, 
but, on the organization of the Republican 
party, joined its ranks, and was, during the late 
war, an uncompromising Union man. He is an 
upright Christian gentleman, and one of Craw- 
ford Co.'s best citizens. 

HENRY ALBRIGHT, farmer ; P. 0., Gallon ; 
was born in Dauphin Co., Penn., Sept. 17, 1827. 
He is the son of John and Sarah (Shafer) Al- 
bright, who are natives of the Keystone State, 
their marriage occui-ring there in 1816. In 
1829, they came to Crawford Co., Ohio, per- 
forming the journey in about a month, in a 
three-horse wagon, settling in Whetstone Town- 
ship, and entering 73 acres of land on Sec. 22. 
Mr. Albright was a boot and shoe maker, and 
after his arrival in the township, for quite a 
number of years, worked at his trade in con- 
nection with farming. His death occurred in 
1866, under peculiar and distressing circum- 
stances. On the 1st of May, of the last-men- 
tioned year, Mr. Albright "had in his house 



^ 



-^ — 4^^ 



884 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



about $400 in money, together with considera- 
ble jeweh-y. These facts having become known 
outside of the family, aroused the avarice of 
unknown parties, five or six of whom, com- 
pletely disguised with masks and paint, came 
to the house one night and demanded the 
money. Having been refused their demands, 
they set upon Mr. Albright and beat him terri- 
bly, inflicting the same punishment upon his 
son John, who had come to the assistance of 
his father. To save their lives, they were 
forced to give up their hard-earned monej?^, 
whereupon the robbers departed. Mr. Albright 
was so badi}' injured, that, after lingering until 
August of the same year, he died. The crimi- 
nals were never identified, although suspicion 
and some quite strong evidence pointed to 
some near neighbors as having a hand in the 
crime. Mrs. Albright died Dec. 4, 1874. 
Eight children were born to these parents, three 
sons and five daughters, seven of whom sur- 
vived the parents. Henry Albright's youth 
was passed, like that of other country boys, on 
the farm at hard work. He began for himself 
when of age, and was married to Miss Savina 
Weirick Jan. 4, 1854, who was born in Penn- 
sylvania. She became the mother of four chil- 
dren, as follows : Matilda, Agnes, Isaac and 
John. She died in 18G6. On the 24th of Sep- 
tember, 1867, Mr. Albright married Miss Laura 
Noblit. This lad}- was born in Bucyrus, Ohio, 
Nov. 26, 1840 ; she bore her husband three 
children — Charles H., George F. and Ida M., 
all of whom are yet living. Mr. Albright owns 
226 acres of well-improved land. He is a 
pi'ominent Republican, and is nicely situated 
as regards this world's goods. 

SAMUEL BOGEN, farmer; P. O. North 
Robinson ; was born in Gettysl)urg, Penn., Jan. 
1, 1816. He is the son of John H. and Mar- 
garet (L3'nd) Bogen. both of whom were natives 
of Maryland, where they were married and re- 
sided some years afterward. They then moved 
to Pennsylvania ; from there to Virginia, and 
thence to Stark Co., Ohio, in 1835. They came to 
Crawford Co., Ohio, in 1848. where they resided 
until their death. The father died Feb. 9, 1859, 
and the mother in 1869. They were the par- 
ents of seven children, six of whom are yet 
living. The father practiced medicine, a pro- 
fession he followed very successfully all his 
life. Samuel was raised upon a farm, receiving 
the advantages of a common-school education. 



He was united in marriage with Miss Charlotte 
Bowers Nov. 12, 1838. She was born in Stark 
Co., Ohio, May 16, 1821. From this union 
there are eleven children, viz., Sjdvester, Eme- 
line M., Martha J., Sylinda, Emanuel L., Mary 
E., Sarah A., William S., Rebecca C. and Tabi- 
tha E., living ; Amelia M., deceased. Mr. Bo- 
gen began life as a poor boy, and has made 
what he now possesses by close attention to 
business, combined with honesty and industry. 
He owns 101 acres of land, all of which is un- 
der a good state of cultivation. He is an un- 
compromising Republican, and one of the most 
honored and respected citizens of Crawford Co. 
DANIEL C. BOYER, farmer ; P. O. Bucy- 
rus ; son of Christian and Elizabeth (Gottshall) 
Boyer; born Nov. 14, 1822, in Schuylkill 
Co.. Penn. Christian Boyer was born March 
1, 1799, and removed with his wife and family 
to Crawford Co., in September, 1842. He pur- 
chased of Martin Shaffner 160 acres in Whet- 
stone Township, just southeast of Bucyrus, pay- 
ing for this land $30 per acre. He also bought 
the 80 acres in Buc3-rus Township, just west of 
his Whetstone form, and 36 acres north of this 
land. After living in Crawfox'd Co. nearly ten 
years, he died May 8, 1852. Elizabeth Boyer, 
his wife, died June 24, 1863. The subject of 
this sketch removed to Crawford Co. with his 
parents, and, shortly afterward, on Nov. 13, 
1842, married his half-cousin, Miss Phoebe Boyer, 
who was born Feb. 15, 1819. She was the 
daughter of John and Catharine Hunsinger 
Bqyer. Her father was a half-brother to Chris- 
tian, and had removed to Crawford Co. several 
years previous to 1842. For many years, he 
kept an inn on the Bucyrus and Gallon road, 
some three miles from the former town. This 
pioneer died at the advanced age of 83 years 
and 9 months, on Dec. 12, 1874. For about 
twelve months after Daniel and Phoebe were 
married, they I'esided on John Boyer's farm, 
and the owner paid his son-in-law $75 a year 
for his labor. This was considered good wages 
at that time. In 1844, the .young couple re- 
moved to the Whetstone form of Christian 
Bo\xr, and, in about two j^ears, Daniel pur- 
chased the 160 acres from his father, agreeing 
to pay him $5,000 for the farm. This was at 
the rate of $31.25 per acre. This farm, their 
present residence, the}' have owned and occu- 
pied for over thirty years. They were the par- 
ents of several children — Andrew Melancthon 



WHETSTONE TOWNSHIP. 



885 



was born Jan. 16, 1846 ; Edwin Henderson was 
born Sept. 26, 1847, and died Oct. 27, 1848; 
Ida May was born Nov. 12, 1854, and died 
Jan. 27, 1858. Their eldest son and only living 
child, Andrew Melancthon, was married on May 
3, 1864, to Miss Tillie J. Freeburn, and they 
are the jjareuts of one child — Ida May Boyer. 
About 1853, the subject of this sketch accepted 
the agency of the Manny Reaper and Mower 
for the counties of Crawford, Seneca and Wyan- 
dot. He continued at this business for some 
nine years. He was more successful than at 
any other occupation, and was considered one 
of the best agents employed by the company. 
The last 3'ear of his agency he was in partner- 
ship with Mr. Deal. About 1850, he purchased 
from the Brehmens two machines — a Husse}' 
Reaper and a Hussey Mower. They were the 
first reaping and mowing machines ever brought 
to Crawford Co., and were used b}' D. C. and 
J. C. Boyer for several ^-ears to do their own 
cutting. Several years after, he purchased the 
first combined reaper and mower ever brought 
to the county. About 1860. he attended the 
Ohio State Fair at Zanesville, and noticed a 
Hubbard machine, which he purchased. It was 
the first Hubbard tBachine sold to a Crawfoi'd 
County farmer, and is still in use on Boyer's 
farm. Previous to 1840, Martin Shaffner built 
a rude threshing machine, which was possibly 
the first one operated in the count}-. Shaffner 
sold this to the Boyers, who ran it for several 
years. About 1858, Boyer purchased of Aaron 
Cary, for $60, the first piano ever brought to 
Bucyrus. Cary purchased this about 1850, of 
Mr. C. H. Shonert, who, several years previous, 
brought the instrument from Germany. In 
1856, Boyer removed to Bucyrus, and resided 
for some two years on the southwest corner of 
Charles and Walnut streets. During this period, 
he was engaged in the mercantile business with 
his brother Eli, the firm he'ing styled D. C. Boyer 
& Co. Mr. Boyer is at the present time the 
largest dealer in thoroughbred Spanish merino 
sheep in Crawford Co., and possibly the largest 
raiser of imported sheep. He commenced breed- 
ing Spanish merino sheep about 1861, and, in 
September, 1863, purchased, for $1,200, in part- 
nership with D. J. Twitchell, the three-year-old 
Spanish merino ram, " Sweepstakes." This was 
the most expensive sheep ever brought to Craw- 
ford Co., and Mr. Boyer relates that it was the 
best investment he ever made. His large barn 



is well adapted to sheltering these animals in 
bad weather, and, at the present time, he has 
175 head of the imported Spanish merino sheep. 
He has served for many 3'ears as Superintendent 
of the Sheep Department at the annual fairs 
of the Crawford County Agricultural Society. 
When this association was re-organized in 1867, 
he served as President for one year, and was 
also, for several ^-ears. President of the Agri- 
cultural Joint Stock Co. He is at the present 
time General Agent of the Crawford County 
Farmer's Fire Insurance Co. Daniel Bojer 
united with the Lutheran Church, April 9, 1841, 
while a resident of Pennsj-lvania. His wife, 
Phcebe Boyer, has been a member since June 
17, 1837. Mr. Boyer has been an active mem- 
ber of the St. Paul Lutheran Church of Bucjtus 
for nearly forty j^ears. Twenty-nine 3'ears of 
this period he has served in the Church Council ; 
three years as a Deacon, and twenty-six 3'ears 
as an Elder. 

PETER BEACH, farmer; P. O. Gallon; was 
born in Crawford Co., Ohio, Nov. 16, 1842. He 
is the son of Adam and Margaret (Simmer- 
maker) Beach, both of whom were natives of 
Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany. They were mar- 
ried in this count}', to which both had come 
with their parents in the year 1833. They 
were the parents of six children, four of whom 
are yet living. The father was an industrious 
man, and respected bv all who knew him. He 
died in 1850. His wife survives him, and is 
one of the oldest living settlers of the township. 
Peter was raised upon a farm, receiving but a 
limited education. When he was 13 j-ears of 
age, he took charge of the home place, which 
he now owns. It consists of 171 acres, upon 
which are good, substantial farm buildings. He 
was married to Miss Amanda Cook Feb. 6, 
1868, who was born in Crawford Co., Ohio, in 
1849. They have two children — Ellen M. and 
Tina M. Mr. Beach is a member of the Ger- 
man Reformed Church, and a Democrat. He 
is one of the Trustees of Whetstone Township, 
and a prominent and influential citizen. 

GEORGE BREHM AN, farmer; P. 0. Bucy- 
rus ; was born in Franklin Co., Penn., Jan. 26, 
1825. He is the eldest of a family of ten chil- 
dren born to John and Frances (Stach) Breh- 
man. John Brehman removed from Pennsyl- 
vania to Crawford Co., Ohio, in 1828, settling 
on the tarm now owned by his son George in 
Whetstone Township. He was a wagon-maker 



M'. 






BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



by trade, and in that early day his services 
were highly prized, for there were few men of 
that trade who settled in Crawford Count}^ in 
that day. He was a very industrious man, 
working early and late, and doing much gratui- 
tous work for the settlers as the}- came into 
the neighborhood. His two sons, George and 
John, were kept constantly at work clearing 
the land he had entered, while he worked at his 
trade. George from early youth to the present 
has been noted for his industry, force of char- 
acter and strict business habits. He was mar- 
ried March 12, 1850, to Miss Hettie Reiter. 
She was born in Pennsylvania April 12, 1829. 
From this union there are ten children — Erae- 
line, Mai'tha, Matilda, George, Amanda, Me- 
linda and Eli, living ; John, Ephraim and Clara 
deceased. He owns 183 acres of well-improved 
land in Whetstone Township, and is one of the 
prominent and successful agriculturists of the 
county. He is a Democrat politically, and has 
held numerous positions of honor and trust in 
his township. 

JOHN BREHMAN, stock- raiser and farmer ; 
P. 0. Bucyrus ; was born Feb. 15, 1827, in 
Franklin Co., Penn. He is the second son of a 
family of ten children, of John and Frances 
(Stach) Brehman, who came from Pennsylvania 
to Crawford Co., Ohio, in 1 828. The Brehmans, 
as well as the Stachs, are of German descent, 
the grandfathers on both sides being natives of 
that country ; they were frugal, industrious 
people, and secured to themselves and families 
a goodly share of this world's goods. The sub- 
ject of this sketch was but 1 year of age at the 
time his parents came to Crawford Co. He re- 
ceived but a limited education, as he and his 
brother George, as soon as old enough, were 
kept constantly at work clearing up the farm. 
When 23 3'ears of age, he purchased 100 acres 
of land, paying but little down for it. He had, 
however, an indomitable will, and knew no such 
thing as fail. It was not many years until this 
was paid for and additions made to it. He now 
owns 2G0 acres of well-improved land, upon 
which are as good buildings as are to be found 
in the township. He was united in marriage 
with Miss Eliza A. Shrull March 14, 1850. 
She was born in Crawford Co., Ohio, July 14, 
1833. From tliis marriage were nine children, 
four of whom are now living — Stephen, John 
A., Hattie A. and Eliza E. Mr. Brehman has 
held a number of offices in Whetstone Town- 



ship, and is a Democrat in politics, and a lead- 
ing citizen. 

MARTIN BACON, retired ; P. 0. Bucyrus ; 
was born in Mentor, Ohio, Jul}- 30, 1809, his 
parents being Ralph and Mary (Jourden) Bacon, 
the former a native of New York and the latter 
of Penns3-lvania. When the father was 8 years 
of age, he was bound out to a man named 
Heath, near Boston, Mass. At the end of four 
years, he returned to his parents, and remained 
with them until he was 17 years of age, when he 
returned to Ohio, locating near Painesville. He 
acquired some property, and became acquainted 
with the lady who afterward became his wife. 
In 1820, the father came with his family to 
Crawford Co., Ohio, traveling by wagon with 
two yoke of oxen and one horse. The father 
had come out the previous year and located his 
land and made a deposit on it, designing to com- 
plete the purchase when the land became mar- 
ketable, which event occurred in 1820. There 
were but two houses in Bucyrus when they 
passed through it on their journey out. The 
father entered 240 acres of land, and his patents, 
which were signed by President Monroe, are 
now in possession of Martin Bacon, his son. 
The}- endured all pioneer privations and sacri- 
fices which fall to the lot of the first settlers in 
a country. The mottier died Oct. 5, 1843, and 
the father followed her June 15, 1849. The 
parents settled on 80 acres of land in what is 
now Liberty Township, though the balance of 
their 240 acres was adjoining, but across the 
line, in Whetstone Township. At the age of 
20 years, ]Martin Bacon bought the farm of his 
fatlier, upon condition that the son should 
maintain his aged parents and raise the younger 
ones of the family, which consisted of thirteen 
children, all of whom reached their majority. 
This he did successfully. Dec. 15, 1833, he 
married Miss Jane Kemmis, who was born in 
Washington Co., N. Y., May 10, 1808. The 
wife bore her husband seven children — Clark, 
Warren N., Mary and William A., now living, 
and Clarissa, Cliarles W. and George W., de- 
ceased. Mrs. Bacon died July 2, 1872. Mr. 
Bacon owns 381 acres of fine land, having made 
it all by hard labor and privation. He was a 
Whig, and is at present a Republican ; he is 
also a consistent member of the Advent 
Church. He is one of the most prominent and 
honored citizens of the county. Though bur- 
dened with the weight of years, he is yet strong 



r 



WIIETSTOXE TOWNSHIP. 



887 



and hearty. Though a Republican, he has held 
the office of Justice of the Peace in a Demo- 
cratic Township. No citizen is more highly 
respected than Martin Bacon. 

JOHN L. CASKEY, carriage-builder, North 
Robinson. This gentleman's mother died when 
he was about three years of age, and he 
was taken by Timoth}- Winterhalter to raise, 
in whose service he remained until the age of 
17 3' ears, where he served an apprenticeship of 
three years, learning the carriage-making trade 
at Sulphur Springs, after which he worked as a 
journejman one 3ear for the same man, and aft- 
erward one 3'ear in Bucyrus. He came in 
compan}' with Lewis Helcker to North Robin- 
son, in which village he built a blacksmith and 
carriage shop. He did a good business for a 
number of years, until the introduction of cheap 
and inferior work in the county* greatly injured 
his trade. He has the reputation of being a 
first-class workman, and his buggies are well 
known for their durability and superior excel- 
lence. No second or third class work leaves 
his shop, which at times has been manufactur- 
ing quite extensively. His birth occurred in 
Chatfield Township Sept. 24, 1847. His par- 
ents were natives of Pennsylvania, and the 
father when a young man came to Stark Co., 
Ohio, where he was married. The father, Levi 
Caskey, is yet living at the count}- seat. He 
lived in Tuscarawas Co., Ohio, for a number of 
years, where he kept a tavern. John L. was 
united in marriage in 1874, to Sarah Ambros- 
hier, who was born in W3'andot Co., Ohio, 
March 2, 1855. Two children have been born 
to this union, as follows : Lyle and Clayton. 
Mr. Caske}', besides his commodious and ex- 
tensive shops, owns a niceh' improved property 
and residence in the village. He is a member 
of the Bucyrus Lodge, No. 139, A., F. & A. 
M., and is an intelligent and enterprising gen- 
tleman. 

EDWARD CAMPBELL, farmer ; P. O. Bu- 
cyrus. In the spring of 1824, this gentleman, 
then but a small boy, was brought b}' his father 
to Crawford Co., Ohio. The father was a poor 
man, and all the money he could raise was onl^^ 
sufficient to enter 80 acres of land. During 
his first few years in the township, he owned 
neither an ox nor a horse team, and what little 
farming he did was without the assistance of 
those valuable aids, except what little he re- 
ceived from the neighbors ; but, notwithstand- 



ing his poverty, he became one of the most 
prominent and influential men in the county. 
He held the office of Justice of the Peace for 
twenty-seven years, and was finally elected two 
terms to the Ohio Legislature by the people of 
Crawford Co., where he advanced the interests 
of the State and county by his judgment and 
deliberation. While serving as Justice of the 
Peace, his decisions were rarely reversed when 
appealed to the higher courts, proving the ac- 
curacy and excellence of his mind and judg- 
ment. This useful man died in 1865, greatly 
lamented b}- those who knew him. His wife's 
death had occurred in 1857. Edward's birth 
occurred in Wa^-ne Co., Ohio, Dec. 16, 1816. 
His parents were John and Mar}* (Jones) Camp- 
bell, both natives of Penns^'lvauia, where their 
youth was passed, and from where thej moved 
while 3'et children. Their marriage occurred in 
Wa3'ne Co. Edward was raised on the farm, 
and has, b}'^ his own exertions and business sa- 
gacit3', acquired a large, valuable farm of 656 
acres. He was one of a famil3' of nine children, 
four of whom are 3-et living. He began the 
battle of life when of age, though he remained 
on the old farm. He was united in marriage 
with Miss Amanda Tupps on the 4th of Janu- 
ar3', 1838. His wife was a native of Pennsyl- 
vania, her birth occurring there on Sept. 20, 
1820. Four children were born to this union, 
three of whom are 3'et living — Samuel K., John 
B. and Lottie J., living ; and Catharine, de- 
ceased. Mr. Campbell, though a Democrat un- 
til the organization of the Republican part}', is 
now a member of the latter. He is a member 
of the Disciple Church, and, during his divers- 
ified business career, has shown sufficient sa- 
gacit3' to accumulate much propert3' in land, 
and place it in permanent shape. 

JOHN COOK, Gallon ; was born in Hesse- 
Darmstadt, Germany, Jan. 14, 1816. He is 
the son of Peter and Elizabeth (Miller) Cook, 
both of whom were natives of Germanv, where 
the3^ were married and resided until 1830, 
when the3' came to the United States. They 
stopped for four years in Franklin Co., Penn., 
after which they came to Crawford Co., Ohio, 
where they resided until their deaths. Tlie 
father was a tailor, and after his arrival in 
Crawford Co., worked at his trade for a num- 
ber of years, although farming was his chief oc- 
cupation He bought thirty-seven acres of 
land, and began to work hard and economize. 



j^ 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



He had a family of four children, two of whom 
are yet living. The father died in 1835, and 
the mother in 1858. Both were good neigh- 
bors and citizens. After the family came to 
Ohio, John worked on a farm for some time, 
and afterward learned the plasterer's trade, 
serving an apprenticeship of two years. He 
plastered in Biicyrns and adjoining towns for 
several j^ears, working hard and making con- 
siderable money. By hard work and a judi- 
cious expenditure of his savings, he finally be- 
came the owner of 340 acres of fine land. This 
fine farm was afterward parceled out to his 
children, until he owns but ninety-one acres at 
present. His wife was Miss Sarah Deebler, to 
whom he was married in 1839. This lady was 
born in Pennsylvania, in 1819, and bore her 
husband ten children, five sons and five daugh- 
ters. Of these, four sons and four daughters 
are yet living, as follows : Henry, Isaac, George 
W., John L., Elizabeth, Christina, Amanda and 
Sarah J.; those deceased are Mary A. and 
Samuel. ]Mr. Cook is a prominent Democrat, 
and is a member of the German Reformed 
Church. He is a well known and influential cit- 
izen, and is highl}^ respected in his neighbor- 
hood. 

E. G. CHAMBERS ; P. 0. Bueyrus ; he was 
born in the city of Dublin, Ii-eland, June 4, 
1819, and is the son of Edward Chambers, also 
a native of the Emerald Isle, and a carpenter by 
trade. The father died in Ireland, in 1823, and 
the mother soon followed him. Ten years after- 
ward, Mr. Chambers, then an orphan of 14 years, 
came to the United States, landing in the city of 
New York, where he began working on the Dela- 
ware & Raritan Canal, remaining there four 
months. He was the only one that could read in 
his party of workmen, and was employed by the 
company to conduct the men from New Jersey 
to Dedham, Mass., to work on the Boston & 
Providence R. R. He remained with the com- 
pany fifteen months, and, after working on a 
farm about eight months longer, he came to 
Bueyrus, Ohio. He stopped three years with 
his uncle, Charles Chambers, who had come to 
Ohio a number of years before. He learned 
the carpenter's trade, and, after working at it a 
few years, married Miss Elizabeth Henderson, 
a native of Pittsburgh, Penn. His children 
are William H., Charles C, Rachel J., Celestia 
E., Lucy PI, Edward F. and James W. There 
has been no death in this family. After his 



marriage, he attended Oberlin College, gradu- 
ating there in 1848. He taught school in Bu- 
eyrus six months, and then took charge of the 
union schools of Groveport, Ohio, remaining 
there three years. He then began devoting his 
time in endeavoring to secure the passage of a 
bill in Congress to establish a stage and tele- 
graph line between the Missouri River and the 
Pacific Coast. Although the project fiailed at 
the time, yet the wisdom of having overland 
communication with the " South Sea " was 
soon demonstrated, and the " Pony Express " 
was established. In 1856-57, Mr. Chambers 
was paymaster at Buc3'rus for the P., Ft. W. & 
C. R. R., after which he farmed until 1861. He 
went to Washington, D. C., two days after Lin- 
coln's first inauguration, and secured the posi- 
ticm of Clerk of the Committee on Territories, 
of which Mr. Wade was Chairman. At the 
called session of Congress, shortly after Lin- 
coln's inauguration, he was appointed Seeretar}' 
of the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the 
War, Mr. Wade being Chairman of this com- 
mittee also. After the dissolution of the com- 
mittee, he was employed by the Secretary of 
the Senate to prepare an alphabetical list of 
private claims made to the United States Sen- 
ate. He superintended the construction of the 
harbor at Frankfort, Mich., remaining there 
two years. He returned to Bueyrus in 1867, 
and has remained on his tarm the most of the 
time since. While in Washington, D. C, in 
1865, he assisted in giving Hon. James A. Gar- 
field the Royal Arch Degree in xMasonry, and 
the attention of that gentleman's biographers 
is respectfully called to this fact. Mr. Cham- 
bers is the Secretary of the Crawford County 
Agricultural Society, and has been Secretary of 
the Crawford County Mutual Insurance Com- 
pany. He is eminently a self-made man ; is a 
Republican ; owns 240 acres of land in Craw- 
ford Co., and 3,000 in Benzie Co., Mich. 

JOHN DEEBLER, farmer P. 0.; Bueyrus. 
This gentleman was born in Union Co., Penn., 
on Nov. 25, 1816, and is the son of John G. 
and Mary M. (Wise) Deebler, both of whom 
were natives of Pennsylvania, where they were 
raised, married and resided, until 1828, when 
they came to Crawford Co. They came over 
the mountains in a three-horse wagon, in com- 
pany with two other families, all of whom set- 
tled near the center of Whetstone Township. 
Mr. Deebler entered the land now owned by 



.|v 



WHETSTONE TOWNSHIP. 



889 



his son, and it took all his money to do so. 
He was a carpenter by trade, which he worked 
at in connection with farming. Many of the 
houses in the township were built by him, some 
of which are yet standing monuments to his 
skill and industry. Both parents are now 
dead. The subject of this sketch worked for 
his father upon the farm, until he had reached 
his majorit}', after which he took charge of the 
place, his parents remaining with him until 
their death occurred. He was united in mar- 
riage with Magdalena Heinlen on Aug. 20, 
1843. She was born in Pickaway Co., Ohio, 
on June 20, 1822. There were born by this 
union eight children, five of whom are yet liv- 
ing — Sarah R., Anna E., Rebecca L., John L., 
and Amanda S. The names of those who died 
were — Mary M., George and Samuel. Mr. Dee- 
bler owns 285 acres of land, upon which are 
good substantial farm buildings. The greater 
portion of this property he has accumulated by 
his own exertions. He has held a number of 
positions of honor and trust in this township, 
and is respected by all who know him. Politi- 
cally he is a Democrat, though liberal in his 
views of men and things. 

PETER EBY, North Robinson ; was born in 
Perry Co., Ohio, May 21, 1811. His parents. 
John and Eve (Bixler) Eby, were both natives 
of the "Keystone"' State, where they were mar- 
ried, and resided until 1804, when they removed 
to Fairfield Co., Ohio, remaining there until 
the fall of the same year, when they removed 
to Perry Co., where they passed the remainder 
of their lives. The father died in 1830, and 
the mother six years later. They were the 
parents of twelve children, only three of whom 
are yet living. Peter Eb}^ passed his youth 
and early manhood, assisting his father upon 
the farm. He received such education as the 
schools of that early day atforded, and when 
about 20 years of age began for himself He 
was united in marriage with Miss Rebecca 
Guisinger Oct. 9, 1831. She was born in 
Pennsylvania, in 1809, and died Feb. 10, 1842. 
Mr. Eby married for his second wife Miss 
Matilda Guisinger, a native of Perry Co., Ohio, 
where she was born April 12, 1822. Five chil- 
dren were born of the first marriage — George 
S., Elias v., Sarah, Matilda and Joseph P. Six 
were born of the second — Jacob H., Barbara, 
John, Emma, Lincoln and Viola J. In 1837. 
Mr. Eby came to this county, which he has 



since made his home. He has for many years 
been a member of the United Brethren Church, 
and has done a great deal to elevate the stand- 
ard of morality in the community in which he 
lives. He began life as a poor boy, and has 
obtained his nicely improved farm of 100 acres 
by his own exertions. In politics he is a Re- 
publican. There are few men in the county, 
better or more favorably known than Mr. P^by, 
and, had the county more such men, it would 
be much better off. 

PHILLIP EBERT ; P. O. Bucyrus. This 
gentleman was born in York Co., Penn., March 
12, 1812 ; he is the son of Daniel and Susan 
(Ernst) Ebert, both natives of the " Keystone 
State," and the parents of four children, three 
of whom are yet living. This family of Eberts 
are descended from a man by that name who 
came from German}^ to York Co., Penn., in 
1741. Daniel Ebert was a miller by trade, a 
business he followed in his native State until 
1855, when he made a trip to Baltimore to col- 
lect some money due him. From that time to 
the present, he has never been heard of by his 
famil}' or friends. It is supposed be was mur- 
dered for his money either in Baltimore or on 
his way home. Phillip Ebert, up to the time 
he was 15 years of age, had received but a 
common-school education. He then attended 
the York Academ}' some time, after which he 
studied Greek and Latin for a year or more, 
under a private instructor. In the spring of 
1831, he entered the office of Dr. Jameson, of 
York, with whom he remained about three 
years. He graduated from the Washington 
Medical College, of Baltimore, in March of 
1834. He began practicing at Duncannon, 
a town sixteen miles west of Harrisburg, 
Penn. He remained here actively engaged in 
his profession twenty-five years. He was a 
very successful practitioner, and by economy 
accumulated considerable property. He came 
to Crawford Co., Ohio, in 1864, and purchased 
a farm of 200 acres, and has since devoted his 
time to the improvement of his farm. He has 
held, during his life-time, many positions of 
honor and trust. He was. for a number of 
years. Associate Judge of Perry Co., Penn. 
He was united in marriage with Miss Letitia 
Mitchell, April 15, 1835 ; she was born in Bucks 
Co., Penn., Feb. 21, 1817. From this union are 
ten children— Susan C, Edgar E., Martin L., 
Charles M., Miriam A., Henry S., Horace M., 



vj 



M: 



890 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



Newton E. and Letitia L., living ; George T)., 
deceased. Dr. Ebert is a Democrat, a consist- 
ent member of the Lutheran Church, and a 
self-made man in the fullest sense of the word. 

SAMUEL FONSER, Bucjrus. Prominent 
among the younger men of Whetstone Town- 
ship is Mr. Fonser. His parents, George and 
Susan (Nelson) Fonser. were among the first to 
settle in central Whetstone, although both came 
to the count}' previous to their marriage. The 
father was a native of Wurtemberg, German}-, 
and the mother of Pennsylvania. The father 
was a shoemaker by trade, and worked at his 
trade and on his farm after his marriage. He 
died in 1868. The wife married a Mi*. Rudolph, 
and now resides in Bucyrus. Samuel Fonser 
was brought up on a farm, receiving a good 
common-school education. He was married to 
Miss Catharine Hagar in 1872. She was born 
in Germany in 1850. They have two children 
— John J. and Anna E. Mr. Fonser is a Demo- 
crat, a member of the German Reformed Church, 
and is an intelligent Christian gentleman. He 
owns 160 acres of well-improved land, upon 
which are good farm buildings. 

MRS. RACHEL GIBLER, Gallon. This 
lady was born in Crawford Co., Ohio, Aug. 22, 
1837. She is the daughter of John and Sarah 
(Kieffer) Sherer, prominent mention of whom is 
made in another part of this work. Our sub- 
ject was married to Mr. Adam Gibler in 1859. 
He was a native of Carroll Co., Ohio, and came 
from there, when a young man, to Crawford 
Co., where he became acquainted with the lady 
who afterward became his wife. He was a 
hard-working man, loved by his family and 
universally respected by all who knew him. He 
departed this life in 1871. Since Mr. Gibler's 
death, his wife has remained upon the farm, 
and attended to its cultivation and improve- 
ment. She takes an interest in all educational 
enterprises, and has managed to give her chil- 
dren superior advantages for obtaining more 
than an ordinary education. She is the mother 
of six children, four of whom are now living — 
Mary PI, Isaac E., Sarah B. and John W. ; those 
deceased were named OUie E. and Samuel M. 
Mrs. Gibler owns 127 acres of land, all of 
which is under a good state of cultivation. She 
is aconsistentraember of the Lutheran Church, 
and an influential and much respected lady. 

JOHN GIBSON ; P. O. Bucyrus ; this gen- 
tleman is of Scotch-Irish descent, his birth 



occurring in Pennsylvania Jan. 8, 1812. He 
is the eldest of a family of nine children, six 
sons and three daughters born to George 
A. and Hannah (Buchanan) Gibson, both na- 
tives of the above State. The family resided 
in Pensylvania until 1838, when they left the 
old home and came to the new one in Crawford 
Co., Ohio, where the father died in 1848. 
Shortly after this, the widow moved with her 
family to Wyandot County, where she likewise 
died in 1872. In 1835, Mr. Gibson, then a 
young man 23 years of age, came to Crawford 
County. He had previously traveled over sev- 
eral States, viewing the country ; but, liking 
Crawford County, he purchased 80 acres of 
school land upon which he yet resides. On the 
15th of April, 1837, he was united in marriage 
with Miss Martha Matthews, who bore him one 
child, Martha. Mrs. Gibson died Sept. 22, 
1838, and on the 15th of April, 1841, Mr. Gib- 
son married his second wife. Miss Mary A. Kerr. 
This lady was born in Franklin Co., Penn., 
March 4, 1822, and has borne her husband 
eleven children, ten of whom are living — Mar- 
garet A., Hannah E., Andrew H., George B., 
James McG., Emma A., John E., Charley E., 
Delia J. and Leafe L., living ; and Mary B., de- 
ceased. Mary A. Gibson is the daughter of 
Andrew and Margaret (Campbell) Kerr, natives 
of Franklin Co., Penn., who came to Crawford 
Co., Ohio, in 1826, entering a small piece of 
land and suffering all the hardships of pioneer 
life. They were among the earliest settlers in 
the county, and are closely identified with its 
history. Mr. Kerr died in 1 880, aged 85 years, 
and his wife yet survives him at the advanced 
age of 88 years, being one of the oldest living 
settlers in the county. Mr. Gibson owns 150 
acres of land, and is one of the most prominent 
citizens in the county, engaging actively in 
educational enterprises, and in all movements 
to insure the prosperity and happiness of the 
human race. He has always found a warm 
assistant and sympathizer in his good wife, 
whose womanly heart never tires of well-doing. 
Mr. Gibson is one of the few Republicans in 
the county. The family are members of the 
Presbyterian Church. 

SAMUEL G. HEVERLY ; P. 0. New Win- 
chester. Mr. Heverly was born July 21, 
1845, in Whetstone Township, Crawford Co. 
He is one of a fiimily of seven children born 
to John L. and Christina (Miller) Heverly, 






WHETSTONE TOWNSHIP. 



893 



who came from Penns3lvania to Crawford Co., 
Ohio, about the jear 1840. Both parents were 
nativ'es of Wurtemberg, Germany, but were 
married in Pennsylvania Jan. 29, 1828, where 
they resided until their removal to Crawford 
County. The father was a weaver, and for 
years after he came to Ohio was employed 
during the winter months working at his trade. 
He died Aug. 14, 1873, followed b}^ his wife, 
July 10, 1878. Samuel G. was reared upon his 
father's farm, receiving a common-school edu- 
cation. He was united in marriage with Miss 
Olive A. Miller, Nov. 4, 1869. She was born 
May 26, 1847, in Marion, Ohio. They are the 
parents of four children — Edward H., Rosa D., 
John H. and Orrie G. Mr. Heverly is a stal- 
wart Republican, and a member of the Method- 
ist Episcopal Church. He owns 120 acres of 
well-improved land, is one of the prominent 
and influential agriculturists of Crawford Co. 
HENRY HARRIGER, farmer ; P. 0. Bu- 
cjTUS ; is one of the most intelligent and influ- 
ential men in Whetstone Township. He was 
brought up on a farm, and when 21 was given 
charge of the place, which he improved, and 
which soon repaid him with a goodly share of 
this v/orld's goods. His birth occurred on the 
30th day of August, 1832, in Crawford Co., 
Ohio, and his parents were Henry and Catha- 
rine (Greenhoe) Harriger. The father was a 
native of Penns3lvania, and when a young man 
went to Stark Co., Ohio, where he married, and 
lived until 1823, when he came to Crawford 
Co. and purchased the farm upon which the 
subject of this sketch lives at present. The 
father had really entered the land (160 acres) 
in 1822, but had immediatel}' returned to Penn- 
S3lvania, from whence, after remaining a few 
months, he went to Stark Co., selected and mar- 
ried his wife, and finall}^ settled on his farm in 
Whetstone Township, in 1823. This man was 
a soldier in the war of 1812, and fought with 
distinction against the tj^ranny of Great Britain, 
and was one of the men who lived to see that 
struggle terminate in favor of the United 
States. He became a useful and intelligent 
citizen in the township, one whom his neighbors 
delighted to honor, and one whose integrity and 
honor were unquestioned. His trade was shoe- 
making, which was followed in connection with 
the cultivation of the soil, for a number of 
years. Himself and wife were given a family 
of nine children, four of whom are 3'et living. 



The father died in 1878, and the mother in 
1862. Henr3' Harriger was married to Sarah 
E. Robison May 12, 1861 ; this lady was a na- 
tive of Penns3'lvania, her birth occurring March 
20, 1841 ; she bore her husband a family of six 
children, as follows : Katie A., DimmaE., Lor- 
etta, James F., Laura B. and Janetta. Henry 
and his brother Mike live upon the old farm 
of 120 acres, in which both have an interest. 
The brothers are good, thrift3' farmers, who en- 
deavor to conduct their farm after the plans 
which experience has shown to be the best and 
most profitable. They are industrious, but do 
not ostentatiousl3- parade their industry ; on 
the contrar3', being sober and quiet, swerving 
neither to the right nor to the left, for fear or 
favor. It can be truthfully said that Whet- 
stone has no more useful citizens than Henry 
and Mike Harriger. 

JOHN HEINLEN, butcher, Bucyrus ; is the 
son of Lewis and Rachel Heinlen. He was 
born in Pickaway Co., Ohio, on July 29, 1829, 
and remained a resident of his birth-place 
until the age of 2 years, when his parents re- 
moved to Crawford Co. and settled in Whet- 
stone Township. There 30ung Heinlen grew to 
man's estate, and received such advantages in 
schooling as the newness afforded. At the age 
of 20 3'ears, he began working at the carpen- 
ter's trade, which he followed for three 3'ears, 
and then gave it up and turned his attention to 
farming. He was probabl3^ induced to make 
this change through the gift of 50 acres of land 
from his father, which was situated in Bucyrus 
Township. This he afterward sold, and then 
bought a number of acres in Whetstone, where 
he resided for two 3'ears, and then sold out and 
removed to Marion Co., where he resided near 
the town of Three Locusts for twelve 3'ears. In 
1867, he again became a resident of Crawford 
Co. and Whetstone Township. In two 3ears, 
however, he again returned to Marion Co., but, 
in a couple of years, he again came to the old 
township of Whetstone, where he now owns a 
finely-improved farm of 200 acres, and where 
he still resides. In 1878, he rented the meat- 
market of J. R. Miller, of Bucyrus, where Mr. 
Heinlen is now doing business, though he still 
runs his farm. July 6, 1851, he was married 
to Miss Eliza Winters, of Winchester, Crawford 
Co. They have seven children living, named as 
follows: Andrew J., Henry S., Amanda, Lavina 
L., James, William and Charles ; those deceased 



^ 



^£ 



894 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



were Samuel and Mary. Mr. Heinlen and his 
wife are both members of the M. E. Church and 
have, for many years, been classed among the 
honorable and reputable class of the community. 

SAMUEL F. HEINLEN, farmer ; P. 0. Bu- 
cyrus ; was born in Bucyrus Township, Craw- 
ford Co., Ohio, July l,'l833. His father, J. 
Lewis Heinlen, was born in Wurtemberg, Grer- 
many, April 9, 1799, and, when about 18 years 
of age, came with his parents to Lancaster Co., 
Penn., where they remained some two j'ears, 
then removed to Franklin Co., same State. 
Here the famil}' resided until 1828, when they 
removed to Crawford Co., Ohio. J. L. Heinlen, 
while residing in Franklin Co., Penn., was mar- 
ried to Miss Hannah Wise. She was born in 
Union Co., Penn., Dec. 10, 1809. From this 
marriage were eleven children, six of whom are 
yet living. J. L. Heinlen is one of the oldest 
and most respected citizens of Crawford Co. 
His life has been one of great hardships. His 
parents had to borrow money from a fellow-pas- 
senger to pay their passage to the United States. 
Upon their arrival here, J. L. was bound out to 
this man to cancel the debt. He worked three 
3'ears for this man, and, although not receiving 
a cent for his labors at the end of that time, 
had a good suit of clothes and $7. He has been 
interested in nearl}- all the enterprises that have 
had a tendenc}' to build up the" community in 
which he lives, or benefit his fellow-man. Sam- 
uel F., the eldest of his eleven children, remained 
at home, assisting him on the farm until 22 
years of age, at which time he began for him- 
self For a number of years, he and Emanuel 
Keis, a brother-in-law, ran a threshing machine. 
He purchased 90 acres of land in Marion Co., 
Ohio, upon which he lived some years, and then 
sold and bought an adjoining farm of 160 acres, 
where he resided until his removal to Crawford 
Co., in 1879. He now owns a nicely improved 
farm of 171 acres, in Whetstone Township. He 
was united in marriage with Miss Catharine 
Keis March 24, 1860. She was born in Ly- 
coming Co., Penn., May 6, 1840. From this 
marriage are three children — William H., Mar- 
garet A. and Sarah L. Mr. Heinlen is a Demo- 
crat in politics, and a member of the German 
Reformed Church. He has held a number of 
offices in the townships, in which he has lived, 
and is a respected and honored citizen. 

SAMUEL HEINLEN, farmer ; P. 0. Bucy- 
rus ; was born in Whetstone Township, Craw- 



ford Co., Ohio, April 19, 1832. His parents, 
Lewis and Christina (Siger) Heinlen, came 
from Germany to the United States in 1817. 
The father was a single man at this time, but, 
after his arrival in Pennsylvania, married Miss 
Siger. They were the parents of eleven chil- 
dren, nine of whom are now living. The father 
was a tailor by trade, but, after his coming to 
the United States, he engaged in agricultural 
pursuits, which he followed during his lifetime. 
He, with his family, came to Crawford Co., 
Ohio, previous to 1830, and were among the 
first settlers of Whetstone Township. He and 
wife were intelligent people, and much respect- 
ed by their friends and neighbors. Samuel 
was raised upon his father's farm. He had but 
limited advantages for obtaining an education, 
as the schools were scarce, and his services 
were needed upon the farm. When 21 years 
of age, he began for himself with only a horse, 
which his father had given him. He possessed 
a great amount of energy, and it was not long 
until he owned 40 acres of land. He has kept 
buying and trading until he now owns 130 
acres of well-improved land. He was married 
to Miss Margaret Keis Feb. 11, 1857. She was 
born in Pennsylvania Feb. 3. 1834. From this 
union there are five children — William A., 
Lewis F., Reuben E., Mary E. and Edward C. 
Mr. Heinlen is one of the prominent Demo- 
crats and successful farmers of Crawford Co. 
He and his wife are consistent members of the 
Evangelical Church, and have given their chil- 
dren superior advantages for obtaining educa- 
tions. 

JACOB KIESS ; P. 0. Bucyrus ; was born 
in Lycoming Co., Penn., in 1811. He is the 
son of Christopher and Christina (Sheets) Kiess, 
both of whom were natives of Wurtemberg, 
Germany, where the}' were married, and resid- 
ed until 1806, when they emigrated to the 
United States, locating in Lycoming Co., Penn., 
where they passed the remainder of their days. 
Jacob lived at home until he was 26 years of 
age. About this time, he purchased 100 acres 
of land in his native county, and began the im- 
provement of it. He was married to Miss 
Catharine Rott in 1837. She was born in Ly- 
coming Co., Penn., in 1811, and died there Dec. 
12, 1840. The fruits of this union were two 
children— Lydia and Jonathan. Mr. Kiess 
married his present wife, Catharine Daker, in 
1844. She was born May 12, 1816. From 






WHETSTONE TOWNSHIP. 



895 



this union there are seven children — Simeon, 
Christina, Daniel, Joseph, Samuel, Margaret 
and William. Mr. Kiess came to Crawford Co. 
in 1851. He owns 395 acres of well-improved 
land, which he has obtained b}^ his own exer- 
tions. He is a Democrat ; a member of the 
Evangelical Church, and a much respected and 
honored citizen. 

REV. JOSEPH KESTER, Bucyrus ; was 
born Nov. 1, 1829, in Whetstone Township, 
Ci'awford Co., Ohio. His parents, Jacob and 
Saloma (Wize) Kester, removed from Union 
Co., Penn., their native State, to Crawford Co., 
Ohio, in 1828, and entering 80 acres of land 
near the center of Whetstone Township. They 
were the parents of eight children, six of whom 
are 3'et living. The father was an educated 
man, and held, during his lifetime, many re- 
sponsible positions in Crawford Co. He de- 
parted this life Aug. 2, 1878. His wife died 
Oct. 5, 1866. Joseph Kester received the ad- 
vantages of a common-school education, and 
remained upon his father's farm until about 24 
years of age. He was united in marriage with 
Miss Sevilla Shroll Jan. 20, 1853. She was 
born in Crawford Co., Ohio, March 30, 1829, 
and is the daughter of Abraham Shroll, one of 
the first settlers of Crawford Co. Mr. Kester 
was, for a number of years, actively engaged 
in politics, and was elected to numerous posi- 
tions of honor and trust, always faithfully serv- 
ing his constituents. In 1866, he moved to 
Marion Co., where he remained until 1877, 
when he removed to Wayne Co., and from there 
to his native county in 1879. Since 1866, he 
has been a minister of the German Reformed 
Church. He is a man of much more than or- 
dinary ability, and his services are highly ap- 
preciated wherever he labors. He is a Demo- 
crat, though conservative in his views. He 
owns 80 acres of land in Marion Co., Ohio, and 
240 acres in Wright Co., Iowa. In his family 
were nine children, eight of whom are now 
living — Henry J., Joseph F., Nanc}' J., Eliza 
A., Sarah S., Elizabeth, Lydia M. and Mary M. 
The deceased was named John A. Crawford 
Co. has no better citizen than Mr. Kester. 

J. G. KELLY, Bucyrus. This gentleman 
was born in Columbiana Co., Ohio, Feb. 25, 
1832. He is the son of Samuel and LA'dia 
(Marshall) Kell}', who were natives of Pennsyl- 
vania, where thej' were married, and resided 
until 1826, when they removed to Columbiana 



Co., Ohio, where they remained until 1835, and 
then came to Crawford Co., locating in the 
southern part of Whetstone Township. They 
were the parents of seven children, all of whom 
are yet living. The father was an exemplai'y 
Christian gentleman, and helped to organize 
the first Baptist society in the township. He 
died in 1862. His wife survives him, and is 
a resident of the township. J. G. was raised 
upon his father's farm, receiving a common- 
school education. In 1854, he went, by way of 
the Isthmus of Panama, to the then newly dis- 
covered gold-fields of California. He remained 
on the Pacific Slope six years, and was en- 
gaged in mining, teaming, etc., etc. After his 
return to Ohio, he engaged in farming, a bus- 
iness he has since followed. He was united in 
marriage with Miss Lj'dia Campbell in 1861. 
She was born in Crawford Co., Ohio, in 1829. 
From this union there are five children, viz., 
Ida B., George B. and Mary M., living ; Imas 
and Mary B., deceased. Mr. Kelly began life 
as a poor boy, and is, in the strictest sense of 
the word, a self-made man. He owns a nicely 
improved farm of 256 acres in the township, 
and is one of the leading and successful agri- 
culturists of Crawford Co. He is a stanch 
Republican in politics, and a member of the 
Baptist Church. 

SAMUEL KIEFFER ; P. 0. Bucyrus. Among 
the old settlers of Whetstone Township is Mr, 
Kieffer. He was born in Som.erset Co., Penn., 
May 8, 1807. His father, Adam KieflTer, came 
with his parents from Germany to America 
previous to the Revolutionary war. They re- 
sided near the site of Valley Forge, Penn.. dur- 
ing that war. Adam Kiefier was married in 
Somerset Co., Penn., to Miss Susanna Rhodes, 
and remained in that count}' until 1812, when 
he removed to Stark Co., Ohio. In 1825, he 
came to Crawford Co. and settled on the farm 
now owned by his son Samuel, who, when 21 
years of age, began for himself His father 
gave him 30 acres of land, which he improved, 
sold, and then purchased a portion of the farm 
he now owns. He was married to Miss Catha- 
rine Jones Nov. 11, 1830 ; she was born in 
Wayne Co., Ohio, Jan. 12, 1811. From this 
union there were nine children, four of whom 
are now living — George W., Rebecca, Letta and 
John ; the deceased were named Franklin, 
jNIilon, Samuel, Sarah and an infant son. Mrs. 
Kieffer departed this life June 24, 1877. Mr. 



896 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



KiefFer was united in marriage to Mrs. Mar- 
garet Williams Sept. 5, 1878. Mr. Kieffer at 
one time owned over 600 acres of land, but he 
has given liberally to his children and to char- 
ity. He now owns 200 acres of well-improved 
land. He is a Kepublican, and a consistent 

MARTIN KEHRP]R, farmer ; P. 0. Bucyrus. 
This gentleman is a native of Lycoming Co., 
Penn, where he was born on the 6th of April, 
1813. He is the sou of John and Margaret 
(Sherer) Kehrer, who came from Germany to 
Pennsylvania in 1805, where they resided until 
1834, when they came to Crawford Co., Ohio, 
and located on the farm now owned by Jacob 
Hurr. Many years before coming to Ohio, in 
1819, the mother died in Pennsylvania. The 
son, Martin, had come to Crawford Co., how- 
ever, in 1833, in search of a home, but had soon 
returned to his native State, and, the following 
\^ear, the father came with his son to the new 
home in the West. In the j^ear 1838, Martin 
returned to Pennsylvania, and, while there, was 
united in marriage with Miss Nancy Bruck- 
lacher, the lady being a native of Pennsylva- 
nia ; the young couple immediately went West, 
to Crawford Co., Ohio, to the home Martin had 
selected. Here they have since resided, labor- 
ing and economizing, endeavoring to surround 
themselves with comforts for their declining 
days. Mr. Kehrer and lady have two children 
— Daniel and Catharine by name — both of 
whom are married and living on the home 
farm. Mr. Kehrer has passed his life on a farm, 
and is thoroughly conversant with all the de- 
tails of farm management. He has often held 
positions of trust in the township, and is one 
of Whetstone's best citizens. He is a Demo- 
crat in politics, and owns 212 acres of fine land. 
He made his son the handsome present of 80 
acres of land. There were seven children in 
the elder Kehrer's family, four of whom are yet 
living. The father died about seventeen j'ears 
after coming to the State. The members of the 
family are moral and upright, and make good 
citizens. 

JAMES KERR, farmer and wool-grower ; P. 
0. Bucyrus. Among those citizens of Craw- 
ford Co., who have, by their own exertions and 
upright conduct, become a part and parcel of 
the county, none are more worthy of mention 
than Mr. Kerr. He is a native of Knox Co., 
Ohio, where he was born Feb. 18, 1818. His 



parents, James and Elizabeth (Arbuckle) Kerr, 
came from Pennsylvania to Knox Co., at a very 
early day. It was here that the subject of this 
sketch passed his life until 17 years of age. He 
then left his home in Knox Co., and traveled on 
foot to Crawford Co., where he began working 
for an elder brother, who had come to the 
county some years previously. He remained 
with his brother some three years, and then be- 
gan farming for himself He was married to 
Miss Nancy Towers Nov. 5, 1840. She was 
born in Pickaway Co., Ohio, Jan. 14, 1820. 
From this union were three children — Susan 
and George T., living, and James F., deceased. 
Mr. Kerr now owns 675 acres of land in Craw- 
ford and Marion Cos. He has given liberally 
to his children, who are married, and reside in 
the county. He has been extensively engaged in 
the sheep trade, and is known throughout the 
county as one of the most successful wool- 
growers within its limits. He is a Republican, 
and a member of the Disciples' Church. 

NANCY KERR, whose portrait and that of 
her husband, James Kerr, appear in this work, 
is the daughter of Thomas and Nancy (Sylivant) 
Towers, both of whom were natives of Mary- 
land, from where thej moved to Pickaway Co., 
Ohio, in an early day. The former was a sol- 
dier in the war of 1812. The}' were both, for 
many years previous to their death, consistent 
members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 
Their occupation was farming. From Pickaway 
Co. the}' removed to Crawford Co., where the}^ 
resided until their death. Mrs. Kerr is a na- 
tive of Pickawa}' Co., where she was born, Jan. 
14, 1820. She was one of a famil}^ of twelve 
children, six sons and six daughters. Owing 
to the straitened circumstances of her parents, 
and the newness of the country, she never had 
the opportunity of acquiring an education such 
as by her own efforts, in connection with her 
husband, they have been able to give their chil- 
dren. She bore bravely the struggles, hard- 
ships and privations of pioneer life, and, during 
their long 3ears of married life, she has worked 
with an energy equal to that of her husband, in 
the amassing of their large fortune. For many 
3*ears they have been active and faithful mem- 
bers of the Disciples' Church, located in Bucy- 
rus, an organization that owes its present pros- 
perous condition to their work and liberality. 
In the building of the church, Mr. Kerr gave 
$2,100, and afterward donated $2,000 to the 



® 

^ 



^, 



® 



WHETSTONE TOWNSHIP. 



897 



support of it. Their home is about seven miles 
south of Bucyrus. in Whetstone Township, 
where they reside in peace and happiness, en- 
joying the fruits of their early industry and 
labors. 

WILLIAM LOWMILLER, farmer and stock- 
raiser ; P. 0. Bucyrus ; is a native of Snyder 
Co., Penn., where he was born May 19, 1840. 
He is the son of Adam and Catharine (Baker) 
Lowmiller, both of whom were natives of Penn- 
sylvania, and who became the parents of eight 
children, six of whom are yet living. The par- 
ents are yet living in Pennsylvania. The 
father was a weaver b}- trade, an occupation he 
followed a large portion of his time, and was 
one of the countv's most industrious citizens. 
William passed his youth in the Keystone 
State, but when 19 years of age came to Bucy- 
rus, Ohio, and served an apprenticeship to the 
carpenter's trade, at which he worked for a 
number of years. He was united in marriage 
with Miss Sarah Kester, on the 6th of April, 
1865. She was born in Whetstone Township 
June 29, 1838, and bore her husband four chil- 
dren, as follows : Edward C, Jeremiah A., Ellen 
M. and Ida E. After his marriage he lived a 
number of years with his father-in-law. When 
he first came to the State he had but $9, and 
has made his farm of 85 acres bj' a close adher- 
ence to business, this land being a part of the 
old Kester farm, first settled in 1828. Mr. 
Lowmiller takes pride in raising good stock, 
and in improving the different varieties. He is 
a Democrat, and a member of the German Re- 
formed Church, and is one of Whetstone's most 
industrious citizens. 

SAMUEL LUDWICt, farmer; P. 0. Bucy- 
rus ; of those who have for a great man}' years 
been identified with the best interests of Craw- 
ford Count}', none is more worthy of mention 
than Mr. Ludwig. In 1829, he came with his 
parents from Berks Co., Penn., to Crawford 
Count}'. He was born May 26, 1813, and from 
earl}' boyhood had to work early and late to 
assist in caring for the large family of which 
he was one. He ma'n'ied Miss Scotia Littler, a 
native of Hardy Co., Va. From this union 
were five children, two of whom are yet living. 
Soon after his marriage he went to live in 
Seneca County, where he remained twelve years 
and then removed to Sandusky County, and 
from there after a stay of two years to Craw- 
ford County, and purchased the old Littler farm. 



upon which he resided some years, and then 
purchased the McGee farm. He now owns the 
farm settled by his father in 1829, besides 
valuaV)le property in Bucyrus. His home farm 
of 260 acres adjoining the city of Bucyrus, is 
one of the most valuable in the county. About 
70 acres of this farm are underlain with as ex- 
cellent sand as can be found in the State. On 
the farm are also quarries of the best quality of 
limestone. Mr. Ludwig has dealt largely in 
live-stock, especially in sheep, and at one time 
during the late war he owned a flock of 6,000. 
His wife died on Sept. 21, 1878, since which 
his son C. T. has resided with him. This son 
was a soldier in the war of the rebellion in Co. 
E, 86th 0. V. I. Both Mr. Ludwig and his 
son are stalwart Republicans, and among the 
most intelligent, public-spirited men of the 
county. 

ELIAS LAVELY, Bucyrus ; was born in 
Frederick Co., Md., Nov. 29, 1 823. His parents, 
John and Anna (Gorsuch) Lavely, were also 
natives of that State and the pai'ents of nine 
children. They removed to Harrison Co., Ohio, 
in 1825. Their object in coming to Ohio was 
to remove their family from the evil influences 
of slavery in their native State. The father 
was a strong pro-slavery man, and a prominent 
"stock-holder" in the -'underground railroad." 
He was a man who took an active and leading 
part in all the religious and educational enter- 
pi'ises in the community in which he lived. 
Elias Lavely remained at home until his mar- 
riage with Miss Sarah Gorsuch, April 6, 1848. 
He received such education as the schools of 
that early day afforded. In 1853, he came to 
Crawford Co., Ohio, and purchased a partly 
improved farm of 240 acres. He has since 
resided upon this farm, each year making some 
improvements, until it is now one of the best 
improved farms in the county. He has never 
aspii'ed to any political prominence, but has 
devoted his time and energy to the improve- 
ment of his farm. There is not a more practi- 
cal and successful farmer in Crawford Co. than 
jNIr. Lavely. He is the father of eleven chil- 
dren — Mary E., Alice E., Flora A., John E., 
Ida J., Charles L., Henry E. and Sarah E. 
living — Milton, George W. and Jesse G.. de- 
ceased. Politicallv, he is a Republican. 

WILLIAM MODERWELL, farmer and 
stock-raiser ; P. 0. North Robinson : l)elongs 
to a family that is one of the oldest and most 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



widely known in the county. Tliey have offi- 
ciated in various township and county offices, 
always with honor to themselves. They came 
to the county in al)out 1824:, and have been 
Whigs and Republicans from the first. The 
subject of this memoir was born in Whetstone 
Township, Nov. IG, 1840, and is the son of 
James W. and Mary (Peterman) Moderwell, 
both of whom were natives of the Keystone 
State. The}' were married in Crawford Co. 
The father lives in Indiana, and his son, Will- 
iam, lives on the form first owned by Mr. 
Howard and afterward by William Rowse. 
His brothers and sisters were six in number, 
and his brother J. Q. enlisted in the late war, 
in the 123d 0. V. I., in which he served some 
two years with signal bravery. Mr. Moder- 
well's wife was Miss Mahala J. Beck, the mar- 
riage occurring Nov. 17, 1864. This lad}^ was 
born in Jackson Township, Crawford Co., Ohio, 
Nov. 13, 1844. To his union was born a fami- 
ly of five children, four of whom are yet living 
—Laura B., William P., Ellen A. F.,'and Rob- 
ert, and Isaac W. deceased. The father, James 
W. Moderwell, was a carpenter by trade, which 
occupation was followed for a number of j'eai's. 
For the past thirty years he has been exten- 
sivel}' engaged in dealing in live-stock, of 
which he is a reliable and accurate judge. 
William and J. Q. Moderwell and Edward R. 
Faulkner, during the winter of 1875-76, pur- 
chased and shipped from North Robinson and 
Crestline over $100,000 worth of live stock. 
Both before and since that date they have 
dealt extensively in the same business, and 
are among the best stock judges in the county. 
They are prominent formers and influential 
citizens. 

CHARLES MYERS, Gallon ; was born in 
Whetstone Township, Crawford Co., Ohio, Ma}- 
17, 1840. He is the son of Nicholas and 
Saloma (Manerer) IMyers, both of whom were 
natives of Baden, Grermany, where they mar- 
ried and lived until 1817. they then emigrated 
to the United States, and located in Northum- 
berland Co., Penn.. remaining there until 1830, 
when they removed to Crawford Co., Ohio, en- 
tering 100 acres of land near the center of 
Whetstone Township. By economy and hard 
work they managed to acquire considerable 
property. The fother died July 10, 1869, and 
the mother, Feb. 6. 1873. They were the par- 
ents of ten children, and seven of them are vet 



living. Charles' earU' years, until he was 17 
years of age, were passed on his father's farm, 
but. after reaching that age, and until he was 22, 
he worked by the month for neighboring farm- 
ers, saving considerable money in the mean- 
time. On the 31st of December, 1861, he was 
married to Miss Catharine Beach. This lady 
was born in Whetstone Township, Feb. 16, 
1840, and bore her husband seven children, as 
follows : Isaac I., Elizabeth E., Samuel H., 
Laura L., Washington W.. Mary M. and (jleorge 
E. Mr. Myers has, hy his exemplar}- conduct 
and sterling integrity, won the confidence of 
his fellow-citizens, and has been honored with 
various positions of responsibility, among 
which may be mentioned those of Trustee, As- 
sessor, Land Appraiser, Justice of the Peace, 
and has served for six years in the prominent 
position of County Commissioner. He owns 
181 acres of land, upon which are comfortable 
and commodious buildings. He is an influen- 
tial Democrat, and also a member of the Ger- 
man Lutheran Church. For the last two years 
he lias been shipping considerable live stock. 
It is scarcely necessary to mention that he is 
one of the most prominent citizens in the 
county. 

JOSEPH S. PARCHER. Bucyrus ; was born 
Oct. 5, 1838, in Crawford Co., Ohio. He is one 
of a (amily of eight children born to Samuel 
and Sarah (Merriss) Parcher, the former a na- 
tive of the '■ Green Mountain State," and the 
latter of the " Empire State." The father, 
when a young man, left his native State and 
came to Lake Co., Ohio, where he remained un- 
til 1820, when he, in the employ of the Bacons, 
as teamster, came w4th them to Crawford Co. 
The mother came to Crawford Co. soon after 
this, and some years later was married to Mr. 
Parcher. They for many years endui'ed all 
the hardships incident to pioneer life, and be- 
came well and favorably known to the people 
of the county. They accumulated considerable 
property, of which they give liberally to the 
poor, and to all enterprises that had a tendency 
to build up the community in which they lived, 
or benefit and better the condition of mankind. 
Samuel Parcher departed this life in 1845 ; his 
wife survives him and is residing upon the 
farm purchased by them soon after their mar- 
riage. Joseph S. was raised upon a farm, re- 
ceiving a good common-school education. He 
was united in marriage with Miss Margaret 



WHETSTONE TOWNSHIP 



Traxler Nov. 27, 1877. She was born in Bucy- 
rus Township in 1859. From this union there 
are two children — Flossie D. and Diana V. Mr. 
Parcher owns 148 acres of well-improved land. 
He is an uncompromising Republican in poli- 
tics, but liberal in his views regarding men and 
things. 

BENJAMIN PHILLIPS, farmer ; P. 0. Bu- 
cj'rus. This gentleman is the son of Henry 
and Christina (Winters) Phillips, and was born 
in Northumberland Co., Penn., on the 8th of 
June, 1819. His parents were both natives of 
Pennsylvania, where they were married, and 
resided until 1832, when they came to Crawford 
Co., Ohio. Here the\- resided until their deaths. 
They were the parents of six children, two of 
whom are yet living. The father was a success- 
ful and prominent farmer, an occupation he 
followed during life. His death occurred in 
1851, his wife following him in 1860. They 
were consistent Christian people, and were uni- 
versally' respected. Benjamin passed his early 
years on a farm, and, after the removal of the 
family to Ohio, where he had attained his ma- 
jority, he had charge of his father's farm. In 
1845, he was united in marriage with Miss 
Sarah Null, who was a native of Northumber- 
land Co., Penn., where she was born in 1820. 
Four children have been born to this union — ■ 
Rebecca J., Henv}', Benjamin F. and Samuel. 
Mr. Phillips owns 80 acres of excellent land, all 
of which is under cultivation. He is a promi- 
nent Democrat, and himself and family are 
members of the Lutheran Church. The mem- 
bers of the family have been among the most 
industrious citizens in Whetstone Township. 
The sons at present own and operate a steam 
thresher, and they have the reputation of being 
among the most experienced managers of those 
machines in Crawford Co. The familj' is well 
known and highly respected. 

J. G. RAISER, farmer and tailor ; P. 0. Bu- 
cyrus. This gentleman was born in Wurtem- 
berg, Germany, June 13, 1827. He is one of a 
family of five children of Jacob and Barbara 
(Hoch) Raiser, both natives of Wurtemberg. 
The father was a finely educated man, his voca- 
tion in life behig that of a farmer and cooper. 
He died in 1866, and his wife in 1865. Our 
subject is the only one of the children now 
living. His 3'outh was passed attending the 
schools of his native country. When 14, he 
began the trade of a tailor, serving an appren- 



ticeship of three years, after which he worked 
as a journej-man until 24 years of age. During 
this time, he often was head workman, and had 
the overseeing of a lax'ge number of employes. 
At 24 years of age, he began business for him- 
self in his native country-, where he remained 
until he came to the United States. He came 
almost directly to Bucyrus, Ohio, having at the 
time not a pennj- in his pocket, and being in 
debt to a fellow-passenger to the amount of $30. 
He soon secured work at his trade in Bucyrus, 
with a Mr. Failor, at $18 per month. He re- 
mained with this man until he failed, and then 
began in a small way to do business for himself 
In four years after commencing for himself, he 
had, by hard work and economy, saved sufficient 
means to erect a large and commodious three- 
story brick business building. He continued 
working at his trade until 1876, when he bought 
the " old Reed farm " of 81 acres in Whetstone 
Township, upon which he moved, and has since 
resided. He was married to Miss Harriet Bail', 
March 30, 1858. She was born in Bucyrus, 
Ohio, May 31, 1839. From this union there are 
eleven children — Henry S., Charles W., George 
F., David R., Sarah C, Maria E., Anna E., Su- 
san F., Martha E. and Jacob A., and John E., 
twin brothers. Mr. Raiser came to this country 
a poor German boy, and has, by his upright 
conduct and straight business habits, attained 
an enviable position among the people of Craw- 
ford Co. He is a much-respected citizen. 

ISAAC STUMP, Bucyrus ; was born in Ly- 
coming Co., Penn., Jan. 6, 1834, and is one of a 
famil}- of six children of Jacob and Mary 
(Kehrer) Stump, who were natives of Germany, 
from which country they came when yet chil- 
dren. They were married in Penns3'lvauia, and 
resided there until 1835, when they removed to 
Crawford Co., Ohio. They were hard-working, 
intelligent people, respected by all who knew 
them. The father died in 1855, and the mother 
iu 1860. Isaac was raised upon a farm, receiv- 
ing the advantages of a common-school educa- 
tion. He was united in marriage with Miss 
J]lizabeth Heinlen. May 3, 1860. She was born 
in Crawford Co., Ohio, Oct. 14, 1837. They are 
the parents of six children, five of whom are 
3'et living, viz., P^sther, Sarah, Henry, Amanda 
and x\my. Mr. Stump has always followed 
farming, and is one of the most successful of 
that calling in the county. He owns 355 acres 
of well-improved land, the greater portion of 



■^ 



900 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



which he has obtained by his own exertions. 
Politicall}', he is a Democrat, though libei-al in 
his views. He is a member of the German Re- 
formed Church, and has held the office of Town- 
ship Trustee a number of terms. Crawford Co. 
is benefited b}' having within her borders such 
men as Mr. Stump. 

DANIEL STUMP, farmer ; P. 0. Bucyrus. 
Among the successful farmers of Whetstone is 
the gentleman whose name heads this biogra- 
phy. He was born in Lycoming Co., Penn., Sept. 
7, 1833. When he was but 6 years of age, his 
parents, Martin and Barbara (Kehrer) Stump, 
removed from Pennsylvania to Crawford Co., 
Ohio. Both parents came, when children, from 
Germany to the United States, their parents lo- 
cating in Pennsylvania. The parents of our 
subject were intelligent, industrious people, and, 
by hard work and economy, obtained a goodly 
share of this world's goods. The mother died 
in 1855, and the father Dec. 8, 1879. Daniel 
has always remained upon the old homestead, 
and, after his majority, took charge of it. He 
was married to Miss Elizabeth Zimmerman, on 
Sept. 15, 1857. She was born in Crawford Co., 
Ohio, in 1835. Her parents were among the 
early settlers of Whetstone Township. This 
union has been productive of six children, three 
of whom are yet living — Samuel, Louisa and 
Clara ; the deceased were named Sarah. Lydia 
and Joseph. Mr. Stump owns 160 acres of 
land, upon which are good buildings. He is a 
member of the M. E. Church, and of the Dem- 
ocratic part}'. He is a man loved and respected 
by all who know him. 

MICHAEL STOLTZ, farmer ; P. 0. Bucy- 
rus; was born in Wurtemberg, Germany, on 
July 9, 1809. His parents, David and Sophia 
Stoltz, came from that country with their famil}- 
to the United States in 1817, and located in 
Lycoming Co., Penn. They were the parents 
of six children, four of whom are yet living. 
Michael was raised upon his father's farm in 
Pennsylvania, receiving such education as the 
common schools afforded. He was married to 
Miss Mary Kober, a native of Germany, in 
1833. From this union there were nine chil- 
dren, two of whom, only, survived of this 
large family, David and George. The names of 
those deceased were — Sophia, William, Jacob, 
Mary, Samuel, Sophia and Caroline. Mrs. 
Stoltz died in 1850, and in 1851, Mr. Stoltz 
married Mrs. Mary Keltner, who was born in 



Union Co., Penn., in 1810. Mr. Stoltz came to 
Crawford County in 1836. He began life as a 
poor boy, and is a self-made man, now owning 
255 acres of well-improved land in Whetstone 
Township. He is a Democrat and a miember of 
the German Lutheran Church. His son George 
lives with him, and David some two miles south 
in the same township. The}' are intelligent, in- 
dustrious people, and respected by all who 
know them. 

JACOB SHERER, farmer ; P. 0. Bucyrus ; 
was born in Whetstone Township, Ci'awford 
Co., on Jan. 18, 1835. He is the son of Jacob 
and Christina (Gross) Sherer. a sketch of whom 
appears in the biography of Daniel Sherer in 
this work. Jacob Sherer was raised upon his 
father's farm, receiving a good common-school 
education. He. like his brother, has always re- 
sided upon the old home farm, and he now 
owns 319 acres of nicely improved land. He 
was united in mai'riage with Miss Mar}' Hurr 
Oct. 13, 1859. She was born in Lycoming Co., 
Penn., July 17, 1841. From this union five 
children were born to them — Emanuel D., Sarah 
E., Emma C, John W. and Laura A. Mrs. 
Sherer died Dec. 27, 1875. Mr. Sherer was 
again married, to Miss Sarah Beal, on Dec. 17, 
1878. She was born in Crawford Co., Ohio, 
Oct. 21, 1856. Mr. Sherer is a Democrat, and 
has held a number of positions of honor and 
trust in the township in which he lives. 

SAMUEL SHOOK, farmer ; P. 0. Bucyrus ; 
he is the eldest of a family of twelve children 
born to Valentine and Nancy Shook, the for- 
mer a native of Northumberland Co., Penn., 
and the latter of Hagerstown, Md. They were 
married in Stark Co., Ohio. In 1827, the fath- 
er entered the eighty-acre tract of land now 
belonging to Christopher Kiess, in this county, 
and, the following year, he left Stark Co. with 
an ox-team, two cows and six head of sheep 
for his possessions in Crawford Co. The fam- 
ily had to live in their wagon until a log cabin 
was built, which took some time, after which 
they got on quite well, as all were willing to 
work. The father had been an Ensign in a 
regiment under the command of Gen. Harri- 
son, during the war of 1812. After coming to 
this county, he followed carpentering in con- 
nection with farming. He died in 1843, and 
his wife some twenty years afterward. Samuel 
Shook was born in Stark Co., Ohio, March 15, 
1815, and, from the time he was 8 years of age, 



(5 r- 



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A 



WHETSTONE TOWNSHIP. 



901 



was kept almost constantl}' at work helping to 
care for the family, and, in these pinching 
times of want and necessity, he learned the 
salutary lessons of economy and industrj- 
which have marked his career through a long 
and eventful lifetime. He was married, Oct. 5, 
18-18, to Miss Margaret Christman. who was 
born Sept. 4, 1828, in Germany. Her parents, 
Adam and Elizabeth (Snyder) Christman. came 
from Germany to the United States in 1840. 
To Mr. and Mrs. Shook have been born five 
children — Francis L. and Sarah R. E. living ; 
Jefferson, John and Mary deceased. In poli- 
tics, Mr. Shook was at first a Whig, and later, 
when new issues gave rise to the Republican 
party, he took an advanced position with it in 
favor of the Union and equal rights. He owns 
264 acres of land, and, beginning as he did, a 
poor boy, he has struggled up thi'ough his own 
efforts to a position of wealth and influence. 
He is eminently a self-made m.an, and may 
well be proud of his achievements. 

DAVID SCHRECK; P. 0. Gallon; was 
born in Dauphin Co.. Penn., Aug. 22, 1829. 
He is the son of Andrew and Elizabeth (Buf- 
fington) Schreck, both of whom were natives of 
Pennsylvania, where the^- were married, and 
resided until 1835, when they came to Craw- 
ford Co., Ohio, locating on the Annapolis road, 
a short distance from Bucyrus. They remained 
there some four years, and then removed to 
Whetstone Township, which they made their 
home until their deaths. The mother died in 
1868, and the father in 1872. The father was 
a soldier of the war of 1812. When he ar- 
rived with his family at Bucyrus, in 1835, he 
had but $4. He was an industrious man, how- 
ever, and, with the assistance of his good wife, 
who was a great weaver, and kept her loom go- 
ing early and late, managed to raise their large 
family in a very creditable manner. David's 
early life was passed upon his father's farm. 
He received such education as the schools of 
that early dav afforded. He was married to 
Miss Belinda^ Sherer Oct. 19, 1851. She was 
born in Stark Co., Ohio, March 30, 1832. 
There have been eleven children born to them, 
nine of whom are now living — John A., Fran- 
cis M., George W., Sarah E., Sina B., Emanuel 
W., Ira E., Clara E. and Samuel I. The names 
of those deceased were Martha J. and Ida M. 
Mr. Schreck followed, for twenty-five years 
during the fall and winter months, threshing. 



He also, during that time, cleared with his own 
hands 60 acres of heavil}' timbered land. 
From boyhood to the present time, he has paid 
close attention to diseases of the horse. He 
uses only new and rational remedies, and is 
one of the most successful veterinary surgeons 
in Crawford Co. He owns 180 acres of well- 
improved land ; is a stanch Republican, and a 
member of the English Lutheran Church. 

ADAM SHERER ; P. 0. Gallon ; was born 
in Washington Co., Penn., Sept. 7, 1812. He is 
the son of John and Elizabeth (Singhaus) Sher- 
er, mention of whom is made in the biogi-aphy 
of John Sherer, in this work. Adam was 
reared upon a farm, receiving but a limited ed- 
ucation. He was married to Miss Nancy Clem- 
ens in 1835 ; she was born in Stark Co., Ohio, 
in 1820, and died in 1850. She was the mother 
of seven children — William and Abraham, liv- 
ing ; Sarah, Clarine, Adam, Henry and John, 
deceased. Mr. Sherer was married to Hannah 
Clark in 1851 ; she was born in Stark Co., 
Ohio, in 1822. Four children were born of this 
union — Susan, living ; Elizabeth, Levi and 
James, deceased. Mr. Sherer came to Craw- 
ford Co. in 1837. He owns 162 acres of land, 
which he has made by his own exertions. His 
sons William and Henry were soldiers \n the 
late war, in Co. E, 101st O. V. I. ; Henry died 
at Bridgeport, Ala., in 1863. Mr. Sherer is a 
stanch Republican in politics, and a member of 
ths English Lutheran Church. He began life 
as a poor boy, and has, by close attention to 
business, obtained a goodly share of this 
world's goods. Himself and family are much- 
respected citizens. 

JOHN SHERER, farmer; P. 0. Gallon. 
The parents of this gentleman, John and Eliz- 
abeth (Singhaus) Sherer, were both natives of 
the " Keystone State," where they were married 
and resided until 1813, when they came to 
Stark Co., Ohio. The wife died March 1, 1815, 
and Mr. Sherer was subsequently married to a 
Miss Kieffer. By his first marriage there were 
four children, and by the second, eleven. He 
died Sept. 30, 1871, and his wife Oct. 26, 1864. 
The father had been a soldier of the war of 
1812, under Gen. Harrison, and was for a num- 
ber of years, the captain of a company of mili- 
tia. He was an exemplary Christian gentle- 
man, and held, during his life-time, numerous 
positions of honor and trust. The subject of 
this brief sketch was born Feb. 22, 1809, in 



rtv 



•^--, 



-^ 



902 



BIOGEAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



Washington Co., Penn. His youth and early ! 
manliood were passed upon his father's farm, j 
and his education consisted of such instruction j 
as was given to the pupils of the common 
schools of that early da3^ Soon after reaching 
his majority, he came to Crawford Co., Ohio, 
which, with the exception of thieeyears, he has 
since made his home. He was married, March 
31, 1831, to Miss Sarah Kieffer, who was born 
in Pennsylvania in 1808. From this union 
there were eight children, five of whom are yet 
living — Belinda, Rebecca, Rachel, John K. and 
Francis M. The names of those who died were 
Samuel, Michael and Adam. Michael and 
Adam well and faithfully served their country 
in the war of the rebellion, in Co. E, 101st 0. 
V. I. Adam was killed at the battle of Stone 
River, and Michael died of typhoid fever at 
Edgefield Junction, Tenn. Mr. Sherer began 
as a poor bo}^ and has been ver^^ successful in 
his business undertakings, and at one time 
owned over 800 acres of land in the county. 
He has given liberally to his children, and to 
all enterprises that had a tendency to build up 
the communit}' in which he lived, or benefit his 
fellow-man. He and wife are consistent mem- 
bers of the English Lutheran Church. He is a 
stanch Republican, and has held numerous po- 
sitions of honor and trust in his long and 
eventful lifetime. The world would be much 
better if it held more of such people as Mr. 
and Mrs. Sherer. 

SAMUEL SHERER, farmer ; P. 0. Bucyrus ; 
was born March 3, 1828, in Lj'coming Co., 
Penn. He is the son of Jacob and Christina 
(Gross) Sherer, both of whom were natives of 
Germany, from which country' they came when 
yet children, with their parents, to L3^coming 
Co., Penn. Here they were married and re- 
sided until about 1833, when they came to 
Crawford Co., and settled on the farm now 
owned by George Kurtz, in Whetstone Town- 
ship. The mother died Dec. 1, 1870, and the 
father June 22, 1877. Samuel has always re- 
mained upon the old homestead. He has been 
twice married ; his first wife was Miss Magda- 
lena Heckenlively, who bore him two children — 
Catharine and Mary J. This lady died Jan. 3, 
1860. Mr. Sherer's second wife was Miss Eliza- 
beth Haller ; she also bore him two children — 
Simeon and Matilda. This wife died April 5, 
1872. Mr. Sherer owns 308 acres of well- 
improved land. He is a Democrat, and has 



held the offices of Township Trustee and Clerk. 
He is a man of broad and liberal views, always 
supporting men and measures, and not party. 
He has an intelligent famil}-, and is looked up 
to and respected by all who know him. 

C. R. SHECKLER, physician ; P. 0. North 
Robinson. This gentleman attended the public 
schools of Bucyrus until the age of 15, when 
he began the study of medicine in the same 
town, in the office of Dr. Cuykendall, under 
whose instruction he completed his medical 
education in about three years, after which he 
attended the Columbus Medical College, at the 
capital of the State, at which institution he 
graduated during the spring of 1876. Soon 
after his graduation, he began the practice of 
his profession in the village of North Robinson, 
where he has since remained, with a rapidly in- 
creasing business practice. He was born in the 
count}' seat March 7, 1855, and is the son of E. 
F. and A. G. (Shawk) Sheckler, both natives of 
Penns^dvania, from which State they emigrated 
to Buc^-rus at quite an early day. The subject 
of this sketch was united in marriage with Miss 
Kate Bogan April 15. 1880 ; she was born in 
Whetstone Township, Crawford Co., Ohio, in 
January, 1862. Dr. Sheckler is also engaged 
in the drug business in the village, and has 
quite a flourishing trade, which is on the in- 
crease. He is a member of the Democratic 
party. 

ISAAC SNYDER ; P. 0. New Winchester ; 
was born in Northumberland Co., Penn., Feb. 
27, 1831. His parents were George and Mar- 
garet (Null) Snyder, the former being a native 
of Pennsylvania, and the latter of Baden, Ger- 
man3^ They were married in Pennsylvania, 
and were the parents of one child, the subject 
of this sketch. The mother was a widow at 
the time of her marriage with Mr. Snyder, and 
the latter had also been previously married. 
Wlien Isaac was 3 years of age his father died, 
and the mother remained on the old homestead 
until 1836. At this time, Nicholas Myers, a 
relative who had been living in Crawford Co., 
Ohio, for several years, went to Pennsylvania, 
and when he returned to Ohio Mrs. Sn^'der and 
family accompanied him. -On her arrival, Mrs. 
Snyder purchased a farm, upon which she re- 
sided until her death, which occurred in 1872. 
The mother was a hard-working, kind-hearted 
Christian lady, with a loving and atfectionate 
disposition. Isaac, throughout his life, has 



lLl 



WHETSTONE TOWXSHIP. 



903 



been trained and inured to hard work, and, be- 
ing deprived of liis fatlier at an early age, was 
called upon when young to assume many manly 
responsibilities, and later had charge of his 
mothers farm. He was married to Miss Re- 
becca Albright on the 9th of Januar}^, 1857, 
the lady having been born in Whetstone Town- 
ship Feb. 17, 1830. Seven children have been 
born to this union, five of whom are now living, 
as follows : Laura A., Lucinda, Lewis R., John 
D. and Mary E. Those deceased are Emeline 
and Charles W. Mr. Snyder has been honored 
with various township offices — was Justice of 
the Peace three years and Treasurer four years. 
He is a Democrat and a member of the Ger- 
man Reformed Church. He owns 390 acres of 
land, nicely improved, with good buildings, etc. 
He raises good stock, and is one of the most 
intelligent, enterprising and prominent men in 
the township. 

MRS. SUSAN SAVAGE ; P. 0. Bucyrus ; 
this lady was born in 1805, in Columbia Co., 
Penn. Her father, Asa Coho, was a native of 
the Keystone State, and the parent of eight 
children. He died when Mrs. Savage was 7 
years of age, after which she went to live with 
a cousin, with whom she remained until her 
marriage with Mr. Daniel Savage in 1824. 
Four years after this event they removed to 
Crawford Co., Ohio. Mr. Savage was a shoe- 
maker by trade, a business he followed in con- 
nection with farming, after he came to Craw- 
ford County. He was a consistent Christian 
gentleman, and an influential, respected citizen. 
He died in 1877, while visiting friends in Indi- 
ana. His marriage was fruitful of fifteen chil- 
dren, eight of whom are now living, viz.: John, 
Daniel, Thomas, Benjamin F., Mary A., Debo- 
rah E., Elizabeth and Angeline. The deceased 
were William, Asa, Francis R., Joseph, Charles 
and two infants, who died without naming. 
Mrs. Savage is now living upon the farm set- 
tled upon by herself and husband in 1828. It 
consists of 163 acres, all of which is under cul- 
tivation and nicely improved. She has been a 
member of the Lutheran Church a great man}' 
years, and is one of the most respected and in- 
telligent Christian ladies in Whetstone Town- 
ship. 

LEANDER L. TEEL, Bucyrus ; the eldest 
son of George W. and Elizabeth (Markley) Teel ; 
was born March 27, 18-t7 ; attended the schools 
taught in Sulphur Springs, where he I'eceived a 



knowledge of the common branches. At the 
age of 16, he entered the college at Oberlin, 
Ohio, where he I'emained eighteen months, and 
attended Dulf's Commercial College, at Pitts- 
burgh, during the winter of 1865-66. Was 
married, Ma}' 4, 1869, to Sabina E., daughter of 
Phillip Keller, of Sandusky Township. Five 
children are the result of this marriage — Harry 
Clay, Ester M., Herbert K., Gertrude E. and 
Errie P. Resided in Sandusky Township after 
his marriage until the spring of 1874. The year 
previous, he was elected Clerk of the township, 
although a Republican. He engaged in the 
mercantile business at Sycamore, Wyandot Co., 
from the spring of 1874 to April, 1875, when 
he returned to Crawford, and acted as agent of 
the South Bend, Ind., Iron Works for some 
twelve months ; then for three years farmed a 
portion of his father's land. Taught the higher 
department of the Sulphur Springs schools for 
three winters, and also one winter in Sandusky 
Township. In the spring of 1880, he removed 
to his present residence in Whetstone Town- 
ship east of Bucyrus, and during the past twelve 
months has assisted his lather in business con- 
nected with the Ohio C. R. R. The subject of 
this sketch was instrumental in securing SIO,- 
000, the quota of Wyandot Co., to the guaran- 
tee fund of the road, and thi'ough the ettbrts of 
Mr. Teel this county was the first to report. He 
is at the present time Assistant Secretary of 
the Crawford Co. Farmers' Fire Insurance Co., 
and was President of the Garfield Club of Bu- 
cyrus during the recent Presidential campaign. 
Mr. Teel is the great grandson of Adam Link, 
who was one of the last five surviving veterans 
of the American Revolution. Link was born 
near Hagerstown, Md., Nov. 14, 1761, and died 
at the residence of his daughter and son-in-law, 
Mr. and Mrs. Horatio Markley (both since de- 
ceased), near Sulphur Springs, Aug. 15, 1864, 
aged 102 years 9 months and 1 day. When 
Link was 6 years of age, his parents removed 
into Fayette Co., Penn., and afterward settled in 
Washington Co., which was then on the extreme 
borders of civilization. Being thus exposed 
to the subtle danger which then surrounded 
a frontier life, in the vicinity of Indians un- 
friendly to the whites, Adam acquired, in the 
hardships and dangers of border warfare, an 
experience which fitted him for future service in 
the cause of his country. He entered the 
American army in 1777, and, upon the com- 



<^ (i 



Y 



u^ 



904 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



mencement of hostilities, the Indians made a 
descent npon the settlement, captured his father, 
John Link, then murdered and scalped him, 
burnt the house and barn, destroyed a large 
field of corn, 100 hogs, 40 sheep, all the cat- 
tle and horses, and 300 bushels of wheat. From 
this period, the family, from having enjo3^ed an 
unusual amount of wealth and independence, 
was at once depressed into poverty, and suffered 
great privation and danger during the remainder 
of the war. Link served at different periods 
in the garrisons at Wheeling, Moore, Dements 
and Shepherd forts, and acted as an Indian spy, 
as well as scouting along the frontier. In 1791, 
Gen. St. Clair made a levy of two men from each 
county for the frontier service. These* men were 
to be drafted in 1791 in case they did not vol- 
unteer. The men, on a set day, were drawn up 
in line and the object made known, and an}^ two 
who were willing to go were 3-sked to step for- 
ward. Link was the first to advance, and with 
another man, offered to clear their count}' from 
the draft for $10 each, certainly a very low 
bounty, but nevertheless it was not paid. Men 
in those days would not pay much money in 
order to avoid fighting for a good government 
when its life was in peril. Link was married at 
the age of 30, and resided in Crawford Co. for 
several years previous to his death, and saw his 
posterity to the fourth generation. 

JOHN TRIMBLE, retired, Bucyrus ; is a 
native of the Buckeye State, having been born 
in Jefferson Co., Feb. 15, 1805. His parents, 
Hugh and Ann (Long) Trimble, came from 
Ireland to the United States in the latter part 
of the eighteenth century, locating in Pennsyl- 
vania until 1800, when they came to Jefferson 
Co., Ohio. In 1823, they "came to Whetstone 
Township, locating in the northern part, on 
land now owned by Mr. Eichelberger. The 
father had come to Whetstone Township the 
previous year, and entered 320 acres of land. 
He was singularly upright, and after many 
years of toil secured a comfortable home. The 
mother died in 1830, and the father followed 
her in 1840. They were the parents of nine 
children, two of whom are yet living — John 
and William, the latter living in Liberty Town- 
ship. John Trimble remained with his father 
until the age of 22, when he was sent to Dela- 
w'are, Ohio, to enter the eighty acres of land 
upon which he now lives. "He walked to and 
from Delaware, and upon his return was given 



twenty acres of the eighty he had entered. On 
the 31st of January, 1828, he was united in mar- 
riage with Miss Ic}' , daughter of Daniel and 
Patience Parcher, his wife being born in Ver- 
mont, Jan. 30, 1803. Her parents had come 
to New York, thence to Mentor, Cuyahoga Co., 
Ohio, thence to Crawford Co., Ohio, in 1823. 
To John and Icy Trimble was born the follow- 
ing family: Asenath, Icy, Mary A., Lafayette, 
Nelson J., Sarah, John W., Lyman and Eliza ; 
the former three are the only ones now living. 
After his marriage, Mr. Trimble began living 
on his twent3^-acre tract of land. In time he 
added considerably to his small farm ; but soon 
afterward gave it to his children, that they 
might have something to start with in life. Mr. 
Trimble has been a Republican since the or- 
ganization of that party, and was formerh' a 
stanch Whig. Two of his sons, John and Nel- 
son, were soldiers in the late war. John did 
not live to return home ; his daughter Asenath 
is the wife of G. W. Kieffer ; Icy is the wife of 
Franklin Bowers, and Mary A., the wife of J. 
A. McMichael ; the latter son-in-law, was also 
in the late war. Mr. Trimble has held several 
township offices, always serving with honor to 
himself and satisfaction to his constituency. 
His wife died on the 25th of February, 1874 ; he 
has the unlimited respect and confidence of his 
fellow-citizens. As a member of the Baptist 
Church, he has lived a long, consistent life. 

ANDREW R. WALKER, Bucyrus; was 
born in Hampshire Co., Va., Jan. 14, 1827. 
He is the son of Robert and Martha (Leeper) 
Walker, the former being a native of Virginia, 
and the latter of Pennsylvania. They were the 
parents of seven children, only two of whom 
are now living — Andrew R. and his brother, L. 
L. Walker. In 1826, the father came to Craw- 
ford Co. and entered 160 acres of land. In 
1828, he returned with his family and began 
the improvement of his forest home. About 
eight years after their coming to the county, the 
father died. This left five small children de- 
pendent upon the mother. She was a woman 
of great force of character and energy, and 
managed, through the assistance of the neigh- 
bors, to raise her children quite nicely, giving 
them such education as the schools of that early 
day afforded. Andrew R., being the oldest son, 
learned, when quite young, what it was to have 
persons dependent upon him for their dailj' 
bread. This, although hard for the boy, was, in 



\ 



A 



WHETSTONE TOWNSHIP. 



905 



the end, very beneficial to the man. Habits of 
industry and economy, then of necessity, learned 
by him, have, in a great measure, characterized 
his walk throughout life. He was united in 
marriage with Miss Imus Campbell Sept. 25, 
1860. She was born in Crawford Co., Ohio, 
Jan. 7, 1833. There was one child from this 
union — Robert J., born July 4, 1861. The wife 
and mother died Nov. 17, 1862. Mr. Walker 
was again married, June 10, 1878, to Miss Han- 
nah E. Gibson, daughter of John Glibson, Esq., 
one of the early settlers of Crawford Co. She 
was born in Crawford Co., Ohio, July 16, 1844. 
Mr. Walker has resided nearly all his life on the 
old homestead in Whetstone Township. Pre- 
vious to the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska 
Bill, Mr. Walker voted with the Democratic 
party. Since that time, he has been a stanch 
Republican. He is a member of the Presby- 
terian Church, and an influential and prominent 
citizen. He owns 260 acres of nicely improved 
land, situated near the center of Whetstone 
Township. 

WILLIAM A. WILLIAMS, Superintendent 
of County Infirmary, Bucyrus, was born Dec. 
15, 1825, in Berks Co., Penn. The parents. 
Price and Ann (Hughes) Williams, were both 
natives of Penns^'lvania, where they were 
raised, married, and resided until 1836, when 
they came to Crawford Co., Ohio, settling in 
Auburn Township. The father's occupation 
was charcoal burning, a business he followed 
quite extensivel}^ after his coming to Crawford 
Co.. and until the advent of the railroads in 
the county. He also owned a fai-m, but his 
sons did nearly all the work upon this, as his 
time was occupied in charcoal-burning. Will- 
iam A. being the eldest son, on him devolved 
the responsibility of clearing and improving 
the farm. This gave him but little spare time, 
and his opportunities for obtaining an educa- 



tion were ver}' limited. In earl}^ life, he mani- 
fested a strong liking for the rearing and train- 
ing of horses, and, on reaching his majority, 
began in a small way to deal in horses. During 
his life, he has owned some of the best horses 
ever kept in Auburn Township, and has done 
much to improve the grade of farm horses in 
the county. When 25 years of age, he pur- 
chased 80 acres of unimproved land, and be- 
gan its improvement. In the late war, he 
served in Co. H, 123d O. V. I., from August, 
1862, to August, 1864. At the battle of Win- 
chester, Va., he was taken prisoner, and for 
eight months endured all the hardships inci- 
dent to prison life in the historical Libby 
Prison of Richmond, Va. He was one of the 
men who planned and successfully established 
a tunnel, through which 104 men escaped from 
Libby Prison. After his escape, he rejoined 
his company, of which he was Second Lieuten- 
ant, although during the year of 1864, he had 
charge of Co. H, and, fi-om the time of his es- 
cape to his discharge, he had command of that 
company. After his return home, he devoted 
his time to farming and stock-growing. In 
1877, he was appointed by the Infirmary Direct- 
ors Superintendent of that institution. Mr. 
Williams possesses superior executive ability, 
and, under his skillful management, the Infirm- 
ary- has become almost self-supporting. Dur- 
ing his residence in Auburn Township, he was 
honored with man}- positions of profit and 
trust. His marriage with Miss Rebecca J. 
Bleeks occurred Aug. 29, 1852. She was born 
in Medina Co., Ohio, Aug. 2, 1832. From this 
union there are three children — Allison, living ; 
Emma and Oscar, deceased. Mr. Williams 
owns a nicel}- improved farm of 160 acres in 
Auburn Township, which he has obtained by 
his own exertions. He is a Democrat, politi- 
cally, though liberal in his views. 



^; 



(2 



.|^ 



906 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



LIBERTY TOWNSHIP. 



ELI ADAMS, retired farmer ; P. O. Sulphur 
Springs ; was born in Massacliusetts, about 
forty miles from Boston, March 18, 1803. His 
father, Ephraim, was a grandson of John 
Adams, of Revolutionary fame. Ephraim 
Adams married Martha Mason, and they 
moved into Cayuga Co., N. Y., in 1804, Eli 
being then only about a year old. They set- 
tled among the hemlock and brakes, where it 
was almost impossible to raise anything by 
cultivation but beans and a few potatoes. The 
greater part of their subsistence while there 
was bean porridge. During their residence in 
New York. Mrs. Adams died, leaving altogeth- 
er six children — Annie, Buckley, Eli. Sarine, 
Angeline and Ephraim. Mr. Adams married a 
second wife, by whom he reared three girls. 
The Adams family and one Jacob Sweetland, 
with wife and large family, left New York in 
the spring of 1814, with the intention of going 
to the settlement then being made along the 
Huron River near where Sandusky City is now 
located, and which was then known as the old 
" Gault Place ; " but, on their arrival in this 
State, at its northeastern border, they were ad- 
vised to pass the summer there, as it would be 
easier to procure provisions later in the season 
in the new settlement whither they were bound. 
Acting on the advice given, they (both fami- 
lies) stopped, and put up in a vacant cabin 
from June until August, when they proceeded 
on their journey. This was on the Grand 
River, and, during their sta}-, Adams and his 
boys went to work in the harvest-fields of Gov. 
Huntington. When harvest was over, they 
proceeded to the settlement on the Huron 
River. Sweetland and family occupied a va- 
cant hut which had been built on the " bottom 
land," and, in a few weeks, himself, wife and 
two children were victims of malarial fever. 
The other children were taken back to their 
friends in New York by one of the oldest boys, 
who was able to drive the team. Adams and 
his family remained there about five years, be- 
came tired of their location, and moved to Sen- 
eca Co. in 1819. In October, 1820, Mr. Adams 
died, leaving a widow and three helpless chil- 



dren, besides some of the 3'^ounger children of 
his first wife. Eli then began to do for himself, 
as he was then in his l8th year. The only 
thing he ever received or could be spared from 
his father's estate was a scythe, which he 
traded to a cobbler to make him a pair of 
shoes. He then hired out on a farm at |6 per 
month ; worked three ^^ears. and the highest 
wages received was $9 per month. He then 
made a visit to the place where he was parti}' 
reared, in New York, and then hired at $9 per 
month for seven months. He returned with 
about $60 in his pocket, hoping to collect $40 
which was due him for labor in Ohio, with 
which he hoped to form the nucleus of his fu- 
ture fortune by entering 80 acres of land. But, 
to his sorrow, his debtor had gone to parts un- 
known during his sojourn in New York. He 
went to work, earned the required $40 and 
something more, put it to his $60 already 
earned, went to Delaware, where the land office 
was, and entered 80 acres in what is now Tex- 
as Township, of this county, in 1824. He be- 
gan to clear and improve his land, and boarded 
with a Mr. Paul, giving two days' work for a 
week's board. He lived in this manner three 
years, when he built a cabin and married Mary, 
daughter of James Andrews, of Seneca Co., 
Nov. 27, 1827. They were both reared in poor 
circumstances, and were familiar with the hard- 
ships of pioneer life from earl}' childhood. Mr. 
Adams had got a cow in payment of work 
done, and his wife had been likewise obliged 
to take a young heifer a year or two before for 
work she had done, which by that time was de- 
veloped into a valuable cow. These two ani- 
mals were the only things of value they owned 
when they began housekeeping. Adams went 
to work to make a bedstead, and, unfamiliar 
with the proportions it should be, and not much 
of a mechanic at best, when completed discov- 
ered that their bedding would scarcely cover 
half of it. The first season they lived there, 
they were often hard up to find provision 
enough for their support. The milk which the}' 
got from their cows was no small part of their 
living. One Sabbath evening in October of 



[^ 



M 



LIBERTY TOWNSHIP. 



907 



that year, they used for supper the last morsel 
of food in their possession, and, on the follow- 
ing morning, Mrs. Adams proceeded to paddle 
what little milk they had gathered for the pur- 
pose of obtaining butter enough to grease a 
pan in which she contemplated grating a few 
ears of corn, and thereby make a cake. While 
she was so engaged, Mr. Adams took his gun 
and stepped into the woods to shoot a squirrel 
which attracted him thither, when two deer 
sprang up, one of which fell a prey to his 
trusty rifle. He dragged it to his cabin with 
no little pride, and dressed it. By that time, 
Mrs. Adams had made the little butter she 
could, and had her cake of grated corn under 
way, to which they added a good steak of 
fresh venison, and considered themselves well 
supplied. They had eight children — Ephraim, 
James, John, Arthur, S. E., Angeline, Ruth A. 
and one deceased. While hoeing busily at his 
first patch of corn one day, two Indians, who 
were passing in the woods, came up stealthily 
behind him, one of them coming within an 
arm's-length before Adams observed them. 
Being startled at sight of the Indian so near 
him, on the impulse of the moment he made a 
sudden break, which was the source of consid- 
erable amusement to the Indians, who meant 
him no harm, and assured Adams that they 
onl}' wanted to scare him. He sold out in 
Texas and moved to Likens Township. After- 
ward sold out there and moved to Bloom, Sen- 
eca Co., where his wife died Nov. 28, 1875, 
after a married life of fort^'-eight j-ears and one 
day. He sold his property in Bloom, and came 
to live with his son S. E., in this village, in 
1879. S. E. was born May 16, 1847. When 
18 years of age, he began to learn the carpen- 
ter's trade, and taught school during the winter 
months. In April, 1870, he moved to Kansas, 
and engaged at the carpenter's business in 
Dickinson Co., and taught school every winter 
term he was there, besides three summer terms, 
and several summers he worked on the fai'm. 
He returned to his father's, in Seneca Co., in 
1875, and the two succeeding seasons worked 
on the farm. In the fall of the latter, he took 
a district school, and taught there that winter. 
On March 19, 1878, he married Mary Rader, 
who was born in Northampton Co.,Penn., April 
15, 1856, and came here with her parents when 
about 12 years old. They have one child — 
Bessie. Mr. Adams works at the cai'penter's 



trade in the summer and teaches school in the 
winter months. 

DR. HARVEY S. BEVINGTON, physician 
and druggist. Sulphur Springs ; was born in 
Wayne Co., Ohio, Oct. 16, 1830. To give a 
short and comprehensive sketch of the Bev- 
ington family, it is necessary to go back to the 
advent, to this country, of one Henry Beving- 
ton, who, with his wife, emigrated from Lon- 
don, Eng., immediately after the close of the 
Revolution, and settled in New York. In re- 
ligious belief he was a Quaker, and a tailor by 
trade ; early in life he sustained the loss of one 
leg, which no doubt had something to do in 
determining his profession. They reared five 
children who grew up to maturit}^ and those of 
that name in this country can trace back their 
ancestr}' to this family. John was one of 
the oldest of the family ; he moved from his 
native place in New York, to Beaver Co., Penn., 
when a young man ; there he married Frances 
Scott, whose earl}' history is somewhat roman- 
tic, considering that she, when 2 years old, 
with her parents and four older children, emi- 
grated from Ireland about the year 1789. and 
while on the ocean both parents died, leaving 
their helpless children to the mere}' of strangers, 
the oldest about 15 years, the youngest only 
2 years. They made their way to Beaver Co., 
Penn., and there a famil}- by the name of 
Blackman took and reared the youngest, who 
afterward grew up to beautiful womanliood 
and became the wife of John Bevington. They 
remained in Penns3dvania several years after 
their marriage, but moved to Wayne Co., Ohio, 
where the}' settled in the wilderness ; shortly 
after their settlement in Wayne Co., Mr. Bev- 
ington responded to a call for troops to defend 
the country and its interests against the invasion 
of the British in 1812. Leaving his wife and 
two babes in the woods, he proceeded with the 
army and was with Gen. Hai-rison at the front, 
until peace was restoi-ed. At the close of the 
war he returned to Wayne Co., and assumed 
the task of carving for himself and family a 
home in the woods ; this he successfully ac- 
complished, and there reared an interesting fam- 
ily of nine children, three girls and six boys, 
viz.: Rachel, Henry, Charles, Alexander, Re- 
becca, Samuel, John, Hannah and Harvey S. 
The latter and youngest one of the family, be- 
ing fond of books and general lore, spent his 
early life at school, and when he had acquired 



^ 



908 



BIOGRAPPIICAL SKETCHES: 



a good common-school education he spent two 
yeai's at the Academy in Edinburg, Ohio, 
when about sixteen years old ; then resumed 
his studies in the Vei'million Institute, at 
Hayesville, Ashland Co., where he remained 
two years, at the same time pursuing the study 
of medicine along with the regular work of the 
institution, having begun to read in the office 
of his preceptors, Drs. Buckraaster and West- 
cott, of Fredericksburg. At the age of 21, he 
entered the Medical Department of the Ann 
Arbor University, Ann Arbor, Mich., where he 
graduated March, 1852. Thence moved to and 
began the practice of his profession in Hicks- 
ville. Defiance Co., Ohio, and two years later, 
in 1854, his parents and the entire family moved 
to Defiance Co., where his father closed the 
varied scenes of life the same year ; but most of 
the family reside there still. There the Doctor 
practiced until 1856, when he moved to De 
Kalb, Crawford Co., and practiced there until 

1862, when he went into the arm}^ as 1st Lieu- 
tenant of Co. H, 123d 0. V. I. On June 18, 

1863, during Gen. Milroy's retreat from Win- 
chester, he was taken prisoner and sent to Lib- 
by Prison ten months and a half; he was 
paroled May 1, 1864, and on the 7th of the 
same month, was exchanged, when he imme- 
diatel}^ joined his old regiment and company, 
rather serving with his old comrades than ac- 
cepting the office of Captain, to which he had 
been pi'omoted while in prison. His regiment 
was then in the " Army of the Shenandoah," 
under Gren. Sheridan ; after his return to the 
ranks he participated in the conflict at Winches- 
ter, on Sept. 19, 1864, and on 22d of same month 
in the general engagement at Fisher's Hill, and 
Oct. 19 (the day of Sheridan's famous ride), in 
the battle of Cedar Ci*eek. During that winter 
he was transferred to the Army of the Potomac, 
and in February, 1865, he was discharged on 
account of ph3'sical disability. He then re- 
turned to Crawford Co., located at Annapolis, 
and resumed the practice of the healing art, in 
which he has been remarkably successful. In 
1876, he purchased the drug store in which he 
does an extensive business for an inland vil- 
lage ; the reasons are obvious, his stock is of 
the best and complete for country demand, and 
his patrons are sure to be honorably dealt 
with. The Doctor has been married three 
times : first, to Martha A. McCullough April 
20, 1854 ; she was born in this county and died 



here July 11, 1860, leaving one child — Mary F., 
now Mrs. E. A. Squier ; his second marriage 
was with Elizabeth A. Barclay April 23, 1862. 
She was a native of Pennsylvania, but came 
here when young; she died Feb. 21, 1876, 
leaving three children, viz.: Martha V., Jay W. 
and Carrie L. His third marriage was cele- 
brated Dec. 12, 1876, with Mrs. Millie Ensmin- 
ger — widow of the late Geo. Ensmingei* — she is 
a daughter of Dr. Phillip Ebert, of North Rob- 
inson, formerly of Pennsylvania ; by tliis union 
there is one child, viz.: Ellwood Ebert. Be- 
sides the property in town, he owns a good 
farm of 57 aci'es, about one mile southeast of 
Annapolis ; be it said to his credit, all of which 
has been accumulated by his own tact and in- 
dustry, as he was not worth any property 
when he started out on his own responsibility. 
SAMUEL S. BLOWERS, farmer; P. 0. 
Bucyrus ; son of John 0. and Sylvinia Chad- 
sey Blowers, who settled upon the farm now 
owned b}' the subject of this sketch, in the 
spring of 1822. (These pioneers of libertj- 
have received an extended notice in the town- 
ship history.) Samuel S. was born x\pril 11, 
1825, and is the oldest native male inhabitant 
of the township, who never lost his residence 
in Liberty. He attended the schools taught in 
the Blowers Schoolhouse until about 18 3^ears 
of age, and then, in 1843, he visited Missouri, 
where he remained several months. When 
he returned to Crawford Co., he labored 
at various occupations until April, 1853. He 
then rented the Blowers faim, and, in 1858, 
having purchased the interests of the other 
heirs, became sole proprietor of the home- 
stead, which at the present time comprises 174 
acres. Blowers was married, April 17, 1853, to 
Margaretta C. Nave, who died in 1858, leaving 
two childi'en — Arthur Llo3'd Blowers, born 
July 5, 1855, and Martha May Blowers, born 
June 21, 1857. The latter is now the wife of 
J. N. Tustison. Samuel Blowers was married, 
Sept. 29, 1859, to Miss Diana Parcher, and 
the}' were the parents of the following eight 
children : Samuel Lincoln, born Aug. 25, 1860 ; 
Jesse D., born Nov. 3, 1861 ; Sallie Serena, 
born March 9, 1863 ; Idelia Vannessa, born 
Oct. 30, 1864; George William, born Aug. 9, 
1867, deceased ; Isa Birdella, born Ma}^ 14, 
1870 ; Mary, born March 4, 1873, and Clara, 
born July 22, 1875, deceased. Aug. 9, 1862, 
Mr. Blowers enlisted as a private in the com- 



^Tv* 



__S) 



LIBERTY TOWNSHIP. 



911 



pany raised by Capt. Wm. Parsons. Several 
da3'S afterward, Judge Josiah Plants, a member 
at that time of the Military Board for Crawford 
Co., expostulated with Blowers for having en- 
listed as a private, stating that, if he had known 
Blowers desired to enter the service, he would 
have secured for him a commission. Blowers 
replied that he had enlisted from a sense of 
duty and wished his children to feel in after 
3'ears that their father had entered the service 
from patriotism and not for the sake of obtain- 
ing a commission. But they refused to per- 
mit him to serve as a private verj- long, and 
he was commissioned a Second Lieutenant on 
Feb. 26, 1863, and assigned to the 101st 0. V. 
I. on March 20, 1863, which regiment was a 
portion of the Army of the Cumberland. The 
exposure and hardships of an active military 
life resulted in inflicting upon him several seri- 
ous ailments ; he was ordered into the hospital, 
but his health did not improve, and, as the dis- 
ease appeared chronic, he was finally released 
from duty Jan. 9, 1864, and returned home, 
having been reduced in weight from 163 to 95 
pounds during the term of his military service. 
During the past twenty years, Mr. Blowers has 
held many positions of honor and trust in Lib- 
ertv Township. 

DEXTER BACON, farmer ; P. 0. Bucyrus ; 
is the son of Balph Bacon, the second settler of 
Liberty Township ; born May 6, 1822, and was 
the first native white child of Liberty. The 
subject of this sketch was, when about 10 ^^ears 
of age, bound b}" his father to Martin Bacon, an 
older bi'other, who received the farm for pro- 
viding for the fiimily until each member became 
of age. By the agreement. Dexter was to re- 
ceive $100, if he remained with Martin between 
the ages of 16 and 21. Dexter attended school 
at the Maxfield and Blowers Schoolhouses, but 
most of his education was acquired in the later 
3'ears of his life. When Bacon became of age, 
his brother paid him the $100, and he started 
for W^isconsin, ti-aveling on foot nearl3' the en- 
tire distance, carr3ing the mone3', some $80 in 
silver, and $20 in gold, upon his back in a knap- 
sack, and expending only $6.50 during the 
journey. Bacon purchased 80 acres of land 
some thirty miles from Milwaukee, and in a 
short time returned to Crawford Co., where he 
was married, April 25, 1844, to Miss Rebecca, 
daughter of Henr3' Bonebrake. In May, 1844, 
Bacon again left Crawford Co. for Wisconsin, 



accompanied by his wife, her father and his 
family. They removed in wagons, reaching Mil- 
waukee J uly 3, 1 844. Their goods were shipped 
from Sandusky Cit3' to Milwaukee by water. 
Bacon settled some ten miles from the latter 
cit3', in the same count\', on a claim of 80 acres 
belonging to Ralph Bacon. For some mouths, 
the famih' suffered many hardships. The sub- 
ject of this sketch relates : " I had to borrow 
$20 of Joseph Bonebrake to defray the expenses 
of moving, and when that ran out I had nothing 
left but m3' hands. I cut wagon hubs from the 
timber on my farm, and sold them for one-half 
cash and one-half trade. With the first money 
obtained, I purchased my first barrel of flour 
for $3.38, and never felt better in m3- life when 
hauling it home. A tree blew over on m3' only 
steer and killed it. I purchased another four- 
yeai'-old steer for $18, and had to borrow money 
at 12 per cent interest to pay for the animal. 
It was six months before I made enough to pa3' 
this debt." But hard work improved the con- 
dition of Bacon's finances. He engaged in lum- 
bering for several 3'ears, and in four years 
cleared 40 acres of the farm he occupied, which 
he finall3' purchased of his father, trading for 
it his own farm and $400 in mone3'. Bacon 
left Wisconsin with his famil3' in the spring of 
1850, and after stopping six months near South 
Bend, Ind., reached Crawford Co., Nov. 12, 1850, 
and settled on his present farm, which he pur- 
chased of his father-in-law, who bought it of 
John Maxfield. Bacon has resided on this farm 
during the past thirty years, which at the pres- 
ent time contains 119^^ acres. At the first, the 
land was so poor that Bacon could not raise 
wheat upon it for two years, now it yields 
twent3'-five bushels to the acre. Since 1860, 
Bacon has paid some attention to raising 
thoroughbred cattle. His first purchases were 
of the Durham gi-ades. He has frequenth' paid 
several hundred dollars for a single head. He 
introduced into Crawford Co., in March, 1876, 
the first Ayrshire cows ever brought to the 
count3', and for several 3'ears he has been breed- 
ing pure-blooded Berkshire pigs. About 1862, 
Bacon engaged in the rearing of bees, and is 
possibh' the largest bee-keeper in the count3-, 
having, at the present time, eighty-six hives. 
Most of these are Italian bees. Bacon joined 
the M. E. Church when about 16 years of age, 
under the preaching of Rev. Adam Poe, a son 
of the famous Indian fighter. He was a mem- 



t 



'.±. 



912 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



ber of this religious denomination until he re- 
turned from Wisconsin, when he united with 
the Christian Advent Church. Bacon was an 
original stockholder in the First National Bank 
of Bucyrus, organized in 1863. and never sold 
his interest. He served as a Director in this 
corporation for a short time during the year 
1879. During the war, he subscribed some 
$500 at different times to assist in clearing 
Liberty Township from the draft. The subject 
of this sketch is the father of the following six 
children, and five of these reside with their 
parents : Samantha, born Jan. 21, 1846 ; Wash- 
ington, born Jan. 1, 1849 (deceased) ; Gilbert 
G., born Jan. 7, 1851 ; Charles W., born Oct. 4, 
1852 ; Martha Ellen, born Jan. 14, 1857, and 
Elsie, born Jan. 12, 1866. 

CHARLES C. COBB, farmer ; P. 0. Bucyrus ; 
was born in this township May 2, 1847 ; he is 
the son of Elam and Nancy (Brown) Cobb. 
He (Charles C.) was married in December, 1877, 
to Hannah Heckard, who was born in Williams 
Co., Ohio, Nov. 27, 1856, and came to Crawford 
Co. with her parents in 1872. Her father died 
in March, 1872, but her mother still survives, 
although she has been blind for about ten 
years. Mr. Cobb has a fine farm of 200 acres, 
which belonged to his father's estate, two-thirds 
of which was left to him. They have one child, 
Ora E. (See sketch of Asa Cobb's family.) 

ASA COBB (deceased), was born in New 
York, and went to Pennsylvania, where his fam- 
ily was partially reared, but subsequently 
moved to Crawford Co., Ohio, and settled in 
Liberty Township, in 1823. He raised twelve 
children to maturity, viz.: Asa, Henry, Elipha- 
let, Dudley, Elam, Jedediah, John, William, 
Cyperion, Alfred, Sally and Mary ; three of 
these — Eliphalet, Elam and Jedediah — went as 
sailors on the lakes. The former was drowned 
many 3'ears ago in Lake Erie, when their craft 
was blown ashore in a severe storm. Elam 
went on the lakes when a mere youth, and 
sailed fifteen j'ears, during which time his ex- 
perience was much varied. He was captain for 
fully ten years of his sea-faring life and bore the 
hardships as well as enjoyed the pleasures in- 
cident to his calling. Among the perilous in- 
cidents which he was compelled to undergo, 
was that of running through ice in the Straits 
of Mackinaw, which became too heavy, and 
forced them to remain, and they were frozen in, 
and there they had to remain all winter. Jede- 



diah also arose to the position of captain, but 
finally gave up sailing and removed to Illinois, 
where he died long since. Elam married Nancy 
Brown, March, 1842, in Huron Co., Ohio ; the 
following season,^ Mr. Cobb left the lakes and 
turned his attention to farming, and came to 
his farm in Libert}- Township, and began 
" keeping house " in a small log cabin, and 
prospered well. They reared two children — 
Premilla and Charles C ; the former is now the 
wife of Edwin McDonald. Mr. Cobb died here 
in May, 1864, bequeathing the bulk of his 
propert}^ to Charles C. Mrs. Cobb was born 
in Cleveland, Jan. 27, 1820, and moved with 
her parents to New York, but she returned to 
Ohio in 1834, and lived near Nor walk when she 
was married. Her parents both died in New 
York. Mrs. Cobb lived here in her widowhood 
until March 16, 1876, when she was married to 
Solomon Benson. He (Mr. Benson) was born 
in Jefferson Co., N. Y., Jan. 6, 1821 ; his 
father, Rufus Benson, and family, came from 
the State of New York and settled in this 
county in 1834. They reared a family of 
twelve children, two of whom survive — Solo- 
mon and Oris. The latter resides in Iroquois 
Co., 111., with whom their mother lives, in the 
80th year of her age. Three of the Benson 
family did good service in the war of the late 
rebellion ; Mason, the youngest one, served 
three years, and was in the rebel prison at Dan- 
ville, Va., about eight months. He returned 
home without a scratch, and. subsequently, 
moved to Missouri, where he met a tragic end, 
by accidentally shooting himself while handling 
his gun carelessl}'. Another brother, Martin, 
met with a similar fate in Hardin Co., this 
State ; while leaning on the muzzle of his gun, 
the stock, resting on the joist of a building, 
slipped off, the hammer, striking against the 
timber, discharged the gun with fatal result. 
Mr. Solomon Benson enlisted October, 1862, in 
the 10th 0. V. C, and served until May, 1865, 
when he returned home without the least in- 
jury, except having his shoulder dislocated b}^ 
his horse falling with him. He was first mar- 
ried to Sarah Sell, July, 1845 ; they settled in 
Holmes Township, where they had a farm of 80 
acres. They reared seven children to maturity, 
viz.: Ellen (deceased), BA'ron, Harriet (wife of 
John Markley, of Henry Co.), Ruth (wife of 
Josiah Keplinger), Laura (wife of Frank Mark- 
ley), Eugene (deceased) and Oscar. In 1875, 



LIBERTY TOWNSHIP. 



913 



Mr. Benson and his first wife rautuall}- agi-eecl 
to separate, and to that end were legally di- 
vorced. Although Mr. Benson had limited op- 
portunity for procuring an education, he has 
read considerable, and was gifted with a good 
memory, wiiich enables him to refer to dates 
and incidents with almost remarkable pre- 
cision. 

E. W. COOPER, farmer; P. 0. Sulphur 
Springs ; is the only child of Elijah and Eliza- 
beth (Fry) Cooper, and was born in Morrow Co., 
Ohio, April 10, 1853. His mother was a daugh- 
ter of John H. Fry, and was a native of this 
township. His father was born in one of the 
more eastern counties of this State. He was 
of English and Irish descent, several genera- 
tions back. His principal business was farm- 
ing;, althouofh he learned and worked some at 
the tanner's trade when 3'oung. In August of 
1853, he met with a fatal accident. While 
hitching up his team on his own premises, the}' 
became frightened, ran away, dragging him 
along considerable distance, and he sustained 
such injury that he expired the same day. At 
that time, E. W. was a mere baby of a few 
months old, so the bereaved widow imme- 
diately returned with her babe to her father, 
where she ever afterward made her home, and 
reared her child. As soon as he could, he 
began to assist his grandfather on the farm, 
and has applied himself diligently to farm- 
ing ever since. From the time he was 16 
3'ears of age, he farmed the place until he 
was 21, at which time he rented the farm ; and, 
when he began farming on his own account, he 
gave immediate and due attention to the im- 
provement of his stock, which is so frequently 
overlooked by the beginner, but which is no in- 
considerable adjunct to success, when judi- 
ciously, and not extravagantly, attended to. He 
has a herd of nine short-horn cattle of an excel- 
lent breed, which compare favorabl}* with any 
of their class in the county, which is fully at- 
tested b}' the fact that two of them took first 
prizes and two second prizes, at the late Crawford 
County Fair. Subsequent to his grandfather's 
death (June, 1877), he purchased the farm — 
the old "Fry homestead" — of 160 acres, which 
is well improved, and one of the best-watered 
in the township. He owns also 80 acres which 
belonged to his mother, his farm now consist- 
ing of 240 acres. He united his fortunes with 
NorahV. Urich on Dec. 5, 1878. She was born 



in Richland Co., this State, April 15, 1858, and 
came to Crawford Co. with her parents in the 
spring of 1866. They have one child — Ralph 
E. — and are members of the Lutheran Church. 
JOHN CHARLTON (deceased) ; was a na- 
tive of Mar3dand, and came to Columbiana 
Co., Ohio, with his parents when he was 
young. There he married Elizabeth Hoops, 
who had come from Pennsylvania with her 
parents. iNIr. Charlton worked at whatever 
odd jobs he could obtain for several years after 
he was married, and then concluded to move to 
this county on 80 acres of Government land 
which his father had entered, and which he pro- 
posed to give to John. Accordingly, he, wife 
and two children started with an ox team in 
the spring of 1829, and came to Liberty Town- 
ship. They had hard times to get along, as Mr. 
Charlton had only 25 cents left when he got 
here, and provisions hard to get even for mone}' . 
And the only source of revenue open to them 
was to make potash of the wood ashes and take 
it with their ox team to Mansfield or Sandusky 
City. When the}- had some corn, it was hard 
work to get it prepared, as mills were at a great 
distance then and their product was poor. He 
has waited his turn at one of those horse-power 
mills two da^'s and a night at a time, to have 
two or three bushels of corn ground. They 
would raise some flax, and while he was doing 
the farm work, his wife would manufacture the 
flax into cloth and sell it to get what little gro- 
ceries they needed, besides making whatever 
the family wore. They had ten children, seven 
of whom' grew to maturity — L. W., Thomas, 
John E., Calvin, Sarah, Oliver and Ellis. Mr. 
Charlton died in advanced years, June, 1853, 
and his wife laid down her well-finished task on 
earth in June, 1866. L. W. worked at farming 
until about 23 years old, then learned the car- 
penter's trade which he followed about fifteen 
years. He was twice married, first to Rebecca 
Hocker; she died, leaving four children, tliree 
of whom are living — Jonas, Susanna and P^liza 
A. His second marriage was with Sarah 
Nickler, by whom there are six children, viz., 
Alice M., "Charles, David M., Rebecca. John 
W. and Minnie J. Oliver was in the army ; 
was shot through the right heel, necessitathig 
amputation of the foot, from the effects of which 
he died. Thomas, Calvin and Eli are in Mich- 
igan. John E. was born after his parents came 
here Dec. 18. 1830. His vouth was spent on 



-If 



914 



BIOGEAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



the farm ; he liad poor opportunities for getting 
an education, consequenti}' it is limited. In 
July, 1852, he took a stock-horse and started 
to iowa, remaining there until late in the fall, 
when he crossed into Illinois and there put up 
for the winter with a farmer in Rock Island Co., 
working for his own and his horse's board, but 
before the winter was over he changed his 
place, and then got $9 per month and his horse 
kept. In the spring, he sold the animal and 
worked for the purchaser of his horse that sum- 
mer, and, with what he had earned and the 
price of his horse, he put back into Iowa and 
entered 160 acres in Warren Co. He then con- 
cluded to return to Ohio, having secured a good 
piece of land, all prairie, but the thought struck 
him that it was not complete without a piece 
of timber, so he bargained for ten acres of tim- 
ber-land and went to work to pay for it, and in 
three 3'ears he had it all paid and $80 left, and 
then concluded to visit his folks in Ohio. Soon 
after he got here his mother and younger bro- 
ther (Calvin) sustained serious injury bj' a run- 
away team, and they, being hurt, insisted that 
he (John E.), should stay with them one year 
and help them with the farm, to which he as- 
sented. Having an undivided share in the 
homestead for which he could find no purchaser, 
he concluded to buj' out some of the heirs him- 
self and stay here and make this his home. So 
he purchased two shares for $400 each, and some 
time later two more shares at $2,200 for the 
two, and afterward two other shares for the sum 
of $2,400. He now owns a good farm here of 
120 acres with good buildings. His Iowa prop- 
erty he paid no attention to for some years, fur- 
ther than paying the taxes, etc., and his clothes 
and little effects which he had at the place he 
boarded lay there for years. In 1867, he sold 
his Iowa farm for $2,000, which cost him about 
$350. He was united in marriage with Laura 
E. Lones (daughter of Joseph Lones, of Holmes 
Township) ; she was born June 11, 1834, in this 
county. They have three children — Ellen J., 
Joseph and Wilber J. Mr. Charlton can look 
back with pleasure to the time when he set out 
to Iowa with almost nothing, and feel that 
his industry and care has been well rewarded 
with a bountiful supply of this world's goods. 
He and his wife are members of the Evangelical 
Lutheran Church. 

AMOS B. CHARLTON, farmer and stock- 
dealer, was born in this township Sept. 7, 1835. 



He is the third child of Michael and Anna 
(Mason) Charlton. Michael Charlton was born 
in Hagerstown, Md., March 5, 1808; his par- 
ents were Thomas and Elizabeth (Menser) 
Charlton, who, with ten children, moved 
from Maryland to Columbiana Co., Ohio, in 
1822. Of those children now living in this 
State, are Michael, Henry, Joseph, Daniel, 
Sarah, Nancy and Elizabeth ; Mary, John and 
Thomas are dead, but all lived to mature years. 
Michael got 80 acres from his father in 1829, 
which he (the father) had entered some time 
prior to 1829, and which is the same 80 acres 
where Mr. Charlton has lived ever since. He 
worked one summer, then returned to his 
father's, and married Anna Mason, who was 
born there in 1810. The year after they were 
married, they came out here and made a per- 
manent residence. They reared eight children 
— Mary, Charles, Amos B., Elizabeth, Jonas, 
Narcissa, Ann and Alexander. Charles en- 
listed in 1861, in the 0. V. I., and served about 
four months, when he was taken ill with typhoid 
fever, and died at Grrafton, Va. His remains 
were brought home and interred in the famil}^ 
burying-place. When Amos B. was about 21 
years of age, he went three terms to the pri- 
mary department in Oberlin College. Aug. 12, 
1861, he enlisted in the Union army; was 
mustered into service as Second Lieutenant in 
Co. C, 49th 0. V. I., and was in the Army of 
the Cumberland under Gen. Buell, and, when he 
had served about eight months, he was stricken 
down with t^^phoid fever and lay in a hospital 
at Louisville, Ky., for several weeks, then re- 
ported for dut}', rejoined the regiment and im- 
mediately took a relapse, and, therefore, was 
obliged to resign. He returned to his father, 
and as soon as he regained his health, he 
turned his attention to farming and stock- 
dealing. In the spring of 1863, be came to 
his farm, on which his brother-in-law, J. H. 
Wert, was living, and made his home with him. 
April 9, 1869, he was united in marriage with 
M. E. Hoppel. They have four children, viz., 
Virgil H., Ary B., Michael Z. and Annie. He 
owns 171^ acres of good land, and much of 
his time at present is occupied in the stock 
trade. He is a member of the Knights of 
Honor, Liberty Lodge, No. 845. Mrs. Charl- 
ton was born in Northampton Co., Penn., Oct. 
23, 1849, and came here with her parents when 
quite 3'oung. 



A 



LIBEKTY TOWNSHIP. 



915 



JOHN CR ALL (deceased) ; bom in Dauphin 
Co., Penn. Dec. 18, 1809 ; he wastlie son of Henry 
and Ehzabeth (Henshew) Crall, who were natives 
of Penns^'lvania. When young, Mr. Crall worked 
at the millwright trade, until he was married, 
which event occurred April 16, 1835, with 
Elizabeth Raysor, daughter of John and Susanna 
(Fackler) Raysor. Mrs. Crall was born Feb. 
10, 1817, in the same count}' as her husband. 
After their marriage they lived with his father's 
famil}' one year, when they moved to the farm 
of her father ; where they remained nine years ; 
he gave them money to purchase the farm of 
Mr. Crall's parents, who were about to sell and 
move to the West. The Crall family moved to 
Ohio and settled in this county, and the flatter- 
ing accounts sent back by them of this country 
induced John Crall to move here ; accordingly, 
he, with wife and five children, left Harrisburg 
in a two-horse wagon in April, and arrived in 
Crawford County, in June, 1852 ; they pur- 
chased the Samuel Foster place, where their 
son Elias lives. They were parents of twelve 
children, three of whom died in Pennsylvania 
in childhood, and two died in childhood after 
they came here. Those living are John, who 
resides at Milan ; Elizabeth, now Mrs. E. M. 
Moore ; William, Elias, Oliver and Susie reside 
with their mother. David enlisted in August, 
1861, in Company C, 101st 0. V. I., and served 
through the war until captured by the rebels at 
the battle of Chickamauga, and sent to Danville 
Prison, where he died May 24, 1864, thus 
terminating his sufferings in the rebel prison, 
which he had withstood from the preceding 
September. Mr. John Crall was called from 
his earthly scenes Nov. 25, 1 879. He and Mrs. 
Crall had been members of the LTnited Brethren 
Church since shortly- after their marriage ; her 
father, John Raysor, was a minister of that 
pei'suasion. 

ELIAS CRALL, farmer ; P. 0. Bucyrus ; is 
the son of John and Elizabeth (Raysor) Crall ; 
he was born Oct. 9, 1850, in Dauphin Co., 
Penn., and is one of the five children who came 
here with his pai-ents in 1852 ; his early life 
was spent on the farm and attending school. 
In 1870, he began his studies at Oberlin Col- 
lege, but ere two months had elapsed he was 
taken down sick, and had to retire from the 
college. The following year he resumed his 
studies at Republic, but, as at Oberlin, he was 
compelled to give up on account of failing health. 



In 1872, he began teaching school in Sandusky 
Township, this county, and taught three winter 
terms. The second term was a school at State 
Line, and the third was in his own disti'ict. 
On Sept. 24, 1874, he united his fortunes with 
Lovina Spahr — daughter of Geo. A. and Cath- 
arine (Cover) Spahr, who came from Columbia 
Co., Penn., and settled in this county upward 
of forty 3ears ago. Mrs. Crall was born in 
this county, Nov. 8, 1852. They have one 
child, Eva L., born Oct. 14, 1877 ; they reside 
where Mr. Crall's parents bought and settled, 
when they came here in 1852. They own 75 
acres of well-improved land, and i-eside in the 
substantial brick residence which was built on 
the premises over 44 j'ears ago. 

HENRY C. COOPER, farmer ; P. 0. Sul- 
phur Springs ; was born in Coshocton Co., 
Ohio, July 4, 1817. His father, Noah, and his 
mother, Martha (Carpenter) Cooper, were both 
natives of Pennsylvania, where they lived to 
man and woman's estate ; were married there ; 
and subsequently moved to Ohio, and settled 
in Coshocton, being among the early pioneers 
of that county. They were the parents of sev- 
eral children, but all died in early childhood, 
except Henry C, and one sister who lived to 
maturity. When these children were quite 
young (Henry C, about 2 years old) their 
father died, and being but a few years in the 
new settlement, the widow and orphans were 
as yet but poorly provided for. But in the 
lapse of time, Mrs. Cooper married one John 
Robinson, who was himself a widower with a 
family ; and in due time two children were 
born of this union. 3Ir. Robinson having on- 
ceived the idea that it would be to the advan- 
tage of all to push further West into the 
sparsely settled frontier. Avhere more and better 
agricultural land could be easily secured. Ac- 
cordingh% they disposed of their effects in Co- 
shocton County, and set out for Crawford Coun- 
ty ; and arrived here in the year 1827. They 
located where Chatfield now stands ; and there 
Mr. Robinson purchased, of second hands, 300 
acres. Here the}- were getting along nicel}', 
everything seeming to prosper, and the family 
enjoyed their new home without many neigh- 
bors for several years ; when that grim mon- 
ster, death, assailed the family once more ; 
this time taking from their circle the fond wife 
and mother. At this time our subject (Henry 
C. Cooper) was only about 17 years old ; and 



^ (E 



k* 



916 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



he then began to work out by the month. He 
made his home Avith one Luke Dorland, in Lib- 
erty Township, and with him he hired at $7 
per montli for some time ; and while he worked 
at other places in the vicinity, he made a tempo- 
rary liome at Dorlands for about four years, 
occasionally working for him also when he re- 
quired his services. In the course of time Mr. 
Dorland l)ecame tired of his location, and pro- 
posed to sell out ; Mr. Cooper, being industrious 
and of a very economical turn, had saved his 
earnings closely, and with what funds he could 
raise, purchased the '-Dorland" farm in 1839. 
Being yet single, he preferred to rent the farm 
rather than endeavor to carry on the business 
without a housekeeper, so he rented it to differ- 
ent parties for two years ; and, at the expira- 
tion of that time, rented it to James Robinson — 
a son of his step-father, by his first wife, and 
who was then married to Mr. Cooper's sister ; 
with his brother-in-law he lived and worked six 
years. In the meantime, John Robinson, his 
step-father, had sold out, and moved to the 
State of Missouri. Mr. Cooper was united in 
marriage with Margaret Davidson on Jan. 28, 
18-17. She was born in Knox Co., Ohio, March 
20, 1828, and came here with her parents, who 
settled in Chatfield Township in 1830. Her 
father's name was Richard, and her mother's 
Rebecca (Hill) Davidson, the former a native of 
Virginia, and the latter of Pennsylvania. Mr. 
and Mrs. Cooper have five children living — ■ 
Aquilla, now Mrs. G-errard Teel ; Martha A., 
Mary J., John H. and Ida B. Josephine is 
dead. He owns 79 acres of good land where 
he first purchased, which is the farm where 
he was hired to work for $7 per month when 
about 17 years of age. He has held the office 
of Constable for several years in this township. 
SIMON CRALL, farmer; P. 0. Sulphur 
Springs ; was born June 2, 1808, in Dauphin 
Co., Penn. He is the eldest of six children, and 
had little opportunity of going to school, as he 
would have to work on the farm, and go to 
school alternate weeks with his brothers, for a 
few months only in the winter season, for they 
were all kept steadily at work through the sum- 
mer, as soon as they were able to do anything. 
In February, 1830, he married Elizabeth Becker, 
and lived on his father's place one year after he 
was married. He then moved to his father-in 
law's place, where they lived one year, after 
which they rented a farm in that vicinity, on 



which they lived eleven years. In 1845, they 
sold out in Pennsylvania, and started with a 
four-horse team, besides a carriage for the wife 
and five children, for Ohio. They located in 
Richland Co., near Shelby, but stayed there 
onl}' about a year, when they moved again, and 
that time settled in Liberty Township, Crawford 
Co. Here he purchased 120 acres of land, and 
set about improving it. Since then he has pur- 
chased at various times, until he owned 590 
acres ; but has since sold and given his chil- 
dren, in value, to the amount of $20,000. Mrs. 
Crall was born in the same county as her hus- 
band, and, after many years of useful toil, the 
fond mother was taken from her family b}^ death, 
Aug. 16. 1855, leaving six of her nine children — 
Jacob, Elizabeth (deceased), Henry (deceased), 
Annie, Samuel, Mar}^ A., John, Emos and Da- 
vid. Mr. Crall married a second wife, Elizabeth 
McGinnis, in May. 1858, and sustained the loss 
of his second partner, April 11, 1875. His third 
marriage was celebrated with Fannie Kider, 
widow of the late John Ostander. His family 
were all the children of his first wife. Jacob is 
living in Berrien Co., Mich. ; Annie was mar- 
ried to Daniel Keller, and, in 1860, when about 
fourteen months married, she died of that ter- 
rible disease, milk-sickness, which was then 
prevailing in some sections of this county. 
Samuel enlisted in 1862, and served three years 
in the late rebellion. He was once taken pris- 
oner, and spent several months in Libby Prison ; 
thence In'ought to Annapolis, Md., where he 
was released, and got leave to come home. He 
and two others started from there on foot, and 
walked to his father's, in this township, in about 
three weeks. He now resides in Eaton Co., 
Mich. Mary A. is now Mrs. Ebenezer Istone, 
of Knox Co., Tenn.; John lives in Wyandot 
Co., this State. Emos had been residing in 
Michigan, but is now in Shelby, this State. 
David is the only one of the family residing 
here. He has a good farm, principally given 
him by his father. He was born in this county 
Feb. 23, 1848, and spent his youth like the 
generality of young men who are reared to farm- 
ing. In 1870, he went to Seneca Co. to work 
a farm of his father's. There he fortunately 
formed the acquaintance of Fannie Snyder, who, 
on Oct. 24, 1872, became his bride. They re- 
mained there one year afterward. He then, 
with his wife, returned to Crawford Co., and 
rented the farm where he novv lives ; and, 



W 



LIBERTY TOWNSHIP. 



917 



shortl}' afterward, with his father's assistance, 
he purchased it. Mrs. David Crall was born 
in Seneca Co., in November, 1852. The}^ have 
three children — Nine M., Elizabeth M. and Eltie 
J. Mr. and Mrs. Crall are members of the 
United Brethren Church, and Mr. Simon Crall 
has been a member of the same church for over 
thirty-nine years. He is one of the most robust, 
quick on foot and healthy men to be found, con- 
sidering his advanced age and weight, which is 
upward of 200 pounds, although he is of low 

DK M. M. CARROTHERS, physician. Sul- 
phur Springs ; was born in Vernon Township, 
this county, Feb. 8, 1845 ; is the youngest of 
eight children, and, like most young men who 
are brought up to farm-life, his time was occu- 
pied between the duties of the farm and attend- 
ing school ; but he showed a decided taste for 
the latter, and a desire for general knowledge, 
which has been duly gratified. In May, 1864, 
he enlisted in the 163d 0. N. (jr., and served 
until the following September, that time being 
the expiration of his term of enlistment. He 
then returned home, and in the following No- 
vember he began teaching school, and taught 
five winters, living at his father's and helping 
on the farm in the summer months. When 
about 23 years of age he began the study of 
medicine with Dr. A. E. Jenner, of Crestline ; 
he studied there three years, including two 
terms of lectures — first, at the Miami Medical 
College, of Cincinnati ; second term of lectures 
was at the University of Wooster, in Cleveland, 
where he graduated in February, 1872. That 
same spring, he came to this village and began 
the practice of his profession, and was favored 
with a patronage beyond the most sanguine ex- 
pectations ; his medical skill is daily growing 
in favor. He is a young man, quiet and un- 
assuming, and not given to any display, but 
understands thorougbl}' his profession, as his 
success attests. He owns a valuable property' 
in the village, and the only two-story brick res- 
idence there at this writing, and is otherwise 
well prepared, flnanciall}-, to enjoy life. On 
Jul}', 1872, he united his fortunes with Mary 
Wert ; she was born in Sandusky Township, 
this county, Jan. 7, 1846. They have three 
children — Carrie M., Eva E. and John R. 

NATHAN COOPER, farmer ; P. 0. Bucy- 
rus ; was born in this county, near Gralion, 
April 4, 1831. He worked on his father's farm 



until he was married, which event occuiTed 
Feb. 28, 1856, with Catharine Crider ; they 
have five childi'en— Mary L., Eliza A., Laura 
B., Daniel and Sarah E. Mrs. Cooper was born 
Aug. 14, 1831, in Penns34vania, and came to 
this county with her parents when about 6 
years old. Mr. Cooper rented farms for a num- 
ber of years after he was married, and, on Oct. 
25, 1865, they moved to the farm of 100 acres, 
which they own ; is well improved, and is sup- 
plied with the best of water privileges, as it is 
situated on the Sandusky River. It is one of 
the first settled farms of Crawford Co., and was 
entered by one Daniel McMichael, who im- 
proved and built a mill, and planted some apple 
trees, one of which stands on the south side of 
the river, and its trunk is, by actual measure- 
ment, nine feet eight inches in circumference 
four and a half or five feet from the ground. 
It is bearing well a good grade of un grafted 
fruit. The father of our subject (Edward 
Cooper) was born in Harrison Co., Ohio, ]March 
22, 1810 ; his father's name was G-eorge Cooper, 
and his mother's maiden name Mar}' Wood, 
both natives of Pennsylvania ; the latter came 
to Belmont Co. with her parents when young ; 
she was in the block-house at Wellsville at the 
time of the infamous massacre of the Riley 
family by the Indians in that vicinity, in 1812. 
Edward Cooper's father died, leaving a widow 
and six small children ; she married one Dis- 
bur}' Johnson, who was himself a widowei* with 
an equal number of children, as his second 
wife ; by this union six other children were 
born — in all, eighteen children in one family. 
Thus came the above-mentioned family to this 
vicinity. The said Johnson, with the six 
Cooper and eleven of his own children (his eld- 
est daughter, having married, did not come), set 
out for Crawford Co. with a four-horse team, 
driving some cattle and hogs ; and, of all the- 
herd, an old sow was complimented as being the 
best leader through the woods, consequentl}', 
she was assigned the duty of carrying the bell. 
They arrived where Gallon is now located on 
Oct." 15, 1821. Johnson died at Gabon, some 
time ago, in his 104th year. Edward Cooper 
worked on the farm until he had attained his 
majority. He has been married three times ; 
first, to Eliza Burwell, June 8, 1828 ; they had 
eight children — Sally A., Nathan, Margaret, 
Louisa, John. William, Artemon and Mary. He 
is quite a genius, as he is competent to make a 



■71^ 



:^±zi±: 



ihL 



918 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



bucket, boot, barrel, or frame a building ; and 
many of tlie pioneer youth are indebted to his 
musical talent for their early training. Dec. 
13, 1865, his first wife died ; he then married 
the widow of J. H. Smalley, whose maiden 
name was Mary Walter ; by her he had three 
children — BVanklin, Eddie and Mary ; second 
wife died Nov. 11, 1874. His third wife was 
Catharine Bresler ; there are no children by 
this union. 

JOHN ESSIG, deceased. Mr. Essig was 
born in Wurtemberg, Grermany, February 14, 
1798, and while yet young resolved to try his 
fortune in the United States. Accordingly he 
left his native place and arrived at Hagers- 
town, Maryland, in 1817. Here he settled and 
worked at his trade, dyeing, which art he had 
learned in the old country, and at which he 
seemed to prosper in Hagerstown. But, still 
restless and desiring to procure some land, he 
and his young wife — who were made one in 
Maryland — set out for the West and arrived 
in this county in 1832. They entered eighty 
acres on the Sandusky River and purchased 
eightj' acres more adjoining. They had 
scarcely begun to feel themselves in their own 
home in the new country when death ruthlessly 
snatched from his side the loving young wife. 
He married a second wife some years after the 
death of the first ; she was Mary E. Gerhard, 
who was born in Germany, and came to this 
country in 1839. By this union there were 
born six children, three of whom lived to ma- 
turity, viz.: Carolina, who died in March, 1873; 
Louisa, who was married to Phillip Haer (she 
died March, 1872, leaving one child), and Mary 
E., now Mrs. C. L. Meinzer, who resides on the 
old homestead. Her husband, C. L. Meinzer, 
was born in Baden, Germany, Feb. 17, 1846, 
and came to the United States in the fall of 
1867. He located in Cleveland, where he 
worked at his trade of blacksmithing for sev- 
eral months, thence to Upper Sandusky, and 
went into the country, where he worked about 
four months ; he then returned to town (Upper 
Sandusky) and worked at his trade for some 
time, and in 1871 came to Bucyrus and worked 
there three months at his trade ; thence to 
West Liberty, where he worked until 1873. 
On Dec. 26, 1872, he married Mary E. Essig. 
He then went to Crestline, where he pursued 
his trade nine months. At the expiration of 
that time he moved to his father-in-law's place, 



where he has been farming ever since. Mrs. 
Meinzer was born on the place where the}- live 
Feb. 12, 1850. They have five children living, 
viz., Rosey A., John C. L., Louisa, August H. 
and a babe. Mr. Essig owned at his decease, 
274f acres, besides valuable property in Gallon, 
which is owned by Mrs. Meinzer and her sister 
heir — Haer. 

J. H. FRY, deceased ; was born in the Can- 
ton of Zurich, in Switzerland, Nov. 14, 1791. 
His passport to this country- bears date March 
11, 1817 ; he landed at New York, and went 
thence to Chambersburg, Penn., where he re- 
sided several years, when he resolved to come 
to the West, and in 1824 he came to Crawford 
Co., entering 160 acres of Government land, 
west of where the village of Annapolis is 
located. In January, 1827, he married Catha- 
rine — -daughter of Thomas Williamson, and in 
1833 they sold out, but purchased 160 acres 
about half a mile north of where the village is 
located, of one Matthias Markley; this location 
Mr. Fry made his home until he was called 
hence by the messenger of death. They were 
quite prosperous in their farming pursuits, and 
were also blessed with a family of ten children 
— Henry, P]lizabeth, Catharine, Thomas, Alfred, 
Hannah, John, Sarah, Joshua and Francis, all of 
whom are living except Elizabeth. Mrs. Fry was 
born in Schuylkill Co., Penn., October, 1809, and 
came to Crawford Co., Ohio, with her father's 
family, in 1826 ; they located on the Broken 
Sword, in Liberty Township, but in 1829 the}' 
moved to St. Joseph Co., Mich., with seven of 
their children, four sons and three daughters. 
There Mrs. Fry's mother, Mrs. Williamson, 
died, and, after the death of his wife, Thomas 
Williamson went, with others, to California, 
and died in San Francisco in 1846. While they 
resided here, their daughter Polly was married 
to Jacob Whetstone ; she and Mrs. Fry being 
the only members of the Williamson family to 
remain here. For years Mr. Fry had been a 
member of the Lutheran Church, and on March 
11, 1875, he received the summons to enter into 
the full enjoyment of a higher and better life. 
His widow still survives, and although her 72d 
year is rapidly approaching, she is as quick, both 
mentally and physically, and as ambitious as 
many who have scarcely passed eighteen sum- 
mers. Her memory is replete with incidents 
of pioneer life, when this district was almost an 
unbroken forest, and when neighbors, though 






!k 



LIBERTY TOWNSHIP. 



919 



far apart as to location, were as one in feeling 
and soeiabilit}-. 

ALFRED FRY, merchant and Postmaster, 
Snlplmr Springs ; was born near Sulphur 
Springs, this county, Feb. 7, 1835. He is the 
son of J. H. and Catharine (Williamson) Fry, 
whose sketch is in this work. Being among 
the pioneer settlers, his school advantages were 
vei*y limited for those in the country who were 
earnestly endeavoring to carve out a habitation 
in the woods. Mr. Fry got but the ordinary 
course in the common schools ; but, being nat- 
urally apt to learn, he made more of his oppor- 
tunities than most boys do. He spent the sum- 
mers of 1856 and 1857 in the Primary Depart- 
ment of Oberlin College. Although he returned 
to work on the farm, he improved his leisure 
moments until in the end he acquired a prac- 
tical business education. He enlisted in the 
war of the rebellion in May, 1861, in Co. C, 8th 
0. V. I. At the battle of Winchester, Va., 
March 22, 1862, he received a serious wound ; 
an ounce ball entered the side of his right 
thigh, immediately below the hip-joint, passing 
through both thighs and lodging near the outer 
surface of the left thigh. As a souvenir from 
the confederacy, he has carefully laid the mis- 
sile aside. He lay in the hospital at Winches- 
ter seven weeks, and then got a fui'lough, but 
had been home only a few days when inflam- 
matory rheumatism set in. When convales- 
cent, he joined the regiment, in September of 
the same }' ear, at Alexandria, and served until 
November, when he was discharged on account 
of physical disability, which was brought on 
by the severity of his wound. He came back 
to his father's, and took a tour of several 
months through the Western States. When he 
arrived again at home, he accepted a clerkship 
with Jay & Riddle, of Sulphur Springs, which 
lasted one year. With a view of improving his 
commercial education, he entered college at 
Pittsburgh, Penn., attending the winter terms 
of 1864- and 1865, and the following spring he 
built a business-room at Sulphur Springs, and 
put in a stock of general merchandise, and 
opened in trade on his own responsibility in 
October, 1866, where he has been ever since, 
with several changes in the firm. John Guiss, 
Jr., bought an interest in April, 1867, with Mr. 
Fry, which partnership continued until 1876, 
when Guiss sold out to C. A. Keller, with 
whom he conducted business one year, under 



the firm name of Fry & Keller ; subsequently, 
he sold out his interest in the stock to Isaac 
Klopfenstein, and still retained the building, 
which is equivalent to one-third interest in the 
business, the firm name being Klopfenstein & 
Co. Mr. Fry received the appointment of Post- 
master in 1869, which position he has held ever 
since. In 1872, he was elected Township Treas- 
urer. He was united in marriage with Laura 
C, daughter of Thomas and Marie Gillespie, 
Sept. 16, 1874. They have two children— Ed- 
gar and a babe. Mrs. Fry was born in Bucy- 
rus Oct. 8, 1843. Her father, Thomas Gillespie, 
came here from Pennsylvania. He was twice 
married ; his first wife died in Bucyrus in 
1845, leaving two children — Laura C. and 
Charles. He afterward moved to Paulding 
Co., but finally returned to Sulphur Springs, 
and died at the residence of Mr. Alfred Fry, 
July 31, 1880. 

JOHN H. FRY, hardware merchant, Sulphur 
Springs ; was born Dec. 28, 1 839, in Chatfield 
Township, Crawford Co. His father, John Fry, 
was born in Switzerland Dec. 17, 1799, and em- 
igrated to the United States in 1834. He came 
direct to Ohio, and worked four years for his 
brother, J. H., in this county, who had been 
here several years previous. In 1838, he mar- 
ried Rachel Helm, who was a native of Somer- 
set Co., Penn., and came to Liberty Township 
with her father's family about the 3^ear 1825. 
They reared three children — John H., Susanna 
(now Mrs. John Guiss), and Lorene (who mar- 
ried William Guiss, and who are both deceased). 
John H., being the eldest and only boy in the 
famil}^, was compelled to apply himself steadily 
to the farm, and therefore had little time to de- 
vote to educational exercises, and having but 
poor schools, at best, in the vicinity where he 
was reared, made it so much the worse. The 
bulk of his schooling was one term, which he 
attended in Liberty Township with one Will- 
iams, whose reputation as a teacher was good. 
He then resumed work on the farm the follow- 
ing spring, and continued until he was 28 years 
of age, when, on Nov. 1, 1876, he united his 
fortunes with Julia Warner, who was born in 
Vernon Township, this county, June 15, 1844. 
They have four children living — Rilie R., Daisy 
D., Cora and Elve A.; and one deceased — Wil- 
lie J. He continued to work on his fiither's 
farm for about one year after they were mar- 
ried, and, in 1868, he purchased a half interest in 



-^ ,v> 



920 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



the hardware store of Henry Fry, in this village. 
For about five years they did business together 
under the firm name of H. Fry & Co., when, in 
1873, the subject of this sketch bought the re- 
maining half interest of H. Fry, and, since 
then, lias been doing a ver^' prosperous business 
in his own name. He carries a very good and 
large assortment of everything in his line, both 
shelf and heavy hardware, such as is seldom 
equaled in much larger towns— a minimum es- 
timate of which would no doubt be about 
14,000 in value. His well-deserved patronage 
is daily increasing, as he has in his line all that 
ife required in any farming communit}', and his 
patrons show their appreciation of honorable 
dealing by increased patronage and confidence. 

FRANCIS FRY, farmer; P. 0. Sulphur 
Springs ; is the 3'oungest of the famil}^ of John 
H. and Catharine (Williamson) Fry, and was 
born near the village of Annapolis, May 13, 
1848. He remained at home until nearly 22 
years old. and received a good common-school 
education. He united his fortunes with those 
of Jennie, daughter of Lewis Perse, on (3ct. 27, 
1869. She was born in this township Api'il 26, 
1847. When she was quite young, her mother 
died, and she was reared by Charles Perse, her 
father's brother. They have five children — 
Charlie F., Myrtie C, Maudie 0., Laura J. and 
Katie. Mr. Fry owns 80 acres of well-improved 
land in a beautiful location, to which he moved 
in November, 1870. They are members of the 
Lutheran Church. Mr. Frj^ is a member of the 
Knights of Honor, Liberty Lodge, No. 845. 

GEORGE FACKLER, farmer ; P. 0. Bucy 
rus ; was born in Dauphin Co., Penn., April 11, 
1835. His eai'ly life was spent on the farm, 
but after he was of age he traveled around 
considerably, and, in 1868, located in Erie Co., 
Ohio, where he resided for several years. He 
married Hannah Bever, in 1869. She was born 
in Crawford Co. May 4, 1845. They have two 
children — J. Melton and Ervin. Mr. Fackler 
owns 40 acres of good land to which they 
moved in 1872. He enlisted in the Regulars 
during the late rebellion, but served a short 
time. Mrs. Faekler's father was a native of 
Vii'ginia, and her mother of Pennsylvania, and 
they were among the early settlers of this 
county. 

REUBEN FLOHR (deceased), was born in 
Frederick Co., Md., May 18, 1813. His father, 
Leonard, and mother, Rachel (Smith) Flohr, 



were natives of Pennsylvania, but moved with 
their family of seven children to Frederick Co., 
Md., and during their residence there which was 
only about a3'ear, their eighth child, Reuben was 
born. The family all returned to Pennsjdvania 
again and located in Adams Co., where our sub- 
ject spent the early part of his youth. When 
about 15 years of age, he began to learn the 
milling business in Franklin Co., and after serv- 
ing his apprenticeship he spent several 3'ears 
there at his trade. He moved from Penn- 
sylvania to Ohio and settled in Stark Co. in 
1837, where he found ready employment at his 
profession. On May 9, 1839, he united his for- 
tunes with those of Catharine Correll ; and, in 
September, 1842, they moved to Crawford Co. 
and located on and purchased 72 acres of the 
farm where Mrs. Flohr resides ; afterward pur- 
chased 25 acres more, making in all 97 acres of 
well-improved land, with good buildings, where 
Mrs. Flohr is passing her advanced 3'ears in the 
enjoyment of all the temporal blessings need- 
ful. She was born in Adams Co., Penn., Aug. 
20, 1818 ; her father, John, and her mother, Eli- 
zabeth (Linne) Correll, were both natives of 
Maryland, and were married there, but subse- 
quently moved to Penns3'lvania and thence to 
Stark Co., Ohio, in 1834." Mrs. Flohr was the 
fourth in a famil}- of twelve children, and is her- 
self the mother of eleven, seven of whom are 
living, viz., Malinda, Oliver, Aaron, Carolina, 
Madison, Jefferson and Franklin ; three died in 
childhood. John and Oliver enlisted in the 
late rebellion on Aug. 19, 1862, in Co. C, 101st 
0. V. I. They passed along safely until the 
20th of September, 1 863, the second da}- of the 
conflict at Chickamauga, where, it is believed, 
John fell, like so many of his noble comrades, 
as that was the last ever seen of him while par- 
ticipating in that fatal engagement. And 
although no sculptor's art decorates or even 
marks the individual spot where his dust may 
rest, to the bereft there stands a nobler and 
more lasting monument ; that is, the knowledge 
of the fact that his blood constituted part of the 
sea, which was seemingly necessary to remove 
from this nations history of its darkest page — 
slavery. Oliver served until the close of the 
war, and was honorably discharged June, 1865, 
and returned home without receiving a sci'atch. 
Malinda is now the widow of the late William 
Kessler, of De Kalb Co., Ind. ; Oliver and Aaron 
are both living in Sandusky Township, this 



■7I" 



LIBERTY TOWNSHIP. 



921 



count}' ; Carolina is now Mrs. George P. How- 
ell ; Madison, Jefferson and Franklin make 
their iiome with their mother. Mr. Flohr was 
called from scenes temporal April 1, 1878. 

ABRAHAM GROGG, farmer ; P.O. Sulphur 
Springs ; was born in Dauphin Co., Penn., Oct. 
9, 1809. His father, Solomon, and mother, Mary 
(Snyder) Grogg, were both natives of the " Key- 
stone State." They reared eiglit children, viz., 
John, Abraham, Solomon, Jacob, George, Daniel, 
Peter and Catharine. While in Pennsylvania 
they were farmers, and, intent on securing laud 
of their own, the parents, with their two eldest 
children, John and Abraham, moved to Ohio, 
and settled about three miles northeast of Can- 
ton, Stark Co., as early as 1810. They were in 
limited circumstances, and the older children 
had to do for themselves when the}' grew up to 
maturit}'. The family being large, and school 
privileges ver}' poor, the older ones had but 
little time or opportunity for improvement in 
that direction. Abraham, the second of the 
childi'en, remained at home, and worked steadily 
on the farm until he attained his majority. He 
was married to Ann Bower in November, 1838. 
She was born in Stark Co., this State, Nov. 9, 
1815. For two years afterward, he worked at 
whatever odd jobs he cotdd get, and thereby 
saved a little money, and moved to Crawford 
Co. in February, 1836, and bought 30 acres, 
where he now resides. At the same time, he 
owned 120 acres of Government lands in Chat- 
field Township. It was no trifling task to clear up 
a farm, and, when cleared of the heav}' timber, 
he had no implements to till the soil with. Yet, 
he never failed to produce a very good substi- 
tute for every want of the farm or household — 
from a plow to a pair of boots or shoes. For 
many years in the early settlement of the 
country, his mechanical skill added materially 
to the comfort of himself and famil}', when they 
would have been unable to pay for the sei'vices 
of a mechanic, and, frequently, such service 
could not be secured at anj- price within reason- 
able distance. He has succeeded in the accumu- 
lation of property, and has a valuable as well 
as beautiful homestead of 154 acres, besides 
having given to each of his children a good 
start ; one tract of 160 acres, in Sandusky 
Township ; one of 98 acres, and another of 80 
acres, in this township. He has divided among 
his children, in lands and money, to the amount 
of $20,000 or upward. They have had eleven 



children, five of whom are living, viz., Daniel, 
Amos, Sarah, now Mrs. George Ambrosier ; 
Frances, now Mrs. D. 0. Crum, and Jemima, 
now jMrs. Samuel Sturtz, who farms Mr. Grogg's 
homestead, and receives for his share half the 
entire product. He was born in Fayette Co., 
Penn.. Nov. 15, 1850, and came here with his 
father's family in March, 1869. His mother 
died when he was about 9 years old, leaving 
five children, viz., Joseph, Susan, Samuel, Lizzie 
and Freeman. His father, Solomon Sturtz, mar- 
ried a second wife, and, by that union, there are 
three children — two girls and a bo}' — Samuel, 
who was married to Jemima Grogg. They 
have two children — Carrie M. and Phinney. 
Mr. Grogg has been a member of the United 
Brethren Church for over thirtj'-seven years. 
His wife is also a member of the same church. 
JACOB D. HELLER, farmer; P.O. Sulphur 
Springs ; was born in Dauphin Co., Penn., Nov. 
28, 1801. His father, John Heller, was married 
three times ; his first wife being Susana Bord- 
ner. They were both natives of Pennsylvania, 
and had only two children — Jacob D. and John, 
who is now in Ogle Co., III. Mrs. Heller died 
when her two l:)oys were quite young. Mr. 
Heller's second wife had two children — Rebecca 
and Sarah, and she also died when her children 
were quite 3'oung, Mr. Heller married a third 
wife, b}' whom there was one child, Thomas, 
who died in Pennsylvania. Jacob D. was the 
oldest one of the family, and was onl}' about 
eight years old when his mother was taken 
away by death ; he lived with his fatlier until 
about 24 years of age, when he married Mar- 
garet Daniel in March, 1825; she was born in 
Dauphin Co., Penn.. in February, 1805. Shortly 
after they were married, they rented a farm in 
Penns3dvania, and rented various places for a 
period of twelve 3'ears ; when they concluded 
to go to some less populous settlement in the 
West, where their rapidl}' increasing family 
would have better facilities for making homes 
for themselves, and where he could as well 
secure a home for all. With this resolution in 
view, they set out, and arrived in Crawford Co., 
Ohio, in May 1836. They came through with 
a two-horse team, the family consisting of par- 
ents and nine children when they came here, 
which, in due season, was increased b}" four 
more. Mr. Heller chose the location where he 
resides to this da}- ; there he purchased 77 
acres, and of that there had been 10 acres par- 



1<\1 



:i 



(S__ 



[^ 



922 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



tially cleared when he bought it. Himself and 
sons went to work clearing, but never added 
much in acres, to the first purchase, although 
they made a comfortable home by improving 
what they did have. They had thirteen chil- 
dren — Isaac, Amanda (deceased), John (now in 
Williams Co.), Elizabeth (deceased), Sarah (de- 
ceased), Josiah (now in Iowa), Edward (in Defi- 
ance Co.), Jacob (in Iowa), William (in Paul- 
ding Co.), Polly (in Bucyrus), Andrew (de- 
ceased), Catharine A. (in Williams Co.), and 
Lewis, who resides with his father, and farms 
the place ; he was married to Nancy Rock, 
April 5, 1878. She was born in this township, 
and has borne him two children — Albert and 
Edna. Three sons of Mr. Heller participated 
in the late rebellion ; Jacob enlisted in Com- 
pany C, 490 0. V. I., and served over three 
years ; Edward enlisted from Defiance County, 
where he was then living ; William enlisted 
from Nevada, Wyandot Co., where he was re- 
siding at that time. 

JOHN HETRICK, carpenter. Sulphur 
Springs ; was born in Pennsylvania Feb. 28, 
1841. His father, Michael, and mother. Polly 
Hecdard, were both natives of Pennsylvania. 
They reared five boys and two girls, viz., John, 
Michael, Jacob, George, Phillip, Elizabeth and 
Mary. They all moved here in 1855, and set- 
tled near Leesville, where they bought a small 
farm and lived there about three years, when 
they moved to Van Wert, and thence to Card- 
ington. Morrow Co. John was the eldest one 
of the family, and learned the carpenter's ti'ade 
with his father by the time he was 18 years old. 
He then hired out by the month with another 
carpenter, worked two years, and afterward be- 
gan business for himself, and has worked at the 
trade ever since. He also learned the cooper's 
trade, and opened a shop in the village of Sul- 
phur Springs, where he does considerable busi- 
ness in the fall ; and, although his business is 
not so extensive that he has to employ labor, 
yet he certainly enjoys the reputation of doing 
good, substantial work. He was married on 
Nov. 7, 1861, to Augusta Baldassar ; she was 
born in Ohio, Jul> 24, 1845. They have five 
children living, viz., William, Jacob. Mary J., 
Franklin and John. 

CHARLES HEIBERTSH AUSEN, boots and 
shoes. Sulphur Springs; was born Dec. 6, 1835, 
in Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany ; when about 19 
years of age, he resolved to tr}^ his fortune in 



the United States. He left his native land Aug. 
12, 1854, and landed in New York Oct. 24 of 
the same year. On his arrival, he went to Fat- 
erson, N. J., where he obtained employment at 
his trade, but only worked a few days, when he 
set out for Pittsburgh, Penn. He got emplo}'- 
ment there, and remained six months, when he 
conceived the idea that he could do better fur- 
ther West, and, starting for Ohio, he came to 
Bucyrus in 1855, and, being unable to get work 
at his trade, took the first job which offered, 
that being on the P., Ft. W. & C. R. R. for one 
month. He then hired on a brick-yard, and 
worked there two months ; at the expiration of 
that time, he got employment at his trade, with 
one Reick, and sta3-ed there about nine months. 
He then came to this village and began woi'k 
for Conrad Baltser, in April, 1856, and worked 
for him until the following February, when he 
opened a shop on his own account and pushed 
his business steadily. He has made as many 
as nine or ten pairs of boots per week, and has 
frequently made six pairs of shoes and six 
paii's of boots in one week. Anxious to supply 
and accommodate his growing patronage, he 
has worked many nights to fill orders which 
were crowding in upon him. In this, as in other 
cases, industry brought her gracious reward, 
for, although he landed in Pittsburgh with $1 
in his pocket in 1855, he is now enjoying the 
comforts of a good home and property in town, 
besides 85 acres of well-improved land in San- 
dusky Township. The competition in his trade 
is different now from what it used to be ; for 
when he came here there were six shops in the 
village, employing ten men, beside, three good 
shops in the country, near town. Now there are 
three shops, and one man in each supplies the 
entire demand for home-made work. On April 
20, 1860, he married Louisa La3'er, who was 
born in this township Dec. 4, 1837. Her par- 
ents emigrated from Germany in the summer of 
the same year. They have four children living 
— Emanuel, Franklin, Emma and Clara ; two 
deceased — Charles and Edward. Mr. Heiberts- 
hausen is a member of Libertv Lodge, Knights 
of Honor, No. 845. 

CHRISTIAN HIEBER, farmer ; P. 0. Bu- 
cyrus ; was born in AVurtemberg, Germany, 
Nov. 7, 1836. His father, John Gr., and his 
mother, Fredrieka (Shnarrenberger) Hieber, 
were both natives of the same place. They 
emigrated from Germany with four of their 



"x! 



LIBEETY TOWNSHIP. 



923 



five children to the United States in 1854 ; the 
oldest son, John, had been here about two 
years before the rest of the family. They came 
direct to Ohio and settled in Liberty Town- 
ship of this count}', and bought 80 acres of 
good land. The family was in good financial 
circumstances in Germany, and brought a con- 
siderable quantity of cash with them, which 
was a material help to them here. The names 
of all the children are as follows : John, Chris- 
tian, Fredrick, Christina and William. Shortly 
after they came here, their father met with a 
serious accident ; while descending the stair- 
way into the cellar, he fell, breaking his wrist, 
which disabled him for life. He lived to see 
his family all in homes of their own, and was 
called away in 1872 ; his wife still sui'vives and 
lives on the old homestead with William, in 
her 73d year. The oldest son, John, moved 
to Illinois and bought a farm there, and about 
eighteen or nineteen years ago he wrote to 
his folks in Ohio, that he was going to sell out 
and come back to Crawford Co.; since the sale 
of his propert}', there has never been an}' ac- 
count of him heard to this day, and all inquiry 
as to his probable fate has proved futile. 
Christian got his education in Germany, but 
learned to read readily in English. Jan. 25, 
1866, he married Christina Wagner ; she was 
born in Lycoming Co., Penn., in Februar}^, 
1838, and came to Crawford Co. in 1856. Mr. 
Hieber had purchased 60 acres, some time be- 
fore he was married, to which he and his wife 
repaired, and when they had lived on it one 
year he sold to his brother and bought the 80 
acres where he now resides, and has added, by 
purchase, until he owns in all 192 acres of good 
land. They are all industrious, and a spirit of 
enterprise prevails in the Hieber family, not- 
withstanding their quiet, unassuming disposi- 
tion. Mr. Hieber has five children — John G., 
Mary L., Lydia F., Annie and Sarah B. 

WILLIAM HIEBER, farmer ; P. 0. Bucy- 
rus ; is the youngest son of John G. and Fred- 
ricka Hieber. He was born in September, 
1850, in Wurtembei'g, Germany, and was 
scarcely 4 years old when his parents emi- 
grated to this countr}^ His early life was 
spent on his father's farm ; he got a fair edu- 
cation in the English language, as he was too 
young to have been at school in Germany. 
As stated, his father died in October, 1872, 
and, therefore, the care of the farm devolved 



on him, who was then the only one of the fam- 
ily- who was at home. There are 79^ acres 
which belong to the homestead, and which he 
farms for his aged mother who lives on the 
same. He united his fortunes with those of 
Elizabeth, daughter of David Lust, on April 5, 
1877. The}' have two children — George D. 
and Matilda E. Mrs. Hieber was born in Ly- 
kens Township, June 14, 1857. 

F. HIEBER, farmer; P. 0. Bucyrus ; he 
was born in Wurtemberg, Germany, Oct. 21, 
1841, and is a son of John G. and Fred- 
rika (Shnarrenberger) Hieber, whose sketch is 
included with Christian's. Our subject was 
brought up to farm life, acquiring what edu- 
cation he has in Germany, and attended En- 
ghsh school here about two months, which 
constituted his schooling in this country. He 
purchased 60 acres of good land in the spring 
of 1867, and on March 24 of that year, he 
united his fortune with Lydia, daughter of Rev. 
Fredrick Lust ; she was born in Lykens Town- 
ship April 13, 1849. Her father came from 
Germany when quite young. When Mr. Hieber 
was married, he repaired to his farm of 60 acres ; 
and since that time he has added by purchase, 
until he now owns 193 acres of good land. 
They have eight children, viz.: Fredrick, Sam- 
uel, Lizzie, Benjamin, Joseph, Jacob, Sarah and 
Isaac. Mr. Hieber has succeeded admirably in 
his farming pursuits. 

ANDREW HESS (deceased); was born in 
Westmoreland Co., Penn., in May, 1806, and 
when a young man learned the carpenter's 
trade in his native State. On April 9, 1833, he 
united his fortunes with Mary Hemry. She 
was born in Harrison Co., Ohio, Oct. 16, 1814 ; 
but came to Crawford County with her parents 
in 1830. Mr. Hess came to the county the fol- 
lowing year, and, as the above dates show, he 
was in this township about two years before he 
was married. They moved where Mrs. Hess is 
now living, the same spring in which they were 
married. They had twelve children, ten of 
whom are living — Delilah, William, Henry, 
Isaac, Nancy J., Lydia A., Mary A., Margaret 
E., Francis M. and John A. Two of their sons, 
Henry and Isaac, enlisted during the late re- 
bellion. Henry, in the 49th 0. V. I., and Isaac 
in a Michigan Cavalry Regiment, as he was re- 
siding in that State at the time he enlisted. 
At the engagement of " Dallas Hill " on May 
25, 1864, Henry was seriously wounded ; a 



■l^ 



924 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



musket ball entered his right breast a little be- 
low the collar-bone, ranged slightly downward, 
and emerged immediately below the shoulder 
blade of the same side ; he served in all about 
four years. At the expiration of his term of 
service he was honorably discharged, and re- 
turned to his home in Crawford County. He 
has since removed to Michigan, where he is 
now living. Delilah, William. Lydia A. and 
Mary A. are also living in Michigan. Marga- 
ret E. is now Mrs. Sweney, of this township. 
Francis M. married Alice Bower ; they live on 
the old homestead, and he assists his brother 
John in farming the place, which contains 136 
acres of good land. Mr. Hess was called away 
by death Dec. 28, 1875. Mrs. Hess is spend- 
ing her advanced years in the enjoyment of the 
fruits of their early industry. 

REV. GIDEON HOOVER, minister and 
farmer ; P. 0. Sulphur Springs ; was born in 
Washington Co., Md., Nov. 19, 1828. He is 
one of a family of ten children of Henry and 
Elizabeth (Puffenberger) Hoover, who were 
both natives of the same State. When Gid- 
eon, our subject, was about two years old, 
they moved from Maryland to Ohio and settled 
in Richland Co., in 1830. There his parents 
resided until death asserted its never-failing 
claim. The names of the children were as fol- 
lows : Daniel, Catharine, Samuel, Elias, Lydia, 
Simon, Gideon, Martha, Milinda and Betsy ; 
and of these, Elias and Betsy are 'deceased. 
Mr. Gideon Hoover's youth was spent on the 
farm and attending school during the winter 
months ; but on account of the limited financial 
circumstances of his parents and their large 
family, it was impossible to give all of them 
such opportunity as is now afforded by the 
public schools of to-day. But meager as the 
chances for education were, he made the most 
of his time, and in the event secured a more 
liberal education than the average of that early 
date. April 24, 1851, he was united in mar- 
riage to Nancy Teter. She was born in Wayne 
Co., Ohio. April 28, 1829. They lived on and 
worked his father's farm for about two years 
after they were married. He then began read- 
ing and occasionally preaching, preparatory to 
the ministry, which he continued three years, 
which is the time required by the United 
Brethren Church before a charge is given. On 
Oct. 25, 1857, in the Sandusky Annual Con- 
ference, held at Carey, Wyandot Co., he was 



duly ordained a minister of the United Breth- 
ren in Christ. His first charge was the Shiloh 
Circuit, which embraced Shelby and a number 
of country appointments, in which he oflficiated 
three years. (Their appointments are made for 
one year onl}'. but, at the option of Pastor and 
people, they may legally retain a minister three 
years.) His second charge was at Upper San- 
dusky, where he preached two years ; he was 
then transferred to the Shelby Circuit, where he 
remained one year. His fourth charge was on 
the Bucyrus Circuit, for a period of two years. 
He then got the Flat Rock Circuit, in Seneca 
Co. ; from there he was returned to the Bucy- 
rus Circuit for one year ; thence to Shiloh for 
one year ; thence to the Crestline Mission one 
year ; thence to Gallon one year ; thence to 
Seneca Circuit, near Batesville, where he 
preached one year. He was then without a 
charge for several months, but was then ap- 
pointed to the Pleasant Ridge Circuit, in Wy- 
andot Co., on account of their minister f:\iling : 
there he preached eight months. At the An- 
nual Conference this fall, he Avas returned to 
the Flat Rock Circuit, in Seneca Co. He is in 
good financial circumstances, which is the re- 
sult of his own industry. In 1864, he pur- 
chased a farm of 60 acres in Sandusk^^ Town- 
ship, to which he has since added 80 acres more ; 
and now owns 40 acres where he resides, on 
which he is erecting an elegant two-storj- frame 
dwelling, to supply the loss which he sustained 
in May, 1880. by his residence, with almost all 
its contents, lieing consumed by fire. They 
have had a family of ten children, eight of 
whom are living, viz., John, Moses, Lovina, 
Alice, Lincoln, Franklin, Henr}- and Lotty. 
Two deceased ai'e Aaron and Amos. Mr. 
Hoover is a radical Prohibitionist and takes a 
lively interest in everything which tends to 
promulgate that sentiment. His was one of 
two votes polled in Sandusky Township in 
1876 for that faction. 

REUBEN HOPPEL. ftirmer ; P.O. Bucyrus; 
was born in Northampton Co.. Penn., Aug. 18, 
1818. The Hoppel family are descended from 
one Henry Hoppel, who emigrated from France 
and settled in Pennsylvania man}' years before 
the Revolution. He was a single man when 
he came here, but afterward married and reared 
a famll}' of seven children, four boys and three 
gii'ls, viz., Barbara, Sophia, Simon, John, Sallie, 
Henry and George. The two oldest boys, Si- 



^c 



LIBERTY TOWNSHIP. 



925 



mon and John, enlisted in the Revolutionary 
war, and soon after the conflict began these 
boys were lost track of by their folks, and 
were never more heard of. George, the young- 
est one (the father of our subject), was married 
in Pennsylvania, to Elizabeth Cester, and reared 
a family of ten children, viz., Catharine. Eliza- 
beth. Jacob, Adam, Cxeorge, Charles, Anna, 
Reuben, Aaron and Frana. Their lather died 
when the younger ones were quite small, and 
Reuben hired out by the month when about 15 
years old, and worked steadil_y on the farm. 
Dec. 25, 1840, he married Christina Teel. She 
was born in Pennsylvania Jan. 18, 1821. He 
had purchased 121 acres on credit, and moved 
to it as soon as he got a cabin erected. It was 
all woods, and without any improvement, but 
by diligent toil the heavy timber yielded to 
the continuous wielding of the ax, and ere-long 
he was living in comfortable circumstances. 
They sold out their farm in Pennsylvania 
and came to Crawford Co., in April 1856. 
They had four children, viz., Annie (deceased), 
Effie (deceased). Jerry and Emma A. (the lat- 
ter is Mrs. A. B. Charlton). He purchased 109 
acres in this township, where the}' lived about 
seven years, and, in April, 1864, they came to 
his present farm of 320 acres, on the Broken 
Sword, for which he paid $13,000. On May 28 
of that same jear, ^Irs. Hoppel died, and, Oct. 
1, 1865, he married Mar}- McMichael (a daugh- 
ter of Matthew, who was a son of Daniel Mc- 
Michael, who was the first setter in this town- 
ship). By this union there are three children 
— Ida, Ruben and Ada. In 1877, Mr. Hoppel 
removed the old brick residence, which was on 
his premises since 1833, and replaced it by a 
commodious and substantial two-stor}' brick 
structure, at a cost of $2,300, besides his own 
labor, and much material, which was on the 
place, and went into the new house. He has 
240 acres of good laud and well improved, 
after giving his son 80 acres. Jerry Hoppel 
married Martha Shieber Feb. 6, 1873. They 
have two children — Murtie E. and Otis M. 

W. H. HISE, farmer; P. O. Bucyrus ; was 
born July 25, 1818, in York Co., Penn., the son 
of John and Eve (Kunckle) Hise, who were 
both natives of Penns^dvania ; but his grand- 
fathers, both Hise and Kunckle, were natives 
of Hesse, Germany, and came to this country 
as soldiers in the British arm}' of the Revolu- 
tion. (Britain had, in those days, many Hes- 



sian soldiers, and many of them were sent to 
participate in the Revolutionary conflict with 
the Colonies.) Hise and Kunckle participated 
in one engagement against the States, and, at 
the close of that attack, the}' deserted the Brit- 
ish ranks, but did not shrink from fear of dan- 
ger, or leave the battle-field for more comforta- 
ble quarters, but immediately joined Washing- 
ton's troops, and continued to do service with 
the American soldiers till the close of the war. 
Many of the Hessians, their acquaintances, who 
were in the British army, were taken prisoners 
at the battle of Stillwater, and likewise volun- 
teered their services to the Colonial force. After 
the close of the Revolution, Hise and Kunckle 
pushed their way to York Co., Penn. There 
they settled, and turned their attention to farm- 
ing, and lived to an advanced age. Hise, the 
Hessian of Revolutionary fame, reared four 
sons. One of them — John, and father of our 
subject — ^reared a family of seven children, 
thx'ee of whom were born in Pennsylvania, and 
the four youngest in Crawford Co., Ohio. They 
settled in Jackson Township Oct. 20, 1824. 
The family afterward moved to Whetstone 
Township, where the old gentleman died in the 
spring of 1836. His widow married Samuel 
Lare, but he has since died, and she still sur- 
vives at the advanced age of 82 years. When 
W. H. Hise was quite young, he learned the 
shoemaker's trade and opened a shop in Galion, 
being one of the first industries of the kind in 
that place, where he worked two years, then 
moved back to his father's in Jackson Town- 
ship and remained at home for some time, and, 
in 1832, he opened a shop in Bucyrus, where he 
remained three years, then moved to Sulphur 
Springs for about one year, thence to Whetstone 
Township, where his time and attention were 
divided between farming and working at his 
trade, from 1836 until 1844. On March 13. 
1845, he married Isabella Ridgley. She was 
born in Wayne Co., Ohio. July 15, 1818, and 
came here with her parents, who settled in Jack- 
son Townsliip, this county, when she was about 
6 weeks old. Mr. and Mrs. Hise are parents of 
seven children, six of whom are living — John 
W., A. H., S. A., Sarah C, Marie R., Norah B.; 
one deceased — Molly. They own 95 acres of 
good and well-improved land, which he pur- 
chased in 1858, at the same time carrying on 
his shop work a little south of his present res- 
idence, where he has earned and laid, by his un- 



l^ 



926 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



ceasing industry, the basis of his comfortable 
home, as he was actually in debt over $100 
when he was married, and no means of any con- 
sequence within his control. Since 1871, he 
has devoted his attention to his farm, seldom 
doing anything at his trade. He was elected 
Justice of the Peace in 1865, and served three 
terms, in which office he is now holding his 
fourth term. He has been Township Treasurer 
six years ; also held the office of Township 
Trustee for several 3'ears. 

J. A. KLINK, farmer; P. 0. Sulphur 
Springs ; was born in Wurtemberg, Germany, 
Jan. 29, 1824. His parents, John Gr. and Cath- 
arine Klink, emigrated, with their three children 
— Catharine, J. A. and J. G. — to this country 
in 1828 ; after a long, severe passage, they ar- 
rived in New York. They pushed their way 
westward by canal or other available convey- 
ance, until they arrived in Columbiana Co., 
Ohio, where they stopped, as it was then the 
approach of winter, and they had no means to 
carry them further, as their all was expended. 
Their father had been in good circumstances in 
Germany, but lost all his property by going se- 
curity for a milling firm which failed, and when 
he sailed from Germany, it was onl^' by the lib- 
eral and generous aid of relatives and friends 
that he was enabled to bring his family along ; 
consequently, he had nothing left when they 
got here. Mr. Klink, Sr., found employment in 
Columbiana Co., and worked there through the 
winter, and in the spring of 1829 he had saved 
enough to purchase a pair of oxen and an old 
cart. He packed his family in the cart, and set 
out for Crawford Co. They settled in Liberty 
Township in the woods, and soon after he en- 
tered 80 acres, paying for it with a little money 
which remained, and two watches. His family 
got the shelter of a cabin of some one who had 
settled there a short time before them, until a 
log cabin could be erected on their own location, 
which was hastily and roughly done. When 
they had lived here about two years, another 
member was added to the family by the birth 
of J. D. They seemed to prosper nicely, but 
had many inconveniences to bear with in the 
new and unsettled country. Their cattle would 
stray off through the unbounded forest, and on 
several occasions, the oldest boy (John A.), 
when a mere lad, lost his way when sent in 
search of them ; once, overtaken by the shades 
of night, he was unable to get back or find any 



way out, and after wandering until exhausted, 
he crept into a hollow tree and remained until 
daylight. Search was instituted b}' his parents 
and the neighboring settlers, who were unsuc- 
cessful in meeting with him, and were about to 
give up the search, supposing he had been 
killed by wolves, when, to their surprise, he 
came home. On a similar occasion, he found 
an Indian camp, at which he stayed all night 
and was well treated by them, and m the morn- 
ing one started with him to conduct him home. 
When they arrived at Klink's cabin, the Indian 
assured Mr. Klink, if they ever found his bo}', 
they would neither let him get lost nor injure 
him. About the time that thej' were getting 
things in shape to enjoy themselvss and live 
comfortably, Mrs. Klink died. Mr. Klink mar- 
ried a second wife, Katie Deppler ; she was a 
native of Germany, and came here with her 
people, ^y this union there were two children 
— Mary and Hosy, who finally married and 
moved to Henry Co. Mr. Klink, Sr., died on 
his farm (which is now owned by I. Klopfen- 
stein), on Feb. 25. 1853. John A. remained 
with his father until of age ; he worked early 
and late on the farm, and had no opportunit}' 
of attending schools, as there were none in the 
neighborhood when he was small, and soon as 
he was able to work his services were consid- 
ered too important at home. He married Melis- 
sa Kohlman, March 8. 1848, and that year they 
moved on to a farm of 110 acres, which was all 
woods, and which Mr. Klink had bought some 
time before he was married, with $200 which 
he had earned by chopping. He worked un- 
ceasingly, and was very economical, and he is 
now among the ablest farmers of Crawford Co. 
In about eight years after he was married, he 
began to make other purchases of land, and 
has kept on increasing his broad acres, from 
time to time, until he now owns 940 acres (ex- 
cept 4 acres, which he sold off), of as good land 
as there is in the county, and in an excellent 
state of cultivation, with very good buildings. 
Of these 936 acres, 780 acres are in one contin- 
uous tract, lying in the corners of three adjoin- 
ing townships. His first team was a yoke of 
oxen, with which he did a great part of the log- 
ging in this neighborhood ; he used cattle for 
his work for about fifteen years. All he ever 
received from home was $260, after his father's 
death ; his start in business was the proceeds of 
his work by the month and days' labor, which he 






J^ 



LIBERTY TOWNSHIP. 



929 



saved careful!}^ ; now they enjo}' the possession 
of one of the best farms of this county. They 
had twelve children — Mary M., now wife of B. 
Jacobs ; Carolina, now wife of John Shieber ; 
John H., married Jennie Feighner, and farms 
the Lykens Township place ; Henry is farming 
80 acres in Chatfield Township — his wife is 
Flora Feighner ; Adam, Daniel, Solomon, Will- 
iam, Emma, Melissa and Charles are single, 
and reside with their parents ; also, one boy, 
who died in childhood. The whole family are 
members of the Lutheran Church. Mrs. Klink 
was born in Prussia Dec. 22, 1832, and came 
to this country with her parents when 4 years 
old. Her father, Daniel Kohlman, came here 
with three children, viz. : Catharine, Charles 
and Melissa ; the boy died when they had 
been here about three years. 

CHARLES KEPLINaER, farmer; P. 0. 
Bucyrus ; was born in York Co., Penn., Feb. 
2, 1809. His father, Daniel Keplinger, was 
also a native of Pennsylvania. He married 
Annie M. Leister, of Maryland. After their 
marriage they settled on a farm. They reared 
a family of eight children, viz., Jacob, Hannah, 
Sarah, Polly, L3'dia, Charles, Daniel and Cath- 
arine. They all moved to Columbiana Co., 
Ohio, in 1825, except Hannah, who, with her 
husband, followed a year and a half later, and 
in the spring of 1827 they moved to a farm 
which they purchased in Stark Co., where the 
childi'en grew up to maturity-, and began to 
" strike out " for themselves. On account of 
the delicate condition of their father's and old- 
est brother's health, Charles was obliged to 
render all the assistance in his power, from the 
time he was 11 years old. Almost the entire 
care of his father's farm was left to him, 
consequently he got no chance of attending 
school. He remained at home until 24 years 
of age, and on Dec. 24, 1833, was united in 
marriage with Sarah Wersthler. She was born 
in Stark Co., Ohio, Oct. 9, 1813. They lived 
with his father and farmed the homestead 
for three years. They then moved to the 
farm of his father-in-law (Greorge Wersth- 
ler), where they farmed three years. In the 
meantime, his father (Daniel Keplinger) died ; 
therefore they moved back to care for the old 
homestead, and lived on it one and a half years. 
He purchased 160 acres of his present farm in 
August, 1839, and moved to it, arriving here 
on the 3d day of November, 1840. The farm 



was all under wood and without any improve- 
ments of any kind when he purchased it ; by 
the time they get here there was a log cabin 
erected by one John Werner, under contract. 
The roof was on, but the cabin was yet unten- 
antable, so his wife and little ones got shelter in 
the house of his brother-in-law, Jacob H. Sells, 
who had been here several j^ears, until their 
own cabin was fixed up so thej^ could live in it. 
The}' were in poor circumstances, financially, 
as all they possessed was one team, and were 
$150 in debt on their land. They worked hai'd, 
and by unceasing energy and industrious habits 
of himself and noble wife, they have secured a 
competence of this world's goods. They built 
a substantial and commodious brick residence 
in 1857, and besides his well-improved farm 
here, he owns 320 acres in Nebraska. They 
had eleven children, eight of whom are living — 
Mary A., wife of Isaac Kinney, of Indiana ; 
Josiah, in this township ; Emanuel, in Nebras- 
ka ; William E., in this township ; Daniel E. 
and Jacob W., also in Nebraska ; George W. 
and Emma at home with their parents. Three 
children, two girls and one boy, died here of 
scarlet fever, which was epidemic shortly after 
they came to this count3^ The second year of 
their residence here, Mr. Keplinger was elected 
Township Trustee, and served several years, 
and then Township Clerk for two years ; was 
re-elected Trustee, and held the office several 
years. He was then elected Township Treas- 
urer for two years, and when one j^ear had 
elapsed after his term had expired, he was 
elected to the same office and served ninej^ears. 
In 1860, he was elected Land Appraiser, and 
officiated in the same capacity' in 1870. He 
was elected Justice of the Peace in 1846, for 
one term, and on account of his own business 
interests, which demanded his undivided atten- 
tion, he refused to serve any longer in that 
office. In 1859, he was elected Count}' Com- 
missioner, and held that office until December, 
1865, and in the fall of 1875, he was again 
elected County Commissioner, and is now serv- 
ing on his second term. Although his school 
education was deficient, he acquired a good, 
practical, business education through his pow- 
ers of quick perception and varied experience. 
Almost continuously, since his residence in the 
county, he has been, in some capacit}', faith- 
fully serving the public. In 1862, his son 
Emanuel enlisted in Co. H, 123d 0. Y. I., and 



±'* 



fk 



930 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



served until the close of the war. He received 
three wounds — once through the calf of the 
right leg, and was shot througii the right foot, 
the ball entering in his heel, passed through 
his foot lengthwise, emerging between the sec- 
ond and third toes ; the third was less serious, 
though none the less dangerous, as it came 
closer to more important organs of life ; in this 
case a ball grazed the top of his ear so closely 
that it bled, but luckly from this he sustained 
a mere scratch. 

JOHN KAFER, farmer; P. 0. Sulphur 
Springs ; was born in Wurtemberg, Germany, 
Jan. 13, 1812. His father Michael, and mother 
Elizabeth (Klienknecht) Kafer, with their seven 
children — Mar}', Jacob, Catharine, John, Fred- 
rick, Rosey and Christiana — emigrated from the 
old country in 1832, and in the spring of 1833, 
came to Crawford Co., Ohio. The}^ purchased 
80 acres in this township, which one of the 
family now owns ; this served as a home for 
all the family until they began to drop off, one 
by one, into homes of their own. The old 
folks still remained on their first location, until 
removed by death a few years ago. Mr. John 
Kafer remained in the parental home for some 
time after he was of age. He then thought 
best to make a beginning on his own account, 
and prudently secured a housekeeper, who 
would take a life interest in his affairs. She 
was named Elizabeth Hamm, and they were 
married March 22, 1838 ; she was born in Stark 
Co., Ohio, Oct. 8, 1818. While yet in limited 
pecuniary circumstances, they enjoyed their 
lot; but erelong that mutual enjoyment was 
crushed by the death of Mrs. Kafer ; she left 
one child, Elizabeth, who is now the wife of 
Adam Durr. Mr. Kafer married a second wife, 
Fredrecka Layer, on March 15, 1841. She was 
born in Wurtemberg, Germany, Nov. 29, 1821, 
and came to the United Stateswith her parents 
(Christian and Catharine Layer), when about 15 
years old. In 1839, Mr. Kafer bought 80 acres 
of the farm where he resides, and has lived 
there ever since ; he is unlike many, in that he 
has not only been able to barely hold on to his 
first purchase of 80 acres, but by his unceasing 
labor and economy, has added, by various pur- 
chases, until he now owns 319 acres of good 
land, and lives a quiet unassuming life, enjoy- 
ing the fruits of his early industry. His chil- 
dren by the second marriage are Mary A., 
wife of Daniel Pfleiderer ; Carolina, wife of Fred 



Heiby ; Catharine, wife of Jacob Ackerman ; 
Louisa C, at home with her parents ; Rosy, 
wife of Phillip Heiby ; Jacob S. and Emma R., 
at home. They are members of the Lutheran 
Church. 

SAMUEL B. KOONS, farmer; P. 0. Sul- 
phur Springs ; was born in Sandusky Town- 
ship, this county, Nov. 17, 1840. He is the 
son of Abraham and Jane (Mills) Koons. His 
father was born in Pennsylvania June 16, 
1783, and, when a young man, he learned the 
millwright's trade, which he followed for many 
years, besides owning a farm. He was twice 
married, first to Susan Shrader, b}' which union 
there were thirteen children, six of whom grew 
to manhood and womanhood and reared fami- 
lies of their own ; they were Margaret, Daniel, 
John, Charlotte. Susan and Abraham. After 
about twenty-four years of married life, his 
first wife died. April 15, 1830, he married 
Jane Mills, who is his surviving widow ; she 
was born in Marjdand July 1, 1812 ; of her 
father's family there were seven children left to 
do for themselves when quite young. Mrs. 
Koons was taken by a famil}^ to rear, and they 
moved to Pennsylvania when she was about 
5 years old. There she grew to womanhood, 
and, as stated above, was married to Mr. Koons. 
Notwithstanding he was much her senior, they 
got along the very best. Two years after their 
marriage, the}^ came to Ohio, first settling in 
Richland Co. in the spring of 1832, and, in the 
spring of 1839, they sold out and moved into 
Sandusky Township, this county, where they 
purchased 160 acres, and afterward added 37^ 
more. In the course of time, there were four- 
teen children born to his second wife, twenty- 
seven children in his family in all, as his first 
wife was mother of thirteen, seven of whom 
died in childhood ; but the fourteen of the sec- 
ond marriage are all living and doing well, the 
youngest about 26 years old. Their names and 
present residences are as follows : William L., 
in Fulton Co., Ind.; Annie E., in Crestline, at 
the millinery business ; Mary M., in Kansas — 
was married to R. Armstrong ; he was killed 
by a runaway team ; Sarah J., now Mrs. Moore, 
of Lansing, Mich.; David S., farming in Han- 
cock Co. ; Martha E., is married to Rev. James 
M. Roberts, a missionary in New Mexico ; 
Samuel B., in this township ; Harriet, Mrs. 
James Stevenson, of Annapolis ; Ben. F., 
is now pursuing his studies at Yale College, 



r?r 



;rv 






LIBERTY TOWNSHIP. 



931 



New Haven, Conn.; R. Catharine is on mission- 
ary work among the freedmen of Mississippi, 
and teacher in Tougaloo College, near Jackson, 
Miss.; R. Porter, is a physician in Kansas: 
Oliver H., is studying music in Philadelphia ; 
F. Mills, is studying in Oberlin, Ohio ; Joanna is 
married and living in Illinois. Mr. Koons, Sr., 
died March 22, 1869, and, after the settlement 
of the estate and several unimportant changes, 
Mrs. Koons got herself a comfortable residence 
in the village, where she is spending the remain- 
ing years of her life quietly and alone. Samuel 
B. received a common-school education, besides 
one term in Obei'lin ; his time bej'ond school 
hours was occupied on the farm until Aug. 15, 
1861 ; at that date he enlisted in Co. C, 49th 
0. V. I., and participated in several of the 
deadly engagements of the war, viz., Shiloh, 
Liberty Gap, Stone River (and at the close of 
that engagement he was promoted to Sergeant), 
Chickamauga and Mission Ridge ; in the latter 
conflict, Nov. 19, 1863, he sustained a serious 
injury b}' being struck on the back of the head 
by a piece of wood which formed a partition 
between the powder and ball in the construction 
of cannon cartridges, from one of their own 
guns, which was firing OA'er them. From the 
effects of this wound he lay insensible for 
eighteen days. After a month's hospital care, 
he was able to come home on a furlough, and 
remained about two months. When his regi- 
ment was re-enlisted, he went in the Atlanta 
campaign as far as Buzzard's Roost ; his tei'm 
of enlistment had then expired, and he was dis- 
charged Sept. 5, 1864. He then came home to 
Crawford Co., and, on Nov. 17 of the same year, 
he was mai'ried to Margaret Stevenson ; she 
was born in Seneca Co. March 27, 1845. For 
three years, he worked his father's fjirm, and, in 
the spring of 1868, they pui'chased the farm of 
71 acres where they now live. Mrs. Koons' 
parents came to live with them, and here her 
father died Aug. 16, 1871, but her mother is 
still with them at the advanced age of 73 
years. On account of his wound received in 
the army, which affects him seriously if he 
takes the least cold, he draws a pension of $8 
per month. They have a family of five chil- 
dren — Clarence A., Virgil C, Sarah J., Maggie 
M. and Samuel R. 

ISAAC KLOPFENSTEIN, farmer and stock- 
dealer ; P. 0. Sulphur Springs ; was born in Polk 
Township, this county, March 10, 1837. His 



father, Abraham, was twice married ; by his 
first wife there were four children — Susan, 
John, Elizabeth and Abraham ; the three 
younger ones emigrated with their father from 
Switzerland to Canada in 1829. Susan re- 
mained in their native countr3^ Mr. Klopfen- 
stein was a widower, and when he settled in 
Canada he married Elizabeth Reiter, who came 
from Switzerland when he did. They built a 
cabin in the woods and bought some land and 
were getting along nicely. A brother in Swit- 
zerland wrote to x\braham in Canada, that he 
was about to start for the United States, and 
would prefer to see him there. John came 
from Switzerland to Crawford Co., and Abra- 
ham from Canada, they located in Polk Town- 
ship, where the latter entered 200 acres in 
1833 ; and brought his youngest son, b}- first 
wife, along, leaving John and Elizabeth on the 
property in Canada. Abraham w^ent to Buftalo, 
N. Y., where he took sick and sent for his 
father to come and see him, which he did on foot, 
and returned in the same manner ; from then 
they lost all track of Abraham, as he never re- 
turned. When Mr. Klopfenstein came here he 
built a cabin in the woods and began the clear- 
ing and improvement of his land, and got along 
well until 1846, when he was called by death, 
leaving widow and three children, viz.: Mary, 
Elizabeth and Isaac. (Mary is now widow of 
Jacob Freidley, of Van Wert ; Elizabeth is wife 
of Charles No3er, of Allen Co., Ind.) Widow 
Klopfenstein married Jacob Millemater about 
two years after the death of her first husband ; 
Millemater assumed control of affairs, and in 
Api'il of 1851, Isaac (our subject) left home to 
do for himself, and engaged with Charles 
Noyer in a brickyard, and did odd jobs until 
spring of 1852 ; when he again engaged on the 
brickyard, and in the fall he purchased a half 
interest in a threshing machine on credit, in 
partnership with John Kinsey. Having poor 
success that season, he sold out his interest to 
Kinsey, receiving something for his labor. In 
January-, 1853, he went to Wayne Co., Ind., where 
he took a job of cutting eighty cords of wood 
at 60 cents per cord, and paid his board at the 
rate of $1.50 per week ; this job he completed 
in forty days. He then began to work by the 
month a short time at $15 per month, but soon 
got another job of cutting out a road three rods 
wide and one-fourth of a mile long, through 
heavy timber, cutting it all into cord-wood, re- 



\ 



±1 



933 



BIOGEAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



ceiving for his job 62^ cents per cord for as 
much us it would make, and board himself, 
which he got at the old rate, $1.50 per week. 
He then returned to the county and sold his 
one-third interest in the homestead of eight}' 
acres, for which he received $600. His guard- 
ian turned over the money to him, and he 
straightway purchased eighty acres in Chat- 
field Township ; twenty-five of it was partially 
cleared, and had a cabin house and barn on it. 
He returned to Wayne Co., Ind., and worked 
in a slaughter-house until about Christmas of 
that year, when he returned to this count3^ 
and. on Feb. 5, 1854, he married Mary Bitik- 
offer ; she was born in Switzerland, Dec. 4, 
1831, and came with her parents to Stark Co., 
in 1836, and to Crawford Co. in 1843. April 
1, 1854, they moved to their farm, which he 
had lately bought, and while they lived there 
made several purchases and sales ; the}' re- 
mained there twelve years ; during that time 
he was twice drafted into the army, first time 
he furnished a substitute, and second time the 
township was cleared b}' subscription, costing 
him $595, in all. In 1866, he bought 100 acres 
and added to it 44, which constitutes the 
farm where he resides, besides 40 acres 
in Chatfield, 160 acres in Sandusky, and 144 
acres in Bucyrus Townships, and, in 1877, he 
purchased a half-interest in the stock of dry 
goods and groceries of Fry & Keller (Mr. Fry 
owning the building). He has a family of 
seven children living, viz.: Abraham, who is 
living on the Bucyrus farm, 80 acres of 
which he has bought ; John is on the San- 
dusky farm, 80 acres of which he has pur- 
chased ; Mary E., Susan C, Emma S., Isaac E. 
and Maud M.; the five last named are at home 
with their parents. In 1861, he was elected 
Township Trustee for one term. He built a 
good brick residence on his farm in Chatfield, 
and in 1860 he put up a barn, 56x44 feet ; the 
frame- work cost only $105, taken off the stump. 
He has tried his hand at many kinds of busi- 
ness, and, although a man of very limited edu- 
cation, has succeeded at all. After he was 9 
years old, he was only two weeks at school, and 
when he was married he could not write his 
own name. Being totally ignorant of mathe- 
mathics when he began to deal in stock in 
1860, he found it necessary to study the sim- 
ple rules, and for that purpose he went to 
school along with his own children. His first 



start was farming, next project was threshing 
in partnership with Mr. Bitikofl'er, in 1855, 
and in 1856 he made brick ; in 1857 he bought 
and " run "" a thresher on his own account, and 
in 1858 he resumed the manufacture of brick ; 
and in 1860 he began stock-dealing ; in that he 
has been ver}' successful ; while others have 
failed on every side of him he has and is still 
doing a prosperous business ; some farmers in 
this vicinity have sold to him exclusively for 
the past twenty years, which is good evidence 
of fair dealing. His success in farming can be 
best understood by the following figures and 
data : His first crop of wheat was four and one- 
half acres, which himself and wife harvested in 
1856, the entire crop amounted to eight bush- 
els, and this 3'ear (1880) himself and sons har- 
vested 110 acres, from which the}^ realized 
2,750 bushels and marketed it at 95c(^$l per 
bushel. He joined the German Reformed 
Church when 14 years of age, and was Deacon 
from 1859 until 1865 ; since latter date he has 
been an Elder, and officiates in that capacity 
now. Mrs. Klopfenstein and the three oldest 
children are members of the church. His father 
settled up the estate so as to leave the property 
in Canada to John and Susan, of the first wife, 
giving a quit-claim deed to it, and taking the 
same from them as against his Crawford Co. 
property, which was intended for his other 
three children, but by neglect his father never 
recorded the quit-claim from those in Canada, 
and after his death they came here and claimed 
and got an equal share with Isaac and his two 

DANIEL LIGHT, retired farmer ; P. 0. Bu- 
cyrus ; was born June 30, 1806, in Dauphin 
Co., Penn. His parents, Adam and Mary (Did- 
die) Light, were also natives of Pennsylvania. 
In early life, Daniel learned the weaving busi- 
ness, but due regard for his health forbade him 
following it long ; so he abandoned it for the 
more invigorating life on the farm, to which he 
has ever since devoted his whole attention, both 
in Pennsylvania and Ohio. He moved here in 
1854, purchasing 80 acres where he now lives, 
but has added, b}^ purchase, until his farm con- 
sists of 120 acres of good and well-improved 
land, where he is passing the declining years of 
his life in peace and enjoying the fruits of his 
early industry. He has been twice married ; 
first to Polly Heller, September, 1828. She was 
called awa}- by death, leaving four children, 



-C i 



Y 



ihL 



LIBERTY TOWNSHIP. 



933 



viz., William, John, Emanuel and Adam. His 
second marriage was with Lueetta Harmon ; she 
was born in Dauphin Co.. Penn., Jan. 15, 1823; 
the children by this union are Mary E. and 
Daniel A. They brought his first wife's four 
children along with them when the}' came to 
Ohio ; his daughter b}' second wife was onl}' a 
few months old ; his youngest son, Daniel A.. 
was born in this county. Shortly after the out- 
break of the rebellion, his son. Aclf^-m, enlisted 
on Nov. 2, 1861, in Co. K, 64th O. Y. I., and 
served through the war, until the engagement 
at Chickamauga, where the Union soldiers were 
forced to yield, and daring the retreat he was 
stunned b}- a bullet, which grazed the top of his 
head, stripping its breadth of hair and scalp 
from his skull, which felled him to the 
ground, when he became an easy prey, as a 
prisoner, to the rebels ; he was forthwith con- 
veyed to Andersonville Prison, and later, to 
Florence Prison, spending seventeen months of 
starvation and misery in the two places. He 
was paroled in February, 1865, and returned to 
his father's, as his discharge had been granted 
before he was released from the Southern prison. 
Emaciated with hunger and dejected in spirits, 
his recovery seemed ver}- doubtful ; but with 
strict attention of his parents, good care and 
nourishment, he regained his usual strength ; he 
afterward married here, where he died, leaxing 
a widow and three children. W^illiam lives in 
this township ; Emanuel resides in Henry Co., 
Ohio ; John owns 40 acres of land in Plolmes 
Township, but makes his home with his father ; 
he is unmarried ; has devoted his time to 
farming, and like those whose quiet lives are 
unallured by the gush and glare of society, 
lives a quiet, practical life. Mar}- E. is now 
Mrs. Henry Stevenson, of this county ; Daniel A., 
the youngest, also resides with his parents. 
Mr. and Mrs. Light are members of the Ger- 
man Reformed Church. 

DANIEL LAYER, farmer ; P. 0. Sulphur 
Springs ; was born in Wurtemberg, Germany, 
April 9, 1830. His parents. Christian and 
Catharine (Faill) Layer, emigrated from Ger- 
many to the United States in 1838, and brought 
eight children with them, viz., DoUe}'. Elizabeth, 
Fredricka, John, Jacob. Christian, Daniel and 
J. A. They all reside in this State. The oldest 
girl married John Layer, and died in Union 
Co., leaving five children. When Mr. Layer " 
came to the United States, he came direct to 



Ohio, and purchased 96 acres, where Daniel 
lives. Here the family grew up to maturity, 
and from there struck out in the world for 
themselves. On Feb. 1, 1854, Daniel married 
Catharine, daughter of Jacob Ulmer, and moved 
to Kent Co., Mich., where he entered 160 acres 
of land and lived there three years. His wife's 
health failed, and she longed to return to her 
old home and acquaintances in this county, so 
they sold out, and came back to his father's, 
where his wife died, October, 1857. He rented 
his father's farm for four or five years, and lived 
a widower with his parents ; and they, being 
old with years and hard work, were ready to 
give up the care of the place to some one more 
competent to take care of it. In 1862, his 
father died, then he, Daniel, bought the interest 
of the other heirs, and carried on the farm, his 
aged mother making her home with him until 
July 24, 1878, when she was removed by death. 
Daniel was again inarried, to Barbara Eppley,. 
daughter of John and Barbara (Wey) Eppley, 
who came from Germany, where she was born 
Feb. 21, 1859. and came here with her parents 
when about 3 years old. Her parents first set- 
tled near Harrisburg, Penn., for about two 
years, and then came to Chatfield Township, 
this county. Mr. Layer has, by his second 
marriage, one child — Lydia. John A. lives on 
the adjoining farm, and both of them have 
prospered well. He married Mary Green Jan. 
10, 1856. They have the following children — 
EUzabeth R., Eliza A., George F. and Frank E. 
JAMES MANAHAN (deceased) ; was born 
in Frederick Co., Md., in 1811. He married 
Sidney Nichols, who was born in the same 
county in 1813. Some time after they were 
married, they moved to Seneca Co., this State, 
where they stayed about one year. In 1840, 
they came to Crawford Co. and settled on the 
Wyandot Reservation, and remained about two 
years. Then they moved to the "Plains " out 
from Bucyrus, and settled at what is known as 
'• Parcher's Corners." They lived there seven 
years, and the P., Ft. W. & C. R. R. now runs 
directly over the location where their house 
stood. They kept shifting from time to time, 
and, about 1851, they removed to a ftirm on 
the Sandusky, near R. W. Knisely's, where they 
lived eight years. In 1859, they rented the 
Biddle farm, near Annapolis, and here they 
have remained since. They reared a family of 
ten children, six boys and four girls — Alfred 



^1 



934 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



W., Samuel, Lucinda (now Mrs. John Zandel), 
Barbara J., Adaline, Elizabeth, Silas, James 
M., John and Watson. When the late rebellion 
broke out, Alfred W. enlisted in the three 
months' service. At the expiration of that 
time, he re-enlisted for nine months. When 
that time expired, he again enlisted, and served 
to the close of the war. He now resides in 
Frederick Co., Md. James M. also enlisted, 
but only in the one hundred daj's' service, O. 
N. (r., and when his term of service expired he 
returned to the rest of the family, and re- 
mained here until removed by death on May 1, 
1878. Their father died on March 1, 1871. 
Silas is unmarried, and with him his aged 
mother and sisters make their home. He 
takes entire charge of the farm of 153 acres, 
for which he pa^'s $450 annually in cash as 
rent for the place. The}^ have now been occu- 
pying the same place for over twenty-one 
3^ears, which fact would indicate that they are 
desirable tenants. 

E. M. MOORE, farmer ; P. 0. Bucyrus ; was 
born in Columbiana Co., Ohio, Sept. 9, 1838 ; 
he is the son of James and Catharine (Lomes) 
Moore, the former a native of Washington Co., 
Penn., and the latter of Columbiana Co., Ohio. 
Mr. E. 31. Moore's youth was spent between 
the duties of the farm and attending school. 
Being naturally as a boy apt and intelligent, he 
acquired a good education early in life, and, in 
his 17th 3'ear, he began teaching school, and 
taught sixteen winter terms. AVhen 18 years of 
age, he entered Mt. Union College, Stark Co., 
Ohio, and attended it eight terms. He had en- 
tered tlie Junior Class in 1861, wiien he aban- 
doned his course at college, as he had to furnish 
for himself all means of support and tuition. He 
afterward turned his attention to teaching in 
the winter months and farming in the summer. 
He owns one of the most comfortable and best- 
improved farms of 108 acres in Liberty Town- 
ship, with splendid out- buildings and a fine 
brick residence, to which he moved in March, 
1868, on the 12th of which month he united 
his fortunes with Lizzie, daughter of John and 
Elizabeth Crall. She was born in Dauphin 
Co., Penn., Dec. 17, 1843, and came here with 
her parents in 1852. They have six children 
—Cora E., Susan E., Mary M., John J., Kattie 
B. and Oliver M. Besides superintending his 
farm, he has been engaged about ten months 
of the year for the past nine years as foreman 



in the clothing department of the extensive 
mercantile house of M. Emrich, of Bucyrus, 
which position he now holds. He is a member 
of Demas Lodge, No. 108, of Knights of Pj'th- 
ias, and of Howard Lodge, No. 109, Knights 
of Honor ; also the Masonic Crawford Lodge, 
of Bucvrus. 

ROBERT WALLACE MUSGRAVE, de- 
ceased ; was born in New York Feb. 10, 1810 ; 
he was the 3'Oiyigest of a family of six children, 
four boys and two girls. The whole family 
moved to this State when he (Robert W.) was 
a mere boy, and, when about 15 years of age, 
he was employed by Henry St. John as clerk in 
his store at Wooster, Ohio. Mr. St. John soon 
moved to Bucyrus and brought young Mus- 
grave along. And, after he had been here some 
time, he took an interest in the establishment 
and did business for several 3'ears in partner- 
ship with St. John. Here he formed the ac- 
quaintan(;e of Maria G-illespie, who was born in 
Washington Co., Penn., Sept. 5, 1806, and came 
to Bucvrus with her father's family- in October, 
1834. 'Sept. 5, 1835, Mr. Musgrave and Miss 
Gillespie were united in matrimony ; they began 
housekeeping and resided there for six 3^ears, 
when Ml". Musgrave disposed of his interests in 
Bucyrus and moved to this village in June, 
1841, where he built a store and put in a stock 
of general merchandise, and carried on the busi- 
ness with much success, and purchased at var- 
ious times land in this vicinit3' to the amount 
of 760 acres, which is owned b3' his widow and 
the heirs. During Buchanan's administration, 
he was appointed Postmaster, which office he 
held here many 3'ears, although he was of the 
opposite political persuasion ; he also held the 
office of Associate Judge for several years. 
The3' reared five children, viz., Marian, now 
Mrs. Biddle, of Buc3'rus ; Ellen J., deceased ; 
Thomas W. ; Julia, widow of James Rader ; 
and Myra, now Mrs. Wells. Mr. Musgrave's 
was a life of unceasing business activit3- from 
the time he was 15 years old until it closed in 
death Ma3' 18, 1868. His usefulness was never 
fully known or realized in business circles, or 
his influence in society until the vicinit3' sus- 
tained the loss in his demise. His introduction 
to this count3^ was in the role of a poor bo3' do- 
ing chores and clerking in a store, and carr3'ing 
the mail across the countr3- on horseback. But 
his course was steadih' upward, as in time he 
soon became one of the important factors in 



LIBERTY TOWNSHIP. 



935 



the business circles of the county, also holding 
the position of Associate County Judge. Re- 
gardless of public opinion, or at the risk of be- 
coming unpopular, he would unhesitatingly 
assail whatever he considered of questionable 
merit. Mrs. Musgrave occupies the old home- 
stead and 140 acres, where she is passing the 
remainder of her days in happiness, and sup- 
plied with all the luxuries of life. Her ances- 
tors were from Ireland ; her grandfather, James 
Gillespie, emigrated from County TjTone, and 
came to United States when young ; he settled 
in Washington Co., Penn., where he reared a 
family of six sons. Thomas, the oldest one 
was Mrs. Musgrave's father, and when she was 
8 years old the famil}- moved from Penn- 
sylvania and located at Xenia, Grreene Co., Ohio, 
and remained there about twelve years ; her 
father spent some time in Tiffin in connection 
with the land office there, but, as stated, moved 
his family to Bucj'rus in October, 1834, and 
died in the village of Annapolis at the residence 
of his sou Thomas many ^^ears ago. 

THOMAS W. MUSGRAVE, retired farmer ; 
P. 0. Sulphur Springs ; was born in Bucyrus, 
this county, March 9, 1840. He is the only 
son of Robert W. Musgrave, and was reai'cd to 
farm work, and lived with his parents until of 
age. On Aug. 21, 1861, he united his fortunes 
with Hannah Fry, a daughter of J. H. Fry, 
who was born Jan. 21, 1839, in this township. 
He farmed his father's place for several years, 
when he went to the State of Indiana, but re- 
mained only a short time, when he came back, 
and got 160 aci'es of his father's estate, which 
he occupied for some time, but subsequently 
sold it and purchased 148 acres, which he now 
owns. In the spring of 1 880, he moved to this 
village (Annapolis), where he lives comforta- 
bly, away from the cares and toil of the farm. 
He is one of those who are liberal in assisting 
in any enterprise which is worthy of patronage, 
and that without displa3^ He is a member of 
the Knights of Honor, Liberty Lodge No. 845. 
They have four children — Frank R., Mary E., 
Robert J. and Albert W. 

THOMAS McCULLOUGH, deceased. He 
was born Aug. 14, 1831, on the farm where his 
widow and family reside. His father. Alexan- 
der McCuUough, came here at the first settle- 
ment of the count}' ; he died here, leaving a 
widow and five children, Thomas, the eldest, 
being only 10 years of age ; consequently, he 



learned earl}' in life what it was to do for him- 
self The widow and her five children strug- 
gled hard for subsistence, and, as time carried 
them through the shifting scenes of pioneer 
life, they saw, with much gratification, that the 
many and varied obstacles disappeared as soon 
as approached ; but of the five, onl}- William 
(now living in Wayne Co.) is left to compare 
the present realities with the memories of the 
past. On Nov. 4, 1858, Thomas united his 
fortunes with those of Mary Cleland. She was 
born June 3, 1827, in Vernon Township, this 
count}'. They have had five children — Martha 
Atta, Rachel A., William C, and two who died 
in infancy. Mr. McCulIough began school- 
teaching early in life, and continued the same 
in the winter months, and, in the summer, at- 
tending to his farm duties, for several years 
after his marriage. He was elected and held 
the office of Township Trustee for two terms, 
with honor to himself and satisfaction to those 
he represented. He took a deep and lasting 
interest in the Sabbath school which was or- 
ganized in their district, and of which he was 
Superintendent for six years. He was a mem- 
ber of the Presbyterian Church. On the 12th 
of May, 1879, his career closed and his life of 
good works was sealed in death, mourned by 
many and highly esteemed by all who knew 
him. Mrs. McCulIough and her three children 
are in good circumstances, and live happily on 
their well-improved farm of 76 acres. She 
purposes giving them a good education, which 
they are eager to avail themselves of Her 
eldest daughter, Martha A., has taught school 
during the past summer. Mrs. McCullough's 
father, William Cleland, was born in Ireland, 
and emigrated to the United States when 
young, with his parents. He came to this 
county and settled in Vernon Township, where 
he is still living, and is strong and active, con- 
sidering that he is in his 85th year. It took 
six weeks to make their voyage across the 
ocean. He married Rachel Ramsy, who was 
a native of Virginia. 

DANIEL L.^McMICHAEL, farmer; P. 0. 
Bucyrus ; was born April 7, 1836. where he 
resides. To give a short sketch of the family — 
of some historic worth, in connection with 
Crawford Co. — it is necessary to go back to 
one Daniel iMcMichael, grandfather of D. L. 
McMichael, who was born in Ireland, and came 
to the United States with his parents when 



■^ 



936 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



about 16 years of age, which was about the 
year 1794. The family located in Westmore- 
land Co., Penn., and, when Daniel attained his 
majority, he married Mary McDowell. She was 
a native of Scotland, and came to the United 
States with her parents at an eai'ly date. A 
few years after their marriage, they moved to 
Ohio, and located on the north of the Sandusky, 
near where Bucyrus is located. Being a miller 
by profession, and a mechanical genius, Mr. 
McMichael saw and felt the pressing need for 
some kind of mill to grind what little grain they 
raised to subsist on. He traveled up the river, 
looking for a suitable location as the basis of 
operation for building a mill. When he reached 
the place where Nathan Cooper now lives, he 
concluded that the object of his search had been 
discovered. There he entered 160 acres of 
Government land, and built a saw and grist- 
mill combined, which was one of the fii'st insti- 
tutions of the kind in the county, of which the 
county history speaks more fully. He reared a 
family of eight children, viz., David, Matthew, 
William, Daniel, Allen, Mary. Hattie and Mar- 
tha. Of these, Daniel, Mary and Martha are 
living in Iowa ; Allen, in Nebraska, and Matthew, 
who resided on the old homestead, near Bucy- 
rus, and died there some 3'ears since. William 
set out for the gold fields of California, during 
the early excitement in 1848, and was never 
heard from here since he wrote a letter back 
when he reached the Rock}' Mountains. David, 
the oldest one of the family, married Margaret, 
daughter of John Anderson, who settled here 
about the year after the McMichaels came. 
Shortly after the marriage of his daughter, 
Anderson died, so David McMichael moved to 
the Anderson farm and remained there until 
the time of his death, which occurred Nov. 3, 
1857, leaving a widow and seven children, viz., 
Rebecca J., Daniel L., John A., George W., 
Marie, Cynthia and David — the latter one is 
deceased. Of these, G. W. and Marie are in 
Nebraska ; John, Cynthia and Daniel L., in 
this county. The last-named worked on the 
farm, and, in the meantime, received a good 
education at the common and normal schools. 
He prepared himself for teaching, which he did 
with marked success for a period of fifteen 
years, in the winter months, spending the sum- 
mer on the farm, with some few exceptions, 
when he taught in summer also. Sept. 16, 1864, 
he married Rachel J. Woodside. They have 



four children, viz., Wallace D., Burton 0., Will- 
iam G. and Lawrence E. Mrs. McMichael was 
born in this county, in 1839. They own about 
50 acres of land, which is part of what belonged 
to the old Anderson homestead. 

JACOB OREWILER, farmer ; P. 0. Bucy- 
rus ; was born in Huntingdon Co., Penn., on 
Jan. 5, 1814. His father, John, and his mother, 
Barbara (Keith) Orewiler, were both natives of 
Pennsylvania, but his mother's parents came 
from Germany, and settled in Pennsylvania, 
and her father's name was Michael Keith. 
When Mr. eJohn Orewiler married Barbara 
Keith, she was then the widow of one John 
Kline, by whom she had three sons — John, 
William and Joseph. And of the Orewiler 
children there were seven— Henr}', Adam, 
Lewis, Rosanna, Elizabeth, Michael and Jacob. 
They were all born in Penns^dvania ; and when 
the youngest (Jacob) was about 3 years old, 
the whole family moved from. Pennsylvania 
and came to Ohio ; they settled in Richland 
County, about ten miles north of Mansfield, in 
1817. There the children grew to maturity, 
and began to branch out for themselves. Com- 
ing into this State at such an early date, they 
were perfectly conversant with pioneer life ; 
and, although the family were in reasonably 
good circumstances for that time, yet man}' 
were the disadvantages and privations to be 
borne then, which the youth of to-da}' would 
consider impossibilities. No pen can ever do 
justice to the men and wives, with their help- 
less little ones, who ventured into the trackless 
forest, with which they were unacquainted, 
there to risk their lives at the hands of the rad 
man, for the sake of securing a home for them- 
selves and their posterity. And who can speak 
knowingl}^ of the longings, and aching hearts 
of those who would have gladly returned, 
whence they came, when all opportunities of 
returning were unavailable. But most of those 
noble souls who bore the first burdens of set- 
tling these parts, have passed from their toil- 
ing to a more abiding rest. Mr. Jacob Ore- 
wiler's parents made their permanent home in 
Richland County, and died there years ago. 
The first of the family to come into Crawford 
County was Lewis ; he settled in Cranberry 
Township in 1835. Jacob came here also at 
that time, but did not settle permanently. He 
made a purchase of 40 acres in Sandusky Town- 
ship in the year 1835, and then returned to his 



1> "V^ 



v^ 



LIBERTY TOWNSHIP. 



937 



father's in Richland County. Erelong he 
came back to Crawford County and stopped 
with his brother Lewis ; and purchased 40 
acres more in Sandusky Township. He worked 
around between Richland and Crawford Coun- 
ties for several years ; and in 1839, he went to 
Indiana, and stopped in De Kalb County, a 
little over a year, thence to Iowa, where he 
worked by the month about two years ; then 
returned to Crawford County, and made his 
home with his brother Lewis for a short time ; 
and in January, 1813, he married Annie Con- 
ley. She was born in Richland County Feb. 3, 
1818. and came to this county with her folks 
in 1828. Mr. Orewiler and his bride repaired 
to his farm of 80 acres, which he still retained, 
in Sandusky Township ; but afterward sold 
out there, and moved to Chatfield Township, 
where he purchased 79 acres. They occupied 
the latter about ten years ; and Jan. 31, 1865, 
moved to the farm where the}' now live ; and 
in 1876, erected a commodious two-story frame 
residence, besides making other important and 
necessary impi'ovements on the farm. They 
had nine children, five of whom are living — 
John, Elzie, Albert, Jacob and Flora A. 
Those deceased are Alfred, Henry, Nancy J. 
and Louisa. John married Sophia Kroneber- 
ger, and lives in this township ; Elzie married 
Alice Keller, and lives at Upper Sandusky. Mr. 
and Mrs. Orewiler are members of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church. His sisters were married and 
moved West, at an early date, and little has 
been known of them since. Elizabeth was mar- 
ried to Jesse Van Fustin ; Rosanna to Jacob 
Hoover ; they settled first in Illinois, and then 
moved to California ; this was the latest ac- 
count ; Lewis is the onl}' brother who survives. 
DAVID PFLEIDERER, farmer ; P. O. Sul- 
phur Springs ; was born in Wurtemberg, Ger- 
many, Dec. 5, 1822. He is the son of Christian 
and Barbara (Auberly) Pfleiderer ; the former 
born in the year 1789, and the latter in 1794. 
They were farmers in Germany, and in very 
comfortable circumstances; but Christian con- 
cluded to emigrate to the United States, where 
he could more readily procure farms for his 
growing familv ; accordingly, himself and wite 
and their four children, viz.: Adam, Jacob, 
Daniel and Christian, started from Germany in 
the spring of 1831, and after ninet3'-two days 
on the ocean they landed at Baltimore, Md. 
They came across the country until they ar- 



rived in Columbiana Co., Ohio ; being weary 
of traveling, and then near the approach of 
winter, they hesitated about going to unsettled 
parts of the new country, they concluded to stop 
in Columbiana Co., until winter would break 
up. They found shelter with a family by the 
name of Seacrist ; Mr. Ffleiderer went to work 
at whatever odd jobs turned up while they 
were there, as did the oldest boys. Soon as 
spring opened up they purchased a yoke of 
oxen and an old wagon, with which the family 
traveled and brought their little effects, and in 
the first week of April the}' came to Crawford 
Co. and located on 80 acres which was entered 
by Mr. Pfleiderer while they were wintering in 
Columbiana, and the same is now part of 
David's farm. Soon as they came here they 
purchased 80 acres for $145, adjoining that 
which had been entered. There was a misera- 
ble old cabin on the premises, which the family 
took refuge in until they got a more comforta- 
ble one erected, and in which there was scarce- 
ly a nail used in its construction, and about a 
year later he bought 80 acres more for $140. 
He was called on, soon after their arrival here, 
to assist one Ludwig Geiger raise a cabin, 
when by accident a pole fell and broke his 
right leg, which was a terrible drawback to the 
general improvement which was so much 
needed in the woods ; although he had no 
clearing done at this time, the family were not 
as destitute as many of the pioneers, as they 
had considerable money with them. They had 
made a good start, and everything seemed pros- 
perous until Mr. Pfleiderer was stricken with 
paralysis one morning as he got up out of bed, 
from which he expired instantly. This sudden 
and unexpected change left considerable care 
on his widow with her six children, two of 
whom were born since their arrival in this 
county — John and Daniel, the latter a mere 
infant. The older children conducted the af- 
fairs of the farm admirable, and Mrs. Pfleiderer 
did considerably of the light work out doors 
herself; she lives with her son David, and al- 
though she is in her 86th year, she is as smart 
on foot as many who are twenty years younger ; 
will walk off to church, a distance of several 
miles, and back without any apparent fatigue. 

" ."^oriie place tlieir bliss in action, some in ease. 
Those call it pleasure, ami contentment, these." 

Truly, she may be placed in the former class, 
for the writer found her in the corn-field with 



^ 



938 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



a party of buskers, doing her share with a zeal 
and earnestness which would become one of 
16, rather than 86 j^ears ; of course, it is neither 
expected of her nor desired, but having always 
lecl an active life, she could find no contentment 
in sitting down in idleness or ease. At the set- 
tling of the estate, David took the homestead 
and has bought nearly all the heirs' interest, 
except Christian's, who makes his home with 
David. He (Christian) was taken with a severe 
attack of scarlet fever when quite young, caus- 
ing an unbalanced condition of his mental fac- 
ulties, from which he never fully recovered. 
Nov. 13, 1843, David married Mary Heck- 
enlively ; she was born in Columbiana Co., 
Ohio, and came to Chatfield Township with 
her parents in August, 1832. They have 
had fourteen children, viz.: Magdalen, now 
Mrs. Christ Harmon, of Kosciusko Co., Ind.; 
Anna M., wife of Gr. Ludhardt ; Abraham, in 
Kosciusko Co., Ind.; John (deceased), Margar- 
et, George (deceased), Barbara, wife of Reuben 
Crall, of Indiana ; Lydia, Isaac and Jacob 
(twins.) Samuel (deceased), Leonora, Carolina 
and Clara. Mr. Pfleiderer owns a good farm 
of 240 acres, which is well improved and has 
good buildings, which have been well earned 
by his own and his wife's industry. David's 
eldest brother, Adam, is now in Ft. Wayne, 
Ind.; Jacob married here, died, and left a 
widow and three children. Mrs. David Pflei- 
derer is the oldest of a family of eight chil- 
dren ; her father, John Heckenlivelj^, was born 
in Germany and came to the United States a 
young man ; he was married in Baltimore, and 
subsequently moved to Chatfield Township, 
this county, in 1832. He was a minister of the 
Gospel of the New-School Lutheran Church. 
Sometime after the}- settled here his wife died, 
leaving eight children, viz.: Mary, Christina, 
George, Barbara, John, Catharine, Jacob and 
Magdalen. Of these George, Barbara and 
John are in Iowa ; Catharine and Jacob in 
Missouri ; Christina is now Widow Shieber. 
Rev. John Heckenlively finally married the 
widow of Christian Pfleiderer and lived very 
confortably. He was sent to Iowa by the 
American Tract Society, as a missionary — in 
the German language — in the interest of the 
New-School Lutherans. He preached in that 
State three years, and, finding his health fail- 
ing, he resigned ; returned to Mr. Pfleiderer's, 
and soon afterward passed to that realm of 



which he so earnestly endeavored to teach 
others. 

K S. PETERMAN, farmer; P. 0. Bucyrus; 
was born in York Co., Penn., Dec. 1, 1831, the 
son of Henry and Elizabeth (Shultz) Peterman. 
The family consisted of parents and two chil- 
dren — E. S. and Mary ; they moved from Penn- 
sylvania and settled in Stark Co., Ohio, in 1834. 
Mr. Peterman, Sr., worked at the blacksmith's 
trade for some years, but later in life tui-ned 
his attention to farming. Mr. E. S. Peterman 
secured a good common-school education, and, 
in 1859, he embarked in the grocery trade, 
opening an establishment in Canton, and in 
1861 he purchased an interest in a dry-goods 
establishment with J. J. Kaufl'man, a brother 
of Mrs. Peterman. Having sold out his gro- 
cery business, he devoted his attention to the 
dr}^ goods alone, which he followed about six 
years, and sold out in 1866. He was united in 
marriage with Henrietta Kauftman March 20, 
1856. Her parents were natives of Lancaster 
Co., Penn., but moved to Ohio, and settled in 
Stark County in 1831, where Mrs. Peterman 
was born Jul}- 5, 1837. Mr. Peterman moved 
to Crawford County in 1868, and in 1870, pur- 
chased the farm of 80 acres which he now 
owns, and which he bought of his father, who 
purchased the same of one Ernshaw, a Quaker. 
It is said that this 80 acres was the first loca- 
tion entered in the township. Mr. Henry Peter- 
man had moved to this place in 1855 ; he and 
his wife both died here, she in the fall of 1869, 
and he in the spring of 1873. Mr. E. S. Peter- 
man is quite a mechanical genius, and does his 
own odd jobs of carpenter work, and some 
small blacksmithing jobs. They have three 
children — ^Ella, Frank E. and Harrie, and enjoy 
the comforts of a well-earned and pleasant 
home. 

JACOB SHIEBER, farmer ; P. 0. Bucyrus ; 
was born in Wiirtemberg, German}^ May 19, 
1831. His father, Gottlieb, and mother, Mag- 
dalen (Brosey) Shieber, emigrated from Ger- 
many to the United States in 1832 ; they had 
five children, Jacob being then a mere child. 
The}^, with a party of German emigrants, came 
by way of the lakes to Sandusky City, Ohio, 
and resolved to make a search for one Fred 
Feichtner, with whom they were acquainted 
in Germany, and who had settled in Crawford 
Co. ; with this intent Mr. Gottlieb Shieber and 
several of his German friends and fellow emi- 



LIBERTY TOWNSHIP. 



939 



grants left their families in Sandusky City and 
set out on foot to walk here. x\fter considera- 
ble weary search they were successful in find- 
ing their friend Feichtner, located comfortably 
in this township on the Broken Swoixl. Being 
much pleased with the appearance of the coun- 
try, they concluded to locate in the same neigh- 
borhood. When they had made a short visit 
and looked around for a place to locate, they 
retui'ned on foot to Sandusky City to move their 
families here. They hired teams and brought 
their etiects to this locality, and turned their 
attention to proAiding a home for themselves. 
Mr. Shieber bought 40 acres of J. Caris, and 
soon after he entered 40 acres, and added by 
purchase until he owned 110 acres. This con- 
stituted the homestead where the children grew 
up to maturity ; there were nine in all — Chris- 
topher, Gottlieb, Fredericka, Christian, Jacob, 
Catherine, John, Abraham and Mary. Of these 
Fredericka, John and Abraham died when 
young. They were poor when they arrived 
here and had a hard time, but were blessed with 
good health and industrious habits, which are 
the basis of all material success. Jacob was 
the youngest son who lived to mature years, 
therefore he remained with his parents until 24 
years of age. He married Eve Mauer June 14, 
1855 ; the}' farmed his father's place one j^ear, 
and then moved, in April, 1856, to the farm 
where they are living, and where they had bought 
80 acres, of which about 20 acres were cleared 
and a log cabin erected. They were poor and 
worked hard to improve their home and make 
it comfortable. At length the}' were able to 
purchase 37^ acres of Henry Cobb, and subse- 
quently bought 80 acres of his brother in 
Holmes Township, and added by purchase until 
he owns in all 287 acres of good land with good 
buildings and otherwise well improved. They 
received only about $3,000 in all from the old 
homestead, and all the balance has been made 
by his own and his wife's industry. They reared 
nine children, eight of whom are living — John, 
Louisa J. (was married to Harrison Klink, but 
is now deceased), Henry, David S., Emanuel, 
Mary. Lizzie, Abraham and J. W. Mrs. Shieber 
was born June 21, 1835, in Stark Co., Oliio, and 
was only 2 weeks old when her parents left Stark 
Co. to come to Crawford. Her father's name 
was Jacob Mauer ; he emigrated from Germany 
with his wife and one child and first settled in 
Stark Co. and, as stated, moved thence to Craw- 



ford Co., where he died ; his widow married one 
Simon Price. Mrs. Shieber is the only surviv- 
or of her parents' six children. Mr. Jacob 
Shieber was elected Township Trustee for two 
years ; he was drafted into the arm}-, but fur- 
nished a substitute ; his father died here in 
August, 1869, full of years, when he had lived 
to see all his children enjoying comfortable 
homes of their own ; his widow still survives 
at the advanced age of 82 years. The family 
are members of the German Lutheran Church. 
DANIEL SELL, farmer; P. 0. Bucyrus ; 
was born on the farm where he now lives, June 
19, 1838. He is the son of Jacob H. and Mary 
(Keplinger) Sell, who were both natives of 
Pennsylvania, and moved to Stark Co., Ohio, 
when quite young. They were married in Stark 
Co., and lived there several years afterward. In 
1837, they moved to Crawford Co., and brought 
with them two children — Henry and Elizabeth. 
Mr. Sell entered 160 acres, and afterward pur- 
chased 40 acres more ; there were no improve- 
ments on any of the land which they located 
on. Mr. Sell erected a log cabin in the woods, 
and began clearing and improving his home. 
Two children were born to them after they came 
here, viz., Daniel and Catharine ; the latter died 
when about 3 years old ; three grew up to ma- 
turity. Henry married here one ]Mary Peter- 
man, and got 80 acres of his father's estate, but 
subsequently sold out and moved to Williams 
Co., where he now resides. Elizabeth is the wife 
of Samuel Forst, of Indiana. Daniel resided 
on the farm with his parents, and owns almost 
80 acres of the same to-da}', and enjoys the 
fruit of their industry as well as that of his 
own. Their first residence, or cabin, was re- 
moved only six years ago, to give place to their 
more comfortable residence. When Mr. Sell 
was about the proper age for attending school, 
there was but little opportunity for attending, 
as there were but few institutions of the kind 
in the kind in the country, and on account of 
his father's ill health, he was obliged to take 
charge of the form, consequently his school 
education is limited. He married Lovina Alice 
Cooper Nov. 19, 1863. She was born in this 
county Nov. 19, 1844. They have five children, 
viz., Willie 0., Frank, Harry, Orie and Perley. 
Mrs. Sell's father, Adam, and her mother, Eliza 
(Knisely) Cooper, were natives of Pennsylvania, 
and moved to this county quite early, and after- 
ward moved to Findlay, where they died, leaving 



<si — 



^ 



940 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



four children — Eliza, Mary, Lovina Alice and 
Horace G. Mr. Jacob H. Sell died here on the 
old homestead, Oct. 3, 1876, and his aged widow 
resides with their son Daniel. 

SEXAIIER BROS., carriage manufacturers, 
Sulphur Springs. To give a short sketch of 
the fiimilv, it is necessary to go back to one 
Christian Sexauer, who, when a young man, 
emigrated from Baden, Germany, about the 
3'ear 1827, and landed at New York, but had 
resolved to push on to the West. According- 
ly, he set out for Ohio, and located at Sandusky 
City. After a few years' residence there, he 
removed to Bucyrus, and there pursued his 
trade of shoemaking. On the same ship, there 
sailed a maiden of his own nativity (Baden), 
one Carolina Schindler, who was also en route 
for Sandusky City, Ohio, and who shortly after- 
ward moved to Bucyrus, which, no doubt, had 
something to do with the attraction of young 
Sexaner thither, as subsequent events proved. 
There the}' united their fortunes in matrimony, 
and indeed the financial part was easily united, 
as neither one had much to begin with except 
willing hands and good health, which was their 
capital stock. Here they lived happily for a 
number of years, when the cold hand of death 
snatched the husband and father from the fam- 
ily circle, leaving the widow and four sons, the 
eldest about 6 years, and the youngest a mere 
infant, viz., William F., Christian, C. F. and 
Lewis. Subsequently, the widow married J. 
G. Kinninger, of Gallon, a wagon-maker b}^ 
trade. In the meantime, William F. had gone 
to live with Stephen Brinkraan, a chair manu- 
facturer, and learned that trade with him. 
Christian had been living with a family in Bu- 
cyrus until about 17 years of age, when he 
went to John Sims, and learned the trade of 
harness-making. When his apprenticeship had 
been served, he spent some time traveling and 
working at his trade, with the intention of im- 
proving thereby. He finally located in Elgin, 
ni., and began business for himself in 1860, 
and died there in 1877, leaving four orphan 
daughters, as his wife had died a few days pre- 
vious. C. F. and Lewis lived with their mother 
and step-father, the former going into the wag- 
on-making business, which he learned thor- 
oughly. The latter, when about 13 years old, 
was apprenticed to the painter's trade with 
JeflTerson Norton. At the termination of his 
apprenticeship, he traveled some in connection 



with the interests of his trade. In the mean- 
time, their step-father had moved from Gallon 
and opened a wagon-shop here (Sulphur 
Springs) in 1849, C. F. being his only help, and 
in fact the sole conductor of the business, as 
both parents were advanced in years and re- 
quiring the assistance of their son. In 1862, 
the three brothers, William F., C. F. and Lewis, 
entered into co-partnership, under the firm 
name of Sexauer Bros., for the purpose of man- 
ufacturing carriages and wagons. (For partic- 
ulars of this industry, see township history.) 
The}' employ from eight to ten men, besides 
what they do themselves, in the various depart- 
ments. William and C. F. attend principally 
to the woodwork, as in that they are both pro- 
ficient, and Lewis takes charge of the painting 
department. The iron work is under their own 
supervision, which is sufficient guarantee that 
it is well done. They began hei'e with limited 
means, and, although they have not sprung at 
once to the zenith of a financial success, they 
have raised steadily and surely in the favor of 
their patrons, which is indicative of good, hon- 
est work and fair dealing, at reasonable prices. 
Theirs is not the hurriedl3'-made machine work 
such as floods the country, but everything war- 
ranted, and made by hand, of the best mate- 
rial. They are all married, and have each a 
home of their own. William F. was born Nov. 
19, 1835. When 21 years old, he married 
Mary Rupersberger (Jan. 24, 1856). She was 
born June 8, 1 837, in Germany, and came here 
with her widowed mother and four other chil- 
dren, two boys and three girls in all, in 1849, 
and located at Gallon. They have five chil- 
dren, viz., William, Charles, Frederick, Aman- 
da and Christian. C. F. was born Nov. 17, 
1839. He married Mary Ziegler Nov. 26, 1863. 
She was born Nov. 17, 1841. The}- have four 
children living, viz., Ella, Bessie, Susan and 
Bertha ; two deceased, Celia and George L. 
Lewis was born March 17, 1843. He married 
Sarah Culver May 24, 1871. She was born in 
Pennsylvania Sept. 21, 1853. The}' have two 
children living, viz., Laura A. and Walter A. ; 
three deceased — Carrie, Edward and Frank. 

DR. JOHN B SQUIER, physician, Sulphur 
Springs ; was born in Salem Township, Wash- 
ington Co., N. Y., May 16, 1818. His grand- 
parents, Daniel and Elizabeth (Wood) Squier, 
were natives of New York, and reared their 
famil}' of eleven children to manhood and 






^1 



LIBERTY TOWNSHIP. 



941 



womanhood in the same county. There were 
in the family seven sons and four daughters, 
viz., Elizabeth, Salmon, Alice, Daniel, Charles, 
Lucinda, Irene, Calvin, Nehemiah, Sheubel and 
Elijah. One of these, Lucinda, who was mar- 
ried to Isaac McClallen, and of whom nothing 
definite had been known to her kinfolks of Ohio 
for more than thirt}^ years, was considered de- 
ceased, when, recently, to their surprise, the 
knowledge of her survival and residence in 
Western Pennsylvania came to hand. The 
Doctor (her nephew) paid her a visit and found 
her living happily with her son, James McClal- 
lan, remarkably vigorous and strong for one 
who has passed 92 summers, and is without a 
single nervous quiver. To move from the old 
homestead in New York, Salmon was the first. 
He settled in the Black River country, in the 
western part of that State. Calvin, his wife 
and one child ; Nehemiah, wife and two chil 
dren, viz., George M. and John B., started, 
with two two-horse teams and wagons, packing 
therein goods and utensils such as they deemed 
would be necessary, set out to push their way 
to this State. They arrived here safeh' on Nov. 
5, 1822, making the journey in thirty days. 
They stopped with John 0. Blowers, near the 
Sandusky River, on the farm now owned by 
Samuel Blowers. The wives of Calvin and Ne- 
hemiah were sisters, and sisters of John 0. 
Blowers, who was pleased to have the Squiers 
locate by him. He gave them privilege of 
erecting a cabin on his premises to protect them 
from the rapidly-approaching winter. This was 
soon accomplished. There Calvin and Nehe- 
miah, with their families, spent the winter of 
1822-23. When the spring opened, Nehemiah 
built a more comfortable dwelling on 10 acres, 
which he purchased of Ralph Beacon, on the 
Bucyrus road ; and, in a short space of time, 
Calvin and Nehemiah bought 80 acres across 
the Sandusky, to which the former removed in 
1824, and there made his home until 1851, when 
he sold out and moved with his family to De 
Kalb Co., Ind. Nehemiah purchased the mill 
property of J. 0. Blowers, and moved to it in 
1833. He had by this time added 20 acres to 
his first purchase. Here Mr. Squier reared his 
family, and knew full well the hardships inci- 
dent to " life in the woods " in those daj's. He 
was a man of sterling worth in the newly-settled 
neighborhood. They reared five children — 
George M., who died here when about 17 years 



old ; John B., of whom we make further men- 
tion ; William H., who died when about 17 
years old ; Nehemiah, who moved to Illinois, 
and is near Olney, Richland Co.; Daniel W., 
who resided in Indiana, and died there in 1862 
from disease contracted in the army. The fond 
wife and mother was called away, in August, 
1842, from the scenes where she so nobly bore 
her part, not only in assisting and encouraging 
her husband in domestic duties, but by leaving 
the impress of her character on the youths who 
were about to step into and form part of the 
coming society ; and how seldom are self-sacri- 
ficing mothers duly accredited for their pains 
in that direction. Nehemiah married a second 
wife — widow of the late Horace Smalley — and, 
by this union there was one daughter — Alice, 
now Mrs. A. J. Messenger. April 24, 1865, 
Nehemiah died, and was interred in the ceme- 
tery near his original farm, as is also his brother 
Calvin, and a brother of their wives, William 
Blowers, who came to Ohio with them and lived 
here two yeai's, and taught school in Bucyrus 
the first winter, and preached frequently through 
this section, as he was one of the first Meth- 
odist ministers here ; but he then returned to 
care for his aged and infirm father in New York, 
and never returned, except, on three occasions, 
to visit. On the last occasion, he was taken 
sick, and, in twenty days' illness, he died at the 
Doctor's residence. How significant were his 
last words : " Lay me beside Nehemiah and 
Calvin, and I know that I'll be with two honest 
men." Some time previous to the death of the 
latter, the Doctor had gone to visit his Uncle 
Calvin in Indiana, and found him in failing 
health, and brought him along to his home, be- 
lieving that a change of scene and air would 
have a good effect, to which Calvin readily as 
sented, and gave evidence of his desire to be 
here when his final dissolution would come. He 
lingei'ed six months, and died, and was interred 
here. After years of separation and hundreds 
of miles had intervened, how singular that cir- 
cumstances should bring the three to the same 
place to die, who had been life-long, devoted 
friends, and, as by their desire, their ashes rest 
side bj' side ! As above stated, John B. was 
only 4 years old when his parents came here, 
and, when about 7 years old, he met with a pain- 
ful accident by cutting his right knee with an 
ax. Inflammation set in and resulted in com- 
plete anchylosis of the knee joint, which influ- 



'-K* 



942 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



enced his parents to apprentice tiim to tiie 
tailor's trade. He began when 13 years old and 
worked six 3'ears. In the meantime, he had ac- 
quired more strength in the wounded leg, and 
the tailoring business was too sedentary for his 
active mind, so he concluded to learn the mill- 
wright's trade. In connection with millwright- 
ing, he taught school winters for ten years. 
Still strivino- for a wider and higher field of 
knowledge, he took up the study of medicine 
with Dr. G. L. Ziggler the three last years of 
millwrighting, and, being determined to master 
the subject, he would carry his book on medi- 
cine in his tool-chest, and study nights, wher- 
ever he was at work, thereby carrying together 
one of the most important studies and a most 
particular mechanism. After three years' stud3^ 
he attended one term in medical college at Cin- 
cinnati in the winter of 1847-48. He then 
practiced with his preceptor one and a half 
years, and then began practicing on his own ac- 
count ; and, in the winter of 1852-53, he at- 
tended another term in medical college at Cin- 
cinnati, at which date he graduated ; and, since 
that time, he has been applying the healing art 
in this vicinity with more tlian ordinary success. 
The evidence in his favor proves him to be a 
physician of much ability, a man of great 
breadth of knowledge, with years of varied ex- 
perience, and possessed of the strongest vital- 
ity ; courteous to the stranger, a true friend to 
his friends, kind and affectionate in his family. 
He has been married three times — first, to Eliz- 
abeth Decker, in October, 1839. She was a na- 
tive of New Jersey, and came here with her 
parents when quite young. She died in July, 
1848, leaving one child — Thomas Corwin. Dur- 
ing the late rebellion, he enlisted, in March, 
1864, in Co. C, 49th 0. V. I., and served until 
the following June, when he was taken prisoner 
at Altoona Mountains, Georgia, and sent to 
Andersonville Prison, where he died July 20, 
18G4. His second marriage was with Achsah 
M. Dilts, in January, 1849. She was a native 
of this State. She died in January, 1855, leav- 
ing one child— I]llen, now IVIrs. A. E. Humiston. 
His third marriage was celebrated with Dorothy 
Hottel. She was born in Bristol, Trumbull Co., 
Ohio, Nov. 14, 1830. By this union there are 
six children— Edgar A., Emma (now Mrs. E. 
Van Vorhis), Annie, Oscar W., Flora and Eflfle. 
He owns the flour-mill, which he bought in Jan- 
uary, 1867, in partnership with W."s. Beacon. 



They moved it from the river to Annapolis, and 
rebuilt it, and, in 1874, the Doctor bought Bea- 
con's interest, now owning the entire property, 
which is run by his sons, Edgar A. and Oscar 
W.; and owns valuable town property besides. 
The Doctor's religious views are decidedly of 
the Swedenborgian school, which doctrine he 
converses of understandingly, with unpreten- 
tious and unassuming zeal. Politically, he was 
a Republican while he believed that party's 
banner was emblazoned with human rights and 
freedom. He withheld not his son (who fell on 
the national battle-field) when the country was 
in its greatest need. But, believing that when 
a party forsakes its principles, patriots should 
forsake the party, therefore, he espoused the 
Liberal cause in 1872, and was a warm sup- 
porter of Horace Greeley, and has since sup- 
ported the Democracy. 

NELSON SMITH, sawyer and farmer; P. 
0. Bucyrus ; was born Feb. 7, 1844, in this 
township. He is the son of Thomas and Mi- 
rilla (Ketchum) Smith, who came here young, 
and, after they were married, located near 
where Mr. Smith lives. Our subject is the 
seventh of a family of nine children, who are 
all deceased, except himself and one brother. 
His parents were among the first settlers of the 
count}^ and knew well the hardship which 
pioneer life subjected them to. Both died on 
the same farm, where they first began for them- 
selves, the mother in 1853, and his father five 
years later. Nelson worked on his father's 
farm until he was 27 years of age, except one 
year in which he woi-ked at the carpenter's 
trade. On Nov. 29, 1866, he cast his lot with 
that of Cornelia Hise, who was born in this 
township Feb. 27, 1846. They have two chil- 
dren—Willie F. and Nellie B. In 1870, he 
purchased and erected a good saw-mill on his 
premises, which he has run ever since, doing a 
good deal of work. He owns 20 acres of land 
in connection with his mill, which makes them 
a comfortable home, and which he has made 
by his own industry. He is a member of Lib- 
erty Lodge, Knights of Honor. No. 845. 

SAMUEL SPONSELLER, farmer; P. 0. 
Bucyrus ; was born Dec. 31, 1836, on the place 
which he now owns. He is the youngest of a 
family of eleven children. His father. Michael, 
and mother, Susana (Mentzer) Sponseller, came 
from Columbiana to Crawford Co. with seven 
of their children, in 1832. They settled on the 






LIBERTY TOAVNSHIP. 



943 



northeast quarter of Sec. 20, in this township, 
and his first purchase was 80 acres, for which 
he paid $-±00 to his brother-in-law, Jacob Mol- 
lenkopf He (Mollenkopf ) had been here as 
early as 1828, and made some improvements, 
but moved west of Bucyrus when Mr. Spon- 
seller bought him out, where he died many 
years ago. Mr. Sponseller was possessed of 
considerable monej' when they came here, and 
soon purchased 80 acres more besides entering 
other 80 acres. One relic of the pioneer im- 
provement still remains on the place, in the 
shape of an old log bam, which was built in 
1838. When it was up to the square, the 
famous wind-storm, so destructive in this sec- 
tion, swept over, carrying the tops of a large 
hickory and two large oak trees into one of the 
bays, filling it completel}', which was a terrible 
job to get cleared out, considering the height 
of the walls, and the weight of the pieces 
carried in by the wind, and while chopping 
and clearing it out, he sustained a serious in- 
jury on his foot. In 1858, he replaced the old 
residence with a good substantial frame dwell- 
ing, now occupied by Samuel. They had 
eleven children — p]lizabeth. who married George 
Emer}', and died, leaving three children ; John, 
who died in Van Wert Co.; Susan, now the 
widow of Martin Brown, late of Indiana ; 
Julia, wife of Eli Bressler; George, now in 
Van Wert Co.; Fred, in this county ; Eman- 
uel, in Hancock Co.; Henry, now in Kos- 
ciusko Co., Ind.; Reuben, in Defiance Co., and 
Samuel (he was a twin, but the other died in 
infanc}^). After man}' years of anxious care 
and toil, with a varied experience of pioneer 
life, Mrs. Sponseller closed her worldly cares in 
death, in 1858. Mr. Sponseller married a sec- 
ond wife, the widow of one Mr. Hatten, whom 
he followed across the river in 1874. Samuel 
Sponseller, our subject, married Sarah A Kling, 
daughter of Moses Kling, April 18, 1861. She 
was born Oct. 1, 1840. For twelve years after 
they were married, they rented land in this 
neighborhood, although in nine years from the 
time they were married, he purchased 40 acres, 
and afterwai'd bought 15 acres more. He sub- 
sequentl}' purchased the old homestead of 120 
acres, after his fathers death. He has held 
the office of School Director for several years, 
which office he now holds. They have three 
children — Sylvanus E., James Q. and William 
H. During the early settlement of this neigh- 



borhood, the locality known as the Wolf 
Swamp, was infested with wildcats of a very 
large size, which caused them much annoyance 
b}' carrying off lambs, and Mr. Sponseller's 
place adjoining was subjected to their ravages 
frequently. 

JOHN L. SNYDER, farmer ; P. 0. Bucyrus ; 
was born Sept. 3, 1830, in Harrison Co., Ohio. 
His grandparents came from Maryland and set- 
tled in Harrison Co., Ohio, in the year 1800 ; 
they had eight children — Adam, Samuel, Henr}'- 
Cla}', George, Eve A., Mary, Sarah and Eliza- 
beth. Of these, Henry C. was the progenitor 
of the Snyder family, of this county ; he was 
drafted into the war of 1812, and was pi'csent at 
Baltimore at the time of Buckingham's defeat. 
He worked on his father's farm in Harrison 
Count}' until he married, which event occurred 
about the 3'ear 1322 or 1823, with Hannah 
Miller, who was born in Maryland, and came to 
Ohio with her parents in 1801. Shortly after 
Henry C. and Miss Miller were married, they 
entered 160 acres in Harrison Count}-, which 
they put under good improvements. And 
there Mrs. Snyder ceased her worldly cares in 
death, leaving seven children — Mary (deceased), 
Mahala, Samuel, John L., Marie, Catharine and 
Joseph M. Mr. Snyder married a second wife, 
Mary Myers, who was then a resident of Craw- 
ford County, and shortly after his second mar- 
riage, he moved with his famil}' to this county, 
and settled on the farm where John L. resides, 
in 1844. By the second marriage there were 
seven children — Salina, Hannah, Frances, Mar- 
garet, James M. (deceased), Martha and Ar- 
mina. Our subject, John L., worked at home 
on his father's farm until he was of age. and 
when quite young acquired the knowledge and 
taste for grafting fruit-trees, at which art he 
became an expert. He has dealt extensively 
in nursery stock of various firms, and made a 
business success of it in every respect ; as his 
practical experience affords him facilities for 
knowing what is and what is not adapted to 
this climate and soil. On May 22, 1862, he 
married Susanna Ronk ; she was born in Penn- 
sylvania Oct. 10, 1842, and came here with 
her widowed mother and the rest of the family 
in 1848. Shortly after their marriage, they 
bought and located on 80 acres, just west of 
his present farm, where they lived about eight 
years, when he sold out and moved to Johnson 
Co., Mo., but being so lately after the close of 






^k 



944 



BIOGEAPHICAI. SKETCHES: 



the war, the state of society was scarcely what 
an Ohioan could wish for, so he concluded to 
return, and in six months came back to Craw- 
ford County and bought the farm of 80 acres 
where he is now living, of his father, who was 
then about to retire, and was aged and inlirm. 
They have four children — Clark C, John L., 
Jr., Virgil V. and Lavern. Mr. Snj^der has 
held the offices of Constable, Assessor and 
Trustee, for several terms in this township, and 
is a member of Liberty Lodge, No. 845, Knights 
of Honor. His father died here in 1871 ; his 
brother, Joseph M.. was drafted during the late 
rebellion, and went into service in 1862, 49th O. 
V. L, and served one jear, which was the time 
for which he was drafted ; at the expiration of 
that time he returned home unhurt, and died 
here Aug. 16, 1880. The southeast corner of 
Mr. Snyder's 80-acre farm is said to be the ex- 
act geographical center of Crawford County. 
GOTTLIEB SHIEBER (deceased), farmer; 
P. 0. Bucyrus ; was born in Wurtemberg, Ger- 
many, Sept. 23, 1823 ; was the third child of 
Gottlieb and Magdalena (Brosey) Shieber, 
(whose sketch is connected with that of Jacob 
Shieber. Gottlieb lived with his parents until 
he attained his majority, and, on Oct. 11, 1847, 
he married Christina Heckenlivelj' ; she was 
born Oct. 25, 1827, in Columbiana Co., Ohio, 
and came here with her parents when about 7 
years old. Her father, John, and her mother, 
Margaret (Leffler) Heckinlively, came from 
Germany when young ; they married in Balti- 
more and came on to Columbiana Co., where 
they bought 80 acres of land, where they lived 
about six years. The following January after 
Mr. and Mrs. Shieber were married, they moved 
to 80 acres which he had purchased, and on 
which he had built a log house ; the farm was 
all woods when they came to it, and, anxious 
to make a start and get their farm cleared, Mr. 
Shieber worked very hard and unceasingly. 
They replaced the log cabin with a good sub- 
stantial frame residence, in 1859, and, subse- 
quently, added 38 acres to their farm. Mr. 
Shieber's health began to fail him, no doubt 
caused partially by constantly overworking 
himself, such was his ambition to surmount 
every financial embarrassment. The messenger 
of death called him away from his worldly 
cares, June 18. 1866, leaving a widow and 
eight children, the oldest only 17 years of age, 
and the youngest born four months after Mr. 



Shieber's death. The names of the children 
are as follows : Elizabeth (now Mrs. George 
Eberhart), John (who is married to Lovina 
Williams, and lives in Holmes Township), An- 
nie, John, Sarah, Reuben, Lydia and Gottlieb 
Wesley. Lydia has been teaching school, and 
is preparing herself for that avocation. Mrs. 
Shieber has managed the affairs of her famil3^ 
and farm with much ci'edit and ability, since 
her husband's death ; their wants are well sup- 
plied with all the necessaries of life, and she 
has everything prepared to make her mature 
years pass smoothly by. 

JACOB SHULL, carpenter ; P. 0. Sulphur 
Springs ; was born in Perry Co., Penn., Dec. 4, 
1822 ; the son of Jacob and Sarah (Flick) 
Shull, and the only child of that union, as death 
called the paternal parent when he (Jacob) was 
onl}^ a few weeks old. After his father's death 
he was taken and reared by his mother's father. 
John Flick, and lived with him until about 18 
years of age. In the meantime, his mother had 
again married one Jefferson Wallace, a carpen- 
ter by trade ; and with his step-father he began 
to learn the carpenter's trade when in his 18th 
3'ear. When he had served about two years 
apprenticeship, he was employed to work by 
the month, and worked steadily for his step- 
father four 3'ears, and one year for another car- 
penter. In 1831, they (John Flick, his grand- 
father and his step-father) sold out and moA-ed 
to Ohio ; they settled near Mansfield, making 
the journey in about three weeks. There he 
assisted his grandfather in the improvement of 
his farm for about nine years, which includes 
the time spent at his apprenticeship. His 
mother and step-father moved to Crawford Co. 
and located in Sandusky Township, but finally 
moved to Indiana, where both died ; they had 
seven children, who moved to Indiana likewise, 
except one daughter, who was married and re- 
mained here. In 1845, Mr. Shull began work- 
ing at the carpenter's trade on his own respon- 
sibility, and has been very successful, having 
raised to date, about three hundred buildings, 
and some of the largest in the country without 
the slightest accident to any one around. He 
formed one resolution when he began on his 
own account, viz. : " That intoxicating drink of 
any kind should not be used where he was rais- 
ing a building," and be it said to his credit, that 
that resolution was never, in a single instance, 
deviated from ; even in the earl}' time, when it 



5 fy 



-__'5> 



LIBERTY TOWNSHIP. 



947 



was considered a dishonor not to have a good- 
sized, well-filled jug on the ground, when a few 
persons were gathered to perform any piece of 
work. Simple as it would now appear to live 
up to such a resolution, it was then a matter of 
considerable moment, as it was antagonized b}' 
society in general, therefore, it involved the 
man's popularity who would hold out ; and 
that was not all, it involved the mechanic's ad- 
missibility to employ, consequently his bread. 
Notwithstanding, he held firmly to the princi- 
ples involved. He is, and has been for years, 
radical in his advocacy of prohibition princi- 
ples, and has frequentl}- discussed the subject 
publicl}^ As illustrative of the undaunted en- 
ergy of which he was possessed in youth, and 
which would correspondingly apply at the pres- 
ent ; he started on foot, when about 21 years old, 
and walked from here through the then sparsely- 
settled country, to Columbia Cit}-, Ind., a dis- 
tance of 150 miles, on the circuitous route tak- 
en, in five days, and returned on foot, making 
a circuit of some of the more northern coun- 
ties. In those da3'S there were no railroad pal- 
ace cars flying on their beaten course at the 
rate of forty miles an hour, but the ox team in- 
stead would plod its way, " with no bad luck," 
at the rate of ten miles per day ; and a year or 
so later, he made the same trip again on foot. 
When about 20 years of age, he united himself 
with the church, and in 1868 he was ordained 
a minister of the M. E. Church ; since that date 
he has held many meetings in vai'ious States. 
He has traveled over nine States, viz. : New 
York, Penns3dvania, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennes- 
see, Alabama, Indiana, Illinois and Iowa, and 
held religious meetings in five of them, princi- 
pally in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa and Ten- 
nessee ; and although he has no regular charge, 
he does considerable work for the cause of re- 
ligion wherever an opportunity^ presents itself 
He is Superintendent of the Sabbath school, 
which office he has diligently applied him- 
self to for the last twenty-five years. He 
is a man of liberal views, inasmuch as he 
believes in the advancement of all institutions 
which tend to the general welfare of mankind, 
irrespective of their race or color, and, not only 
liberal in thought, but, with the goods he pos- 
sesses, giving cheerfull}' to the support of 
teachers and missionary work among the freed- 
men of the South, besides annual donations of 
considerable amount to the church at home. 



Nor are his circumstances less comfortable than 
those who would be more selfish and grasping ; 
he enjoys the pleasures of a comfortable home 
in the village, and has a well-improved farm of 
90 acres besides, which he has prudentl}- saved 
of his own earnings. July 3, 1847, he was mar- 
ried to the widow of the late B. Spahr ; her 
maiden name was Sarah Peterman. She was 
born in Cumberland Co., Penn., March 14, 1823. 
They have three children living, viz.: Francis 
A. (who married Lucetta Darr — is farming his 
father's place), Sarah A. and Eva A. Mrs. Shull 
has one child — Benjamin Spahr — by her first 
husband. 

GEORGE W. TEEL, farmer and purchasing 
agent for the Ohio Central Railroad ; P. 0. Bu- 
cyrus and Sulphur Springs. The subject of 
this sketch is one of the most active, energetic 
and successful business men of Crawford Co. 
He was born at Ashland, Ohio, Ma^^ 16. 1821, 
the son of poor but industrious parents. At 
the age of 10 and 11, having received a limited 
education, he woi'ked in John Mofflt's brick- 
3'ard for two summers, and for the next two 
seasons drove a team on the Ohio Canal ; he 
then worked for different farmers in Stark Co., 
for some two years. In the meantime his 
father, John C. Teel, had removed to Guernsey 
Co., and purchased a small farm. The subject 
of this sketch managed this farm for some two 
years, while his father worked at the black- 
smith trade. In his 17th year, he taught school 
during the winter in Wayne Co., and also fol- 
lowed this same occupation in his 19th year. 
After this he attended the Ashland Academy 
for one term of five months ; then clerked a 
year for Josiah Blackburn, at Benton, Holmes 
Co. He removed to Navai're. Stark Co., in the 
spring of 1843, and from April to July pur- 
chased horses, took them to Canada and sold 
them to British officers. Mr. Teel removed to 
Crawford Co., Aug. 7, 1843, and purchased of 
George W. Gallowa}^ the farm upon which he 
now resides ; he taught school at Sulphur 
Springs and vicinity for fifteen winters, as fol- 
lows : Five winters in the village, three in the 
Broken Sword District, two in the Charlton 
District, two in the Rice District, two in the 
Stephens District and one in the Clingan Dis- 
trict. He conducted in the Broken Sword 
District the first English school taught in that 
neighborhood, and afterward they could never 
persuade the residents to support a German 



'.\£ 



948 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



school. For some six months, about 1844, he 
was engaged in the mercantile business at Sul- 
phur Springs, with a man named Allen, and 
the establishment was known as the Great 
Western Store. In 18tt2, he was appointed 
Revenue Assessor for Crawford Co., and served 
in this capacity for nine years. During the 
fall of 1872, he was employed by the A. & L. 
E. R. R., as collecting agent for the corpora- 
tion, and continued with the company for three 
years. In the spring of 1877, he removed his 
family to Bucyrus and was engaged for one 
year as assignee in settling up the business of 
Messrs. Osman & Woodside. The family re- 
moved to Crestline in the spring of 1878, and 
remained there some twelve months, when they 
returned to the farm in Liberty Township. 
During this time, however, Mr. Teel still con- 
tinued as a partner in the cai-riage establish- 
ment at Bucyrus ; is owner at the present time 
of 303 acres of land in Crawford Co., and 80 
acres in Paulding Co., but has not been actively 
engaged in fanning since 1862 ; is at the present 
time Secretary of the Crawford Co. Farmers' 
Fire Insurance Company, and also purchasing 
agent of the Ohio Central Railroad ; as agent 
for this corporation and also the old A. & L. E. 
R. R., he secured nearly all the right of way 
for the road-bed from the coal fields to Toledo, 
including also the depot grounds lately pur- 
chased in that city. He was instrumental, to a 
great extent, in securing the guarantee fund of 
over $100,000 subscribed in 1880, by the count- 
ies along the route of the road, as the "local 
aid " to complete this new enterprise, and with 
Messrs. D. W. Swigart, C. Fulton, S. R. Harris 
and James B. Gormly, succeeded in getting the 
Machine Shops Bill passed by the Legislature. 
The subject of this sketch was married Sept. 
17, 1844, to Miss Elizabeth Markley, and they 
are the parents of the following children : 
Leander L., Jennie (formerl}^ Mrs. Byron Ben- 
son, but now deceased), Jared, Laura L., Ella, 
George W., Horatio Marklev and Fannie. 

JOHN F. WILLIAMS, deceased. He was 
the progenitor of the Williams families in this 
section. He was born in Lebanon Co., Penn., 
and was brought up to farm life. When about 
of mature age, he was united in wedlock with 
one Elizabeth Flora ; they moved from their 
native place to Belmont Co., Ohio, at a date 
which can not be accurately ascertained, but 
about the year 1806 they located near Steu- 



benville, and enjoyed their new home about 
five years, when Mrs. Williams was taken from 
the family by death, leaving five children, viz., 
Frederick, Catharine, Isaac, Susan and Eliza- 
beth. At this time he had a brother-in-law 
living in Stark Co., and, after disposing of his 
effects, he repaired to Stark Co. with his five 
children, and leaving them in charge of his rel- 
ative, he returned to his native place in Penn- 
sylvania, and there he married Elizabeth Gar- 
tie, and, having spent about a year on his visit, 
he returned with his young bride to where his 
children were, arriving in 1813. During his 
unsettled condition and his removals to and 
from Ohio, he escaped the draft, which would, 
in all probability, have drawn him into the war 
of 1812. He was in very poor financial cir- 
cumstances, and was unable to enter the amount 
of land specified by law, but bought 60 acres 
of his brother-in-law, which he improved, and, 
by his unceasing industry and the enhance- 
ment in value of the property, he got to be in 
easy circumstances. In the course of time 
there were born to him, in Stark Co., by his 
second marriage, five children, viz., Thomas, 
George, Joseph, Mary A. and Jacob, three of 
whom are now aged and respected citizens of 
this county. An earnest feeling was pervading 
in the family as to finding a more suitable ag- 
ricultural location, where fai'ms might be se- 
cured for his growing family. Thus prompted, 
one of his elder sons, Isaac, made a tour of 
inspection, and purchased, in 1828, 160 acres 
near Bucyrus, in Holmes Township. He re- 
turned with a description of this locality, which 
induced Mr. Williams to come here with his 
family. They started in the spring of 1829, 
with a two-horse team and wagon, driving a 
few cattle along. When they arrived at Spring 
Mills, Richland Co., the family stopped there 
and Mr. Williams came on here and bought 80 
acres in Libert}^ Township, where his son Jacob 
now resides. He then went back to Spring 
Mills and moved the family there. During his 
absence the oldest boy, Thomas, helped in the 
harvest at Spring Mills, reaping with a hand- 
sickle. When they came to Gallon, they found 
the country so soft and impassable that it was 
necessary to hire a team to hitch on and help 
them through here. Elizal)eth, the youngest 
child of his first wife, was the onl}' one of hers 
who came at that time. She died shortly after 
their settlement here. But Isaac and his wife 



rpv 



LIBEETY TOWNSHIP. 



949 



soon followed, to the location he had purchased 
when out here in 1828. Susan married Benja- 
min Gants and remained in Stark Co., where 
she lives to this day. Catharine married Leon- 
ard Mowin and moved to Wood Co., and is still 
living. Frederick came here and bought con- 
siderable land in Holmes Tow,nship, and built 
a saw-mill, which was not a success on account 
of want of water sufficient to run at all seasons, 
and when a dam was built, at a heavy expense, 
failed to serve the purpose, continually break- 
ing because of quicksand surroundings. Ex- 
hausting much of his means, and becoming 
discouraged, he started for California with the 
first tide of emigration to that State, leaving 
here his wife and four children, with the hope 
of returning in the earl}' future with a 
repleted fortune ; but he never returned, 
and many years since died. In December, 
1836, death again visited the famil}- of Mr. 
Williams, this time summoning the loving 
wife and devoted mother. He married a third 
wife — Elizabeth Fox, widow of Michael Fox, 
late of Seneca Co. She had two children by 
Mr. Fox, but left no heirs by Mr. Williams. 
The children by his second wife we will make 
mention of elsewhere, except George, who will 
come in this connection. He lived at home 
until about 18 years old, when he went to sail 
on the lakes with Capt. Cobb. More than 
twenty years of his life were spent on the 
lakes ; ten years of that time he was Captain 
of a steamer plying between Buffalo, N. Y., 
and Chicago, 111., and intermediate points. He 
died in Buffalo, N. Y.. (his home for .years), in 
1866. Mary Ann married Josiah Jackson ; 
they moved to Iowa, where she died. Thomas, 
Joseph and Jacob are still here, and spoken of 
with their families, in the following sketches. 
Mr. Williams was living on the old homestead 
with his son Jacob, when his final dissolution 
came. His widow went back to her children by 
Mr. Fox. 

THOMAS WILLIAMS, farmer ; P. 0. Bu- 
cyrus ; is the eldest child of John F. Williams' 
second marriage ; was born in Stark Co., Ohio, 
Feb. 16, 1814. He lived with his father until 
of age, working on the farm, and being of a 
mechanical turn of mind, and genius of that 
kind being in demand, he took up the boot and 
shoe making trade, without ever spending an 
hour as an apprentice. By doing jobs of re- 
pairing for themselves and others, he soon 



acquired a knowledge of the business that en- 
abled him to do any kind of work, doing a great 
portion of all that the early settlers of their 
vicinity required, not because he ever expected 
to make a lifetime business of it, but more for 
the accommodation of their own family and 
neighbors. In 1833, he married Sarah Shaff- 
stail. She was born in Dauphin Co., Penn., 
Jan. 25. 1816. and came here with her father's 
(Solomon Shaffstall) fr.mily in 1832. Mr. Will- 
iams had got 80 acres of his father, which was 
all in wocd. He set about improving it. but his 
health failed him the first year, which interfered 
seriously with further progress on his farm. 
The following year he regained his health and 
worked tor his brother in the summer, at the 
building of a mill in Holmes Township, at $10 
per month. At this time they lived near the 
^ mill-site, and boarded the hands employed at 
its construction. In 1832, he had the logs cut 
and hewed to build a house, doing all the work 
himself and after the completion of his work 
on the mill, he returned to his farm, five acres 
of which he had succeeded in clearing. He 
then set about making general improA^mcnts on 
his place, working hard both early and late. 
The old log building which he first erected 
stands on the premises to this day. The nails 
which he put en the roof with, cost him 10 cents 
per pound, which he paid for with maple sugar, 
made b}- himself and wife ; that was their resi- 
dence from 1832 until 1860. In 1838, Mr. 
W' illiams worked some time at the construction 
of the p]rie & Wabash Canal, near Defiance, 
and lost no opportunity in those early days to 
do whatever kind of work presented itself, 
whether considered hard or light, and all with 
the intent of securing an independent home, 
which now he so fully enjo3"s. Besides giving 
his children a good start, he owns 160 acres of 
good land. They had eleven children, viz., Al- 
mira, wife of George Seits ; Henry, whose sketch 
appears here ; William, deceased ; Elizabeth, 
was married to Edwin Ferrall. and died in 3Iay, 
1879, leaving three children; Catharine, wife 
of Isaac Dial : Joshua, deceased, in his 25th 
year; Laura, wife of John Davidson ; Harrison, 
married Frances Slocum ; Mary, wife of Joseph 
Hill; Amelia, wife of Jacob Payne; Emma, 
wife of Lawrence Sponseller. Those living are 
all married and doing for themselves, and Mr. 
and Mrs. Williams are spending their later 
years enjoying the fruits of their early industry. 



950 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



JOSEPH WILLIAMS, farmer: P. 0. Sul- 
phur Springs ; is a son of John F. and Elizabeth 
Williams. He was born in Stark Co.. Ohio, 
March 4, 1819. Mr. Williams had but a poor 
opportunity of obtaining an education, conse- 
quently his schooling was very limited. His 
early pursuits were those of the ftirm, as they 
have always been. He has been twice married, 
first to Catharine Nigh. She was born in 
Dauphin Co., Penn., July 16, 1816. Shortly 
after their marriage, they settled on 20 acres, 
which he owned along the creek, and lived there 
about two years. He then sold that and worked 
a rented farm for three years. Having saved a 
little money by that time, he purchased 80 acres 
(for which he "paid $800) lying about two miles 
east. They lived there two years, when he sold 
out and purchased 138 acres, where he now lives, 
which is well improved. In 1877, he built the 
fine two-story frame dwelling which adorns the 
premises, at considerable cost. Mrs. Williams 
died in October, 1878. They were parents of 
nine children, four of whom are living, viz., 
Eliza, now Mrs. John Rush ; Amanda, now Mrs. 
John Schaal ; Lovina, now Mrs. G-eorge Schie- 
ber, and Matilda, now Mrs. J. J. McBride. Mr. 
Williams married his second wife, Poll}' Miller, 
Feb. 19, 1880. She was born in this county, 
March 5, 1837, and is a daughter of Jonathan 
Miller, who came to this count}' at an early date. 
She was the widow of the late Hon. John Welch, 
of Wyandot Co. He was among the first set- 
tlers there, and served about eight years in the 
Legislature from that county. She was married 
to him Feb. 18, 1858. He died Dec. 9, 1859, 
leaving one child — Wesley E. Mr. Williams 
was drafted into the late rebellion in October, 
1862. He served in Co. L, 10th Ohio Cavalry, 
eight months, without having encountered much 
of the hardship which was incident to that 
difficulty. He has been a man of remarkable 
constitution, as he has scarcely ever experienced 
sickness, even in the early settlement of this 
country, when malarial affections prevailed in 
every community, almost in every family in the 
fall of the year, except an attack of scarlet 
fever, when he was quite young, which affected 
his hearing very seriously ; but, as he advances 
in years, the organs of hearing become more 
sensitive and his hearing improves. His son- 
in-law, J. J. McBride, farms the place, and has 
ever since he was married. That event occurred 
Jan. 8, 1873. They have three children, viz.. 



Altha L., Stella S. and Aida B. Mr. McBride 
was born in this county September, 1849. 

JACOB WILLIAMS, farmer and teacher ; 
P. 0. Bucyrus ; is the son of John F. and 
Elizabeth Williams, and was born in Stark Co., 
Ohio, March 23, 1823. His boyhood was spent 
on the farm, without many privileges of obtain- 
ing an education, much as he desired it. As 
he approached the age of manhood, he felt still 
more keenly the necessity of acquiring knowl- 
edge ; and so he studied closely during the 
odd hours of leisure, and being naturally apt, 
soon acquired a fair amount of learning. In 
1842, he taught school through the winter term, 
receiving 115 per month, each month compris- 
ing twenty-six days. The proceeds of that 
term were turned over to his father for neces- 
sary general purposes. The next winter, 1843 
-44, he went to school, that being the only 
term that he ever attended school as a pupil. 
The following winter he taught a school four 
miles west of Marion. The next term he taught 
in Holmes Township, and continued for three 
terms, where he taught his first term. Oct. 8, 
1848, he married Catharine Hershberger ; and 
soon afterward they moved to Holmes Township 
where he worked a rented farm in the summer 
and taught school during the winter for two 
years. At that time his father wished him to 
return and take charge of the old homestead, 
which he did in 1852, and in 1855, purchased 
the farm, and has lived here ever since. Al- 
though he then had the charge of a farm and 
family, he pursued his studies by night, kept 
up with the advance in that direction, and has 
taught school almost every- winter ; having 
taught fifteen terms in their own district. Mrs. 
Williams was born in Lancaster Co., Penn., 
June 8, 1829, her mother (Magdalene Eberly) 
died when she was about 11 years old. There 
were thirteen children of them ; ten of whom 
grew to maturity, and came with their father to 
this State in 1847. He (Jacob Hershberger) 
now resides with Mr. and Mrs. Williams, at the 
advanced age of 85 years. Mr. and Mrs. Will- 
iams are the parents of four children — Mary 
A. (deceased), John F., Sally J., now Mrs. Jef- 
ferson Correll, and George H. The latter has 
prepared himself for teaching, and taught his 
first term in Holmes Township, where his father 
first began. Mr. Williams owns a good farm 
of 121 acres of good land, which he has earned 
by his own tact and industry. 






LIBEKTY TOWNSHIP. 



951 



HENRY WILLIAMS, farmer , P. 0. Bucy- 
rus ; is the oldest son of Thomas Williams ; he 
was born in this township Dec. 24, 1836, and 
worked on the farm with his parents until after 
he attained his majority. He united his for- 
tunes with those of Elsie Cobb on March 19, 
1859 ; she was born in this township May 17, 
1838. In August, 1862, he enlisled in Co. C, 
101st 0. V. I., and was rushed to the front im- 
mediately. The regiment which he was in suf- 
fered severely from the long and hurried 
march which they were obliged to make almost 
as soon as enlisted. Man}' of them had only 
been a few days drilling, and were green re- 
cruits, unused to every phase of warfare. Mr. 
Williams was in the engagement at Perry- 
ville, and at Edgefield Junction, Tenn.; he was 
taken sick and sent into hospital for some time, 
and was terribly afflicted with rheumatism, 
which disabled and reduced his otherwise 
strong frame to a mere shadow. He received 
his discharge from army duty in January-, 1865. 
He is a sufferer from the effects of the disease 
contracted in the service, to this day for which 
he is worthily among the list of pensioners. 
While Mr. Williams was in the army, Mrs. Will- 
iams taught school, as she was well prepared 
for that vocation before they were married, and 
had taught school several 3ears previous. From 
the date of his return from the army, they re- 
sided on his father's farm until 1872. when they 
removed to their present farm of 40 acres, 
where thej^ live very comfortably. They have 
onl}' two children, viz., V. K. and Sadie M.; the 
former is attending school, with the intention 
of preparing himself for teaching. Mrs. Will- 
iams' parents were Henr}- and Sallie (Mitchell) 
Cobb ; they had twelve children, ten of whom 
grew up to maturity. He died at Bueyrus Feb. 
20, 1878, in his 73d year, his widow still sur- 
viving. 

J. H. WERT, farmer ; P. 0. Sulphur Springs ; 
is the oldest of the family of John and Saloma 
(Shafer) Wert, who were both natives of Penn- 
sylvania ; there they reached man and woman's 
estate, and there they were married. J. H. was 
born in Dauphin Co.,Penn.,May 25, 1833 ; their 
second child (Eliza), was also born in Pennsyl- 
vania. Mr. John Wert learned the tailor's trade 
and worked at it during the winters besides at- 
tending to some farm business. He, with his 
wife and two children, moved from their native 
State to Ohio and settled in Sanduskv Town- 



ship, of this county, in 1835. They purchased 
40 acres of land and proceeded to make the 
most of their situation. He would work on the 
farm through the summer and raise somethiuir 
for their support, and in the winter he would 
do the tailoring for the surrounding countr}", 
and, as cash was a very rare commodity in 
most of the new settlements, he was often ob- 
liged to receive as pa}- for his work some pro- 
duct of the farm, and very nicel}' situated were 
those who had some provision to spare. The 
residence of course was the ordinary log cabin, 
and not warm dwellings, either, in the inclem- 
ency of the winter. But between Mr. Wert's 
farming in the summer and his attention to his 
trade in the winter, they had always a supply of 
the necessai'ies of life. Although all in his im- 
mediate neighborhood were not so favored. 
Calling on one of his neighbors he found him 
in low spirits, and, insisting on an explanation of 
his moody appearance, the poor man admitted, 
with reluctance, that his entire store was ex- 
hausted and was without means of an}^ kind to 
procure something for himself and famishing 
family. This announcement made, Mr. Wert 
produced the price of a barrel of flour sa}^- 
ing, " Take that, get something and pay me 
when 3'ou can." It is needless to say that the 
poor man accepted it with more inward thank- 
fulness than he could easily express, and laid 
in its value of the " staff of life," and soon 
got jobs of work whereby he was able to sup- 
port the ftimily and repay Mr. Wert what he 
had lent him. Notwithstanding his poverty then, 
he lived to be a well-to-do farmer, with plenty ; 
onh' his wife — in her 80th year — survives, 
as her husband and all the children have passed 
before, and with grateful feelings to this day 
she remembers John Wert's generosity when 
they were in need. In the early settlement 
the people often resorted to the manufacture of 
maple suoar as a source of revenue with which 
to procure some little necessaries, and the first 
stove that Mr. Wert ever owned after coming to 
this count}', he bought with sugar made by him- 
self and wife from the maple-tree. The}' reared 
to maturity six children (one boy died in infimcy), 
four boys and two girls, viz., J. H., Eliza, now 
^Irs. Joseph Roop, of Bueyrus ; J. Cr., of Buey- 
rus ; Sarah A., now Mrs. Abraham Pfleiderer, 
of Indiana ; and Lewis : he was married, but 
both himself and wife have gone the way of all 
flesh. Their parents are both dead, 3Ir. Wert 



-71' 



liL 



952 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES : 



died on May 31, 1865, and Mrs. Wert May 12, 

1868. When J. H. was about 17 years old, he 
accepted a clerkship in a general merchandising 
house where he worked several years, and 
clerked in the mercantile house of F. G-. Hesche 
over five years in Bucyrus. He then came to 
the village of Annapolis and clerked for Thomas 
(xillespie for about six months, and when Mr. 
Gillespie sold out to E. Warner, Mr. Wert re- 
mained with him (Warner) about three 3'ears. 
At that time Mr. Warner moved to Crestline, 
and Mr. Wert turned his attention to farming ; 
he rented farms for about seven years, and, in 

1869, he purchased the farm where he resides. 
He owns in all 119 acres of well-improved land, 
and lives comfortably on the fruits of his own 
industr}'. He was elected Township Clerk in 
1861, and held that office fifteen consecutive 
years, except one, and, in the spring of 1879, he 
was elected Township Trustee, and the fall of 
the same year he was elected Land Appraiser. 
He is a charter member of the Knights of Honor 
and is Reporter of the " Liberty " Lodge, No. 
845. He was united in marriage with Elizabeth 
A., daughter of Michael Carlton, May 31, 1860 ; 
they have two children, viz., Charles M. and 
Huber B. Mrs. Wert was born in this town- 
ship, where her parents now reside, Aug. 29, 
1833. The}' are members of the Lutheran 
Church. 

J. B. WERT, clerk, Sulphur Springs ; was 
born Nov. 28, 1837, in Sandusky Township, 
this county. His parents, John and Salome 
(Shafer) Wert, were both natives of Dauphin 
Co., Penu. They moved to and settled in this 
county in 1835. J. B. is the third of their 
seven children. He spent the early part of his 
life on the farm, and acquired a good common- 
school education. He made his home at his 
father's until he was married, which event oc- 
curred May 28, 1863, with Leonora Ziegler, 
daughter of Dr. (leorge L. and Susanna (Beard) 
Ziegler. The latter was born in Mahoning Co., 
Ohio, the former in Pennsylvania, and came to 
Mahoning Co. when quite young. From there 
they came to Crawford Co. and settled in An- 
napolis Township Feb. 8, 1841. Mrs. Wert 
was born here April 1, 1844. Shortly after 
their marriage, Mr. Wert rented a farm in this 
township, and spent eight years on two farms. 
They then moved to thfs village, and he worked 
at the carpenter's trade four years. Some time 
afterward, he accepted a clerkship in the dry- 



goods establishment of Klopfenstein & Co., 
which position he holds at present. He owns 
a very nice home in the village, which he has 
principally earned b}' his own industry. He is 
a member of Liberty Lodge, No. 845, Knights 
of Honor. They have one child living — Hat- 
tie M.. and one deceased — Flora. 

ISAAC WATERS, farmer; P. 0. Sulphur 
Springs ; was born where he now resides on 
June 22, 1832. His father, Jacob, and his 
mother, Mary (Trout) Waters, were natives of 
Westmoreland Co., Penn. They were farmers, 
and, with a view to giving their growing fam- 
ily an opportunity of procuring homes of their 
own in due time, they started with their family 
of six children — Violet, Benjamin, Andrew, 
Phillip, Jacob and Michael — and settled in 
Liberty Township, in 1830, on a piece of land 
which had been entered by his father-in-law, 
Phillip Trout, several years before. It was 
situated on the Sandusky River, and there the 
famil}' grew up to maturity, and then scattered 
oflT to do for themselves. But Isaac, being the 
youngest of the fiimil}', remained at home with 
his parents. He was the only child born to 
them in this State. In 1860, the father died, 
being then in his 73d year ; but Isaac cared 
for his aged mother, with whom she made her 
home until her final dissolution, which occurred 
in 1877, in the 83d year of her age. Isaac's 
advantages for procuring an education were 
quite limited, considering both time to be ap- 
plied and facilities. The old common log-cabin 
schoolhouse, with its miserably arranged fix- 
tures, was not conducive to comfort, much less 
to the happiness so often referred to in more 
modern school da3's. In the early winter, when 
the weather was too chilly to be without a fire 
in the cabin schoolroom, and one would be 
made, the result has frequent!}' been that, in 
consequence of the smoke, the place would be 
untenantable the remainder of the day ; hence 
they would arrange benches of a temporary 
character outside, and there finish their exer- 
cises. He owns a well-improved farm of 173 
acres, and takes considerable pride in having 
good stock. His horse, of the •' English Hen- 
ess " stock, took the first prize in the •■ general 
purpose ' class, and '• sweepstakes " of all 
classes at the late Crawford Co. Fair. He 
united his fortunes with Mary Souders, widow 
of the late John Souders, June 5, 1875. Her 
maiden name wan Mary Chisholm. She was a 






LIBERTY TOWNSHIP. 



953 



native of Perry Co., Penn., and came here in 
1854 with her fii'st husband, by whom she has 
seven children— David, Anna, Martha, Mary J., 
Virginia, Robert and John. In 1878, Mr. 
Waters built an elegant two-story frame resi- 
dence, which supersedes the old house that 
was built on the premises over forty yeai's ago; 
also fine outbuildings, which contribute to the 
appearance of his beautiful location. 

MICHAEL WOLF, farmer ; P. 0. Bucyrus ; 
was born in Dauphin Co., Penn., March 6, 1799. 
His father, Henry Wolf, came from Germany a 
young man, before the Revolution, and settled 
in New Jersey, where he married, and subse- 
quently' moved to Pennsylvania. While he was 
residing there, he enlisted in the war of the 
Revolution, and participated in many of the 
most important battles of that time. When 
the war closed, he returned to his home in 
Pennsylvania, and shortly afterward his wife 
died, leaving nine children. He married a sec- 
ond wife, Elizabeth Kaylor, a native of Penn- 
sylvania. By this union there were likewise 
nine children, our subject, Michael, being the 
youngest one of the family. Mr. Wolf, Sr., 
died when Michael was about six years old, and 
his mother being left in poor circumstances he 
(Michael) was obliged to do for himself when 
quite young, and also required to render early 
assistance to his mother, who was also called 
away when he was about 22 years of age. 
Michael was a natural genius, and, although he 
never spent a term of apprenticeship at any 
trade, he could do almost anything in mechan- 
ics, and if not of the finest character it invariably 
suited the purpose. Among the trades in which 
he was most proficient was plastering, masoning, 
shoemaking and carpentering, as well as doing 
some blacksmithing of a general character. He 
married Nanna M. Beck, in 1824, in Pennsyl- 
vania, and in 1834 they came to Crawford Co., 
with five of their children, and settled on the 
farm of sixtj'-three acres, where he now lives. 
When he settled here his entire farm was wood 
and swamp. He came here quite poor with a 
large family of helpless children ; he had very 
hard work to get along. He was in debt $25 
on his land, for which he gave his note pa^^able 
in four months ; and in the new country-, where 
mone}' was very scarce, it was almost impossi- 
ble to earn or even get cash for work done ; 
however, b}- working at odd jobs through the 
day, and making shoes at night, he raised the 



means to pay ofl' his $25 note. While he was 
cleai'ing his land and preparing for a crop, he 
has been obliged to pay as high as $1.25 per 
bushel for corn for the subsistence of himself 
and family : and pay for the same with work at 
a very low rate per day. While working at the 
clearing of his farm through the day, he has 
often worked at shoemaking until midnight. 
In one week, while splitting rails every work- 
ing day, he made five pairs of shoes during the 
nights of the same week. There are few men, 
if any, in Crawford Co., who have done more 
hard work, and now, in his advanced years, 
with enough to make him comfortable, and 
good health to enjo}' it, he looks back at the 
past with considerable pleasure when he re- 
members the hard experience of pioneer days, 
seeing he has succeeded in procuring the nec- 
essary things for comfort in his old age. They 
reared eleven children — Sarah A., now Mrs. 
John Burk ; Fannie, was wife of John Todd, 
and died in Michigan in June, 1880 ; Caro- 
lina, wife of Henry Gipple, of Williams Co ; 
Elizabeth, wife of John Griner, of Wood Co.; 
Henry, at home ; Jonas, of Reno Co., Kansas ; 
Susan, wife of Isaac Smith, of Wood Co. ; John, 
who is in Michigan ; Jacob, of Wyandot Co.; 
Samuel makes his home here, and Anna M.; 
the latter keeps house and cares for her aged 
father in the declining days of his life. Mrs. 
Wolf was called away Nov. 10, 1867. 

GODFREY WINGERT (deceased); was born 
in Germany Nov. 7, 1807. When about 21 years 
of age, he concluded to tr}' his fortune in the 
United States. On his arrival here, he took up 
his residence near Buffalo, N. Y., where he 
bought a small piece of land ; and, on March 23, 
1832, he married Annie Kaler, who had latel}' 
come from Germany, and was born there Sept. 
22, 1807. They lived near Buft'alo six years, 
when they sold their small farm and moved to 
Ohio, and settled on the farm where Mrs. Wingert 
and her daughter live. They bought 42 acres on 
arriving here ; but added by purchases until 
they owned 127 acres. They had eight chil- 
dren, seven of whom are living — xlndrew, Annie, 
George, Amos, Marie, Louisa and G. L. Mr. 
Wingert was a member of the Reformed Church 
in his native country, and with which he and 
his wife were identified here. He was called 
away March 27, 1879. Their youngest son, 
G. L., was born Nov. 4, 1851, on the tarm where 
his mother now lives. He remained at home 



:i.; 



lUv 



954 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



on the farm with his parents until July 25, 
1876, at which date he was united in marriage 
with Verlonia A. Hilliker, daughter of Samuel 
F. and Henrietta B. (Duzenbcrry) Hilliker. She 
was born in the city of New York, and came to 
Crawford Co. with her parents when about 9 
years old. Her pai'ents remained here until 
the spring of 1879, when they moved to and 
took up their residence in Beatrice, Neb. Oda 
May is the only child of Mr. and Mrs. Wingert. 
They own 40 acres of good land, which he got 
from his father's estate. The}' are members of 
the ITnited Brethren Church of this township. 

EMANUEL YEITER, farmer ; P. 0. Sulphur 
Springs ; was born at his present residence, 
March 3, 1843. He is the son of Jacob and 
Elizabeth (Auperle) Yeiter, who were natives of 
Wnrtemberg, (rermany, and emigrated to the 
United States with their four oldest children in 
1832. They came direct to Crawford Co. and 
entered the 80 acres which Emanuel owns. In 
course of time there were five children born to 
them in this countiy, making nine in all, viz., 
John, Jacob, Mary, JDavid, Catharine, Christina, 
Fredrick, Sophia and Emanuel. The family 
grew up here, and scattered out in the world 
for themselves. The parents knew what the 
rough pioneer life of the new country was, as they 
came here, with four small children, into a coun- 
try strange to them in every respect. And one 
of the inconveniences, and not the least, either, 
to be overcome, was the language, with which 
they were unfamiliar ; that obstacle Mr. Yeiter 
finally overcame, as far as was necessary in 
business; but his wife being less among En- 
glish-speaking people, and more confined to her 
domestic duties, where in their own family the 
German language only was used, she never 
learned, nor can she to this day converse intel- 
ligibly in anything but her "mother tongue." 
They soon arose above pecuniary embarrass- 
ment, and have all been, and are, living in good 
circumstances. They are all married and doing 
for themselves ; John, Jacob, David and Fred- 
erick are in Kent Co., Mich. ; Mary is now Mrs. 
Stahl, of Union Co., Ohio ; Catharine is now 
Mrs. D. Lust ; Christina is now Mrs. Adam 
Meek, and Sophia is now Mrs. Joseph NeflT. 
Our subject (Emanuel), being the youngest, re- 
mained at home, and purchased tlie interest of 
the others in the homestead. He married 
Sophia Lust Feb. 29, 1872 ; she is the daughter 
of Conrad and Magdalene (Myers) Lust, and 



was born June 19, 1853, in Chatfield Township. 
The}- have five children — Mar}' M., Elizabeth 
C, Joseph B., Catharine A. and Albert F. Mr. 
Yeiter is serving his third year as School Di- 
rector of his district. He and wife are mem- 
bers of the German Methodist Church. His 
father died at the old homestead in June, 1878, 
in his 77th year ; his wife survives, and is hale 
and strong, being in her 78th year. Last May 
she fell down and broke her thigh bone, near 
the hip-joint, which became perfectly sound 
again in the miraculousl}^ short time of six 
weeks, considering her very advanced age. 

JOHN K. ZABBE, proprietor hotel. Sul- 
phur Springs, was born in Schuylkill Co., Penn., 
Nov. 1, 1838. Is the son of George and Han- 
nah (Clauser) Zarbe. In 1856, he came to this 
count}', and began with Jacob Shull to learn 
the carpenter's trade. When he had worked 
three months, he returned to Pennsylvania, 
and continued his apprenticeship, working at 
the carpenter business about five and a half 
years, in the meantime occasionally doing some- 
thing at home on the farm. In the spring of 
1862, he began in the coal mines, where he was 
at work, when, in the fall of the same year, he 
was drafted into the army, on a nine months' 
call. He served as Corporal in Co. F, 173d 
Penn. V. I., and, at the expiration of ten 
months, he returned home, having received his 
discharge Aug. 16, 1863. On Feb. 29, 1864, 
he re-enlisted in Co. A, 50th Penn. V. I., which 
belonged to the 1st Division of the 9th Army 
Corps, in which he did some hard duty, partic- 
ipating in the battles of the Wilderness, Nye 
River, Spottsylvania Court House. In the lat- 
ter engagement he was taken prisoner, but ere 
his captors had proceeded far with a number 
of prisoners which they had taken at the same 
time, they ran unsuspectingly against a pha- 
lanx of the Union army ; enthused by the 
presence of the Union soldiers, he (Mr. Zarbe) 
dashed from the ranks of the prisoners and 
made good his escape into the Union line, and 
was soon in his own regiment again, when he 
participated in the conflicts of Shady Grove, 
Cold Harbor, Petersburg and Weldon Railroad. 
On the last of September, he was taken ill and 
sent to hospital, where he remained from Oct. 
1 until about the 1st of November, when he 
got a fifteen-day furlough, but, being sick and 
unable for duty, his furlough was extended fif- 
teen days more. He then returned to Alex- 



-©f^* 



HOLMES TOWI^SHIP. 



955 



andria, and, being unfit still, for field service, 
he was assigned a place in the dining-room of 
the hospital at that place. In April, 1865, he 
returned to the regiment, which was encamped 
near Alexandria, where it was stationed on 
post duty. His regiment was marched to Get- 
tysburg, where the ceremony of laying the 
corner-stone of the National Cemetery was 
observed July 4, 1865. On the 30th of that 
month, he received his discharge and returned 
to his home in Pennsylvania, and resumed his 
farm work, which he followed until 1868, when 



he sold out and moved to this county. Here 
he bought a farm of 76 acres ; there he left his 
parents, and bought 120 acres more. He lived 
on the latter four 3'ears, when he sold, and 
came into the village and worked at the car- 
penter's trade one year, and subsequently pur- 
chased the hotel property of Michael Heiby. 
Nov. 20, 1859, he married Elizabeth Mundinger. 
She was born in Pennsylvania Oct. 11, 1838. 
They have had eight children— Alvin P., Hen- 
ry A. (deceased), John W., Lewis W., William 
P., Grrant A., Ida E. (deceased) and Laura S. 



HOLMES TOWNSHIP. 



JOHN T. ALBRIGHT, farmer ; P. 0. Bu- 
cyrus ; was born Dec. 16, 184:6, and is a son of 
Joseph and Hannah (Jury) Albright, of Whet- 
stone Township ; related to the notable " Al- 
bright " who founded the Evangelical Church. 
The subject of this sketch attended school in 
the winter, and worked on the farm with his 
father until about 22 3'ears of age, and then en- 
gaged in fi\rraing with his father for two years. 
He was married Feb. 10, 1870, to Amelia Mc- 
Cracken, of Holmes Township, who was born 
Oct. 22, 1847, daughter of Hugh and Martha 
McCracken. He lived in Liberty Township 
for three 3'ears after marriage, afterward moving 
to the farm on which he now resides. Two 
children have been born to them — Franklin, 
born Nov. 26, 1870, and Martha Ann, Aug. 27, 

1875, both living at home. Our subject has a 
beautiful farm of 150 acres, which is, by his 
good management, in a thorough state of cul- 
tivation. 

DANIEL BRINKMAN, farmer ; P. 0. Bucy- 
rus ; was born Feb. 7, 1840, and is the son of 
Christopher and Mary (Heinlen) Brlnkman. 
The father was a native of Baden, Germany. 
He was born in 1802, and died in December, 

1 876. The mother is also a native of German3^ 
Their union was celebrated in the fatherland, 
and the3' afterward came to this countr3'. There 
were nine children, six of whom are now living. 
Daniel is a properous farmer, and is meeting 
with good success in his business. Of his father's 
famil3' there were nine children — Henr3', John, 
Lewis, Christopher, Frederick, Mary, Elizabeth, 
Daniel, Jacob. Of these, Lewis, Mar3' and 



Elizabeth are dead. Daniel is a man of con- 
ciderable influence in his community, and is 

wgII rGSOGCtjGCl 

JACOB BRINKMAN, farmer ; P. 0. Bucy- 
rus ; a brother of the preceding ; was born 
Nov. 5, 1842, and is the 3'oungest son of the 
famil3^ He was brought up on a fai'm, and has 
always followed this branch of industr3', and 
has been successful. He has alwa3^s been in- 
dustrious and frugal, and b3' so doing has 
placed himself in comfortable circumstances. 
His father came to Buc3'rus when it was a 
small hamlet, and after a residence of several 
years there, the3' removed to Holmes Township. 
Here the3' erected a rude dwelling, which is 
still standing, a rude structure, 3'et suggestive 
of many recollections and hallowed memories. 
Mr. Brinkman is a prominent man of his town- 
ship, and is an enterprising farmer. 

JOHN P. BLACK, farmer ; P. 0. Bucyrus ; 
was born Oct. 29, 1814, in York Co., Penn., and 
is the son of James and Martha (Porter) Black. 
He removed to Clark Co., Ohio, in 1844. and 
engaged in the manufacture of carriages and 
farming implements for five 3'ears. He then 
removed to Brown Township, Delaware Co., 
engaging in the same business, and, at the end 
of three 3'ears, removed to Crawford Co., and 
settled on the farm which he now owns and on 
which he resides. He has so improved it that 
it is now one of the finest farms in Holmes 
Township. He is one of the prominent men of 
his township, having filled the most prominent 
offices of the corporation, and has been a mem- 
ber of the school board for twenty 3'ears. He 



6) 



956 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



has also been President of the Crawford County 
Sunday School Union since 1859. For years, 
he has been an Elder in the Presbyterian 
Church, and a devoted Christian worker. He 
was married, April 19, 1838, to Margaret Har- 
ufl', daughter of Peter Haruff, of Hummelstown, 
Dauphin Co., Penn. Of this union, there were 
nine children — Martha B., J. Murray, Mary 
Agnes, Josephine, Carrie P., Thomas B., Louie 
J., Annie B. and J. Edmund. Mary A. was the 
wife of Robert M. Hutchison, and died in her 
24th year, leaving a husband and two bright 
little daughters to mourn her loss. Mrs. Black 
died Sept. 9, 1847, aged 47, leaving a devoted 
husband and loving family, who miss her, yet 
not without hope, having faith that they shall 
meet again on the shores where partings never 
come. 

PETER BASH, farmer ; P. 0. Bucyrus ; 
was born July 22, 1819, in Schuylkill Co., 
Penn., and is the son of Jacob and Mary 
(Whetstone) Bash. His parents removed to 
Stark Co., Ohio, when he was but 5 months old. 
They remained there until his 10th year, when 
they removed to Bucyrus. His mother dying 
in 1834, and his father in 1838, he was left 
somewhat under the care of his grandfather, 
who entered land in the vicinity of Annapolis, 
this county. The grandmother of our subject 
was the first person ever interred in the ceme- 
tery of Annapolis. He was married, Sept. 17, 
1839, to Susannah Cover, daughter of Samuel 
Cover, living one mile east of Annapolis. He 
lived in the vicinity of Annapolis until some 
25 years ago, when he removed to his present 
farm in Holmes Township. Of his marriage, 
there were born — Samuel, Jacob, Elizabeth, 
Rebecca, Peter L. and Susannah, all of whom 
are living ; Mary E. married Jacob Seibert 
Feb. 8, 1873, and died on May 7, 1874 ; Albert 
and Henry died in infancy. Four children are 
married and live near their fathei\ Samuel was 
married some three years ago, and removed to 
Huntington Co., Ind. Mr. Bash is a prominent 
man in his township, and has filled several im- 
portant offices of trust and i-esponsibility in 
both townships where he has resided. He is a 
member of the Dunkard Church, his grand- 
father having been a Dunkard preacher, and 
a man highly esteemed. 

ABRAHAM P. DITTY, farmer ; P. 0. Bro- 
ken Sword ; was born Aug. 31, 1846 ; is a son 
of Martin and Sarah (Pierson) Ditty, who were 



natives, the former of Lancaster Co., Penn., 
and the latter of Henry Co., Ind. They moved 
to Crawford Co., Ohio, about the year 1840, 
and settled in Holmes Township, a little south- 
east of Broken Sword. By his father's first 
marriage there were two children, of which our 
subject was the oldest ; by his second marriage, 
two children ; third marriage, six ; fourth mar- 
riage, none. The fourth mother of the subject 
of this sketch is now living at New Winchester, 
Whetstone Township, this county ; his father 
having died Oct. 22, 1875. Abraham attended 
school about one month in the year until 18 
years of age, the remainder of the time being 
devoted to farm work with his father. After 
his 18th year he engaged in farming ; was 
married Jan. 21, 1868, to Miss Matilda Selee, 
daughter of Emeal and Catharine (Spade) Selee, 
a farmer of note in Holmes Township. By 
this marriage there were three children — Clara 
Ellen, born Oct. 27, 1868; Tire Esrom, Feb. 
7, 1872 ; Rena, Oct. 7, 1874, all of whom are 
living at home. Mr. Ditty has cleared up and 
improved his farm, and is now enjoying the 
advantages of many broad, well-cultivated and 
fertile acres. He has also had charge, for the 
past ten years, of the lai'ge tract of land belong- 
ing to the Dalzells, extensive glass manufact- 
urers of Pittsburgh, Penn ; is also a prominent 
man in the affairs of the township. He had a 
half-brother in the late war, who was wounded 
at the battle of Bull Run, was sent home and 
died. He and his wife are members of the 
Evangelical Association of North America. 

RE ASIN EATON, farmer ; P. 0. Bucyrus ; 
was born in Columbiana Co., Ohio, Dec. 4, 1818, 
and is the son of John and Catharine (Marker) 
Eaton. His father was born in W^ashington 
Co., Md., April 25, 1778, and removed to Ohio 
in 1804. He removed to this county in 1829, 
and lived here till his death, July 23, 1850. 
There are eight children living, four sons and 
four daughters ; of the sons two are lawyers, 
one a physician, and our subject, a farmer. Mr. 
Eaton received a common-school education and 
worked on his father's farm. He also remained 
assisting his father until his death. He was 
married, April 8, 1857, to Margaret E. Hays, 
daughter of Thomas and Jane (Stevenson) 
Haj's, born in Carlisle, Cumberland Co., Penn. 
Her mother came to Bucyrus Christmas Eve, 
1840, and depended upon her eldest son, a 
tinner by trade, for support. Of this union, 



^/ 



HOLMES TOWNSHIP. 



957 



there were eleven children, of whom seven are 
living ; they are Kate, married to W. B. 
Richie, a prominent young lawyer of Lima, 
Ohio ; John A. married Basha Quaintance, and 
is one of the rising young lawyers at the Bucj- 
rus bar ; Horace married Ada Fry, daughter 
of Henry Fry, of Liberty Township ; Harvey 
married, Jan. 16, 1879, to Flora Shaftner, 
daughter of Henry Shaftner, who gave his life 
for his country. Also Reasin, Ethel and Wal- 
ter at home. Virginia, Mark, George and 
Nellie died while young. Mr. Eaton is, per- 
haps, the wealthiest farmer in Holmes Town- 
ship, and is also one of its most prominent 
men. He has often been urged by his friends 
to accept a nomination for the Legislature, but 
has always declined the honor. By strict at- 
tention to business and good management, he 
has been ver^' successful. Himself and wife 
are both members of the English Lutheran 
Church, and by his means and labor it was 
that the church of which he is a member was 
erected. Reasin Eaton will long be remem- 
bered as a man who loved righteousness, and 
whose hand was not withdrawn from things of 
charity — a man universally loved and respected. 
GEORGE F. EBERHART, farmer ; P. 0. 
Broken Sword ; was born Jan. 20, 1812. His 
parents were natives of Wurtemberg, Germany, 
where our subject was born and attended 
school. In his 15th year, he was apprenticed 
to John Myers for three years, to learn the 
blacksmith's trade, for which he paid $30, and 
found his own clothing. After his 18th year, 
his apprenticeship having expired, he worked 
as a journeyman in his chosen avocation for one 
year, and then took passage for this country, 
with his mother and two brothers, his father 
having died when he was in his 4th year. After 
a voj'age of forty-two days they landed in New 
York, thence to Bucyrus, arriving about the 
14th of September, 1832. He then engaged as 
chain carrier for John Schleiver, in laying out 
the village of Schleivertown, now Annapolis, 
and afterward at blacksmithing with one Fred- 
erick Beard, in the town which they had laid 
out. He afterward went to Harrisburg, Stark 
Co., Ohio, and thence to Louisville, same Co., 
where he run a shop for himself until his mar- 
riage, which occurred Feb. 14, 1834, to Catha- 
rine Hamm, of Washington Township, Stai'k Co., 
where he purchased a small piece of land, and 
lived for about two j^ears, then moved to Lib- 



erty Township, Crawford Co., and purchased a 
small farm, improved it and worked at his 
trade a few years, then moved back to Stark 
Co., where he purchased 100 acres and lived 
for two years ; sold out and again moved to 
Crawford Co., Cranberry Township, where he 
dealt in real estate quite extensively, and lived 
there thirty-four years, when he moved to the 
beautiful farm on which he now lives. By his 
first wife there wei'e seven children — Jacob, 
born Sept. 20, 1836; Mary, July 15, 1838; 
Elizabeth, Oct. 7, 1841 ; George, June 29, 1844 ; 
Rosina Catharine, Feb. 28, 1847 ; Margaret C, 
Nov. 30, 1849, and Christine, Sept. 30, 1854. 
His first wife died March 14, 1868. He was 
again married April 12, 1870, to Mrs. Barbara 
(AValker) Foust, born March 18, 1832, who had 
one daughter, Christine, born July 24, 1855, by 
her first husband, Taylor Weingartner. Mr. 
Eberhart, with his wife and four surviving chil- 
dren, who are all married, are members of the 
Albright Church. 

JOHN GEORGE EBERHART, farmer ; P. 
0. Broken Sword ; was born June 30, 1844, and 
is a son of George Frederick and Catharine 
Elizabeth (Hamm) Eberhart, of Cranberry 
Township, Crawford Co., Ohio. He is the sec- 
ond son of a family of five children, three 
daughters and two sons. His father was a 
native of Germany, and his mother a native of 
Pennsylvania. The subject of this sketch ac- 
cepted the limited educational advantages 
afibrded, and attended school when the oppor- 
tunity was given him, working on the farm 
with his father and studj-ing when he had a 
few spare moments, until about 19 years of age. 
He then engaged in farming until 22 years of 
age, when he was united in marriage Sept. 24, 
1866, to Elizabeth Sheber, daughter of Gottlieb 
and Christina (Heckenlively) Sheber. This 
union was blessed with four children — Matilda 
Jane, born July 24, 1867 ; Mary Corena, Oct. 
17, 1869 ; John Benjamin, June 3, 1872, and 
Sarah Naomi, June 19, 1875, all of whom are 
liviug at home with their parents. Mr. Eber- 
hart's magnificent surroundings show a marked 
degree of ability in his chosen avocation. He 
and his estimable wife are members of the Ger- 
man M. E. Church, of Holmes Township, and 
are prosperous and happj'. 

DANIEL FRALICK, merchant ; P. 0. Win- 
gert's Corners; was born Maj- 11, 1817, in 
Dauphin Co., Penn. He is the only child of 



'*u 



)^ 



958 



BIOGKAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



William and Maiy (Harden) Fralick, who were 
of Scotch-Trish descent. He worked on a farm 
with his father during the summer, and in the 
winter attended school, until his 13th year, 
when his parents removed to this county and 
settled on the Rowse farm, now occupied by 
A. Monnett. They lived here from spring until 
fall, and then removed to the extreme north of 
Holmes Township and entered 80 acres of 
land, with patent given by Andrew Jackson. 
Here the}^ erected a log cabin, worked hard 
and endured the privations of a pioneer life. 
In the spring of 1834, he came to Buc^'rus, 
and commenced work in the flour and saw mill 
of Elias Slage. He worked during the time, 
when the water-power was sufficient to run the 
mill, and during dull times he returned to his 
father's farm, and put in his time there ; he 
worked at the mill from 1834 to 1846, in which 
year he moved on his father's farm, and lived 
thei-e several years. In 1853, he commenced a 
store at Wingert's Corners, and in 1855 built 
a new storeroom, which he now occupies. He 
also worked the farm, in connection with his 
mercantile pursuits. Mr. Fralick is now en- 
gaged in the mercantile business at Wingert's 
Corners, and is doing well. He is a prominent 
man in his township, having held several offices, 
and has been Justice of the Peace for 15 years, 
being the only Republican in his neighborhood. 
Himself and wife are both members of the 
Reforaied Church. He was married to Ann 
Maria Shupp Oct. 6, 1840. She is a daughter 
of John and Ann Shupp, of Wingert's Corners, 
and is a native of Dauphin Co., Penn. Their 
union was blessed with nine children, of whom 
Henry, Isaiah, Mary and Sarah are deceased. 
Margaret J. married Samuel Flickinger ; La- 
vinia married Samuel Swank, and Johnmarried 
Matilda Shirk, of Holmes Township ; Rebecca 
and Daniel are at home. 

SAMUEL FLICKINGER, farmer ; P. 0. Bu- 
cyrus. The subject of this sketch was born 
March 21, 1837, in Dauphin Co., Penn., and is 
the ninth child in a family of twelve. His father, 
also named Samuel, came to Stark Co. at an 
early day, and from there removed to this 
county, where he lived until his death, in 1872. 
The subject of our sketch spent his youth on a 
farm, and received a common-school education. 
At the age of 28, he commenced saw-milling, 
and has been engaged in the business some 
fifteen years. He is a well-known and highly 



respected citizen of Holmes Township, and is 
well respected by all who know him. He was 
married, Dec. 28, 1867, to Margaret J. Fralick, 
daughter of a prominent merchant of Wingert's 
Corners. This union has been blessed with two 
children — Clarissa and Fanny Blanche. 

ISRAEL GOODWIN (deceased), Bucyrus ; 
was born April 4, 1833, and was the son of 
William A. and Rebecca (Helpman) Goodwin. 
He was a carpenter by trade, and followed the 
occupation for several 3'ears, and then engaged 
in farming until his death, which occurred July 
18, 1874. He was a man .universally respected, 
and a good husband and father. He was mar- 
ried Nov. 12, 1857, to Lovina Heller, daughter 
of D. J. Heller, and who still survives him. Of 
this marriage there are six children — Mar}' 
Ellen, born Oct. 23, 1858, married William A. 
McBride, and is living in the township ; Ange- 
line, born March 4, 1861 ; Alice, March 28, 
1863 ; Maud, Oct. 20, 1865 ; Minerva, Jan. 2, 
1868, and Leander, June 22, 1874. Mrs. Good- 
win is living on her farm in Holmes Township, 
and is in very comfortable circumstances, and 
is respected by all who know her. 

TILGHMAN H. GEORGE, farmer; P. 0. 
Broken Sword; was born May 12, 1834; is a 
son of Jacob and Rebecca (Houpt) George, who 
were natives of Northampton Co., Penn. They 
moved to Wyandot Co., Ohio, in the fall of 
1853. After residing there for some time they 
moved to Crawford Co., Ohio ; thence to Seneca 
Co., Ohio. The subject of this sketch attended 
school during the winter months, and worked 
with his father at shoemaking until about 21 
years of age, when he engaged for himself in 
shoemaking, then in the manufacture of cigars, 
and afterward in the carpenter's trade. About 
twenty -one years ago, he began his agricultural 
life, which he has run quite successfully, and, 
within the past five years, has added a thresh- 
ing machine of the latest improved style to his 
large stock of machinery, and has, b}- his exten- 
sive adoption of machinery in agriculture, been 
liberally remunerated for his skill and energy. 
He was married Nov. 27, 1856, to Sarah Miller, 
a daughter of Jonathan and Anne (Shupp) Mil- 
ler, who were natives of Dauphin Co., Penn. 
By this marriage, there were seven children — 
William Henry, born April 24, 1858 ; Wesley 
E., July 14, 1859 ; John Adams, Jan. 7, 1861 ; 
an infant son died on day of birth, April 5, 
1862; Anna E., June 26,'l869 ; Roily Edgar, 



w 



Feb 25 1872, and Rosetta, April 30, 1876. 
WiliiamH. was married in March, 1880, to Lena 
Sterns, of Lykens Township, this county. Wes- 
ley is enoaged in business in Seneca Co., Uhio, 
and the rest of the family are at home with 
their parents. Mr. George has been a promi- 
nent man in the township, having held some 
important offices. He and his wife are mem- 
bers of the Albright Church, and are respected 
and esteemed by all who know them. 

ELIZABETH HEINLEN, f^r^ier , P. O. 
Broken Sword ; was l^orn Nov. 20, 1844 ; is a 
daughter of Christopher and Rachel (Wagnei) 
Auc^k of Crawford Co., widow of the late Henry 
Heinlen, who died March 23, 1877, who was a 
son of Lewis and Hannah (Wise) Heinlen. 
Since her husband's death, she has taken charge 
of the business pertaining to a iarm ot ibu 
acres, showing by the extensive improvements 
which she has made, and the high state of cul- 
tivation under which she has the land, that the 
weaker sex are capable of assuming responsi- 
ble positions, if the opportunity is given them. 
She was married to Henry Heinlen Feb. 4, 
1868 From this union there were tour chil- 
dren—Clara Maliuda, born Nov. 28 18bH ; 
Manuel Edward, born May 6, 1871 ; Caroline 
Rebecca, born Nov. 26, 1873; Sarah Elmira 
born Oct. 31, 1876, died March 8, 18-7 ; the 
remaining three are living at home with their 
mother. Mrs. Heinlen and her husband were 
members of the German Reformed Church at 
Wingert's Corners. ,. ^ -o 

JOHN HOLMAN, farmer ; P. 0. Bucyrus ; 
was born Nov. 7, 1828 ; son of Martin and Ro- 
sanna (Foy) Holman, the former ot Beaver Co, 
Penn where he resided until he was about 1^ 
years of age, when he moved to the State of 
Kentucky, where he resided for a time, then 
moved to Brown Co., Ohio, thence to Ross Co., 
where he learned the currier's trade, which he 
followed for a time with an older brother He 
afterward moved to Crawford Co., where he un- 
derwent the trials of an early pioneer life, work- 
ina at his trade and clearing up the country. 
Om- subject was born in Crawford Co., when 
that county was in its infancy, and when edu- 
cational advantages were limited ; but by liis 
dilit^ence he obtained a moderate education by 
attending school in winter, and working with 
his father until about 22 years of age, when he 
attended college for a time at Oberlin Univer- 
sity WesterviUe, Ohio. He then engaged m 



farming, working at the carpenter's trade and 
teaching, for about three years, and afterward 
farming and teaching for several years. He 
was married Oct. 5, 1854, to Hannah M. Brown, 
dauohter of Asa and Eliza (Lee) Brown, of 
Crawford Co. This union was blessed with 
five children— Lucelia E., born July 27, 1855 ; 
Jay B., born Nov. 21, 1859 ; Guy C, born 
April 10, 1864, died Dec. 8, 1870 ; Carrie A 
born July 15, 1872, and Myrtle, born March 
14 1874 ; all those living are at home with 
their parents. Our subject was elected Jus- 
tice of the Peace in 1865, which office he filled 
creditably for fifteen consecutive years. He 
was also Township Clerk for seven years, and 
Township Trustee for three terms. He is now 
a member of the Board of Directors of the 
Crawford County Farmers' Fire Insurance 
Company. He has lived in this county for 
over fifty-one years, and he, with his estimable 
wife and family, are members of the Lutheran 
Church of Holmes Township, much esteemed 
and loved by all who know them. 

MARY HEMMINGER, farmer : P. 0. Bucy- 
rus ; was born Jan. 1, 1812, of Irish-English 
descent Her parents were James and fearah 
(Hawks) Martin ; the former, a native of Ireland, 
went to a place at that time eleven miles trom 
London, England, but which is now in the cit;y-, 
where he engaged in business and married 
Sarah Hawks. They took passage from Lon- 
don in the fall of 1822, being nearly three 
months on the voyage, landing in Philadelphia 
about fifty-eight years ago. On their voyage 
across the '-briny deep," and, during a severe 
storm, their ship's rudder was lost, and they 
were left drifting at the mercy of the wind and 
waves ; but, by the bravery of the men, several 
of whom lost their lives in attempting the nec- 
essary repairs, having to work under the water, 
the ship was saved. One brave old sailor, whose 
memory our subject will always reverence suc- 
ceeded in making fast the rudder, thereby et- 
fecting a safe landing. Some time after arriv- 
ing in this country, her parents moved to this 
State, where they underwent all the trials, sut- 
ferino- and exposure of an early pioneer lite. 
The subject of this sketch, being the - cow-boy 
of the family, was many times for days and 
nights in the woods, being at one time twenty - 
six miles from home, and, overtaken by dark- 
ness, she was compelled to wait in the hov. ing 
wilderness, with none but the Great Spirit to 



J^ 



9fiO 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



protect her, but hoping for the moon to rise, 
that she might be directed in her course. Her 
father's cabhi was frequented b}' the Indians, 
by dozens and scores, almost crowding the 
family from their humble home, that they might 
be sheltered from the raging elements without. 
The husband of the subject of this sketch was 
twice married ; first to Miss P]lizabeth Spahr, 
in 1825, and after her death to Miss Mary Mar- 
tin, on May 13, 1830. They moved to the farm 
on which the widow now lives, about the year 
1838. This union was blessed with thirteen 
children, eight of whom are living, five having 
died in infancy. Those living are James, boi'n 
Feb. 4, 1831 ;Mary Ann M., June 10, 1832 ; 
Sarah J., Feb. 14, 1834 ; Martha, Aug. 31, 1838 ; 
Charlotte, March 8, 1841 ; John, June 10, 

1848 ; Jacob, Feb. 7, 1851, and Marsella, June 
29, 1855 ; all of whom are married and living 
in the great State of Ohio. Mr. Heraminger 
had been seriously indisposed for three 3'ears 
before; his death, and bore his afflictions at all 
times with cheerfulness and resignation, al- 
though confined to his bed most of the time, 
death releasing him Sept. 6, 1877. at the ad- 
vanced age of nearly 80 years. He was a mem- 
ber of the Lutheran Church, was a desirable 
neighbor and a man of his word, prompt in ful- 
filling his contracts to the best of his abilit}', 
and lived and died esteemed and respected by 
all who knew him. 

DANIEL J. PIELLER, farmer ; P. 0. Bu- 
cyriis ; was born x\ug. 7, 1814, in Dauphin Co., 
Penn. He attended school in winter, and 
worked with his father until about 1 8 years of 
age, when he engaged in farming with his father 
until his marriage, which occurred in October, 
1833, to Catharine Ginrick, who Avas born July 
15, 1816, the daughter of Jacob and Mary 
(Fishbaum) Ginrick, a respected farmer of 
Dauphin Co., Penn. After marriage, they en- 
gaged in farming in Dauphin Co. for about four 
years, and then moved to Liberty Township, 
where they lived about twenty-seven 3'ears, when 
they moved to the farm on which they now reside. 
Their marriage was blessed with thirteen chil- 
dren—Elizabeth, born Feb. 20, 1835 ; Mary, 
Jan. 5, 1837; Lovina, May 15. 1839 ; Lucy A., 
Dec. 7, 1841 ; Jonathan G., March 12, 1844; 
Susanna, Oct. 13, 1846 ; Sarah J., Jan. 14, 

1849 ; an infant son, Nov. 27, 1851 — died same 
time ; Melissa, Dec. 22, 1852 ; William, June 30, 
1855 ; Catharine E., Jan. 23, 1858 ; Dianah B., 



Dec. 12, 1860, and Ida A., March 1, 1864. Su- 
sanna died June 21, 1849 ; eleven are still liv- 
ing. Elizabeth married George Frame, son of 
a farmer of Holmes Township, and moved to 
Johnson Co., Kan., where they now reside. 
Mary married Aaron J. Quaintance Oct. 9, 
1836 ; Lovina married Israel Goodwin, now de- 
ceased, Nov. 12, 1857 ; Lucy married Emanuel 
Aumillcr in the fall of 1860 ; Jonathan G. was 
married to Lovina Quaintance March 15, 1866 ; 
Sarah J. to Jacob Sheckler March 20, 1867 ; 
Melissa A. to Frank Johnson Dec. 15, 1872, 
and William H. married Amelia Stewart Dec. 
23, 1875. Mr. Heller, by hard labor and frugal 
living, has given his large and interesting fam- 
ily a sufficiency of this world's goods, and as 
good educational advantages as their common 
schools afforded. He and his wife are mem- 
bers of the United Brethren Church, and are 
verv much respected by all who know them. 

JOHN JOHNSON, farmer ; P. 0. Bucyrus ; 
was born in Bedford Co., Penn., Nov. 20, 1829, 
and is the j-oungest of a famil}' of four children 
born to Jacob Johnson. The subject of our 
sketch removed to Crawford County in 1844, 
and commenced farming. He was in his youth 
denied the advantages of education, having 
never gone to a school in his life. However, he 
rose aboA^e the disadvantages of his situation, 
and acquired b}' his ow-n efforts an education 
of practical worth and benefit. He was a mem- 
ber of Co. L, 10th 0. V. C, and served eighteen 
months, when he was dischai'ged on account of 
disability. He was a good soldier, and fought 
bravely in the defense of the rights of man and 
the preservation of the LTnion. He was married, 
Dec. 20, 1847, to Susanna Lonnes, and has 
four children — Franklin L., John W., Theodore 
and Mary Etta. Three of these are married, 
and are living near their father, in good cir- 
cumstances. Mr. Johnson is a prominent citi- 
zen of his community and universally re- 

PETER T. JAMES, farmer ; P. 0. Broken 
Sword ; was born March 23, 1850, eldest sou 
of Jesse and Mary (Wells) James, natives of 
the Buckeye State ; they moved to Crawford 
County in the fall of 1847, to the farm on which 
they now reside. After moving to Holmes 
Township, in the wilderness, the}' cleared a 
space in the woods large enough for the erec- 
tion of a rude log cabin, which the father built 
to shelter his family ; then he went to work 



r 



^ 



HOLMES TOWNSHIP. 



961 



with a will which showed a determination to 
accomplish the great work which was before 
him. Their beautifnl buildings, pleasant sur- 
roundings, and the lai-ge income of their broad 
and fertile fields, is the reward of hard labor, 
good management and frugal living in an early 
pioneer life. The father died April 25, 1878, 
in the 57th year of his age, leaving three sons 
and two daughters — Peter T., Thomas, ]Maggie, 
Elizabeth and Henry, and an estimable wife to 
mourn the loss of a true husband and noble 
father. Thomas was married, Oct. 25, 1877, to 
Allie Linn, daughter of William and Hannah 
(Fralick) Linn, respected farmers of this town- 
ship. Jesse James and wife were members of 
the Evangelical Association ; were always en- 
gaged in good works, such as building churches 
and assisting the poor and needy. Politically, 
they are Republicans to the core, and the core 
is also Republican. 

WILLIAM KERR, farmer ; P. 0. Bucyrus ; 
was born Aug. 24, 1808, and is the son of 
William and Sarah (Abraham) Kerr, and is of 
Welsh-Irish descent. In the fall of 1832, in 
company with a colony of twenty-one, he re- 
moved to this State and settled in Whetstone 
Township, near the Plains. He lived here un- 
til 1877, when he removed to his present home. 
He was married, Feb. 14, 1838, to Miss Jane 
Clark, of Whetstone Township. This union 
was blessed with nine children — Archibald, 
Ann, Alexander E., Nancy, Elizabeth, Sophia, 
Jane, Margaret, and a son who died in in 
fancy. Those living are all married, and do- 
ing well. Archibald entered Co. K, 81st 0. V. 
L, in the fall of 1862, under Maj. W. H. Cham- 
berlain, and died at Corinth, Miss., of a fever, 
Dec. 1, 1862, aged 24 years 9 months and 25 
days. Mr. Kerr has made* his property by 
hard labor and frugality, and is now in com- 
fortable circumstances. He and his wife are 
both members of the Presbyterian Church of 
Bucyrus, and have been so for twenty-five 
years. 

WILLIAM LINN, farmer ; P. 0. Bucyrus ; 
is a well-known resident of this township, 
where he has lived since the year 1834. He 
was born on Sept. 6, 1805, and is the son of 
John and Margeretta Linn, who came from 
Germany in 1834, and settled in this portion 
of the county, where he has ever since resided. 
He has raised five children, who are now all 
married, and in prosperous, well-to-do condi- 



tions in life. Their names are William, Sophia, 
Lewis, Caroline and Julia. The father is a 
frugal, industrious man, who has labored hard 
throughout his lifetime to accumulate his prop- 
erty, and is now an old and highly respected 
citizen. 

JOSEPH LONNES, farmer ; P. 0. Bucyrus ; 
was born March 17, 1802, in Berkeley Co., Va., 
near the town of Bath. He is the son of John 
and May (Spahr) Lonnes. A singular coinci- 
dence connected with his birth is that he was 
born in the same house that had been the 
scene of his mother's birth also. When he 
had reached his 9th year, his father removed 
to Columbiana Co., Ohio, and settled some six 
miles from the Ohio River. He was the oldest 
of eleven children, seven of whom are now 
living, and a large share of farm work fell to 
him in early life. He was married, in 1829, to 
Miss Jane Boeman, and seven children are the 
fruits of this marriage. One of his sons, Lam- 
bert, was stabbed and killed by one Joseph 
Morran. All of his children have been given 
good starts in life, and all are now doing well. 
Mr. Lonnes is a self-made man, and has accom- 
plished all by hard labor and frugal industry. 
He is one of the much-respected citizens of his 
township, and is a stanch Republican. 

BENJAMIN LUST, farmer ; P. 0. Broken 
Sword ; was born July 24, 1854 ; is a son of 
Frederick and Sophia (Buhl) Lust, residents of 
Lykens Township. His father was a native of 
Germany, his mother a native of Pennsylvania. 
Benjamin attended school in winter and worked 
with his father on the farm the remainder of 
the time, until about 17 years of age, when he 
engaged in farming with his father until after 
attaining his majority. He was married, March 
2, 1876, to a Miss Eberhart, daughter of George 
Frederick and Catharine Elizabeth (Hamm) 
Eberhart. After marriage, Benjamin resided 
on his father-in-law's farm for about three 
years, when he purchased the farm on w4nch he 
now resides. Of his father's family, there were 
eight children — four sons and four daughters — 
of whom Benjamin was the fourth son, for 
whom, on account of his energy and ability, we 
predict a bright future. 

ABRAHAM LICHTENWALTER, former; 
P. 0. Bucyrus ; was born Sept. 17, 1817, in 
Stark Co., Ohio, and is the second son of 
Michael and Mary (Eyster) Lichtenwalter. He 
received but about eight months' schooling m 



962 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



^ 



his whole life, the remainder of his time being 
devoted to work on the farm. He was married, 
Feb. 7, 1839, to Elizabeth Allbaugh, of Stark 
Co., and, the following fall, removed to Craw- 
ford Co. and settled in Holmes Township, at a 
time when it was very sparsely' settled, and 
when the greatest amount of hard work was 
necessary to bring the soil to a good state of 
cultivation. His marriage resulted in ten chil- 
dren, of whom Harriet died at IS years of age ; 
Emeline died at the age of 3 years ; Michael at 
4 months ; Nancy Ann at 9 years of age, and 
two more in very early infanc3^ Those married 
are Mary Eve, born May 16, 1847, married to 
Jacob Linn, May 16, 1871, died July 31, 1871, 
of typhoid fever ; Matilda Elizabeth, born 
April 16, 1850, married to Edwin Chapman 
Sept. 2, 1869 ; they had four children — Charles 
Clinton, Laura Bell, Alberta, and one who died 
in early infancy ; William H., born Aug. 22, 
1852, living at home, and working the ftirm for 
his father ; was mai'ried to Candace Correll, 
daughter of Jacob Correll, a farmer of Holmes 
Township ; she died July 23, 1877 ; William 
was remarried Dec. 25, 1879, to Alice C. 
Reinsberger, daughter of John Reinsberger, a 
resident and prominent farmer of Carroll Co., 
Ohio ; Elmira, boi'n Jan. 24, 1857, married to 
Levi Sponseller Feb. 11, 1874 ; living near 
Bloomville, Seneca Co., Ohio. There are three 
children— My rta May, born March 15, 1876 ; 
OUa J., born Dec. 5, 1877 ; Orrie F. A., born 
May 7, 1879. Mr. and Mrs. Lichtenwalter are 
genial and well-respected citizens of their 
township, and are greatly esteemed by all who 
know them. 

JACOB MILLER, farmer ; P. 0. Bucyrus ; 
was born Aug. 17, 1820, and is the youngest 
son of John A. and Mary E. (Wert) Miller, res- 
idents of Dauphin Co., Penn. They moved to 
Crawford Co. in October, 1830, and settled in 
Todd, then Sycamore, Township. After living 
there about ten years, they removed to Holmes 
Township, where they lived, and died twenty- 
five years ago. Our subject worked on the 
farm and received a common education. At 
the age of 22 years, he married Miss Polly 
Shupp, daughter of a respected citizen of Holmes 
Township. This wife dying, he was again mar- 
ried, only to again lose the wife of his affections. 
He married his third and last wife, Mary Ream, 
on April 13, 1852. He has had nine children 
born to him. Those living are Thomas, Eliza- 



beth, Sarah, Eve, Christopher, Maria and Emma. 
Catharine and John died in infanc}'. Mr. Miller 
and wife are both members of the Lutheran 
Church, are exemplary Christians, and are well 
esteemed in the township where they live. 

STEPHEN McBRIDE, farmer ; P. 0. Bucy- 
rus; was born May 5, 1809, and is a son of 
John and Ann (Maloy) McBride, natives of 
Virginia, who moved to Columbiana Co., Ohio, 
about the year 1804. Our subject attended 
school a few months in earl}' life, and assisted 
his father on the farm until marriage, and two 
or three years thereafter, then moved to Craw- 
ford County, Nov. 15, 1836, with his wife and 
two children, having been married March 3, 
1831, to Eliza Weisman, a native of Cumber- 
land Co., Penn. ; by this union there was one 
child, Mahlon, born April 18, 1832. His sec- 
ond marriage was to Hannah Boyle, June 13, 
1833, of Columbiana County, by whom he had 
two children — Eliza Jane, born June 19, 1834, 
and Sarah Ann, June 22, 1837 ; some time 
after, he was again called upon to la}' away be- 
neath the sod the one upon whom his affections 
had been centered, and on the 19th of Jul}-, 
1840. he was married for the third time to Pa- 
tience Lewis, of Crawford Count}', b}' whom he 
had ten children — Elizabeth, born June 18, 
1841 ; John, April 26, 1843 ; Joshua L., Feb. 
9, 1845 ; Wm. Lockard, Jan. 14, 1847 ; Jere- 
miah J., Sept. 16, 1849; Hannah M., April 4, 
1852; Rachel U., May 7, 1854; Stephen A., 
June 7, 1856; Martha M., June 11, 1859, and 
Reuben R., April 30, 1866 ; all of whom are 
living and married except the two youngest, 
who are at home assisting their parents. John 
served in the late war over four years ; was 
taken prisoner at the battle of Chickamauga, and 
served and suffered nineteen months and eight 
days of priscm life in six different Southern 
hells, but his life was spared and he returned 
home. Mr. McBride, his wife and most of the 
famil}', are members of the United Brethren 
Church ; working with a willing hand for the 
advancement of the "cause and kingdom" 
here. Mr. McBride, at the advanced age of 72 
years, is hale and hearty, able to work, and to 
enjo}' the rewards of his beautiful home and 
the abundance of his farm, which has been 
given him for the toil and suffering which he 
endured in his early pioneer life. 

MAHLON McBRIDE, farmer ; P. 0. Bucy- 
rus ; was born April 18, 1832, in Columbiana 



w 



^Js) 



HOLMES TOWNSHIP. 



965 



Co., Ohio, is tlie son of Stephen McBride. He 
attended school in the winter, and assisted his 
father until about 20 years of age, when he en- 
gaged in farming. He was married Nov. 3, 
1855, to Sarah Jane Hemminger ; by this union 
there are seven children — William A., born 
Sept. 24, 1856 ; Samuel B., Dec. 30, 1858 ; Em- 
merellis, June 23, 1861, Marsella, Jan. 23, 
1866 ; Ida, March 23, 1868 ; Sadie, June 29, 
1874, and Stephen M., Feb. 19, 1877, all living 
and at home, except William, who married 
Angeline Goodwin, on Aug. 8, 1878, and Em- 
merellis, married to a Miss Doufler, Dec. 17, 
1877. Mr. McBride and wife are members of 
the Lutheran Church, and excellent people. 

DANIEL McCLANE, retired farmer ; P. 0. 
Wingert's Corners ; was born July 30, 1809, in 
Dauphin Co., Penn., and is the oldest son of 
John and Eve (Jury) McClane, who both died 
in Pennsylvania. Mr. McClane was raised on 
a farm, and attended district school. He also 
learned the trade of a weaver with his father at 
home. He was married June 29, 1828, to 
Elizabeth Shaffner, in his own State, she being 
eight days younger than her husband. Two 
years later. Ma}' 5, 1830, he removed to this 
count}', and since 1869, has been a resident of 
Holmes Township. He is an old and highly 
respected citizen, and though 71 years old his 
hair is not whitened, but retains its raven black 
color. Mr. and Mrs. McClane are both estima- 
ble Christians, and members of the Evangel- 
ical Association of Wingert's Corners. Of their 
marriage, there were eleven children, all of 
whom are dead, and bvit one grandchild is left 
as heir or descendant. The names of their 
children are John Martin, Sarah Ann, Leah 
Jane, Nancy Loretta, Lucy, Sylvester ; the re- 
mainder all died in infancy. Sarah married 
Martin Ditty, of Holmes Township ; John 
Martin married Polly Hiesch, whose daughter, 
Loretta, is now living. 

WILLIAM MATEER, farmer; P. 0. Bu- 
cyrus ; was born Sept. 9, 1823, eldest son of 
James and Elizabeth (Shrum) (Spangler) 
Mateer, near Rosstown, York Co., Penn. His 
mother was born in Carlisle, Cumberland Co., 
Penn., Dec. 5, 1793; father born Aug. 31, 1794, 
near Lisburn, Cumberland Co., Penn., of 
Scotch-Irish descent. William Mateer, our sub- 
ject's great-grandfather, started to this country 
from Ireland, early in 1700, with his family, con- 
sisting of wife and four sons — William, James, 



Robert and John, and buried all at sea ; after 
settling in America he had four other sons, whom 
he named same as first four. The subject of our 
sketch attended school in winter, and worked 
with his father on the farm in summer, until 
about 21 years of age, at which time he engaged 
in farming with his father, until his 23d year, 
when he was united in marriage to Miss Cath- 
arine Ann Wagoner on Sept. 8, 1846 ; she was 
born Feb. 12, 1825, youngest daughter of Jacob 
and Susannah (Draver) Wagoner, respected 
farmers of Cumberland Co., Penn. Mrs. Ma- 
teer's father was born Oct. 8, 1787. her mother 
Dec. 1, 1784. They moved from Cumberland 
Co., Penn., to Holmes Township, landing in 
Bucyrus on Aug. 30, 1854, and engaged in 
farming near the place on which they now re- 
side. Two children were their issue — Mary 
Elizabeth, born May 18, 1847, died Nov. 1, 
1850, and William Albert, born Oct. 20, 1850. 
The latter attended school and helped his 
father on the farm until about 20 years of age, 
and, being a close student, was always at the 
head of his class. He was married. Dec. 31, 
1874, to Miss Martha J. Davis, who was born 
May 20, 1855, daughter of Jacob and Adaline 
(Mount) Davis, of Ashland Co., Ohio ; from 
this union, there was one child — Benjamin 
Franklin, born Nov. 11, 1875; William A. 
died July 18, 1876. Mr. and Mrs. Mateer 
and their daughter-in-law and child are mem- 
bers of the M. E. Church, and are enjoying a 
happy life at their pleasant home. 

JAMES MOORE, farmer ; P. 0. Bucyrus ; 
was born Jan. 25, 1817, in Washington Co., 
Penn., and is the youngest son of James and 
Emma (Crow) Moore. His father came from 
Ireland to engage in the Revolutionary war, 
and settled in Washington Co., Penn. He re- 
moved to Columbiana County in 1820, was 
left an orphan in his 3d year by the sudden 
death of his father, who retired at night in 
health, but was found in the morning a corpse, 
and the sudden shock so affected the mind of 
his mother that she became insane. Mr. Moore 
only attended school about nine months, and 
went to work early. He first worked for $3 per 
month, and the second year for $4. Then he 
engaged for three years in the tobacco business, 
and, proving himself skillful, he received higher 
wages than ordinary hands. He worked one 
whole year without losing more than half a 
day, and that was at the request of his em- 



966 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



ployer. When 28 years old he learned the 
cooper's trade with his cousin, John Crow. 
He worked here two years, and then engaged in 
the business for himself the next two years. 
After this he removed to Crawford County, 
and settled on the farm where he now lives, 
and where he has prospered, owing to his 
habits of industry and energy. He was mar- 
ried in his 22d year to Catharine Lonnes, sister 
to Uncle Joseph Lonnes, the oldest living set- 
tler of Holmes Township. Four children — 
Ephraim M., Elmira, Joseph A. and Mary 
Frances are living. John James is deceased. 
He enlisted in 1862, in Co. C, 101st O. V. I., 
and went to the front imraediatel}", engaging 
in two battles before that of Stone River, in 
which last he was shot three times and killed, 
after serving faithfully three months. Those 
living are all married, Joseph married Alice 
Vore, and is on the home farm ; E. M. married 
Lizzie Crall, of Liberty Township, and is a 
farmer of that township, and also a valuable 
salesman in Emrich's store, Bucyrus ; Elmira 
married Prof John A. Roberts, of Knoxville, 
Marion County (Iowa) ; Mary married Lewis 
H. Vore, who is a carpenter by trade, but is 
now fai'ming in Southern Kansas. Mr. Moore 
has served the Methodist Church forty-one 
years as an efficient class-leader, and has as- 
sisted in the Sunday-school work twenty-six 
years, being Superintendent twenty-three years 
of that time, and is filling that position effi- 
ciently at present. He organized the first Sun- 
day school ever held in this township. He is 
also Vice President of the Crawford County 
Sunday School Union. He has organized and 
kept up some six or seven Sunday schools. He 
is actuated by the true Christian principle and 
spirit, and is a man who can spend his declin- 
ing years in reviewing the good which his 
hands have done, and which will make rich his 
crown in the kingdom above. 

HENRY G. PEASLEY, farmer ; P. O. Bu- 
cyrus; was born July 7, 1814, in Clinton Co., 
N. Y., and is of English-Irish descent. His 
father's name was Samuel, and his mother's 
maiden name Jane Greene. Mr. Peasley at- 
tended school and assisted his father on the 
farm during his youth. In June, 1834, he 
came with his father to Mt. Gilead, being one 
month and six days on the road. In Morrow 
Co. Mr. Peasley engaged in farming for several 
years, and then removed to Crawford Co. He 



was married, in February, 1840, to Miss Ann 
Quaintance, daughter of Fisher and Sarah 
(Frey) Quaintance, who came to Crawford Co. 
in 1829, from Jefferson Co. Of this marriage 
there were six children — Sarah, born March 
25, 1841, died at the age of 5 ; Narcissa, born 
March 31 , 1843 ; Ira, born Sept. 16, 1848, died 
Oct. 27, 1865, and Charles, born Aug. 19, 1850, 
died Oct. 29, 1865, both of diphtheria ; cut off 
in the flower of their youth, their loss was a 
keen blow to their loving parents and all who 
knew them, as they were kind, sociable and 
beloved by all ; Minerva, born April 23, 1856, 
and Cynthia, born Dec. 14, 1858, are still liv- 
ing. Mr. and Mrs. Peasley are members of 
the Friends' Church, and are greatly esteemed 
by all who know them. 

SAMUEL PETERMAN, farmer ; P. 0. Bu- 
cyrus ; is the son of John and Barbara (Eck- 
ert) Peterman, and was born in York Co., 
Penn., Sept. 21, 1810. He attended school in 
winter until he was 16 years of age, and then 
assisted his father on the farm until his 21st 
year. His parents removed to this county in 
October, 1827, and entered 320 acres of land 
in Libert}' Township, on the Sandusky River ; 
they cleared a portion of it, and erected a 
hewed-log cabin. Five years afterward, our 
subject left the farm of his father and went to 
Bucyrus, where, for twenty-five years, he was 
engaged in hauling goods between Pittsburgh, 
Baltimore, Cincinnati, Columbus and Sandusky, 
with a six-horse team. After that, he returned 
to the farm on which he now lives, and ha3 re- 
mained there ever since. He was, during his 
teaming career, entrusted with a great deal of 
money for transportation, and always proved 
himself a man who could be trusted. He now 
has a nice property, all gained by his own ef- 
forts and industry. He was married, Nov. *1 9, 
1833, to Violet Hinebaugh. daughter of Conrad 
and Mary (Trout) Hinebaugh, of Philadelphia, 
Penn. They had two children — Mary Ann, 
died at the age of 4 years, and an infant, which 
died very young. 

W. H. POOLE, farmer ; P. 0. Bucyrus ; was 
born April 18, 1828 ; is a son of Rodney and 
Elizabeth (Hoy) Poole, of Frederick Co.," Md., 
who moved to the town of Mexico, in what was 
formerl}' Crawford Co. (but, since the division, 
Wyandot), in the fall of 1835, where they lived 
until 1849, when they moved to the farm on 
which W. H. Poole now lives, where the family 



:tz 



Jk.^ 



HOLMES TOWNSHIP. 



967 



resided until his death, which occurred in July, 
1865. After moving to the now beautiful farm, 
which was, at the time of their settlement, a 
dense forest (there being but one neighbor in an 
area of several miles), they cleared a patch large 
enough for a log cabin, in which they lived and 
endured the sufferings of an early pioneer 
life, in clearing and beautifjMUg their home. 
The parents of our subject moved to Norwalk 
for the purpose of educating their children, 
five in number, where the father was connected 
with the college for two 3'ears, then moved back 
to Mexico, thence to the farm, and thence to 
Mansfield, where they engaged in the lumber 
business for a time, when they retired from the 
business, and returned to familiar haunts. At 
the breaking-out of the late war, the subject of 
our sketcli enlisted in Co. L, 10th 0. V. C, on 
Oct. 10, 1862, under Capt. Brink, serving three 
3^ears, Gen. Kilpatrick Division commander. He 
was close to the General when he was wounded 
at the battle of Resaca ; at Atlanta, when the 
division was surrounded ; and at Bentonville, 
Savannah, and several other places of impor- 
tance. Having served his time, he was honora- 
bly discharged, came home, and engaged in 
farming. He was married Oct. 19, 1859, to 
Miss Catharine Hartman, daughter of Andrew 
and Susan Hartman, of Mechanicsburg, Cum- 
berland Co,, Penn. 

ELI P. QUAINTANCE, farmer ; P. 0. Bu- 
cyrus ; was born Aug. 16, 1818, in Jefferson 
Co., Ohio, and is the second child in a family of 
nine. His youth was spent on a farm and in 
gaining an education to fit him for usefulness 
in life. Mr. Quaintance was married in 1842 
to Hannah Kirk. Of this union there were 
eight children, seven of whom are still living 
and have settled in life, possessing comfortable 
homes and good families. Mr. Quaintance has, 
by hard labor and frugal industry, amassed 
considerable property, and is one of the most 
prominent men of his township, being held in 
high esteem by all who know him, as a man 
of enlightened views and extended informa- 
tion. 

JOSEPH W. QUAINTANCE, farmer; P. 
0. Bucyrus ; was born Aug. 31, 1828, in eTeffer- 
son Co., Ohio, and is the sixth child of Fisher 
and Sarah Quaintance. His parents removed 
to Crawford Co. in 1829, and were among the 
pioneers of this section. They engaged in 
farming, and the subject of our sketch was 



reared on a farm, and has always followed this 
branch of honest toil. He was married in 
March, 1853, to Lucinda L. Gidley, a native of 
Bristol Co., Mass., who removed to this county 
in 1851. Nine children were the fruit of this 
union, seven of whom are still living — Basha, 
married to John A. Eaton, a prominent attorney 
of Bucyrus ; Isadore B., Edith May, Ira Ells- 
worth, Lemert F., Core E. and Howard B. 
Charles and Frank are deceased. Mr. Quaint- 
ance owns one of the oldest farms in the coun- 
ty, which has been called the Old Flake Farm. 
Years ago, there was a mysterious murder com- 
mitted here ; an old peddler was killed, and, in 
order to cover up all traces of the crime, his 
bod}', wagon and all were thrown into a well 
and covered up ; who the peddler was, and also 
the identity of the perpetrators of the deed, have 
never been disclosed, and the whole affair is 
shrouded in mvsterv. 

A. J. QUAINTANCE, farmer ; P. 0. Bucy- 
rus ; was born March 4, 1844; the eldest son 
of Joseph and Hannah (Hale) Quaintance. 
Joseph, father of the subject of this sketch, 
was taken away from his famil}^ by the hand of 
death, leaving the care of a large family upon 
his eldest son, who was about 16 3-ears of age, 
thus depriving him of the limited educational 
advantages of his forest home, having attended 
school only three months in his life ; but, by 
energy and perseverance, he has been success- 
ful as a farmer, and is enabled to give his fam- 
ily the advantages which he was deprived of 
His father and mother were natives of IMary- 
land, and moved to Holmes Township. Craw- 
ford Co., in the spring of 1855, where thej- lived 
until death, witli the exception of a few years 
in Liberty Township. A. J. Quaintance was 
married, Oct. 9, 1859, to Mary Heller, daughter 
of D. J. Heller, a prominent farmer of Holmes 
Township. From this union thei'e were ten 
children — Israel J.. Joseph, Leroy, Martha Etta, 
Daniel, Oscar, Alverta, Blanche, James and 
Olive, all living except Israel and Alverta. who 
died in infancy". He enlisted in August, 1861, 
in Co. C, 101st 0. V. I., and was sent to the 
front immediatel}', under Capt. McDonald, and 
participated in many of the most bloody con- 
tests ; was in Sherman's march to the sea ; at 
Franklin, Tenn., when Gen. Hood raided that 
country ; was at Lookout JMountain ; wounded 
and taken prisoner at the battle of Chicka- 
mauga, and sent to the hospital at Crawfish 



:^ 



'V, 



968 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



Springs ; after recovering, lie returned to his 
command, and was honorably discharged at the 
close of the war. His brother, T. E. Quaintance, 
was torn to pieces b}' a cannon ball at his side, 
while he was miraculously saved. He and his 
estimable wife are members of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, and respected by all. 

JOHN ROBERTS, farmer ; P. 6. Bucyrus ; 
was born April 7, 1805, in Lycoming Co., Penn., 
and was the eldest son of Greorge and Catharine 
(Rickerd) Roberts. The subject of our sketch 
spent his boyhood on a farm, and received a 
common-school education. He was mai'ried on 
March 6, 1826, to Lavinia Walton, eldest daugh- 
ter of David Walton, of Lycoming Co., Penn. 
Of this marriage, there are six children — Flem- 
ing, Wesle}', George Washington (born Feb. 22, 
1832, on the centennial anniversary of the birth 
of his namesake), Mary, Edwin and Willis. Mr. 
Roberts removed to Crawford Co. in 1828, in a 
portion which was then a part of Marion Co. 
He commenced farming, and has always con- 
tinued a tiller of the soil. He lived on his farm 
in Whetstone Township for thirty-seven years. 
His first wife died in February, 1872. He was 
married July 16, 1873, to Miss Belle Chambers, 
of Whetstone Township. By this marriage, 
there are two children — John and Aubrey N. 
Mr. Roberts is a highly valued citizen of Holmes 
Township, where he has lived fourteen years. 
He has been a member of the M. E. Church for 
forty -two years. One of his sons, Edwin, served 
in the cause of the Union in the late war, under 
Capt. Moderwell. 

J. C. REIFF, farmer ; P. 0. Bucyrus ; was 
born March 15, 1836, and is a son of Jacob and 
Catharine (Geiger) Reiff, of Wurtemberg, Ger- 
many. The subject of our sketch attended 
school under the compulsory laws of his " Fader- 
land," until his 15th year, when he entered a 
private college of agriculture, preparatory to 
entering the Government College ; but, before 
being advanced a step higher, he moved to this 
country to live with his uncle and aunt, who 
had also come to America, the former in 1852, 
and the latter in 1853. Our subject engaged 
with his uncle in stone-cutting, masonry and 
plastering for about twelve years, at Tiffin, 
Seneca Co., Ohio. He was married, Jan. 17, 
186_^ to Mary Shock, of Seneca Co. This union 
has been blessed with nine children — Charles 
G. F., Paul A., Eliza M., John C, Hannah M., 
Henry J., Lewis W., and two girls who died in 



infancy. Mr. Reift', since moving to his farm 
in 1863, on which there were three acres cleared, 
has, by his indomitable energy and determina- 
tion in working at his trade during the day, 
cutting timber and burning brush at night, 
cleared up 75 acres, and opened one of the finest 
limestone quarries in Crawford Co., which he 
is running extensively, and in which he was 
quite severely injured. He has held several of 
the offices of the township, and is filling the 
office of Trustee at the present time creditably 
to himself, and satisfactorily to his constituents. 

CHRISTOPHER SCHIEBER is a promi- 
nent farmer living in Holmes Township. He 
was born March 4, 1820, and is the oldest son 
of Caleb and Magdalena (Prosey) Schieber. 
There were of his father's family ten children, 
all of whom are now living. The subject of 
our sketch was united in marriage to Lydia 
Harshberger in August, 1849, and by this 
union there are three children living — Jacob, 
born in December, 1852 ; John, in February, 
1854 ; Magdalena, in September, 1856. Pris- 
cilla was born in August, 1859, but is now 
dead. Jacob, John and Magdalena are mar- 
ried, and are living now in Libert}^ Township, 
and doing well. Mr. Schieber's mother is still 
living, at the advanced age of 82. Our sub- 
ject, coming here in early times, had several 
experiences with the Indians, and is quite a 
prominent pioneer. 

MOSES SPAHR, farmer; P. 0. Bucyrus. 
The subject of this short sketch was born in 
Cumberland Co., Penn., in 1814, and is the son 
of George and Catharine (Guyer) Spahr. He 
is the fourth child of a family of eight chil- 
dren. From his earliest childhood, he was 
brought up on a farm and inured to labor. 
He came to this county at an early day, and is 
one of its honored pioneers, as he forwarded 
the advance of civilization by clearing up the 
wilderness and impi'oving his land. He has 
now a fine farm of 160 acres, well improved, 
which he has acquired bj- industry and perse- 
verance. In early days, almost his only asso- 
ciates were the wild red men of the forest. He 
is a bachelor, and is one of the most respected 
citizens of Holmes Township. 

GEORGE A. SPAHR, farmer; P. 0. Bu- 
cyrus ; was born June 21, 1825, and is the son 
of Jesse and Margaret (Peterman) Spahr, of 
Cumberland Co., Penn. His parents removed 
to Crawford Co. in 1830, and are still living, 






both in their 81st year, there being but seven 
months difference in their ages. Our subject 
attended school and remained on the farm un- 
til he was about 22 years of age. He was 
married, Dec. 10, 1846, to Catharine Cover, 
daughter of Samuel and Elizabeth (Zent) Cov- 
er, who was born Dec. 24, 1825. They have 
had seven children — Joshua, born Dec. 18, 
1849, and died April 22, 1875; Julia Ann, 
born April 8, 1851 ; Daniel, Dec. 23, 1847 ; 
Lavinia, Nov. 8, 1852 ; Moses, Oct. 10, 1854 ; 
George, Nov. 13, 1857, and Eliza, July 11, 
1859. Daniel married Elniira Aumiller, who 
died Nov. 25, 1879. Julia Ann married Eli 
Miller. Lavinia married Ellas Crall. Moses 
married Hannah Taylor, and two are living at 
home. Mr. Spahr moved on to his present 
farm one year after his marriage, and has lived 
there ever since. He has worked hard to ac- 
quire his property, and has been industrious 
and frugal. He has always been a Democrat, 
and hasbeen Trustee of the township. He is 
a member of the United Brethren Church of 
Bucyrus, of which church his son ]Moses is 
Pastor. He is a man universally respected in 
the township, and a devoted Christian worker 
in the cause of his Master. 

REBECCA SELLS, former ; P. 0. Bucyrus ; 
the widow of Jacob Sells, was born April 13, 
1813, and is the daughter of John and Anne 
(Malvy) McBride. She attended district school 
until about 19 years of age, when she engaged 
in teaching school, in which occupation she 
was employed for about six years, when she 
was married Oct. 4, 1838, to Jacob Sells, who 
was a son of Peter and Barbara (Sluss) Sells, of 
Stark Co., Ohio, who moved to Crawford Co., 
about the year 1831. Jacob and Rebecca 
went to keeping house, immediately after mar- 
riage, in a home of their own on the Tiffin 
road, where they lived several years. Jacob 
was an architect and builder by profession, 
and, on account of his extensive business, was 
compelled to be away from home the greater 
portion of the time, thus leaving to the care 
of his noble wife a large family of children. 
Mrs. Sells is a woman of great force of charac- 
ter, and has an indomitable will and courage ; 
sharing the hardships and trials of an early 
pioneer life, she displayed a noble Christian 
character, and in all that which is most beauti- 
ful in woman — the love of home, husband and 
children — she is the perfect type of the true 



wife and mother. Mrs. Sells suffered many 
trials on account of her fearless advocacy of 
abolition principles, their residence being in a 
community where secessionism predominated, 
and also from her husband's absence of seven- 
teen months during the war, he being in attend- 
ance at the land sales in the Osage country, 
Missouri. Their communication being cut off, 
she supposed him to be dead, but had not lost 
all hope, until one day she was notified that 
the corpse of her husband was awaiting her at 
Bucyrus, to which place she went almost 
broken-hearted. The body was identified by 
the family and friends, but, before removing 
the corpse, what must have been her surprise, 
joy and gladness, upon being put in possession 
of a communication from her husband stating 
that he would be with them in a few short 
hours, may be imagined ; thus a scene of the 
deepest sadness was turned to one of rejoicing 
and gladness. Mrs. Sells is a twin sister of 
Mrs. Lockard, Hving near Cleveland, whose 
family has gained so much notoriety in differ- 
ent parts of the country. ^Irs. Sells was blessed 
with ten children— John, born Aug. 22, 1840, 
and died May 15, 1842 ; Annie E., born Jan. 
11. 1841 , Sarah Cordelia, born Aug. 20, 1843; 
Mary E., born July 4, 1845 ; Susan M., born 
Jan. 7, 1847; Isaac D., born Jan. 1, 1849; 
Jeremiah M., born Feb. 3, 1851; Jennie R., 
born Aug. 14, 1856 ; Newton V., born July 17, 
1858, and Jay J., born July 1, 1860 ; seven of 
these are married, and two daughters, iMary 
and Jennie, single are still living at home. 
Newton V. was formerly a law student at Ann 
Arbor, Mich., was engaged with a surveying 
party in the West, and lecturing on temperance ; 
he is a rising young man and now studying in 
Columbus. Ohio. Jay J. is a student at the 
Columbus Medical College; Isaac D. is a por- 
trait painter and sign-writer, and Jeremiah a 
prominent farmer in Wood Co., Ohio. Jacob 
Sells died May 21, 1874. after a severe illness of 
seven months. The widow and family are 
members of the Lutheran Church. 

HENRY SHUPP, farmer; P. 0. Bucyrus; 
was born Dec. 29, 1815, in Dauphin Co., Penn., 
and is the third son of .^lichael and IMargaret 
(Wise) Shupp. His father removed to Crawford 
Co. in May. 1828, and entered 80 acres of land 
on Broken Sword, in Holmes Township. There 
they lived eight years, and then moved on the 
farm where Mr. Shupp now lives, and where his 



^ 'o~ 



i^ 



970 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



father lived till his death. He lived at home 
until his marriage, some thirty-two j-ears ago, 
to Dora Easterday,daaghter of a respected citi- 
zen of Liberty Township. They have six children 
— Malinda, Lucia Ann, Louisa, Solomon, Henry 
and Charles. All of his children except Charles 
are married and doing well, a portion of them 
being in Nebraska. Mr. Shupp and his wife are 
both estimable members of the community, and 
members of the Evangelical Association. 

SAMUEL SHUPP, farni3r; was barn Aug 
2, 1828, in Dauphin Co., Penn., and is the young- 
est son of John and Anne Maria (Yeager) Shupp. 
His father removed to the farm where the sub- 
ject of our sketch now lives, in the spring of 
1831. He worked on the farm and attended 
school until he was 21, when he was married, 
in October, 1848, to Mary Young. She died 
some time after, leaving one child, Emma Clara, 
aged 2 months. He was remarried, in the spring 
of 1851, to Rosanna Schaal, daughter of a re- 
spected farmer of Holmes Township. There are 
six children of this marriage — John, Mary A., 
Simon L., Sarah J., Rebecca A. and Emma E., 
all of whom are living, and all are married save 
Simon and Emma. His second wife died in 
February, 1863, and he has since then married 
to Elizabeth Gerhart, of Holmes Township. 
There are two children of this marriage — ^Edwin 
and Rolandus. Mr. Shupp has been a member 
of the church and a prominent Class-leader, and, 
since his connection with the church, has been 
an exhorter and local preacher, doing valuable 
work for the cause of the Master. 

SAMUEL SHAFFNER, tarmer ; P. 0. Bu- 
cyrus; was born Dec. 13, 1811, in Dauphin 
Co., Penn., and is the son of Martin and Sarah 
(Fleisher) Shaffner. He was reared on a farm, 
and attended school until his 14th year. In 
1829, his parents removed to Whetstone Town- 
ship, settling on the Boyer farm. When about 
15 years of age, he was apprenticed to John 
Bretz, to learn tanning, but at the end of two 
and a half years, he came with his father to 
this county, and assisted on the farm. He was 
married, May 8, 1832, to Miss Frances Shultz, 
of this county. By this marriage there were 
three children — Henry was born Oct. 17, 1833, 
and was killed at Franklin, Tenn., while fight- 
ing in defense of his country. He was before 
this taken prisoner, and almost starved by the 
inhumanity of his captors, at Belle Isle, but, 
being exchanged, he came home, recruited his 



health and returned to the field, experiencing 
many hairbreadth escapes, and was finally 
killed. Martin was born April 5, 1838, and he 
also served in the war ; was at the siege of 
Vicksburg, and in many of the hard-fought 
battles for three years, and escaped without a 
scratch. After the war, he engaged in farm- 
ing, and removed to Wood Co., where he died 
in June, 1879 ; Sarah was born July 1, 1842 ; 
she married William Kinney, and is living 
near Warsaw, Ind. Mr. Shaft'ner's first wife 
died Sept. 13, 1858. His second marriage oc- 
curred, Nov. 25, 1860, to Miss Hannah Martin, 
who died June 3, 1869. Esquire Shaffner is 
one of the prominent men of his township, 
having held several oflfices of trust and re- 
sponsibilit}', for which he was especially fitted. 
He is a member of the M. E. Church of 
Holmes Township, and an exemplar}' Christian 
gentleman. 

GEORGE STROHM, farmer ; P. 0. Bucyrus; 
was born Nov. 20, 1844, in Southern France ; 
son of Frederick and Mary E. Rodebach. His 
parents moved to New York State at Waterloo, 
the journey across the ocean lasting thirty-five 
days, and, after a residence there of six years, 
they removed to Annapolis, this county. After 
a residence here of eleven years, he removed to 
the farm where he now lives. His father died 
in 1864, and he bought the property of the other 
heirs. He was married, March 2, 1871, to Cath- 
erine Leitzy, of Holmes Township. The^^ have 
four children — Mai'y Eve, Rosa, Frederick Fran- 
cis and John George^all living at home. His 
mother died on April 19, 1874. Mr. Strohm is 
a prominent and infiuential citizen, is an indus- 
trious farmer and an honor to the community 
in which he lives. Both himself and wife are 
members of the German Lutheran Church of Bu- 
cyrus, and are estimable people. 

HANNAH SxiWYER, farmer ; P. 0. Bucy- 
rus; was born May 4, 1830, and is a daughter 
of Andrew and Rebecca (Heaton) Ridgeley, the 
former a native of jNLiryland, the latter of 
Pennsj'lvania ; they moved to Crawford Co. 
about the time of the Revolutionary war, the 
father enlisting soon after their removal. The 
subject of this sketch was married May 15, 
1851, to S. F. Sawyer, a prominent farmer; 
nine children blessed this union — William S., 
Ann Eliza, Simon J., Melville J., Emma A., 
John B., Rebecca I. J., Wilmer A. and Frank 
F., all of whom are living except Melville J., 



T^ 



HOLMES TOWNSHIP. 



971 



and four of whom are at home and four mar- 
ried. Mr. S. F. Sawyer died Oct. 20, 1878, of 
that terrible affliction, cancer, after suffering 
all that man could suffer, leaving a widow and 
four children on the farm, to care for them- 
sgIvgs 

SIDNEY L. SPORE, farmer ; P. 0. Broken 
Sword ; was born July 10, 1833, and is a son 
of David C. and Lucy L. (Long) Spore, the 
former born in Schenectady Co., N. Y.,the latter 
of Canada, about fifty miles from Montreal. 
They moved to Chatfield Township, this county, 
in June, 1837, and bought a piece of laud with 
about three acres cleared and a log cabin. Up- 
on this they labored and endured the privations 
of a newly settled country, the father teaching 
school in the winter time, at 50 cents a day, to 
obtain a sustenance for his family, and, on one 
occasion before leaving his family, the father 
had purchased a barrel of flour, for which he 
had paid thirty-six days' labor in teaching, and 
which was to be delivered to his family : so he 
took his departure, trusting that all would be well 
with his little flock. But not so ; on his return 
he found his family in a famishing condition, 
the flour not having been delivered, and they 
had subsisted for six whole days on nothing 
but parched rye. In 1857, after a twent}' years' 
residence, they sold the farm, the mother after- 
ward moving to Macon Co., 111., the father hav- 
ing died Dec. 25, 1862. The subject of this 
sketch has attended school only sixty-three 
days in his life, going bare-footed one and three- 
fourths miles across the woods and through the 
snow ; the remainder of the time, until attain- 
ing his majority, being spent in assisting in the 
work of the farm. At 22 years of age, he 
taught school in the winter, and worked by the 
month in the summer for three years, and then 
worked his father's farm for two years. He 
enlisted in Co. I, 57th 0. V. I., Oct. 8, 1862, 
and was sent to Nashville, Tenn., where he 
joined his regiment ; thence to Vicksburg, and 
was present at the time of Sherman's defeat, in 
the eight-day siege. At tliat place he had his 
knapsack stolen from his back b}' a piece of 
shell which he never succeeded in bringing to 
justice. He then participated in the contest at 
Arkansas Post, which resulted in a glorious 
victory, for the Union forces took 8,000 pris- 
oners, and reduced the fort. They were then 
sent back to Vicksburg, with the combined 
force under Gen. McClernand, and worked on 



the canal at that place, and, on account of ex- 
posure, suffered from a severe attack of typhoid 
fever. After recovery from the fever, he was 
taken with chronic diarrhoea, sent to Lauson 
Hospital, at St. Louis, and then discharged on 
account of disability. To use his own lan- 
guage, he says : " I owe the preservation of my 
life to Mrs. Springer, of Boston, Mass., who was 
President of the Woman's Union Aid Society, 
Mi's. Dr. Jones, of St. Louis, and other noble 
members of that association. Through Mrs. 
Springer's efforts, who walked three miles to 
Oen. Schotields headquarters, and laid my case 
before him in person, I procured my discharge." 
His clothing having been lost, as also his de- 
scriptive list, he was unable to draw the neces- 
sary money or clothing for his return home ; 
so, without money or clothing, except a suit of 
underclothing, which the ladies of the associa- 
tion had given him, he left the hospital in a 
weakened and destitute condition ; but through 
the kindness of the people with whom he came 
in contact, he was enabled to reach Bucyrus, 
where he was met by anxious friends. He 
remained at home recruiting his health for 
about fifteen months, when he re-enlisted in 
the 179th O. V. I.; was promoted to 1st Ser- 
geant, his command being at Nashville, Tenn., 
on post-duty, and was discharged June 17, 
1865. There have been nine children in his 
family, five of whom are living — Sumner, born 
July 28, 1858; Honora, Sept. 6, 1859; Aud D., 
July 20, 1861, died Feb. 18, 1880 ; Armeda, 
March 15, 1863, died March 30, 1863; Oua, 
June 6, 1864, died same day ; Rufus D., June 
6, 1866 ; Benjamin M., Aug. 17, 1868 ; Motta, 
Jan 10, 1873, died Feb. 2, 1873, Loretta, Sept. 
26, 1875. The surviving members of the fam- 
ily are at home, except Sumner, who is attend- 
ing school at Oshkosh, Wis. Mr. Spore and 
wife are members of the Evangelical Associa- 
tion. He is a Republican. 

WILLIAM TAYLOR, farmer ; P. 0. Bucy- 
rus ; was born April 10, 1811, and is a son of 
William and Fanny (Foster) Taylor, of Louisa 
Co., Va., but who moved to Albemarle Co., Va., 
near the University. He was left an orphan 
at 4 years of age, by the death of his mother, 
and at 1 years of age commenced the carpen- 
ter's trade with his father, at which he is still 
working in connection with his farm duties. 
He never attended school a day in his life, but 
has obtained a good common-school education 



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972 



BIOGEAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



by the study of the Bible, which has been his 
constant companion for fift}' years. He has 
also been engaged in the milling business, as 
well as carpentering and farming, having run a 
grist and saw mill for four years before leaving 
Virginia He moved to this county in the fall 
of 1833, to what was then Sycamore Township 
—which was, after the division of the counties, 
thrown into Wyandot — where he lived for fif- 
teen years, and then moved to Holmes Town- 
ship, where he has lived ever since. He has 
attended every election since 1833, except one, 
and has been a prominent man in his township. 
He was married Aug. 12, 1832. to Patience 
Sayrs, of Pickaway Co., Ohio. This union has 
been fruitful of eight children — Josephus, Jas- 
per, Newton, William S., Ephraim S., Ben- 
jamin F., Elizabeth F.. Susan Armiuta and 
Mary Helen, who are all living except Eliza- 
beth, who died in infancy, and Susan A., who 
died at 33 years of age, leaving one child. 
Jasper and Ephraim^ the only two able-bodied 
men in the family, enlisted in the 101st 0. V. 
I., went through with Sherman in his raid, and 
fought in many of the most closel}' contested 
battles on the field, Jasper only being wounded 
in the leg. Mr. Taylor and his family have 
suffered all the trials of a very early pioneer 
life, in the first clearing-up of the country, but 
are now reaping their reward in the enjoj^ment 
of a beautiful home. He and his estimable 
wife have been leading members of the church 
for forty-eight years, consistent Christians, es- 
teemed and respected by all. 

JESSE VORE, farrier ; P. 0. Bucyrus ; 
was born Aug. 15, 1805, in Berks Co., Penn., 
and is the eldest son of Absalom and Margaret 
(Gary) Vore. He attended school until he was 
about 21, in the meantime learning tailoring, 
serving three and a half years. He then 
worked at his trade with George Ossman, of 
Millikin Center, Penn., until about 1852, when 
he engaged in farming for about seven years. 
In March, 1859, he came to Osceola, Crawford 
Co., and six weeks afterward he purchased the 
farm on which he now lives, and has improved 
it and made it " blossom as the rose." He was 
married March 30, 1830, to Catharine Musser, 
daughter of a respected farmer of Center Co., 
Penn. There were eleven children born of this 
marriage, seven of whom are living — Margaret 
Ann, Matilda. Absalom, Lewis H., Catharine 
A., Mary Elizabeth and Alice. Harriet, Julian, 



Sarah and John A. are deceased. Those living 
are married and doing well. Lewis and Mary 
are in Kansas ; Catharine married Frank Fra- 
lick and is living near Hartford City, Black- 
ford Co., Ind. Mr. Vore's success in life is due 
to his own eflforts. His father died when he 
was very young, leaving a widow with three 
children to contend against the world alone. 
Mr. Vore has filled several offices in the town- 
ship. He is a member of the German Reformed 
Church, of Bucyrus, and his wife is a member 
of the Lutheran Church of the same cit3^ 

ELLIS WINNER, farmer ; P. 0. Bucyrus ; 
is the son of Abraham and Rachel (Worner) 
Winner, and was born in Sussex Co., N. J., Oct. 
23, 1812. His life was mostly spent in his na- 
tive State. He was married in Columbia Co., 
Penn., in 1836, to Miss Ruth Parker. He has 
nine children — Sarah A., Martha J., Lewis, 
Charles, Hering C, Andrew, Lemuel, Simon 
Peter and Daniel Webster. Martha J. and 
Charles reside in Kalamazoo, Mich. Two sons 
were of his first marriage — Joseph Lloyd, now 
living in Wilmington, N. C; Chester P. lives in 
Wayne Co., engaged in wool manufacturing. 
Mr. Winner's first wife lived but three years, 
and he was remarried in 1840. She was Mary 
Carr, of Columbia Co., Penn. Mr. Winner was 
for two years traveling agent in Ohio for the 
Bucyrus Machiae Company, and for two years 
in Pennsylvania. He was also for three years 
agent throughout Ohio and Pennsylvania for 
Monnett's Patent Fence. He is an industrious 
farmer, and a man who stands eminently in the 
esteem of those who know him. 

JOHN WENTZ, farmer; P. 0. Bucyrus; 
was born in Chambersburg, Franklin Co., Penn., 
Sept. 1, 1837, and is the eldest son of John and 
Mary (Monard) Wentz. His parents moved to 
Blackford Co., Ind., in September. 1839, and 
Mr. Wentz was hei^e reared on a farm, and has 
always followed agricultural pursuits. He was 
married, Nov. 26, 1857, to Catharine Greenwich, 
only daughter of Jacob and Christina Green- 
wich. They have nine children — Mary E. (who 
was married, Dec. 4, 1879. to T. J. Caldwell, a 
prominent farmer in Bucyrus Township), An- 
nette, Clement L., Willis J., Ora Alice, Clara 
Dell, Ida May, Emma Pearl and John Earl. 
Mr. Wentz is a prominent citizen and farmer, 
is a stanch member of the English Lutheran 
Church, and is a man who stands high in his 
communitv. 



^3/ 



A 



u 



HOLMES TOWNSHIP. 



973 



CHRISTIAN WILHELM, farmer; P. 0. 
Bucyrus ; was born Feb. 20, 1826, in Wurtem- 
berg, German)-, and emigrated to this country 
when quite 3-oung, proceeding to Lancaster, 
Penn., where they wintered, and then moved to 
Columbiana Co., Ohio, wliei'e they lived three 
years, afterward moving to Crawford County. 
The subject of this sketch did not attend school 
in his youth, on account of a lack of knowl- 
edge of the English language, he not being 
able to speak a word of English until after he 
was 18 years of age. At the age of 14 3' ears 
he was left an orphan b}' the death of his 
father, from which time he worked as a farm 
hand, except one year, when he worked in Joe 
Walker's warehouse, at Tiffin, Ohio, until the 
fall of 1851, when he went to California, and 
engaged in mining, meeting with considerable 
success until the spring of 1856 ; when he came 
back to Ohio in the following July, he com- 
menced clearing on his present farm, and a 
glance at his beautiful home and pleasant 
surroundings will be evidence enough of his 
industr}' and good management. He was 
married Dec. 20. 1857, to Esther Houston, 
four children blessing this union — Sarah E. 
H., William, Jan. 1, 1861; Laura, Jan. 31, 
1864, and Ethel, Aug. 13, 1870; Sarah E. 
was married to Thomas Miller, Sept. 1, 1878; 
the rest are living at home, assisting their 
father in household and farm duties, their 
mother having died Feb. 7, 1875, of that dread 
disease, consumption, leaving her cares upon 
her two young daughters, who are taking upon 
themselves nobl}', the responsibilities of the be- 
reaved household. 

ELIZABETH WING ART, farmer; P. O. 



Broken Sword ; was born Feb. 29, 1808, and is 
the widow of William Wingart, formerly of 
Wingert's Corners. The husband of the sub- 
ject of this sketch did not attend school until 
after his first marriage, which occurred Sept. 
19, 1830, to Elizabeth Keener, in Pennsjdvania. 
After marriage, he attended school a short time 
to learn to write and cipher. Wm. Wingart 
came to L3'kens Township, to what is now Win- 
gert's Corners, about 1835, built a shop, and 
engaged in the manufacture of furniture until 
about 1851, when he engaged in mercantile 
pursuits for six years, and then moved to the 
farm on which his family now live,, on April 3, 
1857, improving his farm and commanding the 
respect of his neighbors, being elected to some 
of the prominent offices of the township. By 
his first wife, there were seven children, three 
of whom are living — Henry, Louisa, Mary, 
Maria L., born July 23, 1831 ; "Henry M., June 2, 
1833 ; Melinda, June 3, 1835 ; Louisa A., Sept. 
28, 1836 ; Jane E. and Emma C, twins, born 
Aug. 11, 1839; Mary E., Oct. 18,1841. His 
first wife died Oct. 18, 1841. He was married 
a second time, at Lykens Township, Crawford 
Co., Ohio, to Elizabeth Shupp, on Jan. 30, 
1842, by whom he had eight children — Martha, 
born June 9, 1844; Wm. Nelson, April 12, 
1846; Jacob Seal, Sept. 25, 1848; James K. 
Polk, Feb. 9, 1851; Philo Pierce, July 24, 
1853; Alice L., Oct. 5, 1855; Sarah C.,'Nov. 
6, 1857, and Delia May, May 28, 1860 ; all of 
whom are living and married except Delia May, 
who is living at home with her widowed mother, 
her father having died, Nov. 25, 1864, after an 
illness of about four j^ears. They are members 
of the Albright Church. 




^ 



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974 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



VERNON TOWNSHIP. 



JAMES ANDERSON, farmer; P. 0. Tiro; 
was born June 21, 1833, in Vernon Townsiiip, 
on the site of his present home. He is the son 
of David and Rachel (Dickson) Anderson. His 
father was born in Huntington Co., Penn., and 
when a young man came to Ohio with a kit of 
shoe-maker's tools, and worked at his trade for 
some time. He then returned to Pennsylvania, 
where, in 1826, he was married to Mary D. 
Hamilton, who died in 1828. He came to 
Crawford Count}^ and settled in Vernon Town- 
ship in the year 1830, and after farming awhile 
engaged in mercantile pursuits at De Kalb, 
keeping a general store for some fifteen years, 
during which time he made considerable money. 
He next went to Shelby, where he also engaged 
in business for some two years. He was one 
of the original stockholders in the old State 
Bank of Mansfield, now the Richland County 
Bank, and continued so until his death. He 
was also Vice President of the Shelby Bank. 
In 1838, he had married Miss Rachel Dickson, 
of this township. He was a distinguished pa- 
triot and Republican, and during the war as- 
sisted the cause of the Union by his means and 
influence. He was a member of the Presby- 
terian Church, and was distinguished for his 
liberality in church beneficence. He was the 
father of thirteen children, now scattered 
throughout several States, all doing well. This 
truly good and honored man died May 17, 
1873, at Morrison, 111., while on his way to Cali- 
fornia, to visit a son. His wife lived until Oct. 
9, 1879, when she died at Shelby, Ohio, in the 
75th year of her age. She was loved and 
revered by all who knew her as a noble woman 
who had lived a consistent Christian life, and is 
remembered as a dignified, refined and intelli- 
gent woman, worthy of the honored husband 
whose faithful wife she was. James, her son 
and the subject of this sketch, lived in this town- 
ship until 1852, at which time he went to Shelby, 
and engaged in the store of his father. He also 
engaged in mercantile pursuits in Shiloh and 
New London. He then came back to Shelby, 
and commenced in the grain business, which he 
continued until the close of the war, making a 



considerable amount of money. In 1866, he 
removed to his farm of some 400 acres, and has 
since lived there and tilled the soil. He is a 
prominent business man and a prominent 
farmer of his neighborhood. He is a stalwart 
Republican and has always held to that faith. 
He was married, Oct. 15, 1858, to Elizabeth 
Stimmel, of Shelby, Ohio. They have four 
children — Alva H., a student at Grambier, Ohio ; 
Willis Swanner, Charles Henry and Rachel 
May at home. 

ADAM BILSING, agent and farmer ; P. O. 
Leesville. This gentleman, the son of Henry 
and Christina Bilsing, was born in Franklin, 
Loehlbach Province, of the Principality of 
Hesse, Germany, Feb. 11, 1822. With his par- 
ents, he removed to America, in 1832, stopping 
a month in Columbiana Co., arriving at the place 
of his present home in the fall of the same year. 
His father built the first house erected in their 
vicinity. His family was quite large, and he 
was a man of great respectability and honesty. 
The subject of this sketch was married Oct. 15, 
1845, to Miss Lavinia Fisher, and this union 
was blessed with these children — J. H., Barnard 
C, Mary C, W. A., Eliza E., Anna D., Amilda 
C, Flora Maude, Margaret E. (deceased). Mr. 
Bilsing's first wife died Oct. 28, 1871. He was 
remarried Oct. 5, 1873, to Catharine Dapper, 
whose parents live in this neighborhood. Of 
this marriage, there are three children — Aaron 
P., Augusta Lorena and Frank. Mr. Bilsing is 
a self-made man, who has worked hard to ob- 
tain his present wealth. He commenced as a 
blacksmith, at which trade he worked for some 
time. He has now a fine farm of 250 acres, 
and is engaged principally as agent for all kinds 
of farming machinery, in which business he has 
made a success, being well known throughout 
the county as a man of varied information and 
honesty. He is enterprising, as the manage- 
ment of his farm will show. He is a Christian, 
and has been for a number of years, and stands 
foremost among the citizens of the township. 

RICHARD W. CAHILL, retired farmer ; P. 
0. De Kalb. This distinguished citizen, so well 
known to people of Crawford Co., was born in 



5) 



w 



VERNOX TOWXSHIP. 



975 



Westmoreland Co., Penn., March 6, 1802, and 
is a son of Abram and Nanc}^ Wallace Cahill. 
His father was an officer in the State Militia, 
and at one time had command of all the forces 
in Western Pennsjlvauia. In 1818, the subject 
of this sketch removed to Wayne Co., Ohio, 
with his parents. In June, 1827, he removed 
to Crawford Co., filling a clerkship in a store at 
Bucyrus for six years, after which he came to 
the farm which he now occupies, and has made 
it his place of residence for forty-five years. 
He was married, first, to Miss Eliza Cummins, 
of Richland Co., who died in 1843. He was re- 
married, to his present wife, in 1844, her maiden 
name being Catharine Richards. Mr. Cahill 
had, in his youth, been denied the advantages 
of education, and he had accordingly applied 
himself, when a 3'oung man, to the study and 
reading of various books, so that he became 
self-educated and self-made. In 1841, his abil- 
ity and education were recognized by the peo- 
ple of Richland Co., and he was elected to the 
State Legislature in 1841, and re-elected in 1842 
and 1843, serving his constituency in an admir- 
able manner, not partisan. Although elected 
as a Democrat, he often assumed an independ- 
ent attitude and voted as his judgment directed. 
He has a fine family of sons and daugliters, of 
which he is justl}' proud. His oldest son, 
Abram, studied law with Osborn, of Dayton, 
and was also a partner in the firm. He went to 
Texas and there died. David was County Clerk 
for a number of years, and is now practicing 
law in Bucyrus. Isaac is at present Deputy 
Clerk of Court. Richard Cahill, Jr., is in Na- 
poleon, Ohio, and the younger portion of his 
family is at home. Mr. Cahill has striven to 
educate his children for useful positions in life, 
and now, in his declining years, looks with pride 
upon his family, an ornament to society. He 
is a consistent, whole-souled Christian gentle- 
man, and commands the respect and admiration 
of all who know him. His life has been one of 
distinction, and one that would be a model for 
many of the rising generation. Endowed with 
talent, he has used it for the good of his State 
and the benefit of his famil}'. 

ARTHUR CLELAND, farmer ; P. 0. Tiro ; 
is the fii'st white child that was born in Vernon 
Township, the date of his birth being Feb. 6, 
1826. He is the son of William and Rachel 
(Ramse}') Cleland, his father being one of the 
first settlers in the township. He was born in 



County Down, Ireland, May 14, 1796, and 
came to America with his parents in 1819. 
They landed at the mouth of the Delaware 
River, and lived for eighteen months at Wil- 
mington, Del. From there they went to Brooke 
Co., Va., where, in 1825, Mr. Cleland was mar- 
ried, and afterward came to Ohio, settling here 
in the woods, and clearing up the soil, and out 
of a wilderness gaining for himself a fine farm 
of many acres. He has raised a family of 
eight children, all of whom are living — Arthur 
C, Mary, Margaret, Jane, Susan, William, 
Rachel, Eliza and John. Arthur, the subject 
of this sketch, received his education in this 
township, and has always lived in the county, 
being for some years in Sandusky Township. 
He was married, Oct. 4, 1855, to Priscilla 
Gundrum, a native of Pennsylvania. They 
have three children — William John, Arthur 
Bevington and Rachel Anne, all living at home. 
Mr. Cleland is a man of good and varied infor- 
mation, and a much respected citizen, having 
held several township offices. His father is 
also a fine gentleman, being even yet hale and 
heart}', notwithstanding his advanced age, and 
the family is one of culture and refinement. 

JAMES DIXON, Jr., farmer and stock-raiser; 
P. 0. Tiro. This gentleman, one of the promi- 
nent members of the Dixon family, is a sou of 
Jonathan Dixon, and was born on the farm where 
he now resides, July 25,1827. As will be seen by 
other biographies of the Dixon family, his father, 
Jonathan, was one of the earliest settlers in 
this township, having removed here from Penn- 
sylvania in 1825. A remarkable fact in the 
family' history, which will be found more at 
length in the biographies of the older mem- 
bers, is that thirteen children were at one time 
settled on farms, on all sides of their father's 
place, within hearing of his dinner-bell. The 
elder, Andrew Dixon, grandfather of James, 
Jr., was born in 1776, and emigrated to this 
county in 1831, some time after the advent of 
his sons. James, Jr.. was educated as well as 
the schools of his day would permit, and spent 
the da3-s of his early manhood on the farm. 
He was married, in May, 1855, to Martha Cald- 
well, of Vernon Township. By this marriage 
there are four children — Luatto, David C, 
James E., Martha A. Mrs. Dixon died in 
1 870, and her death was mourned by a large 
number of friends and relatives. Mr. Dixon 
was remarried in 1872, May 22, to Elizabeth 



vy 

^-, 



ihL 



976 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



Simon, born in Cranberry Township. The}' 
have two children — Clayton L. and Andrew. 
Mr. Dixon is living on the farm of his father, 
who is now an old man, being in his 79th j-ear. 
Our subject has been identified as a leading 
stockman, having been engaged in shipping for 
several 3ears. He has been Justice of the 
Peace for a long period, and is a man of con- 
siderable knowledge and good judgment, who 
stands high among his neighboi's. 

J. Ct. STOUGH,^-etired farmer ; P. 0. Shelby ; 
was born in Fayette Co., Penn., Oct. 11, 1802, 
and is a son of John and Catharine (Trautman) 
Stough. His father was a native of York Co., 
Penn., and his grandfather was born in Wur- 
temberg, Germany. His mother's father was 
born in Maryland, and, while he was very 
young, the Indians killed his father and carried 
away into captivity thi-ee of his sisters. Some 
time afterward, he came to Ohio, on the Kil- 
buck, near Wooster, and rescued ihem, taking 
them back home. Mr. Stough's father came 
to Ohio in October, 1806, and settled first in 
Columbiana Co., where he lived some twenty- 
three years. In November, 1826, the subject 
of our sketch moved to Crawford Co. and set- 
tled in Liberty Township. His father came in 
1829. He was a minister of the Gospel, and 
entered the ministry of the Lutheran Church 
in 1793, and served the Lord in his calling for 
fifty-six years, dying in July, 1845. Mr. 
Stough received a substantial education, and 
commenced to farm. He was a farmer in Lib- 
erty Township for forty years, and has been a 
resident of Vernon for thirteen years. He was 
married to Sarah Charlton, in Columbiana Co., 
Aug. 22, 1826. She was a native of Washing- 
ton Co., Md., and born April 8, 1805. She was 
a devoted and Christian wife, a loving and sac- 
rificing mother, and blessed Mr. Stough's varied 
pathway for fifty-three years, departing this 
life the 4th of September, 1879. They had 
eleven children — Elizabeth, who is still living 
and married ; John T., dead ; Jehu, dead ; 
Catharine, living ; Jonas, dead ; Francis, dead ; 
Alba, dead ; Joseph, a member of Co. C, 49th 
O. V. I., and was killed at the battle of Mur- 
freesboro ; Sarah Ann, living ; Frances, dead ; 
Mary, still living. Throughout his long and 
peaceful life, Mr. Stough has been a cons'istent 
Christian, and more, he has worked hard in the 
vineyard of the Master, with an eye single 
for the glory of God. His father before Mm 



beheld his labors blessed, as he lifted up his 
voice in the primitive scenes of this county. 
Revered be his memory, and also the memory 
of his son, who, old and feeble, is now waiting 
for the gates of pearl to open, and once more 
join with those who have gone before, and be 
again united with the wife of his youth and 
the comfort of his declining years. 

JOHN WARNER, farmer; P. O. Liberty 
Corners. This gentleman, who is one of the 
prominent citizens of his township and county, 
was born June 9, 1817, and is a native of York 
Co., Penn. He is a son of Charles and Catha- 
rine (Babbitts) Warner, who with their family 
removed from their native State and settled in 
Harrison Co., Ohio, where they remained nine 
years, removing at the end of that time to Ver- 
non Township, Crawford Co., where John has 
ever since resided. At the time of Mr. War- 
ner's advent here, it was, of course, a wild and 
unsettled country, the improvement of which 
required great labor and exertion. His father 
was a man of upright integrity, who stood high 
in the communit}', and was universally re- 
spected. His labors improved a great portion 
of the land near the town of West Liberty, and 
it was by his own unaided exertions that he 
raised his family and gained for himself a com- 
petenc}'. John assisted his father when young 
and was afterward bound out as apprentice to 
a carpenter, and soon after commenced busi- 
ness for himself While he was just beginning, 
his shop was burned to the ground, and he lost 
all ; securing more tools he went to work again 
and amassed from his own labors a considera- 
ble fortune, and has now two farms, compris- 
ing in the aggregate 240 acres of land. He 
was married in 1840, to Rebecca Jane French, 
daughter of Judge French of this count}'. Six 
children were the fruits of this union, two of 
whom, Catharine and Charles, are dead. Those 
living are William, Julia Ann, Franklin and 
Thomas Jefferson. Mr. Warner is in every 
sense of the word a self-made man, who has 
made all by his own exertions. He has a fine 
home just north of Liberty Corners, and has 
the respect of the entire community as one of 
its most influential members. He has served 
the township as Clerk for fifteen years, and as 
Justice of the Peace for eighteen, and has given 
the best of satisfaction in the administration of 
his offices. He is well read on the various 
topics of the day, and no man in the township 



T^ 



Ml 



VERNON TOWNSHIP 



977 



stands higher in the public estimation than 
Esquire Warner. 

P. B. YOUNGr, physician and surgeon, Crest- 
line. Dr. Young, one of the eminent prac- 
titioners of Crawford Co., was born in Colum- 
biana Co., Ohio, March 8, 1832, and is the son 
of Jacob and Susannah (Brown) Young. His 
father died in 1849, and his mother in 1854. 
In 1855, the Doctor entered upon the studj' of 
medicine in Jefferson Medical College, Phila- 
delphia, completing the course in 1860. He 
began practice in Freedom, Beaver Co., Penn. 
In 1862, he entered the military service as As- 
sistant Surgeon of the 136th 0. V. I., and, in 
1863, was commissioned Surgeon of the 2d 
Penn. V. I., in which capacit}^ he served till the 
close of the war. He then came to Crestline 
and began the practice of his profession, and 
remained there ever since, where he sustains 
an enviable reputation as a man skilled in the 
practice of medicine and surgery. He was 
married in 1862, while in Penns^'lvania, to Miss 
Sarah M. Grormley, a native of that State ; they 
have one child, Howard B. Mr. Young is a 
self-made man in ever}^ respect. B}' his own 
efforts, he obtained an academic education and 
pursued his medical studies. During the 
twenty years of his successful practice, he has 
attended strictly to the affairs of his profession, 
devoting to it his entire time and attention. In 
1874, he was appointed Railroad Surgeon of 
the P., Ft. W. & C. R. R. at Crestline, in which 
capacity he still serves this company. He has 
a beautiful and pleasant home, and is blessed 
with the respect of his fellow-citizens, standing 



high among them as a man of truth and prin- 
ciple. 

J. B. YETZER, farmer; P. 0. Crestline. 
Among the old and highly respected citizens of 
Yernon, and especially of the thrift}- Germans 
in its southern part, is the above-named gentle- 
man, who was born in Vogelsang, State of Aar- 
gau, Switzerland, April 15, 1819. With his 
parents he removed to America in 1833, set- 
tling on his present property in 1834. His 
father died when the son was 22, leaving him 
as almost the entire supporter of the famil}'. 
The country' at that time being very wild, and 
requiring great labor, Mr. Yetzer worked hard 
to make his farm profitable and to support his 
father's family. He was married March 25, 
1845, to Hippolyte Catt}-, who was a native of 
France ; their union was blessed with twelve 
children, six of whom are living. His wife 
continued the journey of life with him until 
Dec. 23, 1876, when she died. Their children, 
who survive are all in good condition in life, 
and are such as a father might be proud of 
Mr. Yetzer, throughout his life, has been a con- 
sistent Christian, adhering strictly to the pinu- 
ciples of honest and upright integrit3^ He 
still lives on the farm which his labor im- 
proved, and has a comfortable home and pleas- 
ant surroundings. He stands high in the com- 
munity, and is one of the best-read men of his 
township, and has worked hard to achieve his 
present prosperity, and is now spending the 
days of his old age in the quiet of the scenes 
of his early manhood. 




<a fc^ 



.[^ 



978 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



TODD TOWNSHIP. 



ELI EVANS, farmer ; P. 0. Poplar ; is the 
son of David and Elizabeth (Dissinger) Evans, 
both of whom are natives of Pennsylvania, the 
former of Welsh descent, the latter of German ; 
his father was a weaver by trade, at which he 
was engaged during the early part of his life. 
He afterward engaged in farming and died in 
Crawford Co., Ohio, at the age of 54 years, and 
Mrs. Evans at the age of 72 years. Our sub- 
ject was born in Summit Co., Ohio, in 1826, and 
while young he obtained a limited common- 
school education. At the age of 20 he engaged 
in the chair-making business at Bucyrus, Ohio, 
which he followed for about twent}' years, all 
the work having to be done by hand. About 
18G5, he purchased some land, since which time 
he has been engaged in farming. Mr. Evans 
was married in 1848, to Sarah Stelts, by whom 
he has had five children, two of whom are liv- 
ing — William and Emma. Mr. Evans has a 
good farm pleasantly situated just south of the 
proposed new station of Lemertville, on the 0. 
C. R. R. He is a consistent member of the 
United Brethren Church, and in politics is a 
Liberal Republican. 

STEPHEN FANT, M. E. minister, Osceola ; 
was born in Louth, Lincolnshire, England, 
and while a young man emigrated to Canada ; 
afterward to the States. He entered the minis- 
try at Ashland, Ohio, in 1846, since which time 
he has been so engaged. It is not necessary to 
recount the number or to detail the amount of 
work done by this venerable man ; suffice it to 
say that he has been a great revivalist, and we 
think the means of doing much good in the 
world. His home for many years was at Dela- 
ware, where he educated his children, seven in 
number, all of whom are now married. Two 
daughters are living in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, one 
son in Chicago and the others living in differ- 
ent parts of the State of Ohio. Our subject's 
charge, as now located, has been organized since 
he came here in 1878, and is composed of 
Holmes, Chappel, Little York, Belle Vernon and 
Osceola, and the different societies taken all to- 
gether have about 147 members. The only 
eulogy we will pass upon this venerable minis- 



ter's life, is that when his Master calls him 
home it will not be said that he lived in vain. 

JOHN FOSTER, farmer ; P. 0. Osceola ; was 
born in Lycoming Co., Penn., in August, 1810, 
and is the son of Thomas Foster, who was born 
in the State of Pennsylvania, where he died at 
the age of 56 ; his mother's name prior to her 
marriage was Elizabeth E. W^ilson, a native of 
England, who died when our subject was an in- 
fant. Mr. Foster received a common-school 
education, and followed clerking at Jersey Shore 
for twenty -one or twent3--tvvo years. In 1837, 
he moved to Crawford Co., Ohio, and bought 
the land where he now resides ; he had 20 acres 
cut down and then returned to Pennsylvania, 
where he remained five years, and, in 1843, he 
removed his family to their home in Ohio. He 
was married, in 1831, to Sarah A. Lea ; her par- 
ents were Lacias P. Lea and Catharine (Rowe) 
Lea. The former was a native of England and 
died in Ohio at the age of 80, and the latter 
died when Mrs. Foster was an infant. Mr. and 
Mrs. Foster have had seven children, of whom 
two are living — Catharine, now Mrs. Coder, of 
Parker Co., Texas ; and Sai-ah E., now Mrs. 
Norris, of Tiffin. Seneca Co.. Ohio. Our subject 
is opposed to secret societies ; is a member of 
the M. E. Church, and takes an interest in the 
elevation of society. He was formerly a Whig, 
and is at present a radical Republican. 

JAMES FORREST, Jr., plasterer and ma- 
son ; P. 0. Osceola ; is a son of James Forrest, 
Sr., who was born in Barre Township, Hunting- 
don Co., Penn., on May 18, 1799. His mother's 
name prior to her marriage was Margaret As- 
ton ; born in Lancaster Co., Penn., on Aug. 23, 
1807. Mr. Forrest, Sr., al-wa^-s followed farming 
as a business ; his early education was very 
limited, except that acquired by himself He 
was a man of great force of character, a reader, 
and one who, b}^ his own efforts, became able 
to converse Intel ligentl}' on nearly any subject. 
During the war of 1812, his uncle was drafted, 
and assigned to Commodore Perry's command, 
and, not being able to go, Mr. Forrest, Sr., volun- 
teered his services to go in his uncle's stead, 
being then 13 years of age. Being large of his 



;rv* 



d^. 



±=iAi 



TODD TOWNSHIP. 



979 



age, he was accepted, and was one of the crew 
that took part in the engagement of the Twin 
Sisters, between the American and Britisli fleets, 
on Lake J]rie, which ended so glorionsly for the 
Americans that it has ever since been stj'led 
"PexTy's Victory." He filled several offices of 
trust creditably to himself and to his constitu- 
ents ; he was Sergeant-at-arms of the House of 
Representatives of the State of Pennsylvania, 
under Grov. Shunk's administration, in 184-4. 
Himself, with family, moved to Osceola, Craw- 
ford Co., Ohio, in the spring of 1854, and pur- 
chased a farm north of the town a quarter of a 
mile, where he died. Being ti'oubled with 
water-brash, he had become weak and debili- 
tated, and, after a severe storm, the excitement 
was so great, perhaps, that he gave way and 
expired in his chair, supported by two of his 
sons, one on each side of him, in the 81st year 
of his age. He left no enemies, had a poor 
opinion of lawyers, thought little of physicians, 
was opposed to fees, and thought law^'ers and 
all officers of trust ought to be paid salaries ; 
his character was impressed with the hardihood 
of old, and he was always ready for anything 
that might occur. He was a worthy member 
of the I. 0. 0. F., taking all the degrees, and 
was Noble Grand of the Lodge at Saulsburg, 
Penn. There was a beautiful tribute to the de- 
ceased passed by a friend, and a poem com- 
posed by his daughter, Mrs. Harter, which 
shows the high degree of intelligence of 
which the family is possessed. Our subject 
was born in Huntingdon Co., Penn. ; he obtained 
rather a limited common-school education, but 
by his own efibrts, having read a great deal of 
history, etc., he is able to converse freely on all 
general subjects. His early life was passed on 
the farm, and at the age of 23, he commenced 
the trade of plasterer and mason, which he has 
followed ever since, though never serving an ap- 
prenticeship. He was married Dec. 16, 1857, 
to Rebecca J. Brown. Thej' have seven chil- 
dren — John L., Mary Juniata, now Mrs. Charles 
Welsh ; Joseph E., James A., Dahlgren L., 
Frank M. and Moreau B., all living, stout and 
hearty. ]Mr. Fori'est and his father were always 
Democrats. 

GILBERT JUMP, farmer; was born in 
Greene Co., N. Y., in 1812. His parents were 
Elijah and Charity (Jones) Jump, both of whom 
were natives of the State of New York, his 
father being a soldier in the war of 1812. Mr. 



Jump, with his parents, moved to Crawford Co., 
Ohio, in 1843, where the latter died, the father 
at the age of 81. and the mother about the age 
of 82 years. When our subject came to the 
State of Ohio, he purchased land near where he 
still resides, and commenced the task of clear- 
ing and improving his farm ; and a glance at 
his premises — his lai'ge and commodious dwell- 
ing — show how well he succeeded. There were 
many Indians in the country when he came to 
it, and, though peaceable with the whites, they 
had many quarrels among themselves. Mr. 
Jump was married in 1837, to Olive Aultman. 
She died in 1844, leaving three children — Ran- 
som, Isaac, and Laraujah, now Mrs. Gunndy. 
Mr. Jump was again married, in 1845, to Eliza 
McCuen, by whom he has five children — George, 
Delos, Morell, Seymour and Viroqua. Using 
his own language, " He has been a Democrat 
ever since he was born." 

WILLIAM T. KELLEY, merchant, Osceola; 
was born in Wood Co., Ohio, May 23, 1854, 
and is the son of John A. and Nancy (Patter- 
son) Kelle3\ His flither moved to Wood Co., 
Ohio, about the year 1830, being one of the 
first settlers, and building the first log cabin in 
Montgomery Township, where he engaged in 
farming. He was Justice of the Peace for many 
years, and was Probate Judge for two terms in 
succession before the county seat was removed 
to Bowling Green, it then being Perrysburg. 
Both parents died at an advanced age. He 
has one half-brother, who went to California 
during the gold fever of 1850, where he has 
since resided, being now worth probably 8100,- 
000, which shows how well he has succeeded. 
Mr. Kelley can relate numerous events of his 
early life, how he stuck in the mud, slept in 
the woods, and caused his parents no little 
alarm. He received a common-school educa- 
tion, and was thrown on his own resources when 
quite young. He worked during four successive 
summers in a nurser3^ in Geauga Co., Ohio, 
after which, he went to Gratiot Co., Mich., and 
engaged with the Monroe Nursery^ Co., for whom 
he worked three years, after which he bought a 
half-interest in a woolen -factory and chair-fac- 
tory, which was burned in 1876, supposed to 
have been the work of an incendiar3\ From 
there, he returned to Mill Grove, Wood Co., 
Ohio, where he purchased a half-interest in a 
drug store on borrowed capital, and afterward 
bought the entire stock. He had an adventure 



3?r 



980 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



in business, of short duration, in North Balti- 
more, Ohio, and in May, 1880, moved his stock 
of goods and ftimily to Osceola, where he is 
doing a flourishing business in drugs and gro- 
ceries. He was married, Feb. 8, 1879, to Lora 
Phillips, who was raised in Sycamore, Ohio, by 
which union they have one child. He is a 
member of the T. O. 0. F., and in politics is a 
Republican. 

G. W. LEITH, retired ; P. 0. Nevada, Wy- 
andot Co.; was born in Guernsey Co., Ohio, in 
October, 1810 ; his grandparents were captives 
of the Indians for twent3"-nine years, roam- 
ing from place to place, his father being born 
during their captivity. They were of the float- 
ing frontier class, moving from place to place, 
finally locating in Fairfield Co., Ohio, where our 
subject's father died when he was yet a little 
bo3\ He was brought to Crawford Co., Ohio, 
in the beginning of April, 1824, by a guardian, 
and was engaged in the pursuits incident to 
farm life, clearing, grubbing, farming, etc. Mr. 
Leith never had the privilege of attending 
school, except one-half day in his life, when it 
rained, and he could not work in the corn. The 
event of that day was his throwing a chip 
through a greased-paper window, for which he 
received an application of the birch, the re- 
membrance of which is still vividly impressed 
upon his memor}' , though now in his old age. 
After his marriage, his wife being a good 
reader, the J udge learned to read aad write, the 
hardest part being to get the connection of dif- 
ferent subjects. When Mr. Leith settled in 
Crawford Co., he was the first settler in Leith 
Township, called " Leith " after his grandpar- 
ents (the captives). The entire county being 
thinly settled, the Indians and their ponies 
roamed over the prairies and thi-ough the for- 
est at will. And many times our subject has 
started after his horses in the morning, they 
having strayed off during the night, and fol- 
lowed after a band of Indian ponies, only 
clad in shirt and breeches, following trails 
sometimes all day, without anything to eat. 
The first week that he was in the county he got 
lost in the evening, and had to remain out all 
night ; to add to his terrors, the wolves made 
the night hideous with their howls, often com- 
ing so near that he could see them. On sev- 
eral occasions his wife remained in the camp 
all night alone, without doors or windows, he 
being away from home. Mr. Leith was mar- 



ried to Margaret Steele, of Seneca Co., who has 
been the mother of ten children, the youngest 
being twin daughters, though but five are left 
to cheer them in their old age. The Judge 
never voted until 1840, for the reason that he 
was never before satisfied in his own mind that 
he knew how to vote intelligently, voting for 
Gen. Harrison, after which he voted the Whig 
ticket until the organization of the Republican 
party, which ticket he has voted ever since. 
In 1845, Mr. Leith was elected to the office of 
Associate Judge of the Court of Common 
Pleas, which office he filled during the term of 
eight yeai'S, very creditabl}- for himself and 
with satisfaction to his constituents. Through 
the partiality of his friends, he was once nomi- 
nated for Representative, and twice for the Sen- 
ate, but failed from the fact that he was in one 
of the strongholds of Democracy, and could not 
get the votes. The Judge is one of the earl}' 
pioneers, having come to the county more than 
half a centurj" (fifty-six years) ago, and was ac- 
quainted with the early settlement and organi- 
zation of the county. The Judge, though fee- 
ble with age and the hardships through which 
he has passed, still possesses a clear mind and 
a good memory, and has been one of the most 
important personages that figured in the early 
settlement of the county. 

LEWIS MILLER, farmer; P. 0. Poplar; 
was born March 18, 1836, in Seneca Co., Ohio ; 
he received a good education, attending the 
common schools while young, and, at the age 
of 18, entered the Otterbein University, situ- 
ated at Westerville, Ohio, where he attended 
for two years, after which he attended Heidel- 
berg College, at Tiffin, Ohio, one year. Mr. 
Miller had a desire to enter the legal profes- 
sion, but, after commencing the stud}' of law, 
was compelled to give it up on account of his 
health. His parents were Jacob and Phcebe 
(Pennington) Miller. His father is a native of 
Ohio, and still living ; his mother was a native of 
Virginia ; she died at the age of 66 years. 
Lewis has taught about twenty terms of 
school, has been School Examiner for some 
time, and has been engaged in ftirming to some 
extent nearly all his life. He has been consid- 
erable of a sporting man, and was the owner of 
" Ketchup," bred and raised by his father, tak- 
ing several handsome races, and making his 
best time at Tiffin, Ohio, in 2:24. Mr. Miller 
was married, on Feb. 12, 1880, to Crilley A. 



V 



TODD TOWNSHIP. 



983 



Houseburg. He is a man of good informa- 
tion, and a Democrat. 

LUTHER M. MYERS, retired ; P. 0. Osce- 
ola ; was born in the State of Maryland in the 
year 1814, and is the son of Adam and Marga- 
ret (Worman) Myers. Mr. Myers attended 
subscription school while 3-oung at different 
times until he was 14 years of age, paying a 
small sum per quarter, his grammar consuming 
a part of his time for three days, and he im- 
provised rules for arithmetic to suit himself, 
Mr. Myers served an apprenticeship at milling, 
carpentering and millwrighting. He had charge 
of a mill for several years, and, in 1848, moved 
to Wyandot Co., Ohio, where he resided until 
1854, at which time he removed to Crawford 
Co., Ohio, where he has since resided. He was 
married, in 1844, to Susan Ho}^, and both of 
them are living to a good old age, though not 
blessed with any children. Our subject has 
been a life-long Democrat, though laying aside 
party affiliations at times in local matters, vot- 
ing for those who, in his judgment, are the 
most eminently qualified to fill the positions 
sought. Mr. Myers is a man that keeps thor- 
oughly posted on all general subjects, and 
takes an interest in all enterprises of interest 
to himself and those around him. He is a No- 
tar}- Public, and, by his unpretentious man- 
ners, he commands the good will and respect 
of his neighbors and fellow-men generally. 

JOHN OUTHWAITE, farmer ; P. 0. Osce- 
ola ; was born in Fulton Co., Penn., on Nov. 
10, 1820, and is the son of William and Eliza- 
beth (Thompson) Outhwaite, both natives of 
Yorkshire, England. They came to America 
in February, 1818, and settled in Fulton Co., 
Penn., where they lived seventeen years, and 
in 1836 moved to Seneca Co., Ohio, where the}' 
resided during the remainder of their lives, 
the father living to the age of 64 and the 
mother to the age of 54 years. John attended 
subscription schools in Pennsylvania, and the 
public schools after coming to this State, re- 
ceiving a fair education for the time. He left 
his parents and engaged in business for him- 
self when he was about 25 years of age, and 
about two years afterward purchased the land 
where he now resides. He has made several ad- 
ditions since, now being the owner of 240 acres 
of land, all under cultivation, with good build- 
ings orchards, etc. He takes an interest in 
fine stock and in improvements of all kinds. 



He was married, Feb. 22, 1855, to Drusilla 
Brown, of Seneca Co., Ohio, daughter of Will- 
iam and Rachel (Wiltse) Brown. They have 
two children living, Susan Belle, born Nov. 3, 
1859, now Mrs. Tucker, and John R., born 
March 8. 1863, and three dead, two of whom 
died young, and one, William B., died Dec. 3, 
1879, aged 23 years. He was a young man of 
promise, and his death was a grief to his father 
and regretted by all who knew him. Mr. 
Outhwaites wife died on Dec. 2, 1868, and on 
April 27, 1873, he was again married to Susan- 
nah Brown, a sister of his former wife. Our 
subject has been a member of the church 
nearly all his life, and was a Whig until the 
organization of the Republican part}-, to which 
he still adheres. 

DAVID POLLOCK, farmer ; P. 0. Osceola ; 
was born in Ashland Co., Ohio, on Aug. 8, 1825 ; 
son of Joseph and Nancy (McKinze}^ Pollock, 
the latter a native of Pennsylvania, and Mr. 
Pollock, a native of Virginia, who moved to 
Richland Co. Ohio, in 1812, being among the 
first settlers of that count}-. He helped raise 
the first house in Ashland and the second house 
in Mansfield. They lived in Richland Co., un- 
til their death occurred, the father d3-ing in 
1867, and Mrs. Pollock in 1874. David re- 
mained with his parents (getting a limited 
common-school education, the time of his at- 
tendance not exceeding eighteen months in all), 
until 1851, when he moved to Crawford Co., 
Ohio, where he purchased 80 acres of land on 
which he now resides, and cleared the space to 
build a house. His farm is all cleared and the 
additions to it, together with the handsome 
brick mansion which stands where used to be 
the little log cabin, showing the degree of pros- 
perity which now surrounds him. He was 
married, in 1851, to Mar}^ Baile}-, who was 
born in Ashland Co., Ohio ; her parents being 
natives of Jeft'erson Co., Ohio, and were related 
to Thomas Ford, once Lieutenant Governor of 
the State. The}- have had seven children, five 
of whom are living— Joseph, Loren, Lambert, 
Robert and Alice L. Mr. Pollock was formerly 
a Whig and has been a Republican since the 
organization of the party. 

CAPT. JOHN WERT, retired mechanic, Os- 
ceola ; was boi'n in Cumberland Co., Penn., on 
Aug. 3, 1808, and is the son of Joseph and 
Barbara (Kitch) Wert, both of American birth. 
His grandmother was one of the many women 



>T 



984 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



brought to this country, during the early settle- 
ment of the country, who served a number of 
years (being sold to the highest bidder) to de- 
fray the expenses of the voyage to this country. 
Our subject, with his parents, moved to Craw- 
ford Co., Ohio, in 1826, and settled on the San- 
dusky River, about ten miles from Bucyrus, 
where his father entered 160 acres of land. 
The Captain, in 1828, attended school in Bucy- 
rus, working morning and evening for his 
board, being clad in the pioneer outfit — buck- 
skin breeches, moccasins and coon-skin cap. 
The schooling he received, however, did not ex- 
ceed four months. He worked one year at $7 
per month, after which he served an apprentice- 
ship at the carpenter's trade, which business he 
followed for fourteen years, and afterward fol- 
lowed millwrighting for thirty-three years. The 
Captain moved to Osceola in 1847, where he 
has since resided. He was married, in 1831, to 
Sarah Ziggler, by which union they have been 
blessed with eleven children, eight of whom are 
living — Sarah A. E., Mary J., Nancy C, Harriet 
C, Henry J. F., Edward D., Ro}^ Gr. and James 
S. M. He first voted the Democratic ticket, 
voting for Gen. Jackson, next for Gen. Harri- 
son, and, since the organization of the Repub- 
lican party, he has been one of its strongest ad- 
herents. 



JOHN WIREBAUGH, farmer; P. 0. Os- 
ceola ; was born in Penns3'lvania on July 28, 
1806, and is the son of Nicholas and Elizabeth 
(Fisher) Wirebaugh, both natives of Penns^dva- 
nia. Our subject, with his parents, came to 
Columbiana Co., Ohio, in the year 1812, and, 
after the formation of Carroll Co., they were in 
that count}^ where the parents died, the former 
being 73 years of age and the latter about 63. 
Our subject received a limited education, at- 
tending subscription school in the old-time 
schoolhouses, with puncheon seats and greased- 
paper windows. He moved to Crawford Co., 
Ohio, during the year 1847, and bought the 
land where he now resides, and cleared a place 
for buildings. An event of the first day was 
that they lost their axes while at dinner, and 
had the trouble of hunting some time before 
they found them. Our subject was married to 
Elizabeth Potts, from which union they had six 
children — William H., Nicholas J., Elizabeth 
R., Sarah C, Nathan P. and John F. His wife 
died while he was yet in Carroll Co., and he was 
again married, to Elizabeth Horner, who is still 
living. They have four children — Cyrus S., 
Stuart C, Ladora E. and Isaac V. Mr. Wire- 
baugh is a member of the Christian Church at 
Bucyrus, Ohio, and has been a life-long Demo- 
crat. 



CRANBERRY TOWNSHIP. 



J. F. AILER, Postmaster and druggist ; was 
born in Chatfield Township, March 4, 1840. 
His parents, Frederick and Christina Ailer, 
were natives of Germany. They were the pa- 
rents of three children — John, Caroline, and 
Jacob F. The latter was left motherless when 
but 4 days old, and his father, being very poor, 
bound him out to a Mr. Guiss, for a period of 
twent^'-one years. Mr. Ailer's stay with the 
Guisses lasted until he was 17 years of age, 
when Mrs. Guiss died, and he was then given 
his freedom. While at Mr. Guiss', he had little 
or no chance to see anything of the world, for 
the only time he was allowed off the place was 
to go to church or school. When given his 
freedom, young Ailer hired out to Christian 
Guiss, for $10 per month ; this was the first 
money he could call his own, and he saved it 



up and went to school, thinking he could put it 
to no better use than in acquiring an education. 
Mr. Ailer's schooling was received mostl)' at 
Hayesville High School, Ashland Co., Ohio. 
During the winter of 1857-58, he taught his 
first term of school ; the next summer, again 
working for Mr. Guiss, and with the money 
thus acquired, he continued his education. 
From that time until 1863, he alternately taught 
school, worked on a farm and studied. In 1863, 
he commenced clerking in a provision store in 
Bellevue. His work from that time was some- 
what varied, consisting of clerking in stores, and 
working for railroad companies, etc. In the fall 
of 1863, he married Miss Susan Guiss, daughter 
of John and TJrsilla (Grant) Guiss ; and by her 
had one daughter — Melissa, who is now dead. 
His wife died June 8, 1865 ; her early death 



V^ 



CRANBERRY TOWNSHIP. 



985 



being deeply regTetted by all who knew her. 
Mr. Ailer's second wife was jMiss Elsie Rang, 
daughter of Henry and Emily (Weeks) Rang ; 
to whom he was married Oct. 3, 1867. To this 
union were born the following family : Frank- 
lin J., born Dec. 22, 1868, died July 31. 1869 ; 
William H., born Feb. 8, 1870; Alpha 0. born 
July 1, 1873, and Pearl 0., born March 29, 
1878, and died Aug. 29, 1880. Mrs. Ailer was 
born July 17, 1850. Mr. Ailer has, at differ- 
ent times, been in the drj' goods and drug 
trade, and at present his occupation is druggist 
and Postmaster, having been appointed JPost- 
master on April 9, 1866, and has ever since 
held that office in New Washington. Mr. and 
Mrs. Ailer are intelligent and sociable people, 
and are among the first citizens of the place. 

J. F. ACKERMAN, larmer and stock-dealer ; 
P. 0. New Washington ; was born x\pril 13, 
1845, on the farm he now owns in Cranberry 
Township. His parents, John and Mary (Ham) 
Ackerman, were of German descent, the father 
being born in AVittenberg, Germany, and the 
mother in Stark Co., Ohio. The father, when a 
young man. came to the United States, locating 
in Stark Co., Ohio. Here he met her who soon 
afterward became his wife. After living in 
Stark Co. a number of years, they came to 
Liberty Township, Crawford Co., and, about 
1843, removed to Cranberry Township, in the 
same county. These people were honest and 
industrious ; coming, as they did, into an al- 
most unbroken wilderness, they endured many 
privations, that to-day their children might 
reap the benefit. They were the parents of the 
following family : Mary, Elizabeth, John, Catha- 
rine, Jacob F. and Eliza. The parents of these 
children are both dead. The subject of this 
biography was reared on the farm, receiving 
a common-school education. On Feb. 11, 1869, 
he was united in marriage to Miss Catharine 
Kakfer, daughter of John and Fredrica (Loyer) 
Kakfer, of Liberty Township, and by her has 
seven children — Eliza A., born May 13, 1870 ; 
John W., born Nov. 3, 1871 ; Emma L., born Sept. 
16, 1873 ; Jacob C, born Feb. 3, 1875 ; Francis 
M., born Sept. 13, 1876 ; Elmore J., born June 
30, 1878, and Hattie C, born March 9, 1880. 
Mrs. Ackerman was born March 4, 1847, in Lib- 
erty Township. Mr. Ackerman owns 1 52 acres of 
excellent land in this township. He is a Demo- 
crat in politics, and he and his wife are mem- 
bers of the German Lutheran Church. Mr. 



Ackerman is an intelligent and enterprising 
gentleman. He is well respected wherever 
known, and enjoj's the confidence and esteem of 
a large circle of friends. 

MICHAEL BAKER, New Washington, was 
born in France Nov. 1, 1831. He is a son of 
John and Catharine Baker, who were parents 
of ten children, seven of whom are yet living. 
His father was a soldier under Napoleon, and 
served his country with distinction. Michael 
was raised on a farm, and, in 1843, moved with 
his parents to the United States, locating in 
Cuyahoga Co. When 18 years old, Michael 
began learning the carpenter's trade, which 
business he followed until 1855, when he began 
fitting himself for the priesthood. For ten 
years he studied and went to school, and at the 
end of that time graduated at the Catholic 
Seminar}', situated at Cleveland. He was im- 
mediatel}' assigned to the New Washington 
charge, and with that charge has ever since 
been identified. On his arrival, there was 
nothing but a small frame church, but now, by 
his perseverance and exertions, the Catholics 
have one of the finest churches in Crawford 
Co. The history of that church will be found 
in the history of Cranberry Township. Mr. 
Baker is an intelligent gentleman, and the 
Catholics of New Washington owe much of 
their prosperitv to him. 

JACOB J. BEAR, merchant. New Washing- 
ton ; son of Daniel and Julia A. (Haller) Bear, 
was born in Lancaster Co., Penn., Aug. 6, 1835. 
His father was a native of Pennsylvania, and 
was born in 1808. Mrs. Bear was born in Ger- 
many in 1816, and they were married in Lan- 
caster Co., Penn., in 1832. To them were born 
six children, three of whom are yet living, viz., 
John, Barbara and Jacob. John married Sarah 
Dean, and lives in La Grange Co., Ind. ; Bar- 
bara is the wife of N. H. Chamberlin, and lives 
in Williams Co., Ohio ; Jacob J. lived with his 
parents on a farm until 13 years of age, and 
entered a printing office in Marshall, Mich., 
where he remained two j'ears. At the conclu- 
sion of that time he engaged in the printing busi- 
ness in Coldwater, Mich., where he remained 
one year. From 1851 until 1859, he traveled 
through a great many of the Eastern cities at 
different times, working in the Times office at 
Toledo, the Review and PhtindcaJer at Cleve- 
land, the Times at Pittsburgh and the Times 
at Wheeling, Va. For nine months, he was at 



0- 



[\^ 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



Painesville, Ohio, where he published a book on 
latitude and longitude, entitled '• Mnemotech- 
ny." In 1860, he took the "gold fever" and 
started for Pike's Peak. After a long and event- 
ful trip overland, Mr. Bear and the company 
with whom he went arrived at their destination 
in safety. Here he commenced mining, but it 
turned out a complete failure financially, Mr. 
Bear sinking his " all " in the enterprise. About 
this time W. N. Byers established the first news- 
paper — the Rocky Mountain Neus — in Denver. 
Mr. Bear immediately engaged his services to 
Mr. Byers, and, as a matter of history, it can 
be said he assisted in publishing the first news- 
paper in Colorado. After nine months unprofit- 
ably spent in Colorado, Mr. Bear returned to 
the States and engaged in his old trade in St. 
Louis, Mo., Alton, III, and other places. In 
June, 1861, Mr. Bear enlisted in Co. A, 21st 
Ind. V. I., and served his countr^^ thi-ough the 
bitter struggle of the war of secession. He 
was in quite a number of engagements, among 
them being Fort Jackson, Phillippi, Baton 
Rouge, Vicksburg, Island No. 10 and others. 
During his army career, he was Post-Printer a 
greater part of the time. He was discharged in 
January, 1865. Mr. Bear has been married 
twice, his first wife being Parmelia Cannon, by 
whom he had one daughter — Ida M., born April 
5, 1867. His present wife was Catharine M. 
Kariger, to whom he was married Sept. 18, 
1873. By her he has four children — Charles 
L, born June 27. 1874 ; Eden W., Dec. 4, 1875 ; 
Elmer A., Nov. 30, 1878 ; and Senora B., June 
17, 1880. Mrs. Bear was born Sept. 25, 1847 ; 
Mr. Bear owns a livery barn and house and lot 
in the city. He also owns one of the best gro- 
ceries in town, and he does an excellent busi- 
ness. Is a Democrat in politics, and a keen, 
wide-awake gentleman. 

HENRY BECKER, Jr., merchant. New 
Washington. Among the young and enter- 
prising business men of New Washington is 
the subject of this biography. He was born 
in Pennsylvania Feb. 17, 1855, and is a son of 
Henry and Kate (Breckly) Becker. His par- 
ents were natives of German}', and were mar- 
ried in Pennsylvania. They came to the 
United States about the year 1825, and to 
them were born twelve children — Henry, 
Charles, Kate, Mary, x\nne, Edward, Helen, 
Christopher, Martha, Augusta, Ida and Caro- 
line. The father of these children is at pres- 



ent a prosperous merchant in Girard, Penn., 
and is an intelligent and well-respected citizen 
in his locality. Henry Becker, Jr., received an 
excellent education in his native State, and in 
Mai'ch, 1877, embarked in the merchant-tailoring 
business in New Washington. Mr. Becker, al- 
though a 3'oung man, has had considerable ex- 
perience in his line of business, and his fair 
and honest dealings have won for him the 
name of being one of the best business men in 
the village of New Washington. 

DR. CHARLES T. BENNER, physician and 
surgeon. New Washington ; was born in TiflBn, 
Ohio, July 29, 1856 ; he is a son of George and 
Susanna (Zlise) Benner, who were parents of 
five children — Josei^Jpne, William, Augustus, 
Charles T. and John. Dr. Benner's youthful days 
were passed in TiflEin going to school. He was 
for one year in the employ of Gray & Steven- 
son, in Tiffin, and, for a short time, clerked for 
his brother in the same place. In 1874, he 
commenced the study of medicine, under the 
instruction of Kinnamau & Ilershiser, and, 
after a thorough study of the branches neces- 
sary, he entered the University of Wooster, at 
Cleveland. After one term of lectures, in the 
spring of 1877, he began practice in New 
Washington. Here he met with excellent suc- 
cess, and, the next winter, returned to college, 
where he graduated. After his graduation. Dr. 
Benner returned to New Washington and re- 
commenced the practice of medicine. Jan. 8, 
1880, he was united in marriage with Miss Jen- 
nie C. Meschinger, daughter of John U. Mesch 
inger, Esq., of Tiffin. Although yet a .young 
man. Dr. Benner, by his gentlemanly deport- 
ment, and the success with which he has met 
obstinate cases, has won an excellent practice, 
and one that is as desirable as any physician 
enjoys in Crawford Co. He is an enterprising 
young man, and a Democrat in politics. He is 
widely known and highly respected through- 
out the county. 

J. W. and T. B. CARSON ; P. 0. New Wash- 
ington. The parents of these gentlemen, Sam- 
uel and Elizabeth (Willoughby) Carson, were 
of German-Irish descent. They were natives 
of Virginia, and were married in Harrison Co., 
Ohio, in 1814, and to them were born eleven 
children, eight of whom are yet living. These 
parents came to Seneca Co.. Ohio, in 1835, 
locating in Venus Township, where they re- 
mained until their respective deaths. Mr. Car- 



:^ 



CRANBERRY TOWNSHIP. 



987 



son claims to be a distant connection of the 
celebrated trapper and Indian fighter, "Kit" 
Carson. Mr. Carson was a man very decided 
in his views, and, being a man of excellent 
judgment, he, in his time, was considered one 
of the most prominent and intelligent citizens 
in northern Crawford and southern Seneca 
Counties. In politics, he was a Democrat until 
Buchanan was elected President. Being a 
strong Abolitionist or anti-slavery man, and not 
liking Buchanan's administration, he threw 
his influence and support with the new part}- — 
Republican — with whom he ever afterward be- 
came identified. Mrs. Carson died in Februar}', 
1866. She was a fond wife and a kind and 
affectionate mother. Mr. Carson survived his 
wife until June, the following 3'ear, when he, too, 
died and was laid awa}^ to rest by the side of 
her who was his helpmeet in life. The names 
of their children are Robert, J. W., Anne, 
Harrison H., George, Margaret, Sarah, Hannah, 
Eliza and Samuel. Robert, Anne and Hannah 
are dead. The balance of the family are living 
in Ohio and Michigan. J. W. Carson was born 
in Harrison Co., Ohio, Dec. 3, 1818. He was 
reared on a farm, and in 1841, was united in 
marriage to Miss Mar}' Ann Moore, daughter 
of Maurice Moore, Esq. By her Mr. Carson 
has twelve children — Margaret J., Elizabeth E. 
(dead), Hannah L., George (dead), Sarah, Samuel 
B., Maurice (dead), Eliza, Harrison M. (dead), 
Mary F., Ida M. and Ettie. Mrs. Carson was 
born in New Jersey in 1820. Mr. Carson owns 
80 acres of land in Venus Township, Seneca 
Co., where he resides. In connection with 
farming, he deals quite extensivel}' in stock. 
He is an uncompromising Republican in poli- 
tics, and a first class citizen. His brother T. 
B. was born in Seneca Co., Ohio, June 7, 1837. 
His youth and early manhood, like that of his 
brother, was passed on a farm. He received a 
good common-school and academical education. 
May 2, 1861, he was united in marriage with 
Sarah, daughter of Jonathan and Elizabeth 
(Bigam) Smith. His wife was born in Seneca 
Co., Ohio, in 1841. Sept. 1, 1861, Mr. Carson 
enlisted in Compau}' H, 14th Regiment 0. V. 
I., and was discharged Sept. 9, 1864. He 
bravely served his country throughout the war 
of secession, participating in a number of en- 
gagements, a few of the more prominent being 
Chickamauga, Lookout Mountain, Mission 
Ridge, Jonesboro and a number of others. He 



and wife are parents of six children — John W., 
Viola E., Wilbur C, Ulysses, Estella and Fran- 
cis M. Of these only the two former are liv- 
ing. Mr. Carson owns a large and well-im- 
proved farm. He is a stanch Republican in 
politics, and a member of the Methodist Church. 
The Carsons are very sociable and highly re- 
spected people. They enjoy the friendship 
and esteem of a large circle of friends and 
acquaintances. 

H. M. CORY, insurance, New Washington ; 
was born in Cranberr}' Township. Crawford Co., 
Dec. 28, 1845. He is a son of Thomas and 
Esther (Brown) Cor}^, appropriate mention of 
whom will be found in the biography of Hon. 
J. E. Cory, in this work. Mr. Cory was reared 
on his father's farm, and during his youth re- 
ceived quite a good common-school education. 
When 20 years old, he commenced attending 
the male and female seminary of Lexington, 
Richland Co., Ohio, where he remained two 
years. He then for one year attended the Ohio 
Wesleyan University, at Delaware, Ohio. Dur- 
ing the spring of 1870, Mr. Cory went to Kan- 
sas, where he engaged in the real estate busi- 
ness for a number of years, and, while engaged 
in this, read law under the instruction of Thomas 
C. Cory, a brother, who was living in Parsons. 
In August, 1878, he returned to his native 
neighborhood, w4iere he engaged in his present 
occupation. Mr. Cor}' represents the Continental 
Insurance Co. of New York, one of the best 
companies in the United States. It has a cash 
capital of $1,000,000, and the popularity of this 
company is largely increased in securing Mr. 
Cory's services in Crawford and Richland Coun- 
ties. During Mr. Cory's life, he has taught 
school to some extent, in which he has invariably 
given excellent satisfaction. He is a Democrat 
in politics, and we predict for him in the near 
future an honorable position in that party. 

HON. JAMES E. CORY, carpenter and 
joiner ; is a native of Cranberry Township, and 
was born in September, 1840. He is a son of 
Thomas and Esther (Brown) Cory, and grand- 
son of Aaron and Elizabeth (McGuire) Cory, 
who came to Cranberry Township in 1826. Of 
the grandparents, more is said of them in the 
history of Cranberr}' Township. Thomas Cory, 
son of Aaron, was a native of Tuscarawas Co., 
Ohio, and was born in 1810. When 9 3'ears 
old, he, together with his parents, moved to 
Richland Co., Ohio. He married Esther Brown, 



'^ 



988 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



and to them were boni the following family — 
Mary E., Thomas C, James E., Robert W., 
Hugh M., Sarah E. and Susan N. Mary is the 
wife of James Morrow, and lives in Auburn 
Township ; Thomas C. resides in Kansas, his 
wife was Leona Comstock ; James E. and Hugh 
M. are both single and reside in their native 
township ; Robert W. is a prominent citizen in 
Lykens Township, and is the husband of Aba- 
gail Purky ; Sarah is the wife of Henry C. Mar- 
tin, and resides in Montgomery Co., Kan., and 
Susan is the wife of John Morrow, whose biog- 
raphy accompanies this work. As far back as 
can be traced, we find the Cor}' family to be 
one of more than ordinary intelligence and en- 
terprise. We first notice Aaron Cory, who, 
braving the wilds of an unexploi'ed wilderness, 
emigrated to the interior of Ohio when it was 
but a Territory, in 1814-15, he settled in Wayne 
and Richland Cos. Thomas Cory imbibed much 
of his father's energy of character, and upright 
and honorable dealings with his neighbors. He 
was an influential man, and had the respect and 
confidence of his fellow-men. He was deeply 
beloved by his family, and, when he died — 
which event occurred in 1856 — his death was 
greatly deplored by the neighborhood, and es- 
pecially by his devoted wife and ftimily. His 
wife died during the spring of 1865. The chil- 
di'en of Thomas and Esther (Brown) Cory are 
all living, and all are prominent and respected 
citizens in their respective localities. James 
E. Cory was reared on his father's farm in Cran- 
berry Township, when he received a good edu- 
cation. During the fall of 1879, the people of 
Crawford Co., recognizing his ability, selected 
him to represent them in their State Legisla- 
ture, which he did to the credit of his county. 
Mr. Cory is also a member of the Board of 
County Examiners, and has been for the past 
four years. According to custom, Mr. Cory will 
at least rejH-esent the people of Crawford Co., 
at Columbus another term, as he gave excellent 
satisfaction while there before. Mr. Cory is 
single and makes his home in New Washington. 
He is a successful carpenter and an intelligent 
gentleman. 

LUTHER COX, farmer and stock-dealer; 
P. 0. New Washington ; was born May 1, 
1826, in Wayne Co.; he is a son of Stewart and 
Ann (Garretson) Cox, who were parents of 
seven children. The father was born in 1800, 
and the mother six years later. They were 



married in 1824, in Wayne Co., Ohio, and their 
children's names respectively are Luther, Lu- 
cinda, William, Mary, Alexander, Sarah and 
Catharine A. This family came to Auburn 
Township, Crawford Co., Ohio, in March, 1839, 
purchasing 160 acres of land in that Township, 
and 160 acres in Cranberry Township. While 
in Crawford Co., Mr. Cox made many good and 
warm friends. He died in June, 1859, leaving 
behind him a good record. Luther Cox was 
reared on the farm. His education was none 
of the best ; he, being the oldest child in the 
family, was consequently kept at home a 
greater part of the time to assist in improving 
and clearing the place. He was married June 
10, 1851, to Lucinda Hudson, daughter of Ben- 
jamin and Anna (Willford) Hudson. Benja- 
min Hudson came to Cranberry Township, 
from Wayne Co., Ohio, in 1833, and settled on 
the farm now owned by G-eoi'ge Stoutnor. They 
were among the earliest settlers of Cranberry 
Township, and, in their earl}^ time, did much to 
influence settlers to locate in the Township. 
Mr. Hudson is now dead, but his wife is 3'et 
living on the old place, with her son-in-law, 
John Stoutnor. Mr. Cox, by his wife, had the 
following family : Sylvia A., born Oct. 22, 
1853, died Dec. 17, 1870 ; Catharine C, born 
Sept. 8, 1855 ; Edmond O., born Oct. 10, 1857, 
died March 15, 1858 ; Cora M., born July 9, 
1866 ; Mrs. Cox was born July 31, 1832. At 
the time of his marriage, he was farming his 
father's place in Auburn Township. The year 
after the}' moved to the place where he now 
lives, erecting a log cabin, almost where his 
house now stands. He owns 120 acres of well- 
improved land, in Cranberry Township, all of 
which is under a high state of cultivation. Mr. 
Cox is a member of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, and a Democrat in politics. The Cox 
family are well known in Cranberry and Au- 
burn Townships, and are highl}^ respected citi- 

ZGllS 

AYILLIAM CUMMINS ; P. 0. New Wash- 
ington; was born in Ci'awford Co., Ohio, Feb. 
21. 1843. His parents, Morgan and Elizabeth 
(Smith) Cummins, came to Auburn Township, 
Crawford Co., Ohio, about the year 1828. They 
were the parents of four children — Abner, 
John, one that died in infancy, and William. 
Abner is married, and lives in Williams 
Co., Ohio. John married Caroline Boardner, 
and lives in Henry Co., Ohio. William passed 



^6 



fr 



CRANBERRY TOWNSHIP. 



his youth and early manhood on his parents' 
farm. Until 1866, the greater share of his 
time was occupied in farming and carpenter- 
ing. He was married, Feb. 15, 1866, to Matil- 
da Hosier, daughter of Jonas and Catharine 
(Troxel) Hosier, and by her has the following 
family ; David S., born Oct. 10, 1866 ; Cora M., 
Sept. 25, 1872, Delia M., Oct. 3, 1874; John 
F., Feb. 16, 1877, died Dec. 10, 1879, and Mary 
E., born March 11, 1879. Mrs. Cummins was 
born Dec. 8, 1846. During the spring of 
1866, Mr. Cummins came to New Washington 
and engaged in the saloon business, and so far 
has been quite successful. He owns a good 
business house and good private town proper- 
ty in New Washington. Mr. Cummins is a 
Democrat in politics, and is a man who takes 
great pains— as all men should — to educate 
his children. His oldest son, David, onl}' 14 
years old, passed an examination before the 
County Examiners that, but for his age, would 
have entitled him to a teacher's certificate of 
high grade. Mrs. Cummins' people were among 
the earliest settlers in Bloom Township, Sene- 
ca Co., Ohio. Mr. Cummins is an intelligent 
and enterprising man. He spends much of 
his time in reading, and, although he did not 
receive anything extraordinary of an educa- 
tion in youth, has, by application, made him- 
self thoroughly conversant with the issues of 
the dav. 

WILLIAM H. DONNENWIRTH, merchant. 
New Washington ; was born in Stark Co., Ohio, 
Oct. 6, 1838. He is a son of John and Marga- 
ret (Lang) Donnenwirth, who were parents of 
nine children. The parents were natives of 
Alsace, Germany. They were married in Stark 
Co., Ohio, in 1828, and the names of their chil- 
dren respective!}' are Elizabeth, deceased ; 
John, deceased ; Mary, Greorge, William, Mar- 
garet, Elizabeth, Andrew and Samuel. The 
mother is dead ; the fatlier is yet living, at an 
advanced age, in Stark Co., Ohio. Mary lives 
in Canton, Ohio, the wife of Emanuel Raber. 
George married Matilda Stump and is a farmer 
and lives in Stark Co. Margaret lives in Mich- 
igan and is tiie wife of Henry Heffleman, 
Elizabeth is the wife of Lewis Schneider and 
resides in Stark Co. Andrew is a saddler, 
married Mary Ingraham and lives in Summit 
Co. Samuel is a farmer in Stark Co., his wife 
being Emma (Housman) Donnenwirth. William 
was reared on a farm, receiving a good com- 



mon-school education. He began for himself 
when 27 years old, by farming. Jan. 30, 1866, 
he was united in marriage with Miss Catharine 
A. Sheetz, daughter of John A. Sheetz by his 
second wife. To this union were born the fol- 
lowing family : Margaret 0., born Dec. 2, 1866 ; 
Caroline L., born Oct. 18, 1868 ; Mary M., born 
Sept. 25, 1870 ; Etta I., born July 19, 1872 ; 
Emma A., born March 14, 1875, and Ida E., 
born Feb. 3, 1878. Mrs. Donnenwirth was born 
in Auburn Township, Aug. 8, 1838. Mr. Don- 
nenwirth opened a hardware store in New Wash- 
ington in 1872, and by excellent business tact 
has increased his stock to one of the best stores 
of its kind in the county. He is a Democrat in 
politics, and a member of the Lutheran Church. 
Mr. Donnenwirth is a genial, intelligent and en- 
terprising gentleman, and one of the best bus- 
iness men in New Washington. 

L. C. DONNENWIRTH, New Washington, 
was born in New Washington, Ohio, Aug. 11, 
1851. His parents were Hon. George and Car- 
oline (Durr) Donnenwirth. The main history 
of the family will be found in the biography of 
Hon George Donnenwirth, of Bucyrus Town- 
ship. When 6 years old, our subject, together 
with his parents, moved to Bucyrus, where he 
remained until 18 years old. He then appren- 
ticed himself to Jacob Seifert to learn the 
blacksmith's trade. After about two and a half 
years, he mastered the trade, and then, for one 
year, assisted his preceptor. Mr. Seifert died 
at the end of that time, and our subject, with 
his half-brother William, continued the busi- 
ness. In 1877, he commenced blacksmithing 
by himself in New Washington, and as such 
has ever since continued. Mr. Donnenwirth is 
considered one of the best disciples of Vulcan 
in the town. On May 1, 1873, he was united 
in marriage with Miss Ellen Guiss, daughter of 
Christian Guiss, and to them were born two 
children — William A., born Oct. 7, 1874, died 
Jan. 1, 1877 ; Annetta J., born Feb. 24, 1880. 
Mrs. Donnenwirth was born Aug. 22, 1853. 
Mr. Donnenwirth is a member of the Lutheran 
Church, and is a Democrat in politics. He has 
held the position of City Clerk since 1874, and 
Township Clerk since 1877. Mr. Donnenwirth 
is an enterprising and industrious young man, 
of good morals and good character. 

JOHN F. EARLFR. New Washington ; was 
born in Germany May 30, 1835. Is a son of 
John and Mary B. (Mayer) Earler, who were 



'A 



990 



BIOGEAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



parents of four children — John F., Earnest F., 
Caroline and Barbara. Caroline is dead ; par- 
ents are also dead, having died in the " old 
country." John F. Earler came to the United 
States in T855, locating in Ashland Co., Ohio, 
where he worked as a farm hand for seven 
3^ears. The next three years, he was employed 
by a butcher in a buti^her-shop ; here he met 
Catharine Webber, who afterward became his 
wife. In 1865, he moved to Cranberry Town- 
ship, Crawford Co., Ohio, and two years later 
purchased the farm he now owns. He started 
a poor boy, but, by economy and hard work, 
Mr. Earler has acquired quite a competency. 
His wife died Sept. 12, 1877. Was again mar- 
ried Sept. 6, 1878, his second wife being Cath- 
arina Laufer, and by her has two sons, twins — 
John and Frederick. By his first wife, Mr. 
Earler also had two sons^John G. and Charles 
W. Mr. Earler is a member of the German 
Lutheran Church, and a Democrat in politics. 
His land is situated north of the center of Sec- 
tion 23. theone-half being the southeast quarter 
of the northwest quarter, and the other half be- 
ing the southwest quarter of the northeast 
quarter of Section 23. Mr. Earler is an enter- 
prising and well-respected citizen ot Cranberry 
Township. 

J. C. H. ELDER, attorney and counselor at 
law, New Washington ; son of Achor and Eliza 
(Cessna) Elder, who were parents of seven 
children — Sarah V., Emma, Curtis, William J., 
J. C. H., Mary and Horace A., all of whom 
are living, except Mary. The subject of this 
sketch lived with his parents on the farm until 
he was 19 vears old. He was born in Bedford 
Co., Penn., June 15, 1849, and in 1868, com- 
menced attending the Heidleberg College, at 
Tiffin, Ohio, where he remained until 1875, 
completing the classical course of that college. 
After graduating, Mr. Elder entered the law of- 
fice of Hon. Warren P. Noble, with whom he 
remained, reading law, until he was admitted to 
the bar, which occurred April 12, 1877. On 
Jan. 16, 1878. he commenced the practice of 
law in New Washington, where he has remained 
ever since. Mr. Elder was maiTied in Septem- 
ber, 1877, to Miss Marietta Ash, daughter of 
Emanuel Ash, of Fostoria, Ohio, and by her has 
one daughter — Mabel, born in July, 1878. Mr. 
Elder, on his father's side, is of Irish descent, 
and on his mother's side, of French and Welsh. 
His wife is of German extraction. Although a 



young man in his profession, Mr. Elder has a 
good and lucrative practice, and, besides being 
an attorney, he represents two reliable insur- 
ance companies — the Cooper Insurance Co., of 
Dayton, Ohio, and the Insurance Co., of North 
America, of Philadelphia. He is a Democrat 
in politics, and a member of the Reformed 
Church. Mr. Elder is an enterprising young 
man of good and moral habits, and enjoys the 
respect and confidence of his fellow-townsmen, 
and we predict for him an excellent future and 
an enviable record. 

C. K. HEABLER, practical miller. New 
Washington ; of the firm of Endslow & Heab- 
ler, was born in Seneca Co., Ohio, May 4, 1847. 
His father was born in Pennsylvania in 1795, 
and was a soldier in the war of 1812. Mrs. 
Heabler was also a native of Pennsylvania, and 
was born in 1807. They were the parents of 
eleven children — William, deceased ; John ; 
Catharine, deceased ; George ; Emanuel, de- 
ceased ; Henry ; Samuel, deceased ; Elizabeth, 
David, Sarah and C. K. Out of those living, 
C. K., Henr}^, George and John are millers, as 
was their father before them. David is a shoe- 
maker. George, David and C. K. were faithful 
and efficient soldiers in the late war. The 
father died in June, 1875. His widow survives 
him and resides in Attica. Mr. Heabler owned 
a farm, on which his family lived, while he at- 
tended the milling business. He was a kind 
and firm man, and very strict in his religious 
views, and his habits were strictly temperate 
and moral. At his death, the neighborhood 
lost a prominent and good citizen and a kind 
neighbor. Our subject. Christian K., was 
brought up on a farm, but learned the milling 
trade when quite young. When 19 years of 
age, he engaged his services to his brother, who 
was a miller in Attica, with whom he remained 
twelve years. For one 3'ear he milled in Napo- 
leon. In January, 1880, he, together with T. 
B. Endslow, bought the large grist-mill at New 
Washington, and, as millers, are second to 
none in the county. Mr. Heabler is a Demo- 
crat in politics. He was married Jan. 26. 1870, 
to Miss Sarah E. Swartz, daughter of Peter and 
Martha Swartz. To this union were Dorn two 
children — Roscoe G., born Jan. 22, 1871, and 
Ettie M., born July 22, 1875. Mr. Heabler 
owns a half-interest in the mill, is a member of 
the I. 0. 0. F., and an intelligent enterprising 
gentleman. 



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iJ: 



CRANBERRY TOWNSHIP. 



991 



GEORGE HEPP, farmer and stock-raiser ; 
P. 0. New Washington ; is of German descent, 
and was born in x\lsace in 1832. His parents, 
John and Melinda (Summer) Hepp, came to 
the United States in 1843, locating in Seneca 
Co. The}' were the parents of two children — 
George and Peter. Peter married Elizabeth 
Baach, and lives in Seneca Co. Mr. Hepp died 
in 1872. He was a good man, and was a prom- 
inent and respected man among the Germans. 
Our subject passed his youth and earl}' man- 
hood on the farm and in attending school. He 
was married, in 1856, to Mary Westrick, who 
died in 1858, leaving a fond husband and baby 
daughter to mourn her loss. The daughter's 
name is Caroline, and she is now the wife of 
Lawrence Wechter, liA'ing in Cranberr}- Town- 
ship. On Nov. L 1859, Mr. Hepp remarried, 
his wife being Margaret Wenslie. By her he 
has nine children — Elizabeth, born in 1860 ; 
Mary, in 1861 ; Anthony, in 1862 ; Jacob, in 
1865 ; Melinda, in 1868 ; Joseph, in 1870, and 
died the same year ; Frank, born in October, 
1872 ; Rosa. in'l875. and Anna, in 1877. The 
Hepp family are all good, industrious citizens, 
and enjoy the respect of all who know them. They 
are Catholics in religion, and prominent farm- 
ers in Cranberry Township. Mr. Hepp owns 
102 acres of highly improved land adjoining 
the village of New Washington. He is taking 
especial pains to educate his children, as he 
wishes them to grow up intelligent men and 
women, and full}- capable of assuming promi- 
nent positions in society. 

ROBERT G. HILBORN ; P. 0. New Wash- 
ington. Among the old and time-honored resi- 
dents of northeastern Crawford Co. is the 
subject of this biography. He was born in 
Richland Co., Ohio, May 15, 1823, and was one 
of a family of nine children, of whom Isaac 
and Nancy (George) Hilborn were the parents. 
Mr. Hilborn, the father, came to Richland Co. 
as early as 1813, being one of the very earliest 
settlers. In 1826, he came to Crawford Co., 
locating in Liberty Township, and afterward in 
Sandusky and Auburn Townships. Mr. Hil- 
born died in the latter township during the 
spring of 1863. He was a man of great ener- 
gy of character, and did much to advance civ- 
ilization in the county. The biographies of 
their sons, Robert, Samuel. John and William, 
appear in this work. Robert, like his brothers, 
was reared on the farm, and, being the oldest 



boy, was detained at home to help clear and 
improve the place, and thus did not receive the 
advantages in education that boys now do. 
His first wife was Miss Elizabeth Eckis, daugh- 
ter of Jacob Eckis, Esq., of Auburn Township. 
In 1847, he built a cabin in the woods of 
Holmes Township, where he lived with his 
young wife ten years. He then moved to Au- 
burn Township, and, about this time, lost his 
wife. By her he had the following family : 
Minerva A., now the wife of William Taylor ; 
Martha ; Sai'ah A., now the wife of George W. 
Gregg ; Emma L., now the wife of Joseph Til- 
son ; Amena E., the wife of Christian Graff- 
miller ; Ida, now the wife of Dee Milroy, and 
one son that died in infancy. Not long after 
the death of his wife, Mr. Hilborn bought the 
John Robinson farm, in Cranberry Township. 
He was married to his present wife March 25, 
1862. Her name was Mrs. Nancy Hanna, 
widow of John Hanna, and daughter of James 
Crawford, a relative of Col. Crawford, who was 
burned at the stake by the Indians. His last 
marriage bore to him three children — Isaac H., 
born in January, 1863 ; Hepzibah, in Septem- 
ber, 1865, and Kate, in July, 1867. Mr. Hil- 
born lived on the John Robinson place six 
years, and, in 1869, moved to New Washing- 
ton. His present occupation is hotel-keeping, 
he being the proprietor of the City House. He 
does a good business, and is reasonably suc- 
cessful. Mr. Hilborn remembers distinctly 
many an experience in his early life in the 
then forest of Auburn and other townships. 
When but a boy, he remembers cai'rying pro- 
visions to the Indians, and of many memorable 
scenes connected with them. Mr. Hilborn is 
an honest and respected citizen in New Wash- 
ington, and no name is more respected in the 
neighborhood than his. 

J. S. HERSHISER, M. D., physician and 
surgeon. New Washington ; is one of a family 
of ten children, whose names respectively are 
Mary A., Cyrus, Caroline, Anthony B., Sarah, 
John S., Aaron, Bertha, Jacob H. and Adeline 
H., all of whom are living except Bertha. The 
father of this family was Samuel Hershiser, 
who, with his wife, Sai'ah (Schertzer) Hershiser, 
were honored and highly respected citizens of 
Bedford Co., Penn. John S. Hershiser, the sub- 
ject of this biography, was reared on a farm. 
He received an excellent common-school edu- 
cation, and, for two years, was a student in the 



!.^ 



992 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



college at Oberlin, Ohio, where he began fitting 
himself for the medical profession. After this, 
and for three years, he studied under the in- 
structions of Dr. S. B. Bell, of Mansfield, Ohio, 
and, in 1856, attended medical lectures in the 
Medical Department of the University of Mich- 
igan, at Ann Arbor. He remained there one 
year, and then, in the spring of 1857, came to 
New Washington and began the practice of 
medicine. Here he remained until the winter 
of 1865-66 ; he then attended the Medical De- 
partment of the University of Wooster, situ- 
ated at Cleveland, were he completed the 
course of the regular school of medicine, 
gi'aduating with honors. Since that time, he 
has always practiced his profession at New 
Washington. On the 30th of April, 1857, he 
was united in marriage with Sarah J., daughter 
of John Dull, of Vernon Township, and by her 
has one son, Charles C, born Jan. 22, 1858. 
Mrs. Hershiser was born May 5, 1837. Dr. 
Hershiser is one of the best physicians in 
Northern Ohio. It has always been his aim to 
be " at the top" in his profession, and his pres- 
ent popularity shows the success which his 
determination has met with. He is one of the 
prominent men of New Washington, is a Re- 
publican in politics, and a member of the Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church. 

MATTHIAS KIBLER, deceased ; was born 
in Wurtemberg, Grermau}', June 11, 1822. He 
was the youngest in a family of eight children, 
six of whom are yet living, fie, together with 
his parents, John and Mai'ia Kibler, came to 
the United States in 1839, locating in Trumbull 
Co., Ohio. Here Mr. Kibler passed his time 
working on a farm, working on a canal and 
working in a tannery, and, at intervals, going 
to school. In this way he received a good 
common-school education. On the 22d of Oc- 
tober, 1846, he united in marriage to Frederica 
Pfahler, daughter of Matthias and Barbara 
Pfahler, and to this union were born eight 
children — Maria, born Dec. 5, 1847, died July 
25, 1850 ; Samuel J., March 9, 1851 ; Franklin 
P., June 27, 1853, died July 15, 1854 ; James M., 
Feb. 15, 1856; Lovina, April 5, 1857; John 
W., June 28, 1859 ; Caroline, April 25. 1862, 
died Aug. 18, 1862 ; Louisa M., July 20, 1863. 
Of these, Samuel J. is the only one married. 
On the 22d of April, 1875, he married Miss 
Elizabeth Herr, of Seneca Co., and by her had 
three children — William B., born April 13, 1876, 



died April 14, 1876 ; Alfred G., Aug. 1, 1877 ; 
and Clai'a 0., June 20, 1879. The mother was 
born May 24, 1854. Mr. Kibler, Sr., came to 
Cranberry Township in 1841, and embarked in 
the tanning business on the farm now owned by 
Daniel Easley. In the winter of 1846-47, this 
tannery took fire and was burned to tlie ground. 
The next spring, Mr. Kibler moved to New 
Washington and engaged in farming, tanning, 
and the boot and shoe business. He built the 
tannery now owned by his sons, S. J. Kibler & 
Bro., and he was one of the principal citizens 
of his time. His death occurred Sept. 23, 1876. 
Mr. Kibler was a man of keen foresight and in- 
telligence, and, during his time, held many 
offices of honor and trust. He was the first 
Mayor of New Washington, and was Mayor at 
the time of his death. His son, S. J., succeeded 
him in the office of Township Treasurer. Mr. 
Kibler was a Democrat, and a member of the 
German Lutheran Church. He was well known 
all over Crawford Co. as a man of more 
than ordinary intelligence and ability. His 
widow still survives him, at the age of 56, 
and is living in New Washington. The Kibler 
family is an old and honored one, and no 
name commands more respect than does that 
family. 

J. F. KIMERLINE ; P. 0. New Washington ; 
is a son of John and Mary (Derr) Kimerline, 
who were the parents of seven children, and 
wei'e natives of Germany, the father being born 
in 1820, and the mother in 1818. They were 
married in Germany, and came to the United 
States in 1853, locating in Wooster, Ohio. The 
names of their children respectively are Will- 
iam, Lewis, John, Maggie, Christina, Fred and 
Elizabeth. William, Christina and Elizabeth 
are dead. Lewis is a butcher b}' trade ; he mar- 
ried Barbara Derr, and resides in New Wash- 
ington ; John is single, and lives in Cleveland ; 
Maggie is single, and resides at home with her 
father, in Wooster. Mrs. Kimerline died Jan. 
2, 1880. The subject of this article was born 
Dec. 6, 1855. He passed his youthful daj-s on 
the farm and in attending school, receiving the 
common-school education which most boj^s in 
the country receive. When 17 years of age, he 
determined to increase his mental acquire- 
ments, and fit himself for teaching. With this 
purpose in view, he first attended the schools of 
Smithville for a time, and when sufficiently 
qualified, commenced alternately teaching and 



w 
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^ 



CRANBERRY TOWNSHIP. 



993 



going to school, which lias been his occupation 
ever since. Mr. Kimerline is at present Prin- 
cipal of the New Washington schools. He is a 
young man of good habits, and has the reputa- 
tion of being an excellent instructor. He is a 
member of the graduating class of 1882, in the 
college at Ada, Ohio. Mr. Kimerline is a Demo- 
crat in politics, and is enterprising and indus- 
trious, and has the respect and esteem of his 
employes and acquaintances. 

DANIEL KELLER, farmer and stock- 
raiser ; P. 0. Tiro. There is no more honored 
and respected name in northeastern Crawford 
County than that of Keller. George and Mary 
Keller were the parents of eight children, only 
two of Avhom are living. They were married 
in Pennsylvania, and in 1827, emigrated to 
Stark Co., Ohio. After eighteen years of pio- 
neer life, they removed to Cranbeny Township, 
Crawford Co., Ohio, settling on the farm that 
is now owned by Daniel Keller — the subject of 
this biograph3^ Mr. Keller was a man of pow- 
erful frame and constitution, and one well cal- 
culated to become one of the best and hardiest 
pioneers of Crawford County. Here he built 
him a log cabin, where he and his wife lived 
happily together until the}^ were called to their 
final account before God. The mother died 
Aug. 26, 185-1:, a well-beloved and respected 
mother. Mr. Keller died Feb. 3, 1860. He was 
a man of a deep moral and religious nature, and 
his loss was keenly felt by a large circle of 
friends. Daniel Keller, the onl}- son now liv- 
ing, was reared on the farm. His boyhood and 
early manhood were similar to that of a great 
many other boys of that time, with perhaps but 
few exceptions. He has been singularly un- 
fortunate in his marriage relations, having been 
married four times, his first, second and third 
wives being dead. By his first wife, Catharine 
Eckis, to whom he was married in 1848, died 
in 1854, leaving him two children to care for. 
His second wife, Annie Crall, to whom he was 
married in 1859, died without issue. Mr. Kel- 
ler's third wife was Margaret Smith, daughter 
of the old pioneer preacher Smith. She died 
in 1871, bearing Mr. Keller four children — 
John S., Emma, Minnie and one that died in 
infancy. His first two children were Isaiah 
and Mary. Mr. Keller is a kind and genial 
gentleman. He owns 80 acres of good land, is 
a Republican in politics, and holds to the United 
Brethren religion. He is enterprising and in- 



dustrious, and commands the respect of a large 
circle of friends and acquaintances. 

J. & A. G. LEDERER; P. 0. New Washing- 
ton. A. G. Lederer was born in Cranberry 
Township, Dec. 19, 1853. His parents, Jacob 
and Magdalena (Donnenwirth) Lederer, were 
natives of German}', and came to the United 
States in 1819, locating in Stark Co., Ohio. 
They came to Cranberry Township, Crawford 
Co., Ohio, in 1826, where the Lederer family 
has since resided. The family consisted of 
Jacob and Magdalena Lederer, parents, and 
John, Jacob, Adam G., Matilda and Odella, the 
children. Of the children, Matilda is the only 
one dead. Mr. Lederer was a man of good 
morals and steady habits. His death was a 
deep loss, not only to his family, but to the 
neighborhood in general. He died as he lived, 
a pure, upright man in the sight of his God, on 
Aug. 19, 1857. His widow survives him and 
resides in New Washington. John married 
Elizabeth Kline, and resides in New Washing- 
ton ; Jacob lives on the old place with his 
brother Adam, and is the husband of Mary 
(Guiss) Lederer ; Odella is the wife of Andrew 
Croonenberger, and they live with her mother 
in New Washington ; Adam G. was, like his 
brothers, reared on a fai'm. He received a 
good common-school education in j'outh, and 
finished it by going to the high school in Lex- 
ington, Ohio, two terms, and Fostoria, Ohio, one 
term. Since then he has been engaged in farm- 
ing and teaching school. He is a teacher of 
fourteen terms' experience, the last three years 
being taught in New Washington graded schools. 
He was married, Feb. 8, 1876, to Miss Ella A. 
Hartupee, and b}' her had one child, Eva, born 
Jan. 2, 1878, and died Oct. 24, 1878. The 
mother was born Feb. 24, 1854. The Lederers 
are Lutherans in religion, and Democrats in 
politics. They are intelligent and fii'st-class 

r*i 1"! 7PTm 

DAVID D. L ANTZ ; P. 0. New Washington ; 
was born June 18, 1833, in Oreville, France. 
His parents, Valentine and Catharine Lantz, 
were natives of Germany, and the parents of 
seven children, six sons and one daughter. 
Five sons and the daughter are yet living. 
They were married about the year 1828, and 
came to the United States in 1834, locating in 
Cranberry Township, Crawford Co., Ohio, on 
the farm now owned b}' George Hepp. Mr. 
Lantz is now dead. He w'as a man of great 



994 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



energj' of character, and of firm but kind de- 
meanor. He was well and highl}- respected by 
his friends, and his death was greatly deplored 
b}' a large circle of friends. 3Irs. Lantz is yet 
living, and makes her home with her daughter 
in Sandusky City. The subject of this sketch 
was reared on a farm, and, owing to the poor 
schools of that early da}-, received but a mod- 
erate education. When 20 years of age, he 
began farming for himself, but made his home 
with his mother, his father l)eing dead. The 
marriage of David D. Lantz and Caroline Bibel 
was solemnized Sept. 29, 1863. Mrs. Lantz is 
a daughter of Jacob and Christina (Fireing) 
Bibel, and her marriage with Mr. Lantz pro- 
duced four children — Oscar, born June 30, 
1864; Katie, born Oct. 20, 1865; Ellen, born 
March 4, 1867, and Percy, born Feb. 9, 1878. 
Mrs. Lantz was born Aug. 28, 1841. Mr. 
Lantz's present occupation is farming and 
threshing. He owns 20 acres of valuable land 
within the corporate city limits of New Wash- 
ington. Is a Democrat in politics, strictl}" ad- 
hering to the principles laid down b}" the 
National Democratic party. Mr. Lantz has 
held the office of Constable of his township, 
and he is a genial, intelligent man, and is well 
and highly respected by all who know him. 

JOHN MILLER, merchant, New Washing- 
ton. Among the prominent and influential 
business men of New Washington is this gen- 
tleman, who was born July 2, 1839, in the prov- 
ince of Lorraine, France. His parents, Peter 
and Mary A. (Ludman) Miller, were natives of 
France, the father born in 1811, and the mother 
in 1818. They were married in 1838, and were 
the parents of nine children, viz.: John, Mary 
Ann, Hubert, Magdalena, Nicholas, Mary, Jo- 
sephina, Julia and Jacob ; eight of these chil- 
dren are yet living. The parents left their 
native country for the LTnited States, arriving 
in Buffalo, N. Y., on the 19th of July, 1847. 
They remained in Buffalo until 1856, when they 
removed to Crawford Co.. Ohio, locating in 
New Washington, where the father engaged in 
mercantile pursuits. Here the father remained 
actively engaged in business until 1 866, when 
he sold out and returned to Buffalo. The father 
is dead, but the mother is still living, and re- 
sides at Buffalo, as do several of the children. 
John Miller received the advantages of a com- 
mon-school education. In 1865, he, in connec- 
tion with P. D. Studer, embarked in the boot 



and shoe trade, at New Washington. After 
about one 3'ear, Mr. Miller sold his interest to 
his partner, and engaged in a general mercan- 
tile business ; he has ever since remained in 
this business, and has, by his upi'ight conduct 
and strict business habits, built up a large and 
steadily increasing business. Mr. Miller was 
married, Jan. 12, 1862, to Miss Catharine 
Yochum. She was born Mai'ch 31, 1840. From 
this union are nine children — Peter C, Clara 
M., Mary E., Josephina 0., Henrietta L., El- 
vina E., C. L., Henry L. and Clara R. Mr. 
Miller is a Democrat and a member of the 
Catholic Church. He has held a number of po- 
sitions of honor and trust in the municipal and 
township governments, and is at present Di- 
rector of the County Infirmar}' of Crawford 
Co. He owns valuable property in New Wash- 
ington, and is one of the prominent and influ- 
ential men of Crawford Co. 

JACOB METZGER, New Washington ; is 
the son of Pius and Mary (Best) Metzger, who 
are natives of Grerman3^ The father came to 
the LTnited States in 1828, and the mother in 
1832. About the year 1833, they were married, 
and to them were born eight children, six of 
whom are yet living. Their names are John 
(deceased), Pius, Mary, George, Kate (deceased), 
Jacob, Joseph and Matilda. The parents are 
3'et living, and are honored and respected citi- 
zens of Richland Co. Jacob Metzger was born 
Oct. 14, 1856, and was reared on a farm. He 
received a common-school education, and, when 
22 years old, opened a furniture store and cab- 
inet-shop in New Washington, where he has 
since remained. On the 22d of June, 1880, he 
was united in marriage with Miss Ellen Stouder. 
Mrs. Metzger was boi-n Oct. 28, 1857, and was 
one in a family of fifteen children, eight of 
whom are yet living. Her father was a French- 
man, and served nine j^ears in the French army. 
Her mother was a native of German}', and they 
were Catholics in religion. Mr. Metzger is a 
Democrat, and a member of the Catholic Church. 
He is an enterprising young man, and owns the 
best and principal furniture store in the town, 
keeping constantly on hand a full line of furni- 
ture, and sellins; at reasonable rates, which gives 
him a trade extending over a large territory". 
He is honest and diligent, and he and his wife 
are well and favorably known in the community. 

JOHN MICHELFELDER, Jr., merchant, 
New Washington ; was born in New Washing- 



CRANBERRY TOWNSHIP. 



995 



ton, Ohio, Sept. 6, 1847. His parents, Joiin 
and Fredrica (Utz) Michelfelder, were natives 
of Germany. The father was born in 1818, and 
the mother in 1823. They came to the United 
States in 1846, coming direct to Cranbei-ry 
Township, Crawford Co., Ohio, and, in 1847, 
were married. To this marriage were born the 
following family : John, Fredrica, Jacob, Cath- 
arine and Frederick. Fredrica is the wife of 
George llildebrand, and lives in New Washing- 
ton. Jacob, Catharine and Frederick live at 
home with their parents. The father owns 15 
acres of valuable land within the city limits, 
and 11^ just outside the corporation. He also 
owns a boot and shoe store in town, his sons at 
home assisting him in running it. John, Jr., 
lived on a farm until he was 14 years of age, and 
then commenced learning the boot and shoe 
making trade with his father. Until he was 21, 
he assisted in the shop. When he reached his 
majority, his father employed him for two years 
longer. In 1870, he and his father formed a 
partnership, to be known as J. Michelfelder & 
Son, manufacturers and dealers in boots and 
shoes. This partnership remained unchanged 
for three years, and was then dissolved by mu- 
tual consent, the father continuing the business. 
The son then built a business house in New 
Washington, and, on his own responsibility, 
opened a boot and shoe store, which he has con- 
tinued successfully ever since. On Dec. 1, 
1870, he was united in marriage with Matilda 
High, daughter of Michael High, and grand- 
daughter of Adam High, the old pioneer of 
that name. Mr. Michelfelder is a Democrat in 
politics, and a member of the Lutheran Church ; 
owns 2^ acres within the city corporation ; does 
a good business and is in every way prosperous. 
VOLNEY POWERS, farmer" and stock- 
dealer ; P. 0. New Washington ; was born in 
Tompkins Co , N. Y., June 12, 1814. When 4 
years old, he, together with his parents, emi- 
grated to Ohio. His father and mother. Dr. 
Lemuel Powers and Jane S. (Bacon) Powers, 
were the parents of nine children— Volney, 
Louisa. Julia, Alonzo, Abigail, Phoebe A., Jane, 
Rolla and Mar3^ Volney and Jane are the 
only ones living in the family. Jane is the wife 
of Dr. Teller, and lives in Vineland, New Jer- 
sey. The father. Dr. Powers, was a good and 
prominent citizen, and an excellent physician. 
He was a member of the Methodist Church. 
Volnev Powers was reared and educated in 



town. When 16 years of age, he engaged in 
the hatting Inisiness in Pl3'mouth for twelve 
years. He then discontinued that business and 
engaged in the mercantile trade, in New Wash- 
ington. Mr. Powers established the first ash- 
ery in New Washington, and by this made 
quite a start in life. After six years in the 
mercantile business, he bought a nice farm 
near the cit}' corporation line. On June 15, 
1837, he was united in marriage with Mary A. 
Ream, daughter of Samuel Ream, and by her 
has a large and interesting family. Mr. Powers 
owns an excellent stock farm of 240 acres, in 
Cranberry Township. He takes an active and 
leading part in matters tending to advance edu- 
cation. He is a Republican in politics, and a 
member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 

MOSES PUGH, farmer and stock-dealer ; P. 
0. New Washington ; was born in Lykens Town- 
ship, Crawford Co., Ohio, April 6, 1843. He is 
a son of Aai'on and Mary (Jackson) Pugh, and 
grandson of Moses and Christina (Baker) 
Pugh. His parents were married in iVpril, 
1837, and to them were born the following fam- 
ily : Elizabeth, William, Moses, James, Lan- 
son and Anson (twins), Alfred and John. The 
parents and grandparents of these children 
came to Lykens Township, Crawford Co., Ohio, 
in 1846. In 1862, Aaron Pugh and wife, with 
his total wealth, consisting of a sled-load of 
household goods, moved into Cranberry Town- 
ship, and settled on the farm now owned by his 
son Moses. Here his energ}' and indomitable 
will showed itself At one time Mr. Pugh was 
worth $25,000, but he has divided his property 
among his children, so that he has only some 
fine town property in New Washington and 
Crestline, and a few acres of land in the coun- 
try, near the former town, where he and his 
wife live happil}' together in their advanced 
years. When seventeen years of age, the sub- 
ject of this biography enlisted his service in his 
country's behalf, and remained fighting man- 
fully for about four 3'ears. He was in Co. H, 55th 
0. V. I., and participated in a number of en- 
gagements ; a few of the more prominent being 
Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Kenesaw Mount- 
ain, Buzzard's Roost, Cedar Mountain, Atlanta, 
Chattanooga, and, also, was with Sherman on 
his memorable march to the sea. He entered 
the service as private, and was mustex'ed out as 
2d Lieutenant. At the conclusion of the war 
he came home, and on the 26th of July, 1866, 



*7l-. 



lK 



996 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



married Miss Martha Johnston, daughter of 
Jacob Johnston, Esq., and M' her had seven 
children; the three following named are the 
only ones yet living — Leila G., Effie I. and 
Mary. The mother of these was born May 14, 
184:i Mr. Pugh is a Free-Will Baptist in re- 
ligion, and a stanch Republican in politics. 
He owns 160 acres of well-improved land, and 
is one of the best and most respected citizens 
of Cranberry Township. 

-- ROBERT ROBISOxV, stock-dealer and farm- 
er ; P. 0. New Washington ; was born in Perry 
Co., Penn., in 1825. He is a son of John M. 
and Jane (Baxter) Robison. The parents were 
natives of Pennsylvania, where they were mar- 
ried, and to them were born nine children — 
Margaret, William and Susan (twins), Robert, 
Martha J., Mariam, Nancy, Elizabeth and John. 
Five of these are 3'et living. Parents came to 
Cranberry Township in 1835, locating half a mile 
west of the village of Waynesburg. Mr. and 
Mrs. Robison are dead, both having lived to see 
the county around them (once all woods), leveled 
down by the hand of the agriculturist. Mr. 
Robison was among the earl}' blacksmiths, and 
his son Robert passed the greater share of his 
time in the shop, assisting his father in what- 
ever he was called upon to perform. Robert 
has followed that business to a greater or less 
extent ever since. He was married, March 26, 
1846, to Mary A. Robison, and by her had one 
son — George A., born July, 1847. He married 
Mai'y J. Patterson, and lives in Crawford Co. 
Mr. Robison's wife died soon after the birth of 
his son, and on the 24th of May, 1852, he mar- 
ried her cousin, Esther Robison. By his second 
wife, Mr. Robison has six children — ]Margaret 
J., born July 1, 1854 ; Mary E., born Nov. 19, 
1859, died March 7, 1861 ; John E., born Sept. 
29, 1862, died Sept. 5, 1865 ; Richie A., born 
Sept. 5, 1865. died Oct. 10, 1865; James E., 
born Oct. 22, 1866, and Willie L., born April 
11, 1869. The mother was born May 25, 1832. 
Mr. Robison's occupation since his marriage has 
been blacksmithing and farming, in and near 
Waynesburg. He had but a poor start in life, 
but by industry, honesty and frugality has 
acquired valuable real estate in Cranberry Town- 
ship. He at present owns 190 acres of well- 
improved land. Is a Democrat in politics, and 
is an intellioent and enterprising man. 

J. H. STEVENS, farmer ; P. 0. Tiro ; is a 
son of Amos and Hannah (Cunning) Stevens, 



who came to Cranberry Township in 1834. 
His parents were married Jan. 1, 1801, and 
were the parents of six sons and five daugh- 
ters — Nancy, Augustus, Sophia, Margaret. Rob- 
ert, Hannah, Amos, Jacob, Benjamin, Daniel 
and Sarah A. Of these, Hannah, Amos, Jacob, 
Benjamin and Daniel are the only ones living. 
Amos is in Taylor Co., Iowa ; Benjamin is in 
Crawford Co., Ohio, and Daniel is in Williams 
Co., Ohio. Jacob H. was born Oct. 31, 1817. 
Like his father before him, he is a practical 
farmer and stock-raiser, and was raised as 
such. Mr. Stevens was married. Apiil 12, 
1848, to Miss Sarah J. Wallace, daughter of 
Jefferson Wallace, Esq., and to them were born 
ten children — Minerva, born May 6. 1849, died 
July 20, 1873 ; Sarah E., born Jan. 14, 1851, 
died Dec. 29, 1873 ; Amos W., born April 23, 
1853; Fernando and Arlando (twin.s) Jan. 16, 
1855 ; Arlando died Aug. 3, 1855 ; Almira, 
born March 18, 1856 ; Sherman H., May 24, 
1858 ; Clara B., Feb. 12, 1860, died Sept. 30, 
1864 ; Julia M., born March 7, 1862, and Nora 
E., July 7, 1864. Mrs. Stevens was born April 
28, 1828. The Stevenses are of English-Welsh 
descent, while the Cunnings are of English- 
Irish descent. Robert Cunning, grandfather of 
Mr. Stevens, was a native of Ireland, and 
came to the United States in 1777. He was 
immediately pressed into the army to help the 
colonies to gain their independence from (^reat 
Britain, and, through that long and blood}' war, 
served the colonies faithfully. Amos Stevens, 
father of Jacob, was one of the best of farm- 
ers. He was an honest, kind-hearted man, and 
enjoyed the respect of a large circle of friends 
and neighbors. He was a local preacher in the 
M. E. (5hurch, and did much to improve the 
morals of the early citizens of Cranberry 
Township. Jacob Stevens is a Republican in 
politics, l)ut favors a strong prohibitory law. 
He owns 230 aci'es of land in Oanberry Town- 
ship, 126^ in Liberty and 100 acres in Sandus- 
ky Township. Mr. Stevens is an old, time- 
honored citizen of the township, and he is one 
of the leading men in northeastern Crawford 
County. 

PETER D. STUDER ; P. 0. New Washing- 
ington. Peter Studer, Sr., is a native of the 
beautiful Swiss Republic, that nestles among 
the snow-crowned Alps, in Southern Europe. 
His birth occurred in 1819, and, though his 
parents were very poor and humble, they were 



'y 



CRANBERRY TOWNSHIP. 



997 



industrious and honest, and loved their coun- 
try with true Swiss devotion. But the little 
republic could not give its poor the education 
and advantages they craved, and many of them, 
loving the cause of liberty, turned their faces 
toward the West, where a new country was 
draining all Europe of its freedom-loving 
people. In 1841, Mr. Studer was united in 
marriage with Miss Eva Studer, daughter of a 
Tyrolean. After his marriage, seeing thousands 
of his countrymen flocking westward across 
the Atlantic, he also began thinking of leaving 
the land of his birth — the land he loved — and 
following his people to the new El Dorado 
across the sea. But the gaunt wolf of poverty 
stood in the way, and for many years pre- 
vented a consummation of his wishes. In 1853, 
himself and several other Swiss citizens peti- 
tioned the Grovernment to defray the expenses 
of their voyage to America ; the Grovernment 
agreed to do this if the people would relin- 
quish their claim to the national timber for ten 
years. This was done by S(;ores. but Mr. Stu- 
der refused to go until the following 3'ear, 
when he, in compan}^ with many others, started 
on the long journey to the United States, with 
but little means at his command, and a family 
dependent upon him for support. He settled 
in Chatfield Township, and soon obtained em- 
ployment as miller in a grist-mill. His chil- 
dren were Peter D., Susanna, Paulena, Oliva, 
Joseph and John. Paulena, John and Oliva 
are dead ; Susanna is the wife of Cornelius 
Schlachter, and resides in Hui'on Co., Ohio ; 
Joseph is married, and lives in the same 
county. Mrs. Studer, Sr., died Aug. 27, 1873. 
Peter D. was born in Switzerland in 1842, came 
with his parents to the United States in 1854, 
and, when 16 years old, began learning the shoe- 
maker's trade. He mastered the trade at the 
end of three years, and then was employed by 
his preceptor for one 3'ear. The following 3'ear, 
he came to New Washington and began work- 
ing at his trade, but, not receiving much work, 
he went to Buffalo, N. Y., where he worked for 
a time, and soon after went to Nebraska. He 
returned to New Washington in a short time, 
where he has since been, and is to-da3' one of 
the most prominent and influential men in the 
township. Oct. 23, 1866, Mr. Studer was united 
in marriage with Miss Catharine, daughter of 
Paul Miller ; to this union were born seven 
children— Paulus F., born Sept. 23, 1887 ; Mar- 



garet C, born Sept. 9, 1869 ; Catharine A., born 
Dec. 16, 1870 ; Joseph A., born Aug. 29, 1872 ; 
John B., born Jan. 31, 1874 ; Maria S., born 
May 7, 1876, and Emma C, born June 7, 1879. 
Mrs. Studer was born March 17, 1847. Mr. 
Studer is a Democrat and a Catholic ; has been 
Justice of the Peace, and is the present Ma3'or 
of the village. He is one of the most respected 
citizens of Cranberr3^ Township, and is a 
genial, intelligent gentleman. 

JOHN A. SHEETZ, retired merchant, New 
Washington. Among the old and honored 
residents of Cranbeny Township is the subject 
of this sketch. He was born in Germany in 
1809, and when in his 21st 3'ear emigrated to 
the United States, locating in Columbiana Co., 
Ohio. He lived there a short time and then 
moved to Wayne Co., and engaged in farming. 
In jMay, 1836, he was united in marriage with 
Margaret Weisenbacher, who died in JUI3', 1836. 
In October, 1837, he married Miss Margaret 
Beever, who died giving birth to a daughter, 
Catharine A., who is the wife of William H. 
Donnenwirth, whose biograph3' accompanies 
this work. Mr. Sheetz is at present living with 
his third wife, whose name was Margaret Hesse, 
widow of Ehregott Hesse and daughter of 
George Donnenwirth. He was married to her 
in 1842, and to this union were born the fol- 
lowing famil3' : Jacob, born in 1843; Maria 
M., born in 1845 and died in 1871 ; George, 
born in 1849 and died the same 3'ear ; Caro- 
line, born in 1850 ; John, born in 1852, and 
Pauline, born in 1854. His wife b3- her first 
husband, Mr. Hesse, had one daughter, Matilda, 
who lived with Mr. Sheetz until she married 
George Schweml3'. She is now dead. Mr. Sheetz 
first began the mercantile business, with a gen- 
eral assortment of goods, at New Washington, 
in 1842. In 1879, his trade and stock had so 
increased as to necessitate the bu3'ing of a 
larger storm-room. He at present owns the 
large brick block now occupied by William H. 
Donnenwirth and Sheetz & Bro., his sons. Mr. 
Sheetz is an honest, straightforward man, 
having made most of his mone3' b3' hard labor 
and honorable dealing. He is a Democrat in 
politics and has always been identified with the 
Lutheran Church. He and his family are well 
known and highly respected b3' a large circle 
of friends and acquaintances. 

WILLIAM SEYDEL, farmer and stock- 
dealer : P. 0. New Washington ; was born in 



ir<. 



ik> 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



Northumberland Co., Penn., July 22, 1813. His 
father, Andrew Se^'del, was born in Pennsyl- 
vania March 15, 1791, and Mary (Vandling) 
Seydel in New Jersey Feb. 27, 1791. They 
were married in 1812, and to them were born 
the following family — William, Eliza, John, 
Catharine, Sarah, Keziah, Michael and Samuel. 
Sarah and Keziah are dead. The father died 
Sept. 20, 1878, and the mother Sept. 21, 1848. 
In 1823, the parents came to Columbiana Co., 
Ohio, and after a time moved to Stark Co. In 
1845, they came to Cranberry Township, where 
thej' lived the balance of their lives. The sub- 
ject of this biography was reared on the farm 
until 1831, when he was apprenticed for three 
3'ears, to learn the potter's trade. After serv- 
ing his time out, he continued that business for 
two years, and since that time has confined his 
time wholly to farming. On April 2, 1836, he 
married Margaret Cook, daughter of Daniel and 
Martha (Frye) Cook, and by her had five children 
—Martha J., born Feb. 21, 1837, died Nov. 14, 
1869 ; Mary A., born Sept. 10, 1838 : Eliza M., 
born Jan. 28, 1840 ; John M., born Jan. 29. 
1845, and Nancy, born March 10, 1847. The 
mother died Feb. 1, 1871. Mr. Seydel was re- 
married June 6, 1872, to Deanna (Bloom) 
Champion, daughter of Daniel Bloom, and wid- 
ow of William B. Champion. Mrs. Seydel by 
Mr. Champion had two sons and one daughter 
— Joseph D., Francis M. and Maggie L. Mr. 
Champion died March 1, 1851. Mr. Se3'del is 
a Democrat in politics. His wife belongs to 
the Protestant Methodist Church. Her father 
was an old school-teacher in Richland Co., and 
Mrs. Seydel remembers when he used to start 
out to teach school in the morning with nothing 
but a trail to show him the way. Mr. Seydel 
owns 80 acres of good land and is a respected 
gentleman. 

M. SIEFERT ; P. 0. New Washington ; son 
of John and Saloma (Lantz) Siefert, was born 
in Stark Co., Ohio, in 1830. His parents were 
natives of Germany, and, like a great man}- 
of the more enterprising and freedom-loving 
citizens of that country, emigrated to the United 
States. This was in 1828, and their location 
was in Stark Co., Ohio. In 1834, they removed 
to Cranberry Township, Crawford Co., Ohio. 
To show the industrious and economical spirit 
of these people, we will say that after paving 
$85 for 80 acres of land, he had only $25 to 
commence housekeeping on. Some people 



would have thought this no start at all. but the 
spirit of enterprise was in the hearts of these 
humble people, and in time the}^ were able to 
give their children a much better start in life 
than the}' themselves had. Their children were 
Michael, John, George, Jacob, x\nnie and Catha- 
rine. Michael and Annie are the only ones 
living ; the latter being the wife of John 
Schwimly, and resides in Chatfield Township. 
Michael passed his 3'outh and early manhood 
on his father's farm, in Cranbeny Township. 
On the 29th of January, 1856, he was united 
in marriage with Miss Christina Hoffses, and 
by her had a family of fourteen children — 
Jacob, Michael (dead), John (dead), George, 
Caroline, Annie, Fredrick (dead), William, 
Michael (dead), John, Andrew (dead), Clara, 
p]mma and Frederick. Mrs. Siefert was born 
in August, 1846. Mr. Siefert continued in after 
life as he had been raised, i. e., farming. In 
1864, he went into the stock business, and fol- 
lowed that and farming until the 14th of Feb- 
ruary, 1879. He then purchased the grain 
elevator in New Washington, of Charles Bros., 
and he has dealt in grain at that point until the 
present time. Mr. Siefert takes an active part 
in all educational enterprises that tend to ad- 
vance education in the county. He is a Demo- 
crat in politics, and a member of the Lutheran 
Church in New Washington. Besides the ele- 
vator and two lots in New Washington, Mz'. 
Siefert owns 208 acres of excellent farming 
land in Cranberry Township, and is an honest 
and upright man in his dealings with his fellow- 
men. 

GEORGE B. WOLF. New Washington; 
was born in Reinbiern, Germany, Sept. 27, 
1850. He is a son of Valentine and Marj' 
(Kramer) Wolf, both of whom were natives 
of Germany. They were the parents of fif- 
teen children, nine of whom are yet living. 
They came to the United States in 1852, and 
located in Richland Co., but soon removed to 
Ashland Co., where they now reside. George 
Wolf remained at home, assisting his father on 
the farm until 16 years of age, when he ap- 
prenticed himself to A. H. Risser, at Haj^es- 
ville, Ohio, to learn the harness-maker's trade. 
After sei'ving an apprenticeship of three years, 
he worked on a salary for a time. In 1871, he 
went to Ashland, and worked for a man there 
for awhile. During the fall of 1872, he came 
to New Washington and opened a harness- 



- « 

-» — ^Pv 



^' 



JEFFERSON TOWNSHIP. 



1001 



shop, under the firm name of Risser & Wolf 
the senior partner being his former preceptor- 
In 1874, this partnership was dissolved, Mr- 
Wolf continuing the business. On his arrival, 
Mr. Wolf met with considerable opposition. 
He started with scarcely an}^ capital, but by 
good work and square, honest dealing, has 
made quite a good headway, and is to-day 
recognized as one of the best workman of his 



kind in the county. His marriage with Miss 
Elizabeth Huber, was solemnized March 8, 
1877. His wife is a daughter of Charles Hu- 
ber, of New Washington. Mr. Wolf is a Dem- 
ocrat in politics, and a member of the German 
Reformed Church. He is an enterprising man, 
and is said to be one of the best business men 
of New Washington. 



JEFFERSON TOWNSHIP. 



JOSEPH L. BOGAN, farmer ; P. 0. North 
Robinson; was born in Pennsylvania, in 1818, 
and is a son of John H. and Margaret Bogan, 
both of whom were natives of Maryland. They 
resided awhile in Pennsylvania, and went from 
there to Loudoun Co.. Va., where they lived 
until 1835, when the}^ went to Stark Co., Ohio, 
and in 1840, came to Marion Count}', and in 
1848 to Crawford Count}', where thej' lived and 
died. The father died Feb. 19, 1858, and the 
mother in 1864. J. L. Bogan came with his 
parents from Virginia to Stark County, and 
also to Marion County, where he lived until 
1847, when he went to Indiana, and in 1855, 
came from there to Crawford County, and has 
lived in the county since that time. He pur- 
chased a farm of 100 acres, where he now re- 
sides, most of which he cleared and improved, 
and has since added more to it, now owning a 
farm of 121^ acres of well-improved land. He 
began business for himself a poor man, and, by 
hard work and close application to his business, 
has made something of a fortune. He was 
raised on his father's larm, and had the advan- 
tage of a common-school education. He was 
married in 1839 to Mar}- A. Carnes. She was 
born in Scotland and came to America with her 
parents in 1834, the}' settling in Stark County, 
where they died. From this union there were 
ten children — Margaret, John A., Wm. L., Henry 
H., George, Joseph M., Ijllen, Samuel, Jennie 
and Jefferson. All are living but one. Mr. 
Bogan had one son, John A., in the late war, 
who enlisted in 1863, served nine months, and 
then re-enlisted and served until the spring of 
1865. He took part in a number of engage- 
ments — Champion Hill, the battle of the Wilder- 
ness, etc. He came home safe, with the excep- 
tion of the loss of a finger. 



JOHN BECK, farmer; P. 0. Leesville; was 
born in Peuns}lvania in 1807, the son of Adam 
and Mary Beck, who were also natives of Penn- 
sylvania. In 1829, they left the place of their 
nativity for Crawford Co., and settled in Jefler- 
son Township, where the father entered land, 
and, in 1831, built a saw-mill on the farm that 
John Beck now owns, and, in 1835, changed it 
to a grist-mill. The father died in 1875, and 
the mother died in Pennsylvania about the year 
1828. In his fathers family, there were nine 
children. The subject of this sketch was raised 
on his father's farm and received a common- 
school education. He was married, in 1 833, to 
Eliza Swisher, who was born in Pennsylvania 
and came to Crawford Co. with her parents 
about the year 1827. From this union, there 
were six children — William, Isaac, Andrew J., 
Adam, Samuel S., Hezekiah. The mother of 
these children died in 1852. Mr. Beck was 
again married in the fall of 1852, to Eliza 
Rhodes. She, also, was born in Pennsylvania, 
and came to Seneca Co., Ohio, in an early day. 
From this marriage, there were nine children — 
Mary C, Margaret A., John F., Autobine, Jo- 
seph R., Nancy E., Laura J., Lucinda H. and 
Louisa A. Mr. Beck had three sons in the late 
wai\ He began business for himself a poor 
man, and, by persistent application to his busi- 
ness, has accumulated quite a fortune, and now 
owns a farm of 161 acres of well-improved land, 
most of which he has cleared and improved 
himself He is a carpenter by trade, a business 
he followed for a great many years, in connec- 
tion with his farming. He and his wife are 
members of the U. B. Church. Politically, he 
is a Republican. 

DANIEL BECK, farmer ; P. 0. Gallon ; was 
born in Pennsylvania in 1817, the son of Adam 



'k 



1002 



BIOGEAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



and Mary Beck, who were also natives of Penn- 
sylvania. Mr. Beck's mother died when he was 
quite young, and his father mai'ried again in a 
short time, and, in 1829, came to Crawford Co. 
They settled in what was then Jackson Town- 
ship, now Jefferson. The father entered a great 
deal of land in the county, much of which he 
cleared and improved. The father died in 
1856. He had a family of nine children, only 
four of whom are now living. The subject of 
this sketch was raised on a farm, and has al- 
ways followed farming as a business. He re- 
ceived a common-school education, and was 
married, in 1845, to Nancy Larimer, who was 
born in Perry Co., Ohio, where her parents lived 
and died, and where she lived until her mar- 
riage. From this union there were six children, 
one of whom is now dead — Margaret J., Josiah 
L., William S., Isaac S., Louisa F. and Robert 
W. He began business for himself almost en- 
tirely upon his own resources, and has made 
most of his possessions by his own hard work 
and persevering energy, and now has a finely 
improved farm of 92 acres of land. 

W. P. DEAM, hotel, North Robinson ; was 
born in Crawford Co. in 1838, and is the son of 
George and Rebecca Deam, who were natives 
of Franklin Co., Penn. The former is of Ger- 
man, and the latter of Scotch, descent. They 
came from Pennsylvania to Crawford Co. about 
the year 1837, and settled in Whetstone Town- 
ship. The father was engaged for a number of 
years after coming to the county on the P., Ft. 
W. & C. R. R., and, in 1857, purchased a farm 
and improved it ; followed farming for a few 
years, and then traded his farm for a flouring- 
mill in North Robinson, which afterward 
burned down, and was the means of making 
him lose all that he had worked so long and so 
hard to accumulate. He died in 1871, and the 
mother yet lives in the county. They had a 
family of six children, all of whom live in the 
county yet, with the exception of one that is 
dead. W. P. Deam was raised on a farm until 
20 years of age, at which time his father went 
into the milling business, and he was engaged 
in the mill for about fourteen years, or until 
their mill was burned, since which time he has 
been engaged in various kinds of business. 
He worked at carriage painting for several 
years, and was afterward salesman for awhile, 
selling buggies and carriages, and at the pres- 
ent time is in the hotel business in North Rob- 



inson. He was married, Jan. 23, 1862, to Re- 
becca C. Caskey, who was born in Tuscarawas 
Co., Ohio, in 1842. Her parents were also na- 
tives of the same county, and came to Craw- 
ford Co. in 1843, where her father yet lives. 
Her mother died in 1850. From this union 
there were six children, one of whom is now 
dead— Charles 0., Mary J., Ida R., Clara A., 
John M. and Harry S. Mr. Deam took part in 
the late rebellion, enlisting in February, 1865, 
in Co. C, 197th 0. V. I., and served until Aug- 
ust of the same year, when he received his dis- 
charge. Politically, he is a Republican. 

SAMUEL S. FREEZE, farmer ; P. 0. North 
Robinson ; was born in Lancaster Co., Penn., 
in 1819, son of John T. and Susan Freeze, who 
were born in Germany, and came to America 
about the year 1811, and settled first in Phila- 
delphia, then went to Lancaster Co., and in 
1831 came to Crawford Co., where the father 
died in 1875, and the mother in 1840. In the 
father's famil}' there were five children — Will- 
iam, Samuel S., Elizabeth, Susan and Adam. 
Mr. Freeze was raised on his father's farm, and 
has always followed farming as a business. 
He received a common school education and 
was married, in 1849. to Lena Everly ; she was 
born in Germany, and came to America with 
her parents in 1841, they settled in Crawford 
Co., where her parents lived and died. From 
this union there were four children — John J., 
Caroline E., Eliza, William A. Mr. Freeze 
began business for himself a poor man, and by 
hard work and proper economy has accumu- 
lated quite a fortune, and now owns about 400 
acres of well-improved land in thiscount3\ His 
children are now all married, and doing busi- 
ness for themselves. He and family are mem- 
bers of the German Lutheran Church. 

JOHN J. FREEZE, farmer ; P. 0. Gabon ; 
was born in Crawford Co., in 1848, and is the 
son of Samuel and Magdalena Freeze. The 
father was a native of Pennsylvania, and the 
mother of Germany, she came to America, and 
to Crawford Co., when young, and the father 
came to the county about the year 1825, and 
has lived here ever since. He has a family of 
five children, the subject of this sketch being 
the oldest. He was raised on a farm, and has 
always followed farming as a business. He 
received a common-school education. He has 
been married twice ; his first marriage was in 
1869, to Hannah C. Snider, who was born in the 






county, her parents were natives of Pennsyl- 
vania, and came to Crawford Co. at a very early 
day From this union there is one child— Charles 
A The mother of this child died in 1875. Mr. 
Freeze lived a widower until 1877, when he was 
ao-ain married ; this time the lady of his choice 
w"as Margaret Trumpler, who was born in Kich- 
land Co.. where her parents came at a very 
early day From his second marriage, there is 
also one child— Albert L. Mr. Freeze has al- 
ways followed farming and stock-growing as a 
business, owns a fine farm of 80 acres of land, 
and is in good circumstances. 

MICHAEL IIERSHNER, farmer; P. 0. 
Galion ; was born in York Co., Penn., in 1815, 
son of Henry and Elizabeth Hershner, who 
were also natives of Pennsylvania. In 18io, 
they came to Crawford Co., and settled in 
what is now Jefferson Township, one mile 
south of where Mr. Hershner now lives, where 
the father entered a half-section of land, all ot 
which they cleared and improved. His father 
died about the year 1850, and his mother in 
1853 In the father's family there were nine 
children. The subject of this sketch spent his 
youth and early manhood with his parents, 
and received a common-school education. He 
was married in 1835, to Catharine Horn ; she 
was also born in Pennsylvania and came to 
Crawford Co. in 1835, the year she was mar- 
ried From this union, there were nine cliil- 
dren— Henry, Elizabeth, Ellen, Adam, John, 
Jeremiah, Mary, William 0. and Lydia V. 
When Mr. Hershner began business for himselt, 
he had some assistance from his father, but 
has made most of his present possessions by his 
own endeavors ; in 1839, he and his brother 
purchased a saw-mill at Middletown, which 
they worked for five years, and with that ex- 
ception Mr. Hershner has followed farming 
and stock-growing for a business. He had one 
son in the late war, Adam, enlisted in 18b J, 
and served three years, and when his time was 
out enlisted again and served nearly a year 
lono-er; first enlisted in Co. K, 64th O. V. 1. 
Hel:ook part in a number of engagements, and 
was wounded at Murfreesboro. 

B. HECKERT, Treasurer of LeesviUe Stone 
Co LeesviUe ; was born in Dauphin Co., Penn., 
in 1812 ; son of Casper and Elizabeth Heckert, 
who were natives of the same county, and 
where the father died in 1820. Mr. Heckert 
spent his youth and early manhood with his 



"71 



mother ; received a common-school education, 
and was married, in 1833, to Mary Rinehart, 
who was also born in Pennsylvania. From this 
union there were eleven children— Casper, 
Elizabeth, Catharine, John, Jacob, Frank, Mar- 
garet, Moses, Mary J., Fannie A. and Albert. 
Five of these children are now dead. In 1852, 
Mr. Heckert left the place of his nativity, and 
came to Crawford Co., settling in Jefferson 
Township, and in 1859 came to LeesviUe, 
where he purchased a flouring-mill which he 
ran for a number of years, then _sold it, and in 
1862 went into the mercantile business in 
LeesviUe, where he sold goods until 1878. He 
now is one of a company that own and work 
the LeesviUe stone quarries, and is treasurer 
and business manager of the same. These 
quarries furnish a superior quality of building 
stone, and are extensively worked. Mr. Heck- 
ert had two sons in the late war— John and 
Frank— the latter serving nearly three years, 
and the former about eight months. Frank 
took part in a number of engagements ; was at 
Vicksburg, Nashville, and a number of others, 
taking part in eighteen battles in all. Mr. 
Heckert and family are members of the Ger- 
man Reformed Church. ^ ^ ,. 

FREDERICK KILE, farmer ; P. 0. Gallon. 
The subject of this sketch was born in Craw- 
ford Co. in 1849 ; the son of Tobias and Cath- 
arine Kile, who were born in Germany. The 
father came to America about the year 1833, 
and the mother a few years later. They were 
among the early settlers of Crawford Co. ; they 
settled in Whetstone Township, where they yet 
live, having entered the land they live on, and 
done all the clearing and made all the improve- 
ments on this land. In the father's family there 
are ten children, all of whom are yet living. 
Frederick Kile was raised on his father s farm, 
and has always followed farming for a business. 
He received a good common-school education, 
and was married in 1872 to Caroline Freeze, 
who was born in the county, and whose parents 
came to the county about 1825. From this 
union there were four children, one now dead, 
Samuel F.— Catharine M., Harry F. and Will- 
iam. Mr. Kile began business for himselt en- 
tirely upon his own resources, and has been 
quite successful, and is now in pretty good cir- 
cumstances. He and his wife are members ot 
the German Lutheran Church. 

CHRISTIAN LOBER, minister and farmer; 



A^ 



1^ 



1U04 



BIOGKAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



P. 0. North Robinson ; was born in Wurtem- 
berg, Grermany, in 1835, the son of Michael and 
Eve Lober, who were born in the same place, 
and came to America in 1856. They settled in 
Wood County, where the father yet lives. The 
mother died in 1877. Christian Lober came to 
America two years previous to his parents ; he 
also settled in Wood County, where he resided 
until 1863, at which time he came to Crawford 
County. lie was educated in Germany, and is 
a man of fine culture and education. He is a 
minister in the German Reformed Church, and 
has two charges in Cx'awford County, the 
Windfall Church, in Jefferson Township, and 
the German settlement church, in Vernon 
Township, both of which are in a flourishing 
condition under his ministration. Mr. Lober 
came to the farm that he now resides on, in 
1873. He owns a fine farm of 80 acres, and is 
a successful farmer as well as a successful min- 
ister. He began business for himself when he 
came to America, entirely upon his own re- 
sponsibilities, and by close attention to busi- 
ness, and strict honesty and integrity, has been 
prospered in all his undertakings. Mr. Lober 
has been married twice. His first marriage was 
to Barbara Maurer ; she also was born in Ger- 
many, and came to America the same year her 
husband did, but was married in America. 
They were married in 1857, and had one son, 
Henry. The mother of this child died in 1864. 
Mr. Lober remained a widower until 1866, 
when he was again married. This time the 
lady of his choice was Mary B. Beach, who was 
born in Crawford County. Her parents were 
natives of Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany, and 
came to America, and to Crawford County at 
an early day. This union was not blessed with 
children. 

ELIAS McCLURE, farmer ; P. O. Gallon ; 
was born in Richland Co., Ohio, in 1828, and 
is a son of John J. and Esther McClure. The 
mother was a native of Pennsylvania, and 
father, of Washington Co., Md. The father 
went to Pennsylvania, where he was married 
and where he resided until about 1828, when 
they came to Richland Co., Ohio, and in about 
1829, came to Crawford Co. The father en- 
tered land in what was then Jackson Township, 
now Jefferson, which he cleared and improved, 
and where he resided for about sixteen years, 
when he purchased a piece of land near Lees- 
ville, in the same township, where he died in 



1847. The mother is yet living. When the 
father first came to the county, he had only 
money enough to pay for the land that he en- 
tered, and by hard work and proper economy 
he accumulated quite a fortune ; he was a sash- 
maker by trade, and worked at this business 
in connection with his farming. He was a 
man of a good education and held the office of 
Township Clerk for a great many years. He 
had a family of seven children, two of whom 
are now dead. Elias McClure was raised on 
his father's farm, had the advantages of a com- 
mon-school education. He was married in 
1852, to Elizabeth Rynold, who was born in 
Washington Co., Md., and came to Richland 
Co., Ohio, with her parents in a verj^ early day, 
and where she lived until her marriage. From 
this union there were eight children, three of 
whom are now dead. They were Mary E., 
Melissa J., Horace G., Benjamin F., Elmer A., 
Milton M., Delia M., and one died in infancy. 
Mr. McClure began business, like his father, on 
his own responsibilities, and made most that 
he now has by his own hard work. After a 
few years, however, he received a little money 
from his father's estate, but he had the founda- 
tion of his fortune laid before he received any 
assistance. He now has 108 acres of well- 
improved land, and has always followed farm- 
ing and stock-growing for a business. 

WILLIAM McKEAN, farmer ; P. 0. Lees- 
ville ; was born in Crawford Co. in 1841 ; son of 
Dr. John McKean, who came from Columbiana 
Co. to Crawford in about 1835, and settled at 
Leesville, where he practiced medicine for a 
great many years. The father now lives in 
Crestline, where he is also yet practicing med- 
icine. The subject of this sketch spent his 
3'outh and early manhood with his parents, and 
has the advantage of a good education. He is 
of a family of nine children, four of whom are 
now dead. He was married in 1863, to Wilimina 
Smith ; she was born in Perry Co., Penn., in 
1841, and came to Crawford Co. with her 
parents in about 1858, Her parents settled 
near Leesville, where they lived and died. 
From this union, there are three children — 
Beulah B., Harry L. and Bertram S. The 
mother of these children died in February, 
1880. Mr. McKean has always followed farm- 
ing and stock-growing for a business. He and 
family are members of the United Brethren 
Church. 



1^ 



JEFFEKSON TOWN^SHIP. 



1005 



WILLIAM PRICE, farmer; P. 0. North 
Robinson ; was born in Belmont Co., Ohio, in 
1828 ; son of John and Rebecca Price. His 
father was a native of Belmont Co., and his I 
mother of Chester Co., Penn. The latter came ! 
to Belmont Co. with her parents when quite ' 
young. Our subject's grandfather Price came \ 
from Wales and settled in Belmont Co., where 
he spent his days, and where his father lived 
until 1871, when he went to Guernsey Co., 
where he now lives. In the father's family i 
there were thi'ee children, one of whom is now 
dead. Mr. Price was raised on his father's j 
farm, and received a common-school educa- I 
tion. He has always followed fanning and 
stock-raising for a business. He was married 
in 1851, to Margaret Brokaw, who was born in i 
Harrison Co., Ohio ; they had a family of j 
eleven children, five of whom are dead — Mary | 
L., George V., Sarah J., John, Joseph L., Mar- 
tha A. and Rebecca E.; four died in infancy. • 
In 1859, Ml'. Price left the place of his nativity j 
for that of Morrow Co., where he resided until 
1862, when he came to Crawford Co. and pur- j 
chased a farm of 87 acres, where he now lives. ; 
He and his wife are members of the United 
Brethren Church. 

J. P. ROBINSON, farmer and trader; P. 
0. North Robinson ; was born in Washington 
Co., Penn., Jan. 4, 1828, and is the son of Will- 
iam and Sarah Robinson, who were also na- 
tives of Pennsylvania, and came to Crawford 
Co. in or about 18;j0. They settled in what is 
now Jefferson Township, and purchased a tract 
of land in the woods, which they cleared and 
improved. The village of North Robinson de- 
rived its name from this family. The father 
died about the year 185-1, and the mother yet 
lives at Crestline. In the father's family there 
were nine children — James, John, Samuel, J. 
P., William, Archibald, David, Mary J. and 
Deborah. Mr. Robinson was raised on his 
father's farm, in Crawford Co., and had the ad- 
vantages of a common-school education. His 
principal business has been farming, although 
he has at times turned his attention in other 
directions. He at one time sold dry goods and 
groceries in North Robinson for about one 
year, and, since about 1877, until within the 
last few months, has been engaged in the grain 
trade in the same place. He was married, 
about 1858, to Mary A. Dixon, who was born 
in Crawford Co. Her parents were natives of 



Indiana Co., Penn., and came to Crawford Co. 
at a very earl}' day. This union never was 
blessed with any children. Mr. Robinson be- 
gan business for himself without the aid of 
any one, and, by perseverance and strict atten- 
tion to business, he has gained quite a fortune. 
Although he has met with misfortunes that are 
common to men in business, and lost some 
mone}', he did not sit down and repine, but 
kept bravely on, without a murmur, to repair 
his fortunes, and has been successful in doing 
so. He is a man that is universall}- respected, 
and also a man of rare business abilities. 

MAJ. JAMES ROBINSON, farmer ; P. 0. 
Gallon ; was born in Washington Co., Penn., in 
1817. His father removed to Crawford Co. in 
1831. locating at North Robinson. James and 
his cousin walked all the way from their old 
home, driving the cows. He remained and 
made his home at his father's farm, until he 
was 26 years of age. He was elected Town 
Clerk of Jackson township in 1839 and 1840, 
and in 1845 he was elected Recorder of the 
county, and held this office two consecutive 
terms of thi^ee years each. He then went to 
farming, and continued in that pursuit for three 
years, during which he served as Justice of the 
Peace for Jackson Township. In 1857, he 
was again elected Recorder and served one 
term. In 1867, he was elected to the Legisla- 
ture from his district, and re-elected in 1870. 
In 1874, he was elected Justice of the Peace in 
Jefferson Township, and served two terms. He 
was married, in 1845, to Miss JaneR. Donahe}-, 
of Stark Co., Ohio. They have three children 
living — Virginia, James C. and Irene M. Mr. 
Robinson is residing at present upon his farm, 
two miles northwest of Gallon, on the edge of 
Jefferson Township. He is known far and near 
as " Major " Robinson, having received this title 
while serving in the Ohio State Militia. The 
laws of the State from 1836 to 1859. required 
every able bodied man from 18 to 45 to belong 
to the " Militia." Mr. Robinson served in all 
ranks, from private to Major, when he re- 
signed to accept the office of Captain of Light 
Infantr3\ The " Major " is a genial, kind- 
hearted gentleman of the old school ; although 
passing into the "sere and yellow leaf" his 
3'ears sit lightly upon him and he bids tair to 
outlive some of his younger friends. All honor 
to the men, who, after serving 3'ears of public 
trust, bequeath to posterit}' a stainless name. 



k* 



1U06 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



WILLIAM SHERER, farmer; P. 0. Gal- 
ion ; was born ill Crawford Co. in 1843, the son 
of Adam and Nancy Slierer, who came to Craw- 
ford Co. about the 3'ear 1842, the father being 
a native of Pennsylvania. They settled in Whet- 
stone Township, and purchased a farm, most 
of which he cleared and improved. When the 
father came to the county, he began business 
for hunself a poor man, and by perseverance 
and steady application to his business he ac- 
cumulated quite a fortune, and has been able 
to give each of his children a good stai't in the 
world. William Sherer was raised on his 
father's farm, and has always followed farming 
as a business. He received a common-school 
education. In 1862, he enlisted and served 
three years in the late rebellion ; he was in Co. 
E, lOist Ohio V. I.; was in the battle of Stone 
River, Chickamauga and a number of others. He 
was married, in 18G6, to Sarah J. Beltz, who 
was born in Crawford Co. Her parents were na- 
tives of Pennsylvania and came to Crawford Co. 
at a very early day. From this union there were 
five children — Francis M., Wilbert J., Alonzo 
P., William M. and Nancy B. Mr. Sherer has 
a farm of lUO acres three and one-half miles 
northwest of Gallon, and his business is farm- 
ing and stock-growing. He and his wife are 
members of the Lutheran Church. Politically, 
he is a Republican. 

OLIVER SMITH, farmer : P. 0. North Rob- 
inson ; was born in Crawford Co., in 184(3, and 
is a son of Joseph Smith, who was of German 
descent, his parents coming to America about 
1795, and settling in Pennsylvania, where they 
lived and died, and where Joseph lived until 
about 1840, when he came to Crawford Co. In 
his family there were five children — Leonard, 
Gilbert, Mary E., Matilda and Oliver, all of 
whom live in the county yet. Oliver is the 
youngest of the family, and he yet resides on 
the farm that his father purchased when he 
came to the county, and which was cleai'ed and 
improved by the family. In 1869, Oliver was 
married to Eliza Van Voorhis, daughter of W. 
R. Van Voorhis, whose biography appears in 
this work, and who was among the first settlers 
of the county. From this union there are 
seven children— Florence V., Frank, Le Roy, 
Jessie M., Orvil A., Harry, and the youngest is 
yet unnamed. Mr. Smith has always followed 
farming and stock-growing for a business. 
WILLIAM STALEY, farmer ; P. 0. Gallon ; 



was born in Franklin Co., Penn., Aug. 5, 1808, 
and is the son of John and Elizabeth Staley, 
who were also natives of Pennsylvania. They 
came to Crawford Co. in 1826, and settled in 
Whetstone Township, where they lived for a 
number of years, and then went to Michigan, 
where they died. The father died in 1840, and 
the mother in 1859. William Staley was raised 
on his father's farm, receiving a common-school 
education, and was married, in 1839, to Eliza- 
beth Whitmore, who was born in Northumber- 
land Co., Penn., and came to Crawford Co. with 
her parents in 1828. Her parents are now both 
dead, her father djing in 1861, and her mother 
in 1879. From this marriage there were eight 
children, three of whom are now dead — Cath- 
arine A., Margaret J., Elizabeth E., Amanda P., 
John R., Mary B., William R. and Eliza M. In 
1861, William R. and Eliza died, and, in 1870, 
Elizabeth p]. died. Mr. Staley began business 
for himself, entirel}' upon his own resources, 
and has made all he now has by his own hard 
work and economy. He helped his father to 
clear up two farms, and has cleared one for 
himself, and so has done his share toward clear- 
ing in the county. He now owns 80 acres of 
well-improved land, and has always made farm- 
ing and stock-growing his business. His wife 
is a member of the German Reformed Church. 
Politically, he is a Republican. 

HENRY S. SHELDON, farmer ; P. 0. Lees- 
ville ; was born in Essex Co.. N. Y., in 1808; 
son of Daniel and Phoebe (Green) Sheldon. The 
latter was born in Ireland, and the former in 
the State of New York, where they lived and 
died. Mr. Sheldon's parents died when he was 
quite 3'oung, and he lived with his Grandfather 
Sheldon until 13 years of age, and, from that 
time until he was 19 years of age, he was on 
the water. In 1826, he came to Crawford Co., 
and has lived in the county ever since. He was 
married, on March 12, 1835, to Nanc}' Ridgel}', 
who was born in Wayne Co., Ohio, in 1813, and 
came to Crawford Co. at a very early daj'. 
From this union there were ten children — Ma- 
tilda, Rachel, Mary A., Sarah J., Andrew J., 
Rebecca, Annas W., William H., Heniy and 
Nanc3\ Mr. Sheldon began business for him- 
self a poor man. and lias been somewhat fortu- 
nate in business. He is a cooper by trade, a 
business he followed for a great many years. 

HENRY THOMAN, fa^rmer; P. 0. Lees- 
ville ; was born in Germanj^ in 1842 ; son of 






JEFFEESON TOWNSHIP. 



1007 



Conrad and Magdalena Thoman. The mother 
died in Germany. Mr. Thoman came to Amer- 
ica with his father in 1846 and settled in Craw- 
ford Co., where the father died in 1864. He 
lived with his father until he was 10 years 
of age, and, since that time, has done for him- 
self He received a common-school education. 
In 1862, he enlisted for three yeai'S in the Union 
army, and was out about nine months, when he 
was taken sick and was discharged from the 
service. He came home, and in a few months 
had recovered sufficiently to re-enlist in Co. L, 
10th 0. V. C, and served until the close of the 
war, taking part in several engagements — At- 
lanta, Jonesboro, and a number of others. At 
the close of the war, he came home and worked 
as a farm laborer for a number of years. He 
was married, in 1870, to Lydia C. Freeze, who 
was born in the county. From this union, there 
are four children — William, Ira, Pearl}^ and 
Fannie. Mr. Thoman began business for him- 
self entirely upon his own resources, and, by 
hard work and economy, he has gained a com- 
petency. His health was seriously impaired 
while serving his adopted country. He and 
his wife are members of the U. B. Church. 

W. R. VAN VOORHIS, farmer ; P. 0. North 
Robinson. The subject of this sketch was 
born in Dutchess Co., N. Y., May 25, 1802, the 
son of Samuel and Sarah (Myers) Van Voorhis, 
who were natives of the same county in New 
York. Mr. Van Voorhis came to Crawford 
County with his parents in 1821. They left New 
York for Washington Co., Penn., where they 
resided until they came to Crawford County. 
They settled in Whetstone Township, where the 
parents died. The father died in 1856, and 
the mother in 1850. When they came to the 
county it was almost an unbroken wilderness, 
and the land they entered at that time had to 
be cleared before they could raise the neces- 
saries of life, and of course they saw many 
hard times, and endured many privations, be- 
fore they got their land under cultivation. Mr. 
Van Voorhis was 19 years of age when he came 
to the county, and he has noted the wonderful 
change that has been made in the county since 
he first knew it. He has been married twice. 
His first marriage was in 1824, to Hannah 
Jones, who was born in Wayne Co., Ohio, and 
came to Crawford Count}' with her parents in 
1821. From this raari'iage there were seven 
children, two of whom are now dead. Hiram 



N., Daniel, Abraham, Sarah, Rebecca J., Cath- 
arine, and one died in infancy. The mother of 
these children died in 1841. About the year 
1836, Mr. Van Voorhis went to Michigan, where 
he resided until 1841, when he returned to 
Crawford County, and remained until 1860, 
when he again left, this time going to Wood 
Co., Ohio, where he resided until 1877, and re- 
turned to Crawford County again. He yet 
lives here, and expects to spend the balance of 
his days here. In 1842, he married his second 
wife, Almeda (Johnston) Warden, widow of 
Benjamin Warden, who died in 1840 ; he was a 
native of Harrison Co., Ohio, as also was she. 
They came to Crawford County in 1821, having 
two children — Nathan C. and Benjamin F. 
Ten children were born to Mr. Van Voorhis by 
his last marriage, two of whom are dead — 
Amanda, James M., Mary, Eliza, Greo. S., Mar- 
tha, Isaac 31., John R., Alice and Albert. Mr. 
Van Voorhis began business for himself with- 
out the aid of an}' one, and made all he has by 
hard work and economy. He had one son, 
John M., and his two step-sons, Nathan C. and 
Benjamin F. (Warden), in the late war, all of 
whom lived to return home. Mr. Van Voorhis 
and wife are members of the Disciples' Church. 
CALEP WEAVER, farmer ; P. 0. North 
Robinson; was born in Germany in 1839, and 
is a son of John and Elizabeth Weaver, also 
born in Germany, who, emigrating to America 
in 1845, and coming direct to Crawford Co., 
settled in JeflTerson Township, where they lived 
until 1849, and then went to Vernon Township, 
where they died. The father died in 1858, and 
the mother in 1871. The father was married 
twice, and there were six children by his fii'st 
marriage and the same number by his last. 
The subject of this sketch is the eldest of the 
second set of children. When the parents 
came to Amei'ica, they were veiy poor, but, by 
hard work and proper economy, they accumu- 
lated something of a fortune. Calep Weaver 
was raised on his father's farm, and has always 
followed farming for a business. He did not 
have the advantages in the way of acquiring 
an education when he was young that are now 
afforded, and his education is consequently 
very limited. He began business for himself 
entirely upon his own resources, and, by close 
attention to business, has made quite a fortune. 
He was married, in I860, to Margaret Delp; 
she was born in Crawford Co. Her parents 






1008 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



were natives of German}', and were earlj- resi- 
dents of the connty. From this marriage, 
there were five children, one now dead — Will- 
iam F., John H., Samuel E., Emeline and Louis 
H. Mr. Weaver went to Defiance Co. in 1861, 
where he purchased a farm of 80 acres of land 
in the woods, which he cleared and improved, 
and, in 1870, he sold this and returned to 
Crawford Co. and purchased the farm that he 
now resides upon, consisting of 100 acres, in 
Jefferson Township, most of which he has 
cleared, and has put all the improvements on 
it. He and wife are members of the Lutheran 
Church. 

JOHN WEBER, farmer; P. 0. Crestline; 
was born in Germany in 1832, and is the son 
of John Weber. Mr. Weber came to America 
with his father in 1845, and settled in Crawford 
Co., where his father died, in 1856. His moth- 



er died in Germany about the year 1835. The 
subject of this sketch spent his youth and early 
manhood on his father's farm, and received a 
common-school education. He was married, 
in 1858, to Elizabeth Delp, who was born and 
raised on the farm that Mr. Weber now owns 
and resides upon. From this union there are 
two children — George and Andrew. He began 
business for himself a poor man, and is now in 
good circumstances. When he first began bus- 
iness for himself, he worked as a farm laborer, 
and in this way accumulated enough to buy a 
threshing machine, and, for a number of years, 
followed threshing for a business, and, in 1859, 
purchased the farm of 79 acres that he now 
lives upon, and has since followed farming and 
stock-growing for a business. He and family 
are members of the Presbyterian Church. Po- 
litically, he is a Democrat. 



CHATFIELD TOWNSHIP. 



JOHN BURGBACHER, farmer ; P. 0. Chat- 
field. Esquire Burgbacher, one of the stanch 
and reliable men of Chatfield, was born in 
Wurtemberg, Germany, town of Boll, County 
of Sulz, June 23, 1824 ; son of Johannes and 
Rosina (Bippus) Burgbacher. He emigrated 
with his parents, in 1 835, to this State, locating 
in this township, and purchasing 80 acres in 
Sec. 7, of Trueman Wilkinson, he being the 
second owner ; 6 acres of this land was all that 
was (ileared. John was thus early in life in- 
ured to hard labor, and subject to many of the 
privations incident to a pioneer settlement. His 
father dying Jan. 27, 1842, the care of the farm 
devolved upon John, who was at this time 18 
years of age, which post of responsibility he 
held until he was 25 years of age. On July 
3. 1849, he was joined by wedlock to Susanna 
M. Koenig, who was born Dec. 1, 1829, in Zell, 
Rhine Bavaria, and whose parents were William 
and Mary L. (Fey) Koenig, who were born 
Oct. 21, 1797, and Jan. 4, 1795, respectively. 
They emigrated to this country in 1833. Mr. 
Koenig was one of the first coopers in this part 
of the country. Since the marriage of Mr. 
Burgbacher, he has remained continuously on 
the homestead ; he began first by buying out 
the heirs' interest, until he became the legal 



possessor of the entire farm. Ten children 
have been born to him, six of whom are living, 
viz.: Mary L., now Mrs. William Hohl, of 
Lima, Allen Co. ; John W., in Defiance Co. ; Rose, 
now Mrs. Jacob Breigle, of this township ; 
William H., married Ellen Goler, daughter of 
George and Mary Strahle, of Defiance Co. ; and 
Elizabeth, at home. The farm of Mr. B. con- 
tains 170 acres of land ; he has acquired the 
same with the assistance of his faithful spouse. 
During his life, he has been a true Democi'at, 
having served two terms as County Commis- 
sioner, as Justice of the Peace over twenty, 
and as School Director twenty-four years. He 
and his wife are members of the German Lu- 
theran Church. Johannes Burgbacher, above 
mentioned, died in his 68th year, and his wife, 
Dec. 14, 1850, aged 64. 

AARON CARRICK, farmer; P. 0. Caro- 
thers ; was born June 27, 1836, in Huron Co., 
Ohio, being the third child of Joseph and Fred- 
erica (Harklerhodis) Carrick, both of whom 
were natives of Pennsylvania. He was born 
on July 16, 1808, and she on Sept. 8, 1809, in 
Bedford Co. The}' were married April 6, 1829, 
in Stark, and moved afterward to Columbiana 
Co. To them were born William, Laura A., 
Aaron and Sarah. William is in Seneca, Rock- 






J^f 



CHATFIELD TOWNSHIP. 



1009 



away Township, and Sarah is now Mrs. Jesse 
English, of Carothers, Seneca Co. The Car- 
rick family came to this township in 1846, 
locating on the farm now owned by Aaron, 
purchasing 105 acres; but a small portion was 
cleared at that time. Aaron's father was a 
carpenter by occupation, but after coming to 
this township applied himself to farming. He 
died Nov. 12, 1877, a worthy and respected 
citizen. Aaron's early boyhood was spent in 
attending school and at work on the farm. In 
August, ^862, when the war cloud was hanging 
over- our Republic, and deluging our land with 
the crimson tide, and stalwart men were needed 
to combat the traitors' advance, Aaron was 
ready to respond to the Nation's call, and 
donned the blue, and for three years he was 
found at the front and did his duty until the 
termination of the war. During this time he 
was a participant in some of the most sanguin- 
ary conflicts of the war. His regiment was the 
123d Ohio V. I., and served in the Army of the 
Potomac. He was once taken prisoner by 
Moseby, but escaped him and rejoined his com- 
mand. " Upon his return to peaceful pursuits, 
he came home and resumed farming, and in 
1868, was married to Lucy Ann Ficke, who 
was born in Venice Township, Seneca Co., 
daughter of Peter Ficke. Of three children 
born them, but one survives, Jacob A. He has 
105 acres of land. 

J. H. DAVIDSON, farmer ; P. 0. Chatfleld ; 
first saw the light of day. May 28, 1835, on the 
northwest quarter of Sec. 20, in Chatfield 
Township. His parents were Richard and Re- 
becca (Hill) Davidson, he was born May 28, 
1799, in Virgina. His father was Gleorge David- 
son, who was a first cousin to Colonel Crawford, 
of Broken Sword fame. He was a soldier in the 
Revolution when 18 years of age. The land 
upon which his son Richard was born, was 
that which he obtained through the Govern- 
ment, in consideration of his services in the 
Revolutionary war, which title was never per- 
fected, and lie failed to have the matter ad- 
justed, and it finally fell into other hands, where 
it has remained "to this day, though justly 
should be in the Davidson family. The elder 
Davidson emigrated to this State in the early 
part of the present century, and settled in 
Knox County, being one among the first set- 
tlers, and remained here until his death. Rich- 
ard, his son, removed to this county in 1830, 



and settled on the land now owned by our sub- 
ject, who was the fifth child of a family of 
twelve, nine of whom lived to maturity. In 
1832, his father was elected Justice of the 
Peace, being the first dispenser of justice in the 
Township, and was, for several years afterward, 
prominent as one of the leading spirits in the 
township. John H. was 13 years of age when 
his father died; he then remained with his 
mother, and assisted in her maintenance. Re- 
moved to Marion County in 1857, where he was 
employed as a teacher, remaining here until 
1862 ; he then returned to the homestead, where 
he has since lived. He has been twice mar- 
ried, first, to Ann M. Hopple, in September, 
1865 ; she died two years later. March, 1871, 
was married to Laura J. Williams, born in Lib- 
erty Township in 1848, she is a daughter of 
Thomas and Sarah (Shofstall) Williams, who 
were from Pennsylvania, and of German de- 
scent. Three children— Nellie May, Florence 
M. and Walter Edward— are the younger repre- 
sentatives of the Davidson family. Is Demo- 
cratic in politics, and has served as Justice of 
the Peace several terms ; a teacher for twelve 
terms in all, and has ever been one among the 
prominent, enterprising and public-spirited men 
of his township. Is a representative of one of 
the prominent church societies, and is an up- 
right Christian gentleman. 

JOHN GREEN, farmer; P. O. Sulphur 
Springs ; was born Sept. 15, 1844, in Liberty 
Township, Crawford Co.; eldest son of Jacob 
Green, who was born in Wurtemberg March 13, 
1818, who was a son of Frantz Gottlieb Green, 
who was born Dec. 11, 1775, and emigrated to 
this State in 1832 and settled in Liberty Town- 
ship. Jacob Green was married to Magdalena 
C. Treftz, who was born July 15, 1823, in Wur- 
temberg, daughter of Michael and Rachel (Rou) 
Treftz, who came over in the same vessel with 
the Green family. Mrs. Green came to this 
county with her" parents, who entered 40 acres 
in Chatfield Township. When her father went 
to enter the land, he left his family in a barn at 
; Bloomingville, there being no other accommo- 
' dations. Mrs. Green and her sister walked 
from that point to Sandusky, to hire out, which 
1 they did, receiving 18 cents per week. She 
' afterward worked in Columbus, walking the en- 
i tire distance several times, through the forests, 
'■ and carrying her clothing and food, and stop- 
I ping at the farmhouses over night when she 



1010 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



could, and at the taverns, paying 6 cents for a 
bed. John was raised to farming. There were 
eleven children in the famil}', ten of whom are 
living. At the age of 25, he was married to 
Barbara Pitts, born Aug. 25, 1846, in Chatfield 
Township, daughter of John and Elizabeth 
(Rock) Pitts, who were natives of Pennsylva- 
nia. After John's marriage, he engaged in 
farming on his own behalf, and has now 104 
acres of land. Of six children born, four are 
living — Clara E., Anna M., Oscar L. and Ida 
A. Jacob Grreen died in June, 1875. He has 
a brother, John, who has been serving in the 
regular arm}' since the Mexican war, now in 
the West, in the cavalry service ; is a General, 
and a valiant officer, and is a terror to the In- 
dians. 

JOHN HANES, farmer ; P. 0. Carothers ; 
is a son of Daniel Haines, whose wife was Su- 
sanna Bordner, both of whom were natives of 
the " Keystone State," near Reading, and emi- 
grated to Stark Co. about the time of the In- 
dian war, locating in Pike Township, where 
John was born, on Jan. 5, 1819. His father 
entered 40 acres of land, but died soon after. 
The family being poor, John's minority was 
spent in acquiring means to maintain them, al- 
ways turning over his earnings to his mother. 
Soon after he became of age, he went to Huron 
Co., where he worked out by the 3'ear for ten 
successive twelve-months. Returning then to 
Crawford Co., he was united in wedlock to Par- 
melia Shade, who was born in September, 1829, 
in Stark Co., Ohio, daughter of Samuel Shade. 
Having some money, he and his brother Chris 
purchased 80 acres in the northeastern part 
of Chatlield Township, which they held in 
partnership for about six years. He then sold 
out to his brother, and purchased 74^ acres of 
his grandfather and Uncle George Bordner, on 
Sec. 5, and has since added to it until he now 
has 120 acres, all of which he has acquired by 
hard toil and prudent management, his farm 
ranking among the best of its size. It is well 
tilled, and everything pertaining to it proclaims 
the thrifty enterprise of its owner, whose re- 
solve was, in early life, that, should Providence 
grant him health, he would industriously apply 
himself to the acquisition of a good home and 
a reasonable competence, which resolve he has 
now realized. Of seven children born to him, 
five are living — Rufus, of this township ; Ellen, 
now Mrs. Isaiah Keller, of Bucyrus ; Samuel, 



Daniel and Ida, at home. There were twelve 
children of his father's family, he being the 
sixth. His school advantages were very lim- 
ited indeed. He is among the few in the town- 
ship who cast their vote for Republican princi- 
ples. He and his wife are members of the Ger- 
man Reformed Church. 

FREDERICK HIPP, farmer ; P. 0. Chat- 
field. Among the prominent citizens in this 
township is the above-named gentleman, whose 
long association with this locality, his sterling 
qualities and recognized merits have justly 
placed him in high esteem in the community, 
in which he has been a resident since 1833. 
Was born Dec. 9, 1822, in Bessingheim, Wur- 
temberg, German}^ ; son of Christian F. and 
Sabina (Beckbissinger) Hipp, to whom were 
born six children, our subject being the second. 
In 1833, he emigrated to this State with his 
parents, who located in Chatfield Township, and 
engaged in farming. After attaining his ma- 
jority, he went to Bucyrus, where he learned 
the wagon-maker's trade, which, being com- 
pleted, he set up in business at Richville, and 
continued steadily at the same for over a score 
of years, when he engaged in the mercantile 
business at this place for five 3'ears, since which 
time he has been engaged as a tiller of the soil, 
and has been successful in his efforts. When 
he began for himself he had nothing ; when he 
went to keeping house he made the greater part 
of his own furniture, humble and plain of its 
kind, yet their wants were few, and their chief 
desires were to secure a home and sufficiency 
for their declining ^-ears. Providence has 
crowned their efforts with success, they having 
now 200 acres of excellent land and town prop- 
erty. His amiable wife was Catharine Kunzi, 
born December, 1825, in Wurtemberg, in the 
" Faderland." She was a daughter of Andrew 
and Eve Kunzi. Fifteen children have crowned 
the union of Mr. Hipp and wife. Of the num- 
ber now living are — Jacob, in Seneca Co. ; 
Louisa, Mrs. J. H. Robison, of Bucyrus ; Hen- 
ry, at home ; Mary Ann, Mrs. C. D. Markle}' ; 
John, Charles, Savina, Sarah, Frederick and 
Emma. Democratic in sentiment, he has for 
sevei'al j'eai's past been one of the wheel horses 
in the Democratic party, and has filled several 
offices of trust in his township, as Postmaster 
and as Justice of the Peace eighteen years, he 
and Esquire Burgbacher being the present dis- 
pensers of Justice in the township. Mr. Hipp 



~-« e)j^ 



CHATFIELD TOWNSHIP. 



1011 



is a liberal patron of the public journals, and is 
a friend and supporter of all enterprises in 
which the public weal is concerned. 

CHRISTOPHER HANES, farmer and stock- 
raiser ; P. 0. New Washington ; is among the 
prominent farmers and self-made men of this 
township, beginning in life a poor boy. His 
father dying, he was thus early in life left with- 
out a paternal friend to counsel and advise, and 
was thrown out upon the cold world to battle 
with its tempests and storms without a shilling 
in his pocket. His only capital was a good 
constitution and willing hands, which he brought 
into requisition, and to these he is mainly in- 
debted for the condition of things about him as 
seen to-day. He was born in Stark Co., Ohio, 
March 4, 1819, to Daniel and Susanna Hanes, 
who had twelve children. Christopher worked 
out by the month to get his start, working six 
years "^ for Stephen Russell. His school advan- 
tages were of an exceedingly limited character. 
Free schools were not then in vogue. Having 
saved some money, he, in company with his 
brother John, purchased SO acres in this town- 
ship, which they held in common a few years, 
and, then buying John's interest, he has since 
added to it at different times, until he now has 
about 400 acres, upon which are eight orchards. 
His farm ranks among the best in the township, 
and is highly productive, he raising as much 
grain to the acre as any of the surrounding 
farmers. Stock-raising is given especial atten- 
tion, and his entire efforts in a business way 
seem to have been, in the past, crowned 
with marked success. His wife was Julia A. 
Smith, who was born in 1822, in Virginia, of 
well-to-do parents, who, moving West, located 
in this township and bequeathed to their de- 
scendants a liberal patrimony. Eight children 
have crowned the union of Mr. Hanes to Julia, 
his wife — George (the eldest, resides at home), 
Samantha (Mrs. John Martin), Elizabeth A., 
Frank, Susanna (Mrs. William De Roche) and 
Matilda are those now living. In 1875, he 
built a spacious brick farmhouse, 32x32, with a 
large observatory, and cellar under the entire 
building, making the finest farm residence in 
the township. 

DAVID KALB, farmer; P. 0. Chatfield ; 
was born on the homestead, situated a short 
distance southwest of Richville, where he first 
beheld the light of day May 21, 1844. His 
father, William, was born in August, 1800, in 



Wurtemberg, Germany, and was married to 
the mother of David in the year 1828, whose 
maiden name was Savina Haner, born in April, 
1803. In 1833, they emigrated to this State 
in company with Esquire Hipp and father, 
making his first settlement in Holmes Co., 
where he bought 80 acres in the woods, where 
he built a rude cabin and lived about two 
years and a half In 1836, during the month 
of February, he came to Chatfield Township 
and bought 110 acres in Sec. 19, and but 3 
acres were cleared. For the 110 acres he paid 
$400. Their outfit for keeping house was not 
elaborate or expensive ; sat on benches and 
ate their frugal fare, at night resting their tired 
limbs on rude bedsteads of their own construc- 
tion. They planted their corn among the 
stumps, and harvested the same with a butcher 
knife yet they labored on and awaited the 
grow'th and development of the country, and 
lived to see the day when they were surrounded 
with all the conveniences of life, and a sure 
competence for their declining years. David 
remained with his parents until March 12, 1869, 
when he was married to Catharine Brigle, born 
in this township Sept. 6, 1843, daughter of 
Michael and Elizabeth (Sheffer) Brigle ; since 
has resided on the homestead. Has six chil- 
dren— Rosella M., Emma M., Lucy E., Clara 
0., William H. and John A. Has 340 acres. 
The family are members of the German Lu- 
theran Church. Of the four children— sisters 
and brothers — all of them are residents of the 
count}'. 

GEORGE LEONHART, farmer, New Wash- 
ington. Is one of the largest land-holders in 
the township. He was born March 3, 1810, in 
Alsace, near the river Rhine. He was a son of 
George Leonhart, who was born in 1776, and 
died in 1832. The year following, our subject 
embarked for the United States to better his 
condition, although tolerably well-to-do in Ger- 
many, yet, having heard such favorable ac- 
counts of America — of the cheap homes and 
reasonable compensation for labor — he severed 
his relations with the land of his nativity, and 
set sail for the " land of promise." He came 
first to Stark Co., bringing with him $800, 
which he invested in land ; this he improved to 
some extent, and sold it at $200 advance and 
then moved to this county, locating in Chat- 
field Township, in 1837, with $1,000 in cash. 
He purchased 160 acres of land, and has aug- 



■^c 



k^ 



1012 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



mented the first purchase at different times un- 
til he now has nearly 800 acres of land. Hav- 
ing always enjoyed excellent health, he has 
worked hard, been very economical, managed 
well, and is to-day one of the wealthiest farm- 
ers in the township. Immediateh^ prior to 
his embarking for America, he was joined in 
wedlock to Margaret Sceapes, who was born 
December, 1814. To this couple have been 
born six children, who are John ; Kate, Mrs. 
Hammer ; Elizabeth, Mrs. Adam Reechart ; 
George, in Kansas ; Adam, at home. Aside 
from bis land possessions in this township, he 
has four sections of land in Texas, purchased 
in 1879. Although he has already reached his 
three score and ten years, he is looking for- 
ward to still riper years, to extend his bound- 
aries and increase his store by laudable and 
legitimate means. 

"^M. J. LUTZ, merchant, Chatfield ; is among 
the rising young merchants of Crawford Co., 
and was raised to farming pursuits. He was 
born Aug. 29, 1854, in this township; son of 
Michael and Savina (Kalb) Lutz, who were na- 
tives of Germany, and emigrated to this State, 
locating in this township, many years ago, and 
have been, since their arrival, closely identified 
with its interests. At the age of iS, Michael 
J. left the farm and engaged at the carpenter's 
trade, which he followed^ for about five years. 
On Feb. 6, 1879, he engaged in the mercantile 
business at Richville, with Mr. Morhoff, under 
the firm name of Morhoff & Lutz, and they are 
doing a thriving and prospering trade, it having 
doubled since their commencement. They keep 
a general stock, consisting of dry goods, gro- 
ceries, boots and shoes, queensware, and such 
articles as are required among the farmers, and 
at prices to suit the times. On Sept. 16, 1880, 
he was united in marriage to Christina Zeller, 
who was born July 6, 1856, the daughter of 
Frederick and Elizabeth (Bardon) Zeller. In 
1879, he was elected Township Treasurer. He 
and wife are both members of the Lutheran 
Church. 

^ DANIEL LUTZ, farmer ; P. 0. Sulphur 
Sprmgs ; was born on the farm he now owns, 
in December, 1837, and is a son of Gottlieb and 
Eva Kibler. He was born in Wurtemberg, 1797 
at Oberamts, Backnang ; she was born Jiily 11^ 
]808. He died April 28, 1868 ; she died Oct. 
17, 1850. To them were born twelve children, 
five of whom lived to maturity, Daniel being 



the sixth. In 1832, Gottleib emigrated to this 
State, stopping first at New Lisbon, and, the 
year following, came to Chatfield, where he lo- 
cated, entering 40 acres of land in the " green 
woods," and building a rude log cabin.^ He 
lived several years the life of a pioneer, the 
wolves and bears being their companions and 
neighbors, making the night hideous with their 
howls, and the sheep-pens and sties almost ten- 
antless by their nightly depredations. One 
viewing the well-kept and farmer-like premises 
of Daniel Lutz in 1880, one would scarcely 
imagine how great the contrast when his father 
first settled here and the present time. Now, 
the forest and rude cabin are things of the 
past, being supplanted by fruitful and pro-, 
ductive fields, the premises being adorned by 
excellent and well-designed farm buildings. 
Daniel stayed with his paternal ancestor until 
20 years of age, then, learning the carpenter's 
trade, he followed the same until he was 27 
years of age. On Oct. 5, 1863, he was united 
in wedlock to Elizabeth Ulmer, who was born 
July 28, 1837, in Liberty Township, daughter of 
Daniel Ulmer, who was born in Wurtemberg ; 
to them were born twelve children, eleven of 
whom are living. Mr. Lutz has 128 acres of 
choice land, and is an excellent and successful 
farmer. Two children — David and Katie — 
compose the family. Mrs. Lutz's mother's 
maiden name was Barbara Brosey. Mr. and 
Mrs. Lutz are members of the Lutheran 
Church, and are true representatives of the 
better class of farmers. 

J. D. LOYER, farmer ; P. 0. Chatfield ; 
was born Oct. 19, 1843, in Liberty Township, 
Crawford Co., Ohio ; son of Michael and Cath- 
arine Crouse, who were natives of Wurtemberg, 
Germany, his birth bearing record 1805 ; his 
wife, one year later. In 1837, they crossed the 
broad Atlantic, to seek a home in the Western 
wilds, and amid the pioneers of the almost un- 
broken wilderness. After reaching America, 
they wended their way toward the setting sun, 
making their stand in the Buckeye State, 
where they purchased 90 acres in Liberty 
Township, Crawford Co. Here the family were 
raised, which numbered, in all, twelve children, 
but six now living, J. D. being the ninth in or- 
der, who lived with his parents until 21 years 
of age, after which he learned the carpenter's 
trade, at which he worked for eight successive 
years, during this time making his father's 



■^ 



CHATFIELD TOWNSHIP. 



1013 



house his home. In 1871, he came to Chat- 
field and purchased an interest in a steam saw- 
mill, which he yet holds. Dec. 10, 1874, he 
was united in marriage to Catharine Lutz, who 
was born in this county, Oct. 10, 1856, to 
Michael and Savina (Kalb) Lutz. Two chil- 
dren have crowned this union, who are Clara 
M. and William F. Farming and milling is 
the business in which he is now engaged. Has 
40 acres of land, and has recently erected a 
commodious house, completed in 1879, and, 
during the present year, a large barn, of mod- 
ern style of architecture. In 1874, he was 
elected Township Clerk, and is yet serving in 
that capacity, with satisfaction to the people. 

MATTHIAS LOYER, farmer; P. 0. Chat- 
field, is the tenth child of Michael and Catha- 
rine Loyer, and was born Feb. 24, 1846, in Lib- 
erty Township. His father was a farmer, and 
raised his boys to agricultural pursuits, Mat- 
thias living with his parents until he arrived at 
maturity. He subsequently learned the tan- 
ner's trade at Richville, under Gottlieb Kibler, 
whom he served four years. In 1871, he and 
his brother. J. D. Loyer, purchased the steam 
saw-mill at Richville, and are prepared to do 
custom sawing to order, and at reasonable 
rates. On May 2, 1872, he was married to 
Savina Lutz, who was born in this township, 
Sept. 5, 1853, the daughter of Michael and 
Catharine Lutz. Has three children — Michael 
E., Ida M. and Mary L. His father died in 
1874 and his mother in 1877. All of the 
family yet living, reside in this county, with one 
exception, a sister who lives in Paulding Co. 
He has 40 acres of land, and other valuable 
property. 

BENJAMIN MARTIN, farmer ; P. 0. Chat- 
field ; is a native of Lancaster Co., Penn., was 
born March 9, 1816, and was the eldest son of 
David and Barbara Martin, who were, likewise, 
natives of the same locality. David Martin 
was a Mennonite preacher, and raised his boys 
to agricultural pursuits. Benjamin's early boy- 
hood was spent in attending school, and assist- 
ing in the many duties that pertain to farm 
life. At the age of 26, he was wedded to Mary 
Weaver, who was born Dec. 16, 1824, in Cum- 
berland Co., Penn., and at an early age, removed 
with her parents to York Co., Penn., where she 
grew to womanhood. They died when she was 
nine yeais of age. Oct. 27, 1842, was the date 
upon which was celebrated their association as 



man and wife. The first year after his marriage, 
he rented land, then purchased land of his 
father and erected farm buildings thereon, 
which he occupied for nine years. In the spring 
of 1853, he moved to this county, locating on 
160 acres which he had purchased the fall pre- 
vious, of Charles Gibson, in Chatfield Township, 
he being the first owner, having received his 
title from " Uncle Sam." There were but about 
45 acres cleared at the time of his purchase. 
After the second year he built a stable, and the 
fifth year erected a better house than the former. 
Of ten children born to him, seven are living — 
Henry C, in Montgomery Co., Kan. ; Barbara 
0., now Mrs. John Mahon, of Cranberry Town- 
ship ; John S., Samuel, James M., Mary E. and 
Peter J. His farm consists of 143 acres, and 
is well improved, being a pleasant home, 
adorned with evergreens, and the house and 
yard with flowers and plants, of which Mrs. 
Martin is a lover. He and wife are members 
of the Mennonite Church. They have adopted 
his brother's child, Marietta ; she resides with 
them. Though the township is largely Demo- 
cratic, yet he is loyal to the Republican party. 
GEORGE SHAFFER, farmer ; P. O. New 
Washington ; was born Dec. 15, 1815, in Al- 
sace, Neabronn, Uhrwirller, and is a son of 
John and Catharine (Zeider) Shafler, who were 
born in April, 1786, and January, 1787, re- 
spectively. John Shaffer, the father of our 
subject, was a tailor by trade, which vocation 
he taught his son, but, it being distasteful to 
him as an occupation, he never followed it. 
Having entertained favorable impressions of 
' America, he resolved he would cast his lot 
with it, and, at the age of 18, he bade adieu to 
the "Faderland," "and set sail for the land 
across the sea, to better his fortune, and a 
farmer to be." Upon his arrival, he turned his 
i steps toward the Buckeye State. Reaching 
I Stark Co., he remained within its borders two 
years, during which time he worked by the 
■ day and month, and then came to this county 
in 1835, having $50 in money. He entered 40 
acres the year previous to his coming, in Chat- 
field Township, Sec. 3, in the southeast quarter. 
The land was covered with dense timber, which 
j he began in a small way to clear up. So, 
building a rude cabin, he and his wife began 
life in earnest. They were married in Stark 
j Co. July 15, 1833. Her name was Anna 
I Zoebst, and she was born in 1809, at the same 



•^ <i 



^a- 



■l^ 



1014 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



place as himself. She was a daughter of John 
and Margaret (Liever) Zoebst, who emigrated 
to this country. The log-cabin above men- 
tioned was for many years the best house in 
the neighborhood. The first year, he had three 
acres cleai'ed, which he sowed in wheat. The 
wolves and other wild beasts were his most 
plentiful neighbors and frequent visitors. 
Money was exceedingly scarce, and very hard 
to obtain. Their wants were few, but, when 
money became a dire necessity, he would go off 
many miles and obtain work on the canal and 
other public works to obtain the " needful." 
Their furniture was plain and home-made. 
Their frugal meals were relished heartily, 
though eaten off rude tables of his own con- 



struction, while sitting on the soft side of slab 
stools. Yet they were happ}^ and murmured 
not, but hoped for better days, when they 
should be able to afford better. The children 
born to him are G-eorge, now of Henry Co.; 
Elizabeth, now Mrs. Donnenwirth ; John, now 
in Indiana ; Jacob, in Cranberry ; Adam, on 
the home farm ; Catharine, now Mrs. Shaver, 
and Anna, now Mrs. Richart, of New Wash- 
ington. His wife died in March, 1877. His 
farm consists of 150 acres of land. Mr. Mar- 
tin is one of the best citizens in the township, 
stanch and reliable in every particular. He 
has been a member of the church founded by 
Martin Luther since he was 15 years of age, 
and is an exemplary and consistent Christian. 



TEXAS TOWNSHIP. 



A. ANDREWS, farmer; P. 0. Melraore; 
was born in Chester Co., Penn., Sept. 15, 
1808. His father, James Andrews, was a na- 
tive of that county, and was there married to 
Margaret Clendenin, whose father and two 
brothers had served in the Revolutionar}^ war. 
Their ancestors fled from Scotland during the 
persecutions, and after residing for a short time 
in Ireland, emigrated to the New World, and 
settled in Penns^^lvania. James Andrews 
served in the war of 1812, and was in pleasant 
circumstances at that time, but, meeting with 
financial reverses, he came West to better his 
waning fortunes. In 1817, he settled in Jeffer- 
son Co., Ohio, where he lived six years, and then 
came to Seneca County, and resided there un- 
til 1832, when he located in this county, where 
he resided the remainder of his life. He died 
in 1840, and his wife in 1863. They had eight 
children, but our subject and John, his twin 
brothers, who were the oldest, are the only ones 
now living. Mr. A. was early inured to hard- 
ships, and his struggles at that time have, no 
doubt, been the forerunner of the success that 
has attended his labors. In 1829, he returned 
to his native county, in the Keystone State, and 
worked for his uncle until the spring of 1831, 
receiving 111 5 for his services. He then re- 
turned to this State, walking all the way from 
Steubenville, and with the $100 bought 80 
acres of State land, on which his father's" family 
moved the following spring. Mr. A. and a 



younger brother developed this as fast as pos- 
sible, and a few years later bought another 
piece of the same size, to which the family 
moved at Arthur's marriage, which was cele- 
brated Feb. 22, 1838. His helpmeet was born 
in York Co.. Penn., in 1817, and accompanied 
her widowed mother and brother to this State 
a few years previous to her marriage, her 
maiden name being Ann E. Duncan. Mr. 
Andrews was much interested in the settlement 
of this part of the county, and spent consider- 
able time, in assisting the settlers in finding 
the location of their claims. He has been quite 
successful, and possesses a fine property, the 
result of his own labor and industry. Both he 
and his wife have long been laborers in the 
Master's vineyard, being among the first mem- 
bers of the Presbyterian Church in this township, 
and, when it was abandoned, were transferred 
to the Melmore Society. The}' have no oflT- 
spring, but they have befriended orphans and 
homeless children, and reared them to lives of 
honor and usefulness, and their hospitality is 
seldom surpassed. Mr. Andrews has served as 
Justice of the Peace, and held other township 
offices. He was a Whig in early life, and cast 
his first vote for Henry Clay. He is now a Re- 
publican. 

REUBEN CAPP, farmer; P. 0. Poplar; 
was born Oct. 18, 1835, in Lebanon Co., Penn. 
His father, Andrew Capp, was a native of the 
Ke^'stone State, and for man}' years taught 



1^ 



TEXAS TOWNSHIP. 



1015 



school. He was married to Elizabeth Stakerer, 
and in the spring of 1861, emigrated to Illinois 
and engaged in farming. He died in 1878, 
and his companion survived him. Reuben 
left home in 1856, and came directly to this 
State, where he has since lived. For four years 
he worked as a farm hand in this and Seneca 
counties. He then learned the carpenter's 
trade, which he followed for twelve 3-ears, and 
such was his success that at the end of that 
time he had saved the sum of $4,500. He 
then relinqiaished the trade, bought himself a 
farm of 100 acres of land in Seneca Co.. and 
has since been a farmer. He has been uni- 
formly successful, and is a thrift}' and well-to- 
do farmer. He moved to this township in the 
spring of 1878, although he still owns his farm 
in Seneca Co. He was married Dec. 19, 1858, 
to Sarah T. Kunsman. She was born Oct. 3, 
1839, in Lehigh Co., Penn., and is the only 
child born to William and L3'dia (Young) 
Kunsman, both of whom were reared in that 
county, although the father was born in Berks 
Co. In the spi'ing of 1851, he removed to this 
county and secured a farm in Texas Township, 
on which he lived until his death on Jan. 31, 
1876. He built the second brick house in this 
township. Mr. Capp's union has been blessed 
with one child, William A. S. Mr. Capp has 
alwa3'S been a Republican. 

HENRY COON, farmer ; P. 0. Poplar ; is 
one of the respected and intelligent citizens of 
this township, and was born in what is now 
Wyandot Co. May 25, 1835. His paternal 
gi-andfather, John Coon, emigrated to this coun- 
try from Germany, and served with credit in 
the Revolutionary war. He married and set- 
tled in Pennsj'lvania, and among the children 
born to them was Adam, whose birth was re- 
corded in 1803. When he was 7 3-ears old, the 
famil}- removed to Ross Co., Ohio, and from 
there came to what is known as the " Pickawa3^ 
Plains." While here, the old Revolutionar}' 
hero again entered the service of his country, 
taking part in the war of 1812. He was a 
blacksmith b3' trade, and made many articles 
for the Indians, among others a tomahawk and 
pipe combined, with which the3- were highly 
pleased. Before he was of age, Adam took 
leave of the old home and came to what is 
now Wyandot Co. His capital consisted of 
an ax, iron wedge and maul, made and pre- 
sented him b3- his father, and constituting the 



essential tools for one's use in those days. He 
soon after bought 80 acres of land, at 75 cents 
per acre, but, being unable to pay for it all, was 
obliged to sell a part in order to save his home. 
He was married to Elizabeth Hackerthorn, who 
was born in England and was brought to this 
countr3'^ in her infanc}-, being carried 700 
miles in the arms of her mother and an aunt. 
Her father, John Hackerthorn, held a Captain's 
commission in the war of 1812. Adam built 
a cabin for his fair bride, covered it with bark, 
and, with a few necessar}- articles of furniture, 
part of which were of his own make, the3^ lived 
happily for three 3-ears, with no floor but the 
bare ground. They were industrious and fru- 
gal, and redeemed the part of their farm which 
he had sold, as soon as possible. The3- pros- 
pered, as such people ultimatel3' will, and pos- 
sessed a handsome propert3' at his death, which 
occurred March 19, 1877. Henr3-, his son, has 
alwa3-s been a tiller of the soil, and, since April, 
1871, has lived in this township, where he has 
one of the most desirable farms to be found in 
the count3-. He owns, in all, 240 acres, part of 
which is in Wvandot Co. He was married, 
Dec. 15, 1859, to Nanc}- J., daughter of James 
and Mary E. (Annoe) Little. She was born in 
June, 1837, in W3andot Co. Their union has 
given five children, three of whom ai*e living — 
John W., James M. and Willard L. He is 
Presiding Officer of the I. O. 0. F., and held 
township offices until he refused to serve longer. 
He and his wife are members of the M. E. 
Clmrch. He is a stalwart Republican, and 
voted fii'st for John C. Fremont. 

THOMAS CtRIFFITH, farmer : P. 0. Mel- 
more ; was born Dec. 24, 1824, in Licking Co., 
Ohio, and is a son of Thomas and Mar3- Grif- 
fith, both of whom were natives of Wales. 
His father served five 3ears in the regular 
army, and, soon after his term of service ex- 
pired, emigrated to this country with his wife 
and child. He came dii'ect to Ohio and settled 
in Licking Co. He was in humble circum- 
stances, and for some time labored at an3-thing 
that presented itself As soon as he possessed 
the means, he bought a tract of land in 
what is now Harmony Township, Morrow Co., 
and there removed his famil\-. The land was 
covered with heav3" timber, and. like most for- 
eigners, he knew ver3' little about clearing, the 
most of which was done b}- his sons. He died 
in 1862, his companion having departed this 



® 



'k 



1016 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



life in 1851. Tliey bad five children— Catha- 
rine, Edward, David, Thomas and John. The 
sons were all pedagogues in their early life. 
David and John were in the late war. The 
latter belonged to the cavalry, and died a short 
time before the battle of Pittsburg Landing. 
The subject of this sketch commenced doing 
for himself soon after he arrived at a legal age, 
and has always been a tiller of the soil. He 
was married, in June, 1850, to Margaret, 
daughter of David and Anna (Morris) Rees. 
Her parents were early settlers of what is now 
Morrow Co., where she was born in April, 
1828. After his marriage, he lived in that sec- 
tion a few years, and then went to Wood Co., 
and resided there until 1864, when he moved 
to where he now lives, owning a model farm of 
100 acres. His happj' union has produced five 
children — Priscilla, Viola, Rose, Wellington 
and Artie (deceased). The eldest is now the 
wife of Albert (jribson, and is living in Kansas. 
She taught school previous to her marriage. 
Viola is one of the successful teachers, and has 
lately returned from the normal school at Val- 
paraiso, Ind. Mr. Griffith is a member of the 
Baptist, and his wife of the Presbyterian, 
Church. He is a Republican, and voted first 
for Gen. Taylor. 

JOHN HUDDLE, farmer ; P. 0. Poplar ; 
w-as born in Seneca Co., Ohio, May 29, 1841. 
His father, Benjamin Huddle, was born in 
Shenandoah Co., Va., and, when 12 years old, 
came to this State, and lived in Fairfield Co. 
He had received only the elements of a com- 
mon-school education when he was required to 
take his place on the farm. He was married 
to Anna Seitz, a sister of the well-known and 
gifted Elder Seitz, and soon after moved to this 
county, where he purchased a tract of new 
land in Lykens Township. Possessing but lit- 
tle means, he had a hard struggle, but eventu- 
ally came off victor. He sold this property 
and bought another farm of new land in Sen- 
eca Co., which he and sons also developed. He 
owned over four hundred acres of land, be- 
sides a hotel at Bloomville, which shows what 
can be accomplished when willing hands clasp 
those of industry and frugality. He died Jan. 
28, 1860, and was followed by his wife Aug. 
12, 1863. Their union was fruitful of eighteen 
children, twelve of whom are living, one being 
a lawyer, and another in the real-estate bus- 
iness at Tiffin, Ohio. One daughter resides in 



California, and another in Illinois. The subject 
of this sketch has done for himself since his 
father's death, and has always been a farmer. 
He was married, May 18, 1865, to Anna D., 
daughter of William C. and Mary (Dean) Ste- 
vens, of Melmore, Ohio, where she was born 
Jan. 3, 1846. This union has given five chil- 
dren—Pliny B., William D., Perry J., Melvin 
C. and Florence. Mr. Huddle moved to where 
he now lives in September, 1866. He has been 
connected with the township offices, and is a 
consistent member of the M. E. Church. He 
has always been a Democrat. 

MARTIN HOLM AN, farmer ; P. 0. Poplar ; 
was born Nov. 9, 1797, in Pennsylvania, and is 
a son of Martin and Catharine Holman. His 
father's parents were emigrants from Germany. 
W^hen the subject of this sketch was 11 years 
old, his father moved to Mason Co., Ky., and 
one 3'ear later to Clermont Co., Ohio, where he 
lived the rest of his life. He was thrown from 
a horse and killed when away from home. The 
mother was thereafter supported by her sons, 
Martin standing in this relation for four years. 
When 19 years old, he went to the tanner's 
trade with his oldest brother, and followed it 
until he came to this county. He was married, 
March 14, 1826, to Rosanna, daughter of Jacob 
and Barbara (Heshberger) Foy. She was born 
in Pennsylvania Nov. 12, 1802, and, when 3 
3'ears of age, came to Ross Co., Ohio, where her 
mother died and her father was married to 
Mary Van Gund}-. He moved to this county 
many yesLYS later, and, after the death of his 
wife, went to Indiana, where he died. Martin 
remained with his bi'other for three years after 
marriage, receiving $8 per month for his serv- 
ices. From this he saved as much as possible, 
and coming here bought 80 acres of new land. 
This was in March, 1829, and their land, being 
all heavy forest, has required much hard labor 
to bring it to its present valuable and arable 
condition. After a lifetime of toil, this old 
couple are resting from their labors, on the farm 
that was the scene of their early struggles. 
Their union has produced nine children — Jacob, 
who married Sarah Scott : John, married to 
Hannah Brown ; Mary, unmarried ; William, 
married to Catharine Perdew ; Sarah A., mar- 
ried David Pontious, but is now deceased ; 
Leah, the wife of Asa D. Lee ; Frances, wife of 
William W. Dewiel ; Peter, who was wounded 
at the battle of Berryville, and died Sept. 10, 






^'. 



TEXAS TOWNSHIP. 



1019 



186-4 ; and Michael, united to Lydia Dewiel. 
Mr. Hohnan has held different township offices, 
and both he and wife ai-e members of the U. B. 
Church. He says he alwa3's has been a Demo- 
crat and alwaj-s will be, and cast his first vote 
for " Old Hickor}-." 

J. JUMP, farmer ; P. 0. Poplar ; was born 
December 6, 1814, in Glreene Co., N. Y., 
and is a son of Elijah and Charit}' (Jones) 
Jump. His father served in the war of 1812, 
and was a farmer by occupation. He came to 
this count}' in 1844, and lived here the remain- 
der of his life. He died in 1874, in his 80th 
year, and his companion in the sjDring of 1877, 
in her 87th j^ear. Mr. J. commenced do- 
ing for himself when of age, and has always 
been a tiller of the soil. He came to this State 
in the spring of 1843, and located in this county. 
He bought a tract of forest land, and after hast- 
ily erecting a cabin, went to wpTk-with a will 
and determination, that resulteo, in his owning 
one of the most pi'oductive andMughly culti- 
vated farms in the township. The primitive 
cabin of early daj's, has been exchangedfor the 
present commodious and imposing structure ; 
and other improvements have been made until 
he now has one of the model homes of the town- 
ship. He was married, in December, 1838, to 
Deborah, daughter of Harvey and Hannah 
(Banks) Close. She was born in York State in 
1817, and has blessed him with nine children — 
Harriet A., William H., Mary J., Ruth A., Seth, 
Virgil, Emily M., Clayton R. and Dow F. Four 
of these are married, and Seth is attending the 
" Ohio Medical College '" at Columbus, Ohio. 
Mr. Jump has held various township offices, 
and has been County Infirmary Dii'ector for four 
years. He belongs to the Masonic order, has 
has alwaj's been a Democrat, and cast his first 
ballot for Martin VauBuren. 

JACOB KOONSMAN, retired farmer ; P. 0. 
Poplar ; is a son of Michael and Sarah (Strauss) 
Koonsman, both of whom were natives of 
Bucks Co., Penn., and it was there that the 
subject of this sketch was born, on Juh' 27, 
1824. His father was a farmer, and shortly 
after Jacob's birth, the family moved into 
Northampton Co. The father died in 1858, 
the mother in 1874, having borne twelve chil- 
dren, of whom Jacob was the seventh. He 
was apprenticed to a tailor, but quit before 
the expiration of his time, and has ever since 
labored on a farm. He came to this State in 



1851, and has ever since been a resident of 
this county. He landed here with only $56 in 
money, but possessed a large capital of industry 
and economy, which, being well directed, has 
3delded paying dividends, as the possession of 
a valuable farm and town property attests. He 
has been retired from active labor for the last 
six 3-ears, and is enjoying the fruits of his early 
toils. He was united in marriage Nov. 14, 1861, 
with Mar}- A., daughter of Edward and Rachel 
Porter. She was born in this county Nov. 1, 
1832, and has given him four children, the two 
eldest dying in infanc}-. Those living are 
Pearl W. and Clark P. Mr. Koonsman has re- 
fused all offices except that of School Director, 
in which he has served a number of 3'ears. 
Both he and wife are consistent members of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church. He has been a 
Republican since the party was organized, but 
was a Democrat-4n-early life. 

LEWIS LEMERT, retired farmer ; P. 0. Mel- 
more ; was born in Loudoun Co., Va., Aug. 5, 
1802. His father, Joshua Lemert, was born in 
that State, his parents being emigrants from — 
GeriEanyv^nd. when onl}- 8 3'ears old, his father 
died. He wa^~-appi:enticed to a hatter, but 
never worked at the trad^''1tft!ec::::ffis apprentice- 
ship expired. He was married toMar^ Wright, 
and, in 1808, moved his family to this State, 
and settled in Coshocton Co. He was in hum- 
ble circumstances, but with the help he received 
from his sons cleared up a farm. He was an 
officer in the war of 1812, and it is said was the 
strongest man in his regiment. He died in 
1858, in Muskingum Co., his wife having died 
several years previous. Lewis obtained only a 
meager education ; but by tact and care now 
possesses a fair business knowledge. He was 
married, Jan. 2, 1823, to Ruth, daughter of 
William and Rachel Perdew. She was born in 
Bedford Co., Penn., April 4, 1802, and accompa- 
nied her parents to Coshocton Co., Ohio, in 
1816. In the spring of 1826. he bought 80 
acres of land in this township, and, after raising 
his crop, came here, and cleared a small " patch," 
which he put in wheat. He built a cabin and 
moved here, where he has since lived, and car- 
ried on a vigorous warfare with the elements of 
nature for man}' years. His farm has increased 
in size, as well as value, and yearly yields its 
bounties to its grateful possessor. His mar- 
riage has been blessed with nine children, three 
of whom died in infancy. Those living are 






n^ 



fk 



1020 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



Laban J. ; Sarah, wife of William Davis ; Eliza, 
who was united to Andrew Grregg ; Joshua ; 
Mahala, who married William Grregg, but is 
now deceased, and Wilson C. All three sons 
have taught school, and Laban and Wilson 
attended the Ohio Wesleyan University at Dela- 
ware, Ohio, from which Wilson graduated. In 
the late war, Joshua served three years in the 
7th 0. y. I., and then raised a company, of 
which he was captain, for more than one year, 
or, till the " close of the war." Wilson was in 
Indiana, studying law, entered the 7th Regiment 
of that State, and held a Colonel's commission. 
Mr. Lemert and wife have devoted a lifetime to 
Christianit}^, joining the M. E. Church soon after 
coming to this county, and often had services 
in their house, before the church was built. To 
this cause, they have contributed financially as 
well as spiritually, and are now waiting for the 
" Master's call." He has held various township 
oflSces, and was Land Appraiser in 1860. He 
commenced business on the " cash basis," and 
has strictly adhered to this through life, and, 
although he was partly raised in a still-house, 
he has used neither liquor nor tobacco for many 
years. He is a Republican. 

PETER LONGWELL, farmer; P. 0. Pop- 
lar ; was born in Hartford, Conn., Oct. 24. 1810. 
He came to Ohio in the fall of 1815, with his 
father, and settled in Licking County, but after 
living a few years there they moved out on the 
frontier, and settled near Little Wyandot in 
1821. Mr. Longwell has a vivid recollection of 
the privations of pioneer life. He remained on 
the farm till his 18th year, when he went to 
millwrighting, and worked at his trade until 
1837. In 1836, xMr. Longwell rebuilt the In- 
dian mill at Wyandot. Mr. Longwell is a son 
of Isaac and Phoebe (Cargall) Longwell. In 
March, 1834, he married Miss Mary Winslow ; 
from this union eight children were born — 
Emily, Charles, Asbury, Delancy, Willis and 
Julia are the names of those still living. Mr. 
Longwell lives on his farm, and, though an old 
man, he seems several years younger than he 
is. He is a member of the Methodist Episco- 
pal Church, with which he united in 1835. He 
has taken the Advocate for 41 years. Has been 
a prominent man in the church, is well informed 
and conversant with all subjects. Mr. Long- 
well married a second time, Mrs. Joanna Wins- 
low, his brother-in-law's widow. 

JACOB MILLER, retired farmer; P. O. 



Poplar; was born in Fairfield Co., Ohio, Oct. 7, 
1809, and is of German descent. His grand- 
father, Andrew Miller, possessed a large farm, 
and a fine mill property in Germany, which was 
destro3'ed by the army, during the war with 
France, and his two sons becoming subject to 
the "draft," although he had previously paid 
the sum necessary to clear them, he left every- 
thing, and with his wife, two sons and a daugh- 
ter, fled to America, and settled at Hagerstown, 
Maryland. The family all died the same sea- 
son, except Jacob, and he soon after came to Fair- 
field County, in this State, and taught school. 
He was there married to Barbara Burtner, who 
had come there from Pennsylvania, after reach- 
ing maturity. In March, 1830, the family 
moved to Seneca County, whei'e they lived 
until their death. Jacob, who is the subject of 
this sketch, was the eldest son, and his school 
life is embraced in two days' attendance. He 
commenced working out when quite young, and 
himself earned the $100 with which his father 
entered 80 acres of land in Seneca County. 
He cleared this besides a great deal for others. 
He was married, on Feb. 25, 1831, to Phoebe 
Pennington, who was born in Virginia, and 
came to Seneca County in 1826. In January, 
1849, Mr. Miller moved to where he now lives, 
and where he and his sons have cleared some 
200 acres of land. He has from time to time 
added to the original purchase, until he pos- 
sessed nearly 1,000 acres; but a few years 
since, he transferred most of this to his children. 
His wife died April 9, 1875, having borne eight 
children, four of whom are living — Nancy, 
Lewis, George W. and Levi L. On March 2, 
1876, he was united to Miss Nancy La Follet. 
She was born June 21, 1838, in Hampshire Co., 
Va., and came here in 1858. She has borne 
him two children, one of whom is living, named 
Howard J. Both he and wife are members of 
the United Brethren Church. He has always 
been a Democrat, and voted first for Andrew 
Jackson. 

JOHN H. MULFORD, merchant, Poplar; 
was born Jan. 2, 1845, in Richland Co., Ohio. 
His father, John Mulford, was born in New 
Jersey in 1808, and was the son of William 
Mulford, who served in the war of 1812. John 
learned the trade of tanner, and, coming to 
Ohio, worked awhile at Sandusk3^ and from 
there went to Monroe ville, in Huron Co., and 
set up in business for himself. While there, he 



w 



_2> 



TEXAS TOWNSHIP. 



1021 



secured a life partner in the person of Miss 
Lodusky Beverstock, who was born in Vermont, 
and came to this State while in her ^^outh. He 
finally abandoned his trade, and, moving to 
Richland Co., engaged in farming. In 1848, 
he embarked in mercantile pursuits in that 
county, being two years at Ganges and one at 
Belleville. He then moved to this count}^, ar- 
riving at Benton, July 8, 1851, and followed the 
same business until 1859, when he retired to 
his farm. In 1852, he erected the storeroom 
in which his son now conducts the business. 
He died Dec. 20, 1878. John was reared to the 
occupation of farming, which he followed until 
October, 1874, when he went into the mercan- 
tile business with James Outcalt, and on Jan. 
19, 1880, he became the sole proprietor, keeping 
a stock of general merchandise, as well as an 
assortment of drugs. On Feb. 24, 1868, he was 
united in marriage to Julia, the daughter of 
Peter Longwell. She was born March 13, 
1848, and has borne three children — Rolla D., 
Mary L. and Jessie D. Both he and wife are 
members of the M. E. Church. He is a Repub- 
lican. 

CHRISTIAN MASKEY, carpenter and 
farmer ; P. 0. Poplar ; was born Aug. 27, 1833, 
in Ashland Co., Ohio. His father, Benjamin 
Maske}', was born and reared in the old Key- 
stone State, and there leai'ned the carpenter's 
trade, serving an apprenticeship of three years, 
and clothing himself most of the time. He 
served in the war of 1812, and was married to 
Nancy Rhinehart, and near 1831, moved to Ash- 
land Co., Ohio. In 1849, he moved to Wooster, 
assisted in building the court house at that 
place, and then came to this county, where he 
ever after lived. He bought a small farm near 
Osceola, on which he died in 1867, in his 78th 
5'ear. His wife departed this life in 1873. 
Christian learned the trade with his father, as 
did also his four brothers, and when of age 
bought 20 acres of land with his careful sav- 
ings. He kept adding to its size as well as en- 
hancing its value, and in April, 1870, when he 
sold and moved to Benton, he had 80 acres of 
land. He owns a farm as well as town proper- 
ty, and has virtually relinquished the trade. 
He was united in marriage to Emil}' Close, Oct. 
27, 1857. She was a daughter of Harvey Close, 
who was born in York State, in 1792 ; served 
in the war of 1812, and came to this place in 
1869, where he lives with Mr. Maskey. Emily 



was born June 27, 1825, in Cayuga Co., N. Y., 
and came here a few j^ears previous to her mar- 
riage. She died Nov. 6, 1877, and Dec. 24, 
1878, he was married to Mary J., daughter of 
Jervis and Deborah Jump. She was born Dec. 
23, 1845, and has borne him one child, Clara E. 
Mr. Maskey is a member of the Masonic order, 
and the Patrons of Husbandry. Is serving his 
fourth term as Trustee, and has always been a 
Republican. 

J. F. MELROY, farmer ; P. 0. Poplar ; son 
of Samuel and Lucinda Melroy, was born Nov. 
30, 1853, in Texas Township, Crawford Co., 
Ohio ; was raised on the farm, and follows that 
business at present. He received only a lim- 
ited education as common schools afforded, but 
is a practical business man. He married Miss 
Emma Swalley, Dec. 26, 1878, and lives on the 
Swalley Homestead ; they have one child. Miss 
Maud Melroy. 

ELTING PAUL, farmer; P. 0. Melmore ; 
was born June 15, 1838, in this county, and on 
the farm on which he now lives. His father, 
Dodridge Paul, was born in New Hampshire 
Sept. 19, 1796, and was there reared to the pur- 
suit of farming. Believing there was better 
land and a more productive soil farther west, 
than he had seen in his own State, he left the 
old homestead when of age, and started for the 
great West, of which he had so often heard. He 
worked in Buffalo one 3'ear, and then came to 
what is now Erie (then Huron) Co., Ohio, where 
he was married to Roxana Whitney. She was 
born Oct. 3, 1799, in Rutland Co., Vt., and 
while yet 3'oung her pai'ents moved to this 
State. After their marriage they lived for sev- 
eral years in Erie Co., where he labored at any- 
thing he could get to do, but, having bought a 
quarter-section of land in this countj', he con- 
cluded to move to it, and accordingly- arrived 
here in May, 1825. Leaving his wife and two 
children at the house of a friend in Seneca Co., 
he came on alone, and unaided built a cabin in 
the dense forest, which a neighbor helped him 
to cover with bark. He then moved his famil}^ 
to this primitive residence, but, there being no 
door, they waited for him to cut one, and then, 
moving in their household goods, built a fire in 
one corner, and the careful wife prepared a 
supper, which the husband pronounced to be 
the happiest meal of his life. They had no 
door, except a blanket, and the wolves howling 
around the cabin when night approached, made 






1022 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES : 



it lonesome indeed, besides tlie}' were frequently 
visited b}^ Indians, who wanted something to eat. 
He cleared 3 acres that season, which he sowed in 
wheat, and built another and more substantial 
house, into which they moA^ed during the win- 
ter. He cleared 6 acres for corn the next 
spring, and set out an orchard of 100 apple 
trees. From this time on they were quite suc- 
cessful, and at his death, in October, 1 850, pos- 
sessed a valuable property. His companion is 
still living, making her home with her youngest 
son, on the old homestead, which he now owns, 
it being one of the best in the whole township. 
He served as 2d Lieutenant in Co. C, 136th, 0. 
N. G.. and returned uninjured. He was mar- 
ried Nov. 10, 1860, to Mary C, daughter of 
Jacob and Christiana (Hess) Hershberger. Her 
parents were of German descent and came 
from Virginia to this State, and settled in what 
is now Wyandot Co., where she was born, on 
Ma}' 31, 1839. One child has blessed their un- 
ion — Jimmie H. Mr. Paul has always been a 
Republican and cast his first ballot for A. Lin- 
coln. 

WILLIAM H. SEERY, farmer ; P. O. Pop- 
lar ; is one of the prominent and intelligent farm- 
ers of this township, and is favorably known 
as an energetic and enterprising citizen. He is 
the eldest son of Peter Seery, a sketch of whom 
appears in this work (see Lykens Township), and 
was born May 19, 1848, in Crawford Co., Ohio. 
He has always followed agricultural pursuits 
except two summers that he worked at the car- 
penter's trade. For several years he has been 
connected with a threshing machine, and has 
succeeded be3-ond expectation, as competition 
was lively. He was married, in August, 1871, 
to Matilda, daughter of Peter and Mary Stutz- 
man. She was born in Schuylkill Co., Penn., 
and came here when in her youth. Her parents 
are still residents of the Keystone State. Mr. 
Seery moved to where he now lives in Decem- 
ber, 1878. His marriage has given four chil- 
dren — Minnie M., Orin 0., Lawrence and Clara. 
His wife belongs to the U. B. Church. He is a 
Republican in politics. 

SANFORD SOBERS, farmer and stock- 
raiser ; P. 0. Poplar ; is the third of a fam- 
ily of seven children, and was born Oct. 
22, 1834, in Seneca Co., Ohio. His father, Ja- 
cob Sobers, was born near the city of Philadel- 
phia, and learned the trade of miller, millwright 
and carpenter. He was a good workman, and 



was married while working in York State to 
Mary Matrawn. In 1833, he moved from there 
to this State, and located in Seneca Co., where 
he yet resides, owning a pleasant little farm. 
He has worked at the carpenter's trade mostly, 
in this State, but of late years has devoted his 
time to farming. Sanford learned the trades of 
carpenter and millwright with his father, and 
worked until one year after his marriage, when 
he commenced dealing in stock in this and ad- 
joining counties. His ventures have been 
crowned with success, and he now owns 70 acres 
of land, clear of all incumbrance,, and all self- 
made property. His marriage was celebrated 
Dec. 6, 1859, the other contracting party being 
Corillia Sweet, who was born May 25, 1837, in 
Champaign Co., Ohio. Her father, Daniel Sweet, 
was born June 14, 1795, in Fleming Co., Ky., 
and is a son of William Sweet, who came to 
that State from Rhode Island, served under 
Harrison in the war of 1812, and afterward 
moved to Ohio. His wife's maiden name was 
Elizabeth Mershon. Daniel came to Cham- 
paign Co., Ohio, in 1815, and there married 
Antilla Thompson. He was a carpenter by 
trade, and in 1839, came to Hardin Co., farmed 
three years, and has since lived in this county, 
where his wife died, Nov. 6, 1873. He is now 
living with Mr. Sobers, who moved to this 
count}' in 1869. The subject of this sketch has 
always been a Republican, and voted first for 
Fremont. His marriage has been blessed with 
three children — Huron A., Wilber I., and 
Ethel B. 

MICHAEL C. SNYDER, grist-mill. Poplar ; 
was born Jan. 24, 1824, in Franklin Co., Penn., 
and is a son of Samuel and Margaret (Cover) 
Snyder, both of whom being natives of that 
count}'. Samuel was a blacksmith by trade, 
but in the latter part of his life was obliged to 
relinquish it, as it had seriously impaired his 
health. He moved to Seneca County in 1846, 
and lived there until his death, in 1870, his 
companion having died one year previous. 
Michael went to the miller's trade in 1841, be- 
ing at first in his native State, and then in 
Maryland, where he remained until 1854, when 
he came to Seneca County, and conducted a 
mill until the fall of 1860, when he came to this 
county. Here he has been connected with the 
mill at Benton, and in 1872, bought the prop- 
erty. He does a good custom trade, and rail- 
road facilities will soon place him on the list of 



'W 



^1 



TEXAS TOWNSHIP. 



1023 



shippers. He will imdoubtedly take advan- 
tage of this, and, being an industrious as well 
as a "jolly" miller, we wish him success. He j 
was married in 1847, to Susan, daughter of ' 
George and Mary (Koontz) Heckman. She was 
bornln 1826, in Maryland, and has given him 
nine children, six of whom are living — Mary 
A., Susan A., John W., Samuel L., Benjamin F. 
and Lloyd H. The four eldest are married. 
Mr. Snyder has held township offices, but he 
is not a strict party man ; for several years he 
has been a Prohibitionist. 

F. WILLIAM SCHWAN, physician and sur- 
geon. Poplar ; was born in Lancaster Co., 
Penn., March 3, 1843, and is a son of John 
G. Schwan, who was born in Prussia, Germany, 
and there received a good education. Being a 
man of liberal opinions on questions of public 
policy, he emigrated to America, whose laws 
were more in harmony with his views, and set- 
tled in Pennsylvania. He married a lady of 
Bavarian birth, named Barbara A. Fecher, and 
for many years was engaged in the tobacco 
trade, although he owned a farm. He died in 
1877. and his wife the following year. The sub- 
ject of this sketch received a good common- 
school education, which he improved by attend- 
ing the Williams Academy, at Ithaca. N. Y., 
and then a special course in the sciences and 
languages at the University of Indiana. He 
entered the Signal Corps of the Regular Army, 
and, after serving with Sheridan in the Shen- 
andoah Valley, was detailed for special service 
in the Adjutant General's office. Department of 
Pennsylvania. He was discharged in 1865, and 
highly commended for the able manner in 
which he had performed his duties. In the 
autumn of the same year, he entered the Med- 
ical Department of tlie University of Michigan, 
and, the following year, he went into partner- 
ship with Dr. Croninger, of Willshire, Ohio. 
He completed his course, and graduated at 
Rush Medical College, Chicago, 111., in the spring 
of 1867. He located at Gallon, Ohio, where he 
remained one year ; but, not being satisfied with 
the location, he returned to his native State, 
and settled at Middleburg, Snyder Co. While 
there, he raised a company of the National 
Guard of Pennsylvania, of which he was chosen 
Captain. He was afterward tendered the com- 
mission of Major General of the Eighth Di- 
vision, but, thinking the office incompatible 
with his chosen profession, he declined, but. 



later, accepted the surgeoncy of the division. 
Owing to the overcrowding of his profession in 
that State, he again wended his way westward, 
and located at Loyal Oak, Summit Co., where 
he remained several years, but, inducements 
being held out, he removed to Zwingle, Iowa, 
where he was instrumental in the organization 
of the Zwingle Normal Institute, of which he 
was Vice President and Instructor in Anat- 
omy, Chemistry, Physiology and Hygiene. 
His health failing, he relinquished his connec- 
tion with the institution, and returned to Ohio 
in the spring of 1877, and, locating at Ben- 
ton, in Crawford Co., he has established a lucra- 
tive practice. He is a careful investigator, a 
thorough scholar, and his genius in mechanism 
has displayed itself in the manufacture and 
improvement of many instruments used in his 
chosen profession. He is one of the leading 
members of the Seneca County Medical Society, 
and also belongs to the Northwestern and State 
Societies. His union with Mary E., daughter of 
Dr. Heckerman. of Tiffin, Ohio, was celebrated 
March 13, 1867. She was born July 24, 1848, 
in Pennsylvania, and has borne three children. 
The only one living is Hattie Florence, born 
July 12, 1869. Dr. Schwan is a member of the 
Masonic order, and, having always taken an 
active interest in education, is a member of the 
School Board. He is a Republican. 

JEREMIAH WALTER, farmer ; P. 0. Pop- 
lar ; is the only son in a family of six children, 
and was born Jan. 16, 1826, in what is now 
Wyandot, then Crawford, Co., Ohio His father, 
Daniel Walter, was born in Pennsylvania in 
July, 1797, and, when 7 years old, accompanied 
his parents to Ross Co., they being among the 
pioneers of that county. He received only a 
meager education, as his school years were 
mostly passed in clearing off the hea\'y forest 
and contributing to the family support. When 
near his legal age, he came to what is now Wy- 
andot Co., with one Thomas Leeper, and worked 
for him thirteen months for $100. With this 
he bought 80 acres of land, and then had to 
work out again in order to obtain the necessary 
tools with which to develop his purchase. Heed- 
ing the injunction of Scripture which says, " It 
is not good for man to be alone," he secured a 
helpmeet in the person of Susanna, daughter of 
Peter and Susanna Baum. She was born May 
2, 1795. in Pennsylvania, and came to Ross Co. 
at an early day, from which she came to Wy- 



:e 



1024 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



andot Co. a short time previous to her mar- 
riage. He built a rude cabin, with stick-and- 
mud chimney, punciieon floor, and other sur- 
roundings of a like character. Although they 
started life in humble circumstances, by indus- 
try and economy they were at length pleasantly 
situated and amply rewarded for their early 
privations. He died Aug. 7, 1875, in this town- 
ship, to which he had moved a few years previ- 
oush'. His companion still survives him, and 
makes her home with her children. The sub- 
ject of this sketch has always been a farmer, 
and is one of the well-to-do citizens of the 
county. His marriage to Jane Barrack was 
celebrated Feb. 22, 1850. She is a daughter of 
John and Jane (Dunlap) Barrack, and was born 
in Lycoming Co., Penn., Dec. 14, 1829, and 



came to this township when 5 ^^ears old. Mr. 
Walter developed the farm now owned by Henry 
Coon, and lived on it from 1852 to 1864, when 
he came to where he now resides. He owns a 
quarter-section of highly cultivated land, has 
erected tasty and substantial buildings, and has 
a home that is attractive and interesting to his 
familj' as well as others. Their children are 
Elva (deceased), Alice, Lyman P., Dora E. and 
Scott. All are married except the youngest. 
The eldest son is now attending the Starling 
Medical College at Columbus, and expects to 
finish the course in 1881. Mr. Walter has held 
various township offices, and was Land Ap- 
praiser in 1880. He has been a Democrat since 
the commencement of the late war. 



DALLAS TOWNSHIP. 



SAMUEL COULTER, farmer ; P. O. Bucy- 
rus ; was born May 13, 1801, in Huntingdon 
Co., Penn., is a son of Samuel and Sarah (Bryce) 
Coulter, formerly of Pennsylvania ; came to 
Ohio in 1832, and settled in what was then 
Marion Co., now Crawford, on the place he now 
owns ; is the onl}^ one of the pioneers who still 
owns the first 40 acres that he entered of the 
Government. Was married, April 18, 1826, to 
Miss Sarah Keer, of Pennsylvania. Their 
children are John H., of Marion Co. ; James N., 
of Des Moines. Iowa ; William K., Macon Co., 
111. ; Sarah, wife of William Simmons, Esq. ; 
Margarette, wife of Thomas Price, of Marion ; 
Martha, wife of William Keer, of Piatt Co., 111. ; 
Samuel, now living at Holden, Mo. ; Mary, 
wife of John Hourer, of Marion Co. ; George 
W., now living at home ; Samuel and James 
were soldiers for three 3-ears during the war. 
Elizabeth, his sister, has been living with him 
for about twenty years since his wife died. He 
owns 200 acres of good land ; is a member of 
the Presbyterian Church, and polled his first 
vote for Jackson, and has been a Democrat ever 
since. 

MAJ. M. G. CARMEAN, farmer; P. 0. 
Bucyrus; he was born in Ohio, Dec. 31, 
1804 ; a son of John and Nancy (Gray less) 
Carmean, formerly of Maryland. They emi- 
grated to Ohio in the spring of 1 804, and set- 



tled in Rock Co., where the subject of this 
sketch was raised, and where he married, Sept. 
30, 1829, Miss Rachel Long, of Pennsylvania. 
The following children were born to them : 
Mary A., wife of H. Coulter, of Marion Co., 
Ohio ; Jonathan D., living in Bucju'us ; Ellen 
E., Matthew L., married Miss Grolsbaugh, of 
Pennsylvania ; Nelson died Aug. 17, 1851. Maj. 
Carmean was, for a number of years, the Major 
of the Marion Co. State Guards. Has been 
noted throughout this county as a successful 
veterinary' surgeon. He came to this county with 
no money, but a strong constitution and a will 
to work, and by economy and industry he has 
secured a competence, owning 900 acres of good 
land. Mr. and Mrs. Carmean are members of 
the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. Carmean 
is a member of the A., F. & A. M. Has been 
honored by his neighbors by being elected 
Trustee for many years. He is a Republican. 
CHRISTIAN HOOVER, farmer ; P. 0. Wy- 
andot ; was born Sept. 22, 1844, in Antrim 
Township, Crawford Co., but shortly after his 
birth, Wj^andot Co. was organized and Dallas 
Township formed, which included the farm 
upon which Christian was born ; he is at the 
present time living on a portion of this land 
which his grandfather. Christian Hoover, set- 
tled upon in 1822, and shortly afterward pur- 
chased from the Government. His only son. 



■» e) \ 



J. 



@ ik^ 



DALLAS TOWNSHIP. 



^ S) 



1025 



^ 



William Hoover, the father of the subject of 
this sketch, was born Nov. 1, 1816, in Picka- 
way Co., and was but 6 3'ears of age when 
his father removed to Crawford. William was 
married, Oct. 18, 1838, to Miss Phoebe Swisher, 
of Groveport, Franklin Co. They were the 
parents of ten children, five boys and five girls ; 
these children are all living. Christian Hoover 
is the second son , he received a thorough edu- 
cation in the common branches at the district 
schools of his township ; his first teacher was 
Archibald Beels, now an editor at South Bend, 
Ind. When he grew old enough to work, he 
labored on the farm, assisting his father until 
he became of age. In the spring of 1866, he 
commenced to farm for himself, and has been 
engaged at this occupation ever since with more 
or less success ; he has paid some attention to 
the raising of stock, but his income has been 
derived from farming more than from stock- 
rearing. He was married Oct. 21, 1868, to Miss 
Lo Kirby, and they are the parents of five chil- 
dren, four are still living, three boys and one 
girl— Ernest, Burdette K., Charles W. and 
Maud. Mr. Hoover has never been anxious to 
serve the people in an official capacity, but has 
been frequently chosen to conduct the business 
of the school district. 

JOHN T. HOOVER, farmer and stock- 
dealer ; P. 0. Wyandot, Ohio ; was born in 
Dallas Township, Crawford Co., Sept. 1, 1840 ; 
is a son of Tom Hoover, of Bucyrus ; was raised 
in this township, and married to Miss Mary E., 
daughter of James Hufty, of Logan Co., Oct. 
18, 1866. They have four children— Pauline, 
Parmelia, Leo H. and Ray. He owns 160 acres 
of good land. When his county called, he en- 
listed in the 11th Ohio Battery, and for thirty- 
eight months was at the front doing good serv- 
ice. Was with Gen. Fremont in Missouri in 
the fall of 1861, stationed at Fort Lamine ; at 
Otterville during the winter of 1861-62 ; then 
crossed the country to Booneville and St 
Charles ; then to Cape Girardeau, Mo. ; was 
with Gen. Pope at the memorable taking of 
Island No. 10, and the Mississippi campaign of 
the spring of 1862 ; then went with Gen. Pope's 
army to Pittsburg Landing, where, for forty 
days and nights, was on duty with his battery 
in the " On to Corinth " struggle ; was at the 
battle of luka, Miss., when his company lost 
sixteen men killed and thirty-two wounded ; 
they then lost their battery, but regained it the 



next day, and, at the second battle of Corinth, 
the Confederates had cause to remember the 
long-range "whistles" of the 11th Ohio; 
moved with Grant to Grenada, Miss., and with 
Sherman to Vicksburg ; also took part in the 
capture of Milliken's Bend, Napoleon and Grand 
Gulf; and was at the front during the march 
to Jackson, and in the great battle of Champion 
Hill ; siege of Vicksburg ; afterward at Helena 
and Little Rock, Ark., and was sent to assist 
in Gen. Banks' Red River expedition. During 
all these long, weary years, Mr. Hoover was 
never absent, sick or failed to do his duty. 
Crawford Co. should be proud of such a soldier. 
JAMES HUFTY, farmer and stock-dealer ; 
P. 0. Bucyrus. James Hufty was born in 
Greene Co., Penn., July 8, 1818, and was a son 
of James B. Hufty (who was born in Berks Co., 
Penn.), and Cassandra (Lucas) Hufty, of Greene 
Co., Penn. They had born to them four sons 
and four daughters — Thomas L., living in In- 
diana ; Jacob, now living in Cass Co., Mo. ; 
John L., in Iowa ; Martha, wife of David Tay- 
lor, Esq., of Wisconsin ; Amanda, who died at 
home in Greene Co., Penn. ; Cassandra, now 
Mrs. Hughes, living in Pennsylvania ; Phoebe, 
now Mrs. Pryor, of Iowa. Mr. Hufty died on 
the old homestead in Greene Co., Penn., on 
Aug. 3, 1874. Mrs. Hufty is now living with 
her son James, in Crawford Co., Ohio. The 
subject of this sketch was united in the holy 
bonds of matrimony to Miss Parmelia McLain, 
of Mt. Vernon, Ohio, formerly of Greene Co., 
Penn. They had born to them one son and 
three daughters— Sarah A., Mary E., wife of 
John T. Hoover, of this township ; Charles M., 
now of Ft. Wayne, Ind. ; and Frances L. Mrs. 
Hufty died March 1, 1871. On the 15th of 
October, 1873, Mr. Hufty was married again to 
Miss Elizabeth V. Wright, of this county, for- 
merly of New York. Mr. Hufty moved from 
Pennsylvania to Knox Co., Ohio, in 1837, and, 
in 1848, moved to Crawford Co., and settled 
where he now resides. Few men in the county 
have been more successful in business, and 
none have the confidence of the county to a 
greater extent than Mr. Hufty. He has been 
elected Commissioner for six years, giving satis- 
faction to his constituents, and is at present 
Land Appraiser of his township. He has been 
Trustee of the township a number of years, and 
for ten years was the Assessor, and has also 
been for a number of years connected with the 



1026 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



School Board, and the good schoolhouse and 
schools show the hand of a master. He owns 
a good and well-improved farm of 289 acres of 
land, is a leading Democrat, and his motto is, 
" What is worth doing is worth doing well." He 
is one of the board of officers of the Crawford 
County Agricultural Society. 

MRS. MARY J. JOHNSON, farmer ; P. 0. 
Bucyrus ; was born in Pickaway Co., Ohio, Jan. 
18, i830, and was a daughter of David White- 
sel, of Pennsylvania, and Rebecca Eramerson, 
of Virginia. She was united in marriage to 
Samuel T. Johnson Dec. 30, 1853. Mr. John- 
son was born Sept. 4, 1827, in this county, and 
was a son of Mr. M. Johnson, a sketch of 
whose life appears in Bucyrus Township. They 
had nine children — Herschel, Belle S., Jennie, 
William, David W., Thomas F., Otoe A., Henry 
and Ellis. Mr. Johnson died March 13, 1871, 
leaving Mrs. Johnson with a large family of 
little children to care for, which she has done 
well. She owns 240 acres of fine land in Dallas 
Township. Her father, David Whitesel, moved 
to Indiana several years ago, and died in 1878. 
There were fourteen of the Emmersons, who all 
lived to maturit}'. 

JOHNSTON FAMILY. Prominent among 
the early pioneers of Crawford Co., who were 
instrumental in opening a wild and unbroken 
tract of valuable country, and through whose 
industr3^ settlers were induced to seek homes 
within the boundaries of what is now one among 
tlie richest agricultural districts of the Western 
Reserve, were Mr. Thomas F. Johnston and 
his wife, whose portraits, with other of the old 
pioneers, were selected to embellish the pages 
of this book. 

The name of this branch of the Johnston 
family is of Irish origin, as the father of Thomas 
F. emigrated from Ireland to the United States, 
and settled in Lycoming Co., Penn., where 
Thomas F., his only child, was born, on Feb. 3, 
1800. But little of the surroundings of his early 
life are known. However, as he grew to man- 
hood, he was apprenticed to a cabinet-maker, 
which trade he learned, and had worked at it 
for about two years previous to his marriage to 
Miss Martha L. Walton, which event occurred 
on Sept. 20, 1823. Mrs. Johnston is the daugh- 
ter of David and Elizabeth (Rogers) Walton, 
and was born in Lycoming Co., Penn., May 11, 
1803. Her grandfather Walton was one of 
three brothers who emigrated from England. 



Her parents were farmers, and at that early da}^ 
but few opportunities were afforded for attain- 
ing an education. After their marriage, the}' 
remained residents of Lycoming Co. until the 
fall of 1825, when, in company with a brother- 
in-law of Mrs. Johnston, a Mr. Benjamin Warner, 
they set out b}^ team over the old Pennsylvania 
wagon road for the West. They had journeyed 
as far on their way as the little town of New 
Grardon, Ohio, when they were stopped b}' a 
heavy snow-storm, where, the very next day after 
their halt, Mr. Johnston was taken sick with 
fever, and did not recover till the following 
spring. On April 1, 1826, they again started, 
and this time succeeded in completing their 
journe}' without further mishap. It was the 
intention of Mr. Johnston to begin work at his 
trade upon his arrival in Bucyrus. A very 
short time, however, served to convince him 
that such means of support for himself and 
family must not be thought of, as the city of 
Bucyrus at that time comprised eight log cabins 
and two little frame buildings, and a dry board, 
from which to make an article of furniture, 
could not be found in the place. Mr. Johnston's 
principal property consisted of a set of tools, 
and, when he found these of but little use, he 
turned his attention to farming, and settled first 
on 40 acres located in Whetstone Township, 
Crawford Co., that he purchased by the help of 
Mr. Warner, where he resided until 1829, when, 
becoming dissatisfied on account of the scarcit}^ 
of timber, he removed to Findlay, Hancock 
Co., Ohio, where he resided during the years 
1829-30-31, and then returned to his old home, 
and settled in Dallas Township, Crawford Co., 
about four miles from his former residence. 
While he was a resident of Hancock Co., the 
citizens nominated him the Republican candi- 
date for County Auditor, to which office he was 
elected, and discharged the duties pertaining to 
it to the entire satisfaction of all interested. 
While Mr. Johnston's duties, as an officer of the 
count}^ called him from his home much of the 
time, Mrs. Johnston was left to protect herself 
against the Indians and wild animals, both of 
which were very plenty, and, among the latter, 
was the large gra}' timber wolf, which some- 
times became ver^^ ferocious, and would gather 
in quite large numbers around the cabin. Their 
cabin was but a rudely constructed affair, and 
in its then unfinished condition, was lacking a 
door, to supply which, Mrs. Johnston had hung 



:rf* 



^. 



DALLAS TOWNSHIP. 



1027 



a bed-quilt to protect herself and her small 
children from the night air, Indians, wolves and 
other wild animals. Those were truly pioneer 
da3S, of which but few of the present generation 
comprehend the hardships and privations. 

In the latter part of 1831, as before stated, 
Mr. Johnston removed from Hancock Co.. and 
again settled on his farm. He was induced to 
return to Crawford Co., on account of a num- 
ber of his own and Mrs. Johnston's relatives. 
who had followed them westward. On return- 
ing to the farm, it was the custom of Mr. John- 
ston to work at his trade in the winter and 
follow farming in the summer. He also gave 
much attention to stock-raising, and particular- 
ly to sheep, of which he would have at times as 
many as 6.000. As he acquired more capital 
he increased his stock business and bought 
more land. He was a good financier, and in all 
his undertakings he was successful. At the 
date of his death, which occurred very sud- 
denly on Nov. 1, 1862, he owned 1,300 acres 
of choice land. He was one of the noble 
old pioneers of the county, whose death was 
mourned b}' many tried and true friends of 
pioneer days. He was a member of the order 
of A., F. & A. M., and for many years he held 
the office of Justice of the Peace in Scott 
Township. In 1865, Mrs. Johnston removed 
to Bucyrus, where she still resides. She is 
now in her 78th year, and is one of the hon- 
ored and respected old ladies of the city. In 
her old age her life is being spent in the com- 
pany of her daughter and youngest child, Miss 
Agnes, who is the onl}' one living of the nine 
children born to them. In this sketch of the 
Johnston family, it is our purpose to give a 
brief sketch also of each of these nine children, 
the oldest of whom was H. D. P]. Johnston, 
who was born on Aug. 8, 1825, in Lj'coming 
Co., Penn., and was about two months old 
when his parents emigrated to Crawford Co. 
His early life was spent on his father's farm, 
where he was engaged in farming and attend- 
ing to stock, a business in which he subse- 
quently became engaged on his own account. 
Though he had few opportunities of acquiring 
an education, he grew, thi'ough experience in 
the stock trade, to be a shrewd, careful and 
successful business man. He and his younger 
brother, S. Gr., were instrumental in helping 
their father to his earlier success, as the former 
did not leave home until he was about 28 years 



old, and the latter 26. The}' remained this 
long to help their father pay for a second 600 
acres of land. They then engaged in the stock 
trade on their own account, and for a number 
of years were associated together in this busi- 
ness, the elder doing most of the bu3-ing, sell- 
ing and shipping, while S. Gr. looked closely 
after the interests of the business at home. 
On May 6, 1857, H. D. E. was married to Miss 
Jane Ludwig, youngest child of Mr. Samuel 
Ludwig, who was one of the old pioneers of 
Crawford Co., and whose portrait and biogra- 
phy appear in this book. For two years after 
their marriage, Mr. Johnston was engaged in 
farming and stock-dealing. He then removed to 
Bucyrus and engaged exclusively in the stock 
trade for three years. He then retui-ned to the 
farm where he was engaged in the stock busi- 
ness and at farming until his death, which was 
caused by consumption and occurred on April 
19. 1870. Mr. Johnston was an active mem- 
ber of the community, and a member of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church. Dui'ing the war 
of the rebellion, though he was not subject to 
the draft, he was in raising the funds, and con- 
tributed to buy substitutes for those citizens of 
Dallas Township who might be drafted. He 
left, at his death, a fine propert}' of 515 acres 
to his wife and their three children, all of whom 
were daughters. 

S. G. Johnston, the second son, was born 
Sept. 4, 1827. His advantages during earl^^ 
life were about the same as those of his older 
brother. Their interests were much the same, 
and he also remained with his parents till he 
was 26 years old. As before stated, he became 
associated with his brother in business. Their 
first purchase of land together, was the old 
Isaac Monnett farm of 500 acres. This farm 
afterward became the property of S. G., and is 
still owned by his widow and heirs. During 
the war of the rebellion, he also contributed 
largely to the substitute fund of Dallas Town- 
ship. He was an active, energetic business man, 
and, at his death, which was also caused by 
consumption and occurred on April 19, 1870, 
he left to his wife and children 900 acres of 
valuable land. Mr. Johnston was married to 
Miss Mary J. Whetzel, and there were born to 
them nine children, six of whom are now living, 
five sons and one daughter. 

Henrietta Johnston was the eldest daugh- 
ter and the third child born to Mr. and IMrs. 



1^ 



1038 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



Johnston. She was possessed of a quick and 
intelligent mind, and, though the opportunities 
were few in their country home, she learned 
very readily, and, with the few advantages of 
her surroundings, she acquired- a fair educa- 
tion, after which she attended the Marion 
schools. She had advanced so far at the age 
of 14 years as to be able to teach, and, for a 
short time prior, to her marriage, she was en- 
gaged in this work. On Oct. 19, 1847, she was 
married to Mr. Thomas J. Monnett, who was a 
minister of the M. E. Church, and has since 
become a distinguished member of one of the 
most prominent families of Crawford Co. Her 
disposition and nature were all that a minister 
could desire, as, at the earl}' age of 1 years, 
she had united with the M. E. Church, and re- 
mained until her death a consistent member 
and a hard worker in the Sabbath school. She 
aided Mr. Monnett much in his ministerial 
duties, and frequently, by her quick perception 
and long study of the Scriptures, made many 
valuable suggestions that added much to the 
power and eloquence of his sermons. There 
were six children born to them, four only of 
whom are living, three sons and one daughter. 
Her death, which was caused by consumption 
— a disease hereditary in the family — occurred 
on Nov. 20, 1871. 

Lavina Johnston was born on the farm of 
her parents on Jan. 20, 1832, and was the 
fourth child born to Mr. and Mrs. Johnston. 
Her short life was spent in the home of her 
parents. At the early age of 15 years, she 
sickened and died of the same disease which 
afterward caused the death of her brothers and 
sisters — consumption. Her death occurred on 
May 15, 1846. 

JosiAH S. Johnston was born on Feb. 22, 
1834. His death occurred in his infancy, and 
was caused b}^ his falling into a well and 
drowning on Nov. 1, 1835. 

W. H. H. Johnston, the fourth son and 
sixth child of his parents, was born June 28, 
1836. His early life was spent on the farm. 
He acquired at the district schools a fair edu- 
cation, and then took a full course at the Co- 
lumbus Commercial College. Shortly after 
finishing his college course, he entered as a 
volunteer the 34th 0. V. I., under Col. Shaw. 
He eutex'ed the service for three years, but the 
exposure and hard marching through which he 
passed soon brought on spinal disease, on ac- 



count of which he was honorably discharged, 
not, however, until his father had gone to 
Washington and interested the Secretary of 
War in his behalf Shortly after he was brought 
home, his parents sent him for treatment to 
the Longview Hospital of Cincinnati. His 
death occurred there on April 24, 1865. June 
22, 1863, he was married to Miss Caroline Car- 
nahan, whose death occurred about eight 
months after their marriage. 

James Q. Johnston, the fifth son and 
seventh child, was born Nov. 5, 1838. His life 
was spent on the farm until the breaking-out 
of the war of the rebellion, when he, too, entered 
the 34th O. V. I., under Col. Shaw. A short 
season of army life destroyed his health and 
soon brought him home to his parents, a 
victim of that dread disease consumption, 
from the eflfects of which he died March 10, 
1865. 

Oregon Johnston, the youngest of the sons, 
was born on Feb. 4, 1843. Though much 
against the wish of his parents, he, too, entered 
the army for three years. He was also a mem- 
ber of the 34th O. V. I., and one of the Lieu- 
tenants of Company A. He was the only one 
of the three brothers who withstood the hard- 
ships of army life, and served his full term of 
enlistment. His duties were of a miscellaneous 
nature, as much of the time he was on detail 
duty. He was an excellent sharp-shooter, and 
did his country very effective service in this 
peculiar mode of warfare. After returning 
from the army he spent about one year in Colum- 
bus, in the employ of the Grovernment. In the 
winter of 1871, he married Miss Kizzie, daugh- 
ter of John Hill, who was one of the early pio- 
neers of Marion Co., Ohio. Though Mr. John- 
ston had passed unharmed through many hard- 
fought battles, he was forced at last to give up, 
and, on Nov. 1, 1876, his death was caused b}' 
consumption. 

Agnes J. Johnston, the youngest of the 
nine children, was born Aug. 15, 1845. Her 
early education was received principally at the 
Bucyrus schools, which she attended until she 
was 14; she then completed her education at 
the Oberlin College. In early childhood she 
was hurt so badly while at play as to leave 
her lamed for life. For several years she has 
spent most of her time in New York and Jersey 
City, under the care of the best medical skill of 
those cities. 



IT 



^± 



DALLAS TOWNSHIP. 



_> 9 



1029 



E. B. MONNETT, farmer and stock-dealer ; 
was born in Marion Co., Ohio, March 21, 1837 ; 
is a son of A. Monnett, of Bucyrus. Mr. Mon- 
nett was raised in Marion and Crawford Coun- 
ties, and was united in the holy bonds of mat- 
rimony to Miss Ellen C. Barton of Pennsyl- 
vania, Nov. 20, 1861. They have been blessed 
with four children, two of whom are living — 
Nettie B. and William A. Mr. Monnett owns 
one of the best stock farms in the county, con- 
sisting of 553 acres of land in Dallas Township, 
watered by the Scioto River, running through 
from north to south, thus always furnishing a 
bountiful supply of pure, fresh water to his 
herds. He is extensively engaged in buying 
and shipping stock to New York, Pittsburgh 
and other Eastern cities. He commenced when 
he was 22 years old, and has kept it up with 
increased vigor ever since. He makes a ship- 
ment nearly every week in the year. He also 
owns a nice little farm near Bucyrus ; is a 
strong friend of education, and has been one of 
the School Board for a number of years ; is 
clerk of the township, and is always identified 
with all progressive movements in the county ; 
is a stalwart Republican. Mr. and Mrs. Mon- 
nett are both members of the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church. 

OLIVER MONNETT, farmer and stock- 
dealer ; P. 0. Bucyrus ; was born in Marion 
Co., Ohio, Aug. 12, 1840, the son of A. Mon- 
nett, Esq., whose life appears in this work. He 
was raised in Marion and Crawford Cos., Ohio, 
and was married to Miss Etta, daughter of 
Charles Reamer, Esq., of this county, and for- 
merly of Pennsylvania. To them have been 
born two sons and three daughters — Lorain H., 
Dimma, Milla, Charles A. and Emma. He 
owns 954 acres of land, all well improved, on 
which is built one of the best houses in the 
county. Mr. Monnett is extensively engaged 
in stock-raising, often having over 1,000 head 
on his farm. He is favorably disposed toward 
all Christian denominations, but is himself a 
member of the M. E. Church. 

M. J. MONNETT, farmer and stock-dealer; 
was born in Marion Co., Ohio, Aug. 24, 1847, 
son of A. Monnett, of Bucyrus ; was raised in 
Marion and Crawford Cos., and was married to 
Miss Alice A., daughter of G. W. Hull, Esq., 
of Bucyrus (a sketch of whose life appears in 
this work), Jan. 5, 1869. They have had one 
son born to them— Orra Eugene. He is en- 



gaged in raising stock on his fine farm of 560 
acres of land, which is in excellent condition, 
and well watered, the Scioto running through 
it from north to south. Mr. and Mrs. Monnett 
are members of the M. E. Church, having their 
membership at the Scioto Chapel. Mr. Mon- 
nett is a Republican in politics, of the stalwart 
stripe. 

MRS. MARY MASON, farmer; P. 0. Cale- 
donia, Ohio ; was born in Dallas Township, Craw- 
ford Co., Ohio, Oct. 5, 1823 ; daughter of Samuel 
and Rachel (Smith) Line, formerly of Pennsyl- 
vania. Mr. Line moved from Pennsylvania to 
Delaware Co., Ohio, and from there, in 1820, to 
Crawford Co., where the subject of this sketch 
was raised. She was married, April 12, 1846, 
to John Mason, who came from England in 
1820, and, after he married, settled on the place 
now occupied by Mrs. Mason. They had born 
to them Nancy A., wife of Charles L. Sayler, of 
Harvey Co., Kan.; Fannie, wife of Z. W. Hip- 
sher, of Marion Co., Ohio ; Ellen M., wife of 
Otis Brooks, of this county ; Rosa, wife of J. 
Hord, of this county ; William, now living at 
home ; Robert, who died, at the age of 20 years, 
March 20, 1871 ; Ada, who died Feb. 15, 1855 ; 
and Charlotta, who died Dec. 3, 1872. Mr. 
John Mason died July 13, 1876. Mrs. Mason 
owns 270 acres of good land, and has been a 
member of the M. E. Church for thirty years. 

CALEB McHENRY, farmer ; P. 0. Bucy- 
rus. This gentleman was born in Columbiana 
Co., Ohio, Nov. 15, 1829, and was a son of Mal- 
comb and Elizabeth (Wickart) McHenry, who 
moved from Pennsylvania to Ohio in 1812, and 
settled in Columbiana Co., and afterward moved 
to Richland Co., Ohio, where they lived until 
1838, when Mr. McHenry went West to hunt a 
new home, and has never been heard of since. 
It is supposed that the Indians killed him. 
Mrs. McHenry went to Indiana, where she died 
on Feb. 6, 1878. The subject of our sketch was 
united in the holy bonds of matrimony, April 
15, 1852, to Louana, daughter of Dennis Palmer, 
Esq., of Bucyrus Township. They were blessed 
with six children — Christiana L., wife of R. L. 
Hudson, Esq., of Delaware, Ohio ; Millard C; 
Easter, wife of Jacob Shupp, Esq., of Todd 
Township ; Joseph C. and Mary C. Mrs. Mc- 
Henry died Dec. 1. 1863. Mr. McHenry was 
again married to Miss Adeline M. Rex, of 
Dallas Township. They had four children- 
Martha M., Orpha M., Milan C. and William C. 



ihL 



1030 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



Mr. McHenry has been elected Justice of the 
Peace for sixteen years, and has been often 
elected one of the Township Trustees, and has 
also been for many years connected with the 
School Board, as Clerk of the Chairman. He 
owns 149 acres of good, well-improved land ; is 
a Republican in politics, and has made Dallas 
Township his home since 1840, with the excep- 
tion of a period from 1852 to 1860, during 
which he lived in Lake Co., Ind., and at its ex- 
piration returned to Dallas Township, where he 
has been ever since. 

LINUS H. ROSS, farmer and stock-dealer ; 
P. 0. Bucyrus ; was born Aug. 21, 1854, in 
Bucyrus Township, and is a son of John Ross. 
He attended the common schools until he was 
18 3'ears of age, when he entered the Bucyrus 
Union Schools, remaining for one year ; in 1875, 
he attended Mt. Union College, and in 1876, 
Ada Normal School, thus laying the foundation 
for future usefulness. He was married Oct. 17, 
1877, to Miss Kate Monnett, youngest daughter 
of Abraham Monnett, who was born Jan. 8, 
1858, in Scott Township, Marion Co., Ohio. 
They have one child — Grace A., born Feb. 12, 
1879. Mr. Ross has always worked on a farm, 
and for a number of yeai's has been dealing in 
stock, as partner of his father until 1876, when 
he embarked in the business alone, dealing in 
sheep, hogs and cattle, and has a farm of 560 
acres of fine land. He has lived on this place 
since March, 1880, and has a fine frame resi- 
dence of ten rooms. He and his wife are con- 
sistent members of the M. E. Church. He is a 
Republican in politics. He is a thorough stu- 
dent, is well informed, and spends his leisure 
hours in reading and study. 

WESLEY ROBERTS,' farmer and stock- 
dealer ; P. O. Bucyrus ; was born in Lo- 
gan Co. Jan. 25, 1829; was a son of John 
Roberts and Louvina (Walton) Roberts, form- 
erly of Pennsylvania. The subject of this 
sketch was married to Miss Elsa A. Mon- 
nett, which union has been blest with two 
sons — Isaac, living in Maryland, and Madi- 
son, living in Marion Co., Ohio. Mrs. Roberts 
died October, 1852. Mr. Roberts was married 
the second time, to Miss Elizabeth Newsom, of 
this county, in March, 1858. They have born 
to them — Frank, Joseph, Charley, Willis, Mar- 
cellus, Ida M. and Belle, who died from the ef- 
fects of a burn. At the commencement of the 
war, in 1861, Mr. Roberts was comparatively a 



poor man, but b}^ untiring perseverance and care, 
has been able to accumulate a large fortune. 
He has one among the best farmhouses in the 
county, and owns 1,500 acres of good land, and 
raises more corn and wheat than any farmer in 
Crawford Co.; is also engaged in buying, feed- 
ing and shipping stock. He feeds all his corn 
on the farm to cattle, hogs and sheep. Last year 
he sold a lot of 400 of the latter. He believes 
in attending to his own business, has often 
been solicited to accept office, but always de- 
clines, believing that it pays to take cai^e of 
his own interests ; is Republican in politics. 

BARNHART SAYLER, farmer and stock- 
dealer ; P. 0. Bucyrus. Among the many en- 
terprising men of Crawford Co., there is no one 
more active and wide awake than Mr. Sayler, 
who was born in Richland Township, Marion 
Co., Ohio, Dec. 9, 1828. He is a son of Henry 
and Elizabeth -(Kefner) Sayler, formerly of 
Berks Co., Penn., who came to Ohio in 1799. 
Mr Sayler rode on horseback 300 miles, carry- 
ing his pack-saddle and trusty rifle, to Picka- 
way Co., Ohio, and moved to Marion Co. about 
1 820, where the subject of our sketch was born 
and raised, and where he was united in the 
holy bonds of wedlock to Miss C. J. Owens, of 
Marion Co., on Sept. 21, 1854. They moved to 
Dallas Township in 1874, and bought the 360 
acres of land they now own. They have twelve 
children — Ira F., now in Kansas ; Charles L., 
John B., A. Lincoln, Eugene B., Clara E., Ida 
M., Willie O., H. Perry, Mirtie E., Thomas E. 
and Minnie Pearl. They also have an adopted 
child Mary Petrie. Mr. Sayler is a breeder of 
fine Norman horses, and his success at the fairs 
in getting the red ribbons shows that he under- 
stands the business. He is also engaged with 
his son Ira F., in the cattle business in Kansas. 
They own quite a herd of blooded stock in that 
growing State. Mr. and Mrs. Sayler are mem- 
bers of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and 
are known and beloved for their Christian 
bearing ; they are also identified with the Sun- 
day schools of the county. Mr. Sayler has 
been three times elected Justice of the Peace, 
unanimously, by his neighbors. He believes in 
temperance in all things, and is an advocate of 
prohibition. 

WILLARD T. WHITE, farmer ; P. 0. Wy- 
andot ; is the son of Charles W. and Hannah 
Hoover White ; born Aug. 8, 1845. Charles 
White, grandfather of the subject of this 



->^ 



DALLAS TOWNSHIP. 



1031 



sketch, was born and raised in Virginia. When 
the Revolutionary war broke out, he was about 
16 years of age. He was placed on the muster 
roll of the militia, and was in active military 
service several years during the struggle of the 
colonies for American independence, and a 
portion of this period under the immediate 
command of Gen. Washington. White also 
served for several years in that branch of the 
service styled " minute men." When his fa- 
ther died, a portion of the estate inherited b^' 
the son consisted of slaves. Charles, having 
been reared under the teachings of slavery, 
was not at first opposed to the system. He 
made several additional purchases of this spe- 
cies of propert}^, and, in a few years, removed 
to Kentucky, where he lived for some time in 
Fayette Co. But, having fought for liberty in 
his 3^ounger days, he could not reconcile the 
right to hold his fellow-men in bondage with 
the principles of eternal justice ; and, becom- 
ing disgusted with the iniquitous system, he 
liberated his negroes, some thirteen in number, 
and shortly afterward removed to Ross Co., 
Ohio. Previous to this, he had enjoyed a com- 
petenc}', but his devotion to the cause of free- 
dom and practical abolition caused a great re- 
duction in his available assets, and, for some 
years, he was in straitened circumstances. 
When he removed to Ross Co., about 1812, he 
had barely enough to purchase the farm of 145 
acres of land upon which he settled ; but, by 
industry and hard labor, he soon became in 
better financial condition. He resided in Ross 
Co. for some forty years, and died about the 
3^ear 1856, at the advanced age of 96 years 6 
months and 14 days. He was the father of 
three sons — Samuel, George and C. W. White. 
The two elder were soldiers in the American 
army during the war of 1812. The youngest 
son, who was born in Fayette Co., K3^, within 
a mile and a half of Lexington, July 18, 1802, 
was too young to engage in the second struggle 
for American independence. When about 18 



years of age, C. W. White left his home in 
Ross Co. and visited the New Purchase for the 
purpose of seeking another home in this sec- 
tion of the State. About the year 1820, he 
obtained a situation at the old Indian Mill, lo- 
cated on the Sandusky River, several miles 
above the present site of Upper Sandusky. He 
was employed by the Government Indian 
Agent, received $15 a month and boarded him- 
self His assistant in the mill was Charles 
Garrett, and, at this time, the nearest white 
settler was at the Indian mission, then Upper 
Sandusky. White assisted at the mill for some 
three years. During this time, he saved money 
enough to purchase his first farm, consisting of 
207 acres, now located in Dallas Township, 
which farm he has owned for over half a cent- 
ury. After working for diflTerent persons dur- 
ing the next nine years, he removed to his 
land, and, by industry, economy and hard 
labor, he has acquired a competency. At the 
present time, he owns some thirteen hundred 
acres, all in Dallas Township except some 
ninet^'^-seven acres which are in Bucyrus Town- 
ship. During his life, he has paid more atten- 
tion to the rearing of stock than to farming, 
and the principal source of his income in past 
j'ears has been obtained by raising cattle. C. 
W. White was married, Nov. 25, 1830, to Miss 
Hannah Simmons Hoover, and they were the 
parents of three children, who are still living 
— Loreno, now Mrs. J. J. Fishei", of Bucyrus ; 
Willard T. White and Charles White. The 
mother of these died many years since, but their 
father is still living, at the advanced age of 78 
years, with his oldest son, who resides at the 
White homestead, in Dallas Township. Mr. C. 
W. White has frequently been chosen to fill 
various township offices during the last half- 
century, but has never been anxious to serve 
the public in an official capacit3^ During the 
war, although not subject to the draft, he as- 
sisted in " clearing Dallas Township " on sev- 
eral occasions. 



:?r 



ihL 



1033 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



LYKENS TOWNSHiP. 



EPHRAIM H. ADAMS, carpenter, Poplar; 
was born in Crawford Co., Ohio, Sept. 7, 18f31. 
His father, Eli Adams, was born in 1803, in 
the old "Bay State," and when 3 years old 
accompanied his parents to Cortland Co., N. 
Y. In 1813, they moved to Ohio, and settled 
in Huron Co., where the father died. In 

1825, Eli came to this county, and entered SO 
acres of Government land in what is now 
Texas Township, which he developed. He 
married a lady named Mary Andrews. He 
moved into Bloomville several years. ago, 
where his wife died, Jan. 1, 1876, and he is 
now living with one of his sons. Ephraim 
went to the carpenter's trade when young, and 
has followed it ever since, with few excep- 
tions. In 1861, he entered the service of his 
country, in the regiment known as the Mechan- 
ics' Fusileers. After they djsbanded, he 
entered the 136th O. N. G., Company H, and 
did duty at Fort Worth. He is the patentee 
of the well-known " Adams' Buckeye Roller," 
which was patented Sept. 7, 1875, and has 
invented other agi'icultural implements. He 
was married Aug. 26, 1862, to Lutitia, daugh- 
ter of Asa and Nancy (Lee) Brown. She was 
born in Crawford Co., in the year 1840, and 
has borne him three children, two of whom 
are living — Asa E. and Hayes. Mr. Adams 
is a member of the I. O. O. F., and is identi- 
fied with the Republican party. His wife 
belongs to the Methodist Episcopal Church. 

RUDOLPH BRAUSE, farmer; P. O. Ly- 
kens; was born in Saxony Germany, Feb. 19, 

1826, and is a son of Gotfried and Anna 
(Hays) BraiTse. His father was a tanner by 
trade in early life, and, in the spring of 1831, 
emigrated with his family to America, landing 
in Crawford Co., Ohio, Lykens Township, 
Sept. 1 1 of that year. He immediately entered 
a quarter-section of land, and lived on and 
improved the same until 1856, when he dis- 
posed of it and went to the State of Iowa, 
where he now lives, being in his 92d year. 
His companion departed this life in 1878. 



Rudolph lived under the parental roof until 
he organized a home of his own. His mar- 
riage was celebrated Aug. 3, 1851, Mrs. Cath- 
arine Celler, widow of John Celler, becoming 
his wife. She was born in Germany March 
23, 1822, and came to this country when 7 
years old, her parents being George and 
Catharine (Kinsley) Klink. She had, at the 
time of her marriage to Mr. Brause, two 
children — Elizabeth and (Catharine, both of 
whom are married. He bought 40 acres 
where he now lives, there being a little cleared 
and a small cabin for improvements. He was 
poor in purse but rich in energy and determi- 
nation, and, with the aid rendered by his 
industrious wife, not only developed this, but 
has purchased other farms, and is now ranked 
among the independent farmers of the county. 
Their primitive home has been superseded by 
a more massive and beautiful structure, per- 
haps the best in the township. Of the eight 
children born to them, four are living — 
George, John, Fidelia and Willis. They have 
befriended a deserving little boy by the name 
of Lewis D. Pickering, an intelligent and 
interesting child, and a source of comfort to 
them all. The whole family belong to the 
Lutheran Church. 

FREDERICK C. BAUER, farmer: P. O. 
Broken Sword ; was born in Saxony, Germany, 
April 5, 1819, and is a son of Cas2:)ar and 
Susannah (Hoffman) Bauer. His father was 
one of the overseers of the Deeringer forests, 
a position he held until his death, near 1842, 
when 56 years old. Frederick secured a posi- 
tion in his father's business when in his 17th 
year, and remained in the Government's 
employ while in that country. In June, 1842, 
he was married to Henrietta Bauer, and, in 
the year 1846, emigrated to America in com- 
pany with his mother and sister. His wife 
remained behind, with the purpose of follow- 
ing when he became located. Coming direct 
to Crawford Co., Ohio, they located, but Fred- 
erick, not liking the country as well as he 



•^ 



LYKENS TOWNSHIP. 



1033 



anticipated, returned to Boston and went to 
work in a sugar refinery, where he remained 
five years. While there, his wife and child 
joined him, the eldest child having come over 
with his grandmother and lived with her until 
the arrival of the mother. Having saved a 
neat little sum while in the city, Mr. Bauer 
again came to Crawford Co., and secured the 
farm on which he now lives. But a small 
part of this was cleared, and the rest was 
accomplished by himself. He is well and 
favorably known throughout the county as a 
successful, careful and industrious farmer. 
His marriage has been blessed with seven 
children — William, Louisa, William Freder- 
ick, Albert, Lewis, Henry and Mary. The 
eldest was recently killed in a saw-mill in 
Putnam Co., Ohio, where he was then living. 
Ml-. Bauer, wife and children are members of 
the Lutheran Church. 

JAMES MADISON DITTY, merchant, 
Wingert's Corners, youngest son of William 
and Susan Ditty, was born April 11, 1854, in 
Holmes Township. His father was a successful 
farmer and school-teacher, and died in the fall 
of 1856, leaving the subject of our sketch fath- 
erless at the tender age of 2 years. His mother 
then removed to Wingert's Corners, and, two 
years later, she was married to Jacob Stearns, 
of Lykens Township. By this last marriage 
'she has two children — Alice and Magdalena, 
both married to respected farmers of Lykens 
Township. The mother died in 1860. Mr. 
Ditty attended district school until his 19th 
year, when he attended a normal school in 
Republic, Seneca County. At the age of 20, 
he went to Upper Sandusky, and entered the 
grocery and provision store of Harmon Bowen 
as clerk, and remained there six months, when 
he came to the farm of his step-father, in Ly- 
kens Township, and remained three years, and 
then engaged in mercantile pursuits at Win- 
gert's Corners, opening a grocery and provi- 
sion store in company with Jacob Shuck, and 
is now thus engaged and doing a good busi- 
ness. Mr. Ditty has been a prominent man 
in the politics of the township, and was 
recently elected Township Clerk, and is dis- 
charging his duties with faithfulness and sat- 
isfaction. 

DAVID FRALICK, farmer; P. O. Broken 



Sword; was born Dec. 14, 1835, in Lebanon 
Co., Penn., and is a son of David and Eliza- 
beth (Grarrett) Fralick, both of whom were 
natives of the Keystone State. His father 
was a weaver by trade in early life, but relin- 
quished it for farming. In 1836, he moved 
to this State and located in Richland Co., 
where he lived about eight years, and then 
came to Crawford Co. After residing here 
about six years, he returned to Richland Co., 
and, following his chosen pursuit of farming, 
remained quiet until 1860, when he disposed 
of his property and again moved into this 
county, which was ever after his home. He 
died April 1, 1878, possessing at that time a 
valuable property, the result of his own indus- 
try and good management. The subject of 
this sketch went to the carpenter's trade when 
only 18 years old, and followed it steadily 
until the year 1875, when he left it for the 
more congenial and independent vocation of 
farming. He has a pleasant little farm of 
136 acres, which he carefully tills and im- 
proves. Dec. 24, 1863, he was united in mar- 
riage with Miss Elizabeth Hass, daughter of 
C/onrad and Catharine (Myers) Hass. Her 
father came to this country from Grermany 
when six years old, and was maiTied in Colum- 
biana Co., Ohio. He moved to this county in 
1835. Mrs. Fralick was born Aug. 28, 1841, 
and has been fruitful of six childi*en — Emma 
J., Benjamin F., Ida C, Lizzie B., Edward 
C. and Harrison A. Both Mi-, and Mi-s. Fra- 
lick are consistent members of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church. He is a Democrat. 

JACOB GEIGER, farmer; P. O. Lykens; 
was born in Baden, Germany, Aug. 5, 1844, 
and is a son of Com-ad and Veronika (Held) 
Geiger, both of whom are natives of that 
country, the above-named lady being Mr. 
Geiger's second wife. Conrad Geiger is a 
farmer by occupation, and is yet residing in 
his native land. Jacob left the fatherland in 
1871, and, Sept. 16 of the same year, landed 
in the city of New York. He remained there 
three years, laboring at various occupations, 
and then came to Seneca Co., Ohio, where he 
worked as a farm hand until August, 1877, 
when he removed to this county. He has a 
pleasant farm of 80 acres, on which good 
buildings have been erected, and the fields, 



1034 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



.k 



bearing evidence of careful tillage, mark Mr. 
Geiger as one of the best of farmei-s. He 
cast his first Presidential vote for Samuel J. 
Tilden. 

WILLIAM M. GEIGER, farmer: P. O. 
Lykens; was born Feb. 1, 1845, in Seneca Co,, 
Ohio. His father, Henry Geiger, was born 
in Reigher, Germany, and when 15 years old 
accomj)auied his parents to America. They 
settled in Stark Co., Ohio, and there Henry 
was married to Christena Zooterven, who came 
to this country from Germany when in her 
childhood. As soon as married, he moved to 
Seneca Co., where he entered 80 acres of Gov- 
ernment land, and, besides the land, possessed 
only an ax, fifty pounds of flour, and $1 in 
money. The privations they endured only 
served to renew their energies and qualify 
them for the undertaking presented to them 
of developing a home in the forest and earn- 
ing the necessaries of life while thus engaged. 
They succeeded as such people usually do, 
and have now one of the finest homes and 
most valuable farms in the whole county. 
They have also assisted each of their seven 
childi'en to a pleasant start in life, and are 
now living in the enjoyment of the bounties 
given them for their early struggles. The 
subject of this sketch remained on his father's 
farm and under the parental roof until he 
organized a home of his own. His marriage 
was celebrated in the month of November, 
1868, Maria, daughter of Conrad and Chris- 
tiana Lebold becoming his wife. She was 
born Sept. 28, 1846, in Seneca Co., Ohio, her 
parents being early settlers of that county 
from Germany. In the spring of 1872, Mr. 
Geiger sold his farm in Seneca Co. to good 
advantage, and came to whei'e he now lives, 
owning a pleasant farm of nearly 100 acres, 
which he cultivates carefully and successfully. 
Their marriage has been fruitful of foiu- 
children — Emma A., Bertha D., Nelson E. 
and Edward. He is a charter member of the 
Patrons of Husbandry. He is a Democrat. 

SAMUEL HALL, retired farmer; P. O. 
Melmore; was born in Fairfield Co., Ohio, 
March 24, 1816. His father, Joseph Hall, 
was born in Westmoreland Co., Va., and when 
13 years old accompanied his parents to this 
State. They settled in Fairfield Co., and 



there developed a farm. Joseph was united 
in marriage with Mary Mills, a lady of Penn- 
sylvania birth, and in December, 1829, 
removed to this section of the State. He 
entered a quarter-section of Government land 
in what is now Lykens Township, and after- 
ward two 80-acre lots joining, one being in 
Seneca Co. He underwent the usual priva- 
tions that fell to the lot of early settlers, and 
passed a life of usefulness and industry in 
this county, dying at a hale old age in 1863. 
Samuel passed his early life amid the stirring 
scenes of pioneer life, and first owned a farm 
near the center of the township, now owned 
by William Tippin. It was partly cleared 
when he secured it, and on this he lived until 
1866, when he removed to where he now lives, 
on the old homestead. May 4, 1843, he was 
married to Mary Elizabeth, daughter of James 
and Rachel (Conger) Telford. She was born 
in Washington Co., N. Y., Oct. 28, 1822, and 
in June, 1835, her parents removed to Ohio, 
the journey being accomplished in three weeks 
and four days, in a wagon drawn by two yokes 
of oxen. They first settled in Seneca Co., and, 
Dec. 31, 1840, removed to Crawford Co. Of 
the four children born, one is living — Garrett 
B. Mr. Hall has held different township 
ofiices. He was a Democrat in early life, and 
supported Martin Van Buren for the Presi- 
dency, but severed his connection with that 
party during the war, and has since been a 
Republican. His wife belongs to the Pres- 
byterian Church. 

WILLIAM HUNSICKER, farmer; P. O. 
Lykens; was born in Stark Co., Ohio, Api'il 
15, 1842. His father, Jacob Hunsicker, was 
born in Germany, and, after reaching maturity, 
emigrated to America. He lived a few years 
in the State of New York, where he was mar- 
ried to Matilda Knerieman, who was also of 
German birth. From there he removed to 
Stark Co., Ohio, and, securing a partly devel- 
oped farm, lived on it until 1851, when he 
removed to Crawford Co., and located in Chat- 
field Township, where he now lives. William 
has always made farming his leading occupa- 
tion, and in April, 1871, moved to where he 
now lives, owning a pleasant little farm of 
160 acres, on which good buildings have been 
erected, and other necessary improvements 






Al' 



LYKENS TOWNSHIP. 



1037 



made. For several years he has followed 
threshing, with good results to himself, and 
satisfaction to his patrons. He was married, 
Nov. 24, 1S70, to Catharine, daughter of Con- | 
rad and Magdalena Lust. She was born in \ 
Crawford Co., Dec. 30, 1850, and has crowned 
their union with four children — Peter Frank- 
lin, Magdalena Elizabeth, John Wesley and 
Charles Simon. Both he and wife are mem- 
bers of the German Methodist Church. He is 
usually found in the ranks of the Democratic 
party, but advocates the support of men in 
preference to parties. 

BYRON F. JACOBS, farmer; P .0. Ly- 
kens ; is the youngest son, and third of a family 
of four childi-en, and was born Sept. 4, 1847, 
in Lykens Township, Crawford Co. His 
father, August Jacobs, was born and reared ' 
in Saxony, Germany, and there learned the 
carpenter's trade. He married a lady of his 
native land, named Eachel Baer, and started 
immediately for America, landing in the city 
of New York with 25 cents in money, and 
debts amounting to $11. After working a 
while in the city, he turned his face westward, 
and came to the State of Ohio, where he has 
since lived. For awhile he worked on the 
National pike, and then, coming to Crawford 
Co., bought a small piece of land. He would 
work at his trade during the day to support 
his family, and cleared his land after his day's 
labor was completed. He then sold this, and 
bought a larger tract, which was all forest, 
and which he has rendered valuable and 
attractive, although many prophesied that he 
would starve when he moved there, as it was 
wet and low. He is yet living, at a hale and 
hearty old age, having lost his companion 
April' 16, 1872. The subject of this sketch 
passed his early life on his father's farm, and, 
Feb. 25, 1869, was married, Margaret, daugh- 
ter of J. A. and Melissa (Kulman) Klink be- 
coming his wife. She was boi'n Oct. 17, 1850, 
in ^Liberty Township, this county, and has 
blessed their union with four childi-en — Jef- 
ferson, Melissa, Adam and HaiTison. Both 
Mr. and Mrs. Jacobs are members of the 
Lutheran Church. He is a Democrat; pos- 
sesses a neat Ittle farm, and is, withal, an 
intelligent and enterprising citizen. 

JACOB KELLER, farmer; P. O. Melmore; 



was born in Bavaria, Germany, July 1, 1831, 
and is a son of Peter and Susannah (Buch- 
man) Keller. His father served six years in 
the reo-ular army of his native country, and 
the balance of his life was devoted to farming. 
In the fall of 1852, he emigrated with his 
family to America, and came directly to Ohio, 
settling in Seneca Co. He arrived there Sept. 
17 of that year, and, after residing there sev- 
eral years, he moved into Crawford Co., where 
he remained till his death, clearing up a farm 
with what assistance he received from his 
sons. He died in 1866, and his wife survives 
him. Jacob left the fatherland in advance of 
the rest of the family, an'iving on the shores 
of the New AVorld in Avigust, 1851, and came 
direct to Seneca Co., Ohio, where he com- 
menced laboring on a farm. Shortly after 
the aiTival of his father's family he again 
went to work for his father, although he had 
reached the legal age, and could have been 
doing for himself. He labored thus for seven 
years, and then bought a farm of 80 acres, 
which he sold, and bought where he now 
lives, owning 130 acres of good land. He 
was man-ied April 5, 1860, to Catharine 
Stuckey, who came to this country from Ger- 
many after arriving at womanhood. She died 
July 16, 1862, having borne one child — Adam 
J. He again entered the mairied state March 
I 1, 1863, Mary Slowman becoming his wife. 
She was born in Germany June 26, 1843, 
and is a daughter of Frederick J. and Ellen 
N. Slowman, and came to this country in 
1852. Their children are named respectively 
George B., Ellen N. S., Mary A., Jacob, 
Charley A., William M. and Louisa C. Both 
he and wife are members of the German 
Reformed Church, of which he is Treasurer, 
Secretary and Elder. He has always been a 
Democrat. 

FRANKLIN LA RUE, farmer and stock- 
raiser; P. O. Poplar; is the eldest of a family 
of seven children, and was born in Seneca Co., 
Ohio, July 22, 1842. His father, Jonathan 
D. La Rue, was born Sept. 25, 1816, in Steii- 
ben Co., N. Y., and was there man-ied to a 
lady named Jane Gray. He taught school 
there in early life, and, in June, 1841, he 
moved to Ohio, and settled in Seneca Co., 
where he resided four years. He then came 



«a w. 



1038 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



to Crawford Co., and, securing a partly devel- 
oped farm in Lykens Township, created a 
handsome property. " Ma j. La Rue," as he 
was familiarly called, was a man of extended 
acquaintance, and was respected by all as a 
man of good judgment, and the embodiment 
of honor and integrity. He died Sept. 5, 
1880, after a brief illness, and for many years 
had been a member of the Free- Will Baptist 
Church. His children were named respect- 
ively — Franklin, Charles, Comfort W., Levi 
G., George, Jeannette and Albertus. The two 
eldest sons enlisted in Company K, 45th O. 
V. I., and Charles, being captured, died in 
that horrid prison pen at Anderson vi lie. 
Comfort W. and Levi G. are residing at Le 
Mars, Iowa, engaged in the hardware and 
agricultural implement business. George and 
Jeannette died when young, and the youngest is 
now studying medicine. The subject of this 
sketch was married Feb. 20, 186^, to Ardella, 
daughter of L. M. Waller, of thiaij^township, in 
which she was born in 1848. t'heir union 
has produced six children — Charles, Lysander 
W., Ai-letta C, Ralph W., Guy E. and Harry 
G. He has devoted special attention to the 
breeding of sheep of the Spanish merino 
variety, and, as a result, possesses flocks that 
take rank among the best in the county. He 
has always been a Republican. His wife is 
a member of the Free- Will Baptist Church. 
JOHN McLaughlin, farmer and teacher; 
P.^0. Poplar; was born Jan. 4, 1835, in Mel- 
more, Seneca Co., Ohio. His father, George 
McLaughlin, was born in Juniata Co.. Penn., 
and learned the trades of wheelwright and 
cabinet-maker. In 1825, he came to Seneca 
Co., Ohio, and, locating at Melmore, remained 
there two years, when he returned to his 
native State. Again in 1829 he determined 
to make the West his home, and, coming back 
to the same place, was married, Feb. 24, 1834, 
to Sarah Lewis, who came there from Oneida 
Co.,N. Y., a few years previous to their union. 
In the spring of 1838, he removed to a farm 
in Bloom Township, in that county, on which 
he remained until his death, June 10, 1875. 
His wife survives him. John received a good 
common-school education, and when 18 years 
old commenced teaching school, a business 
he has ever since followed during the winter 



season, except the time he was in the army. 
He enlisted in Company H, 55th O. V. I., and 
served over three years. He participated in 
the second battle of Bull Run, Slaughter 
Mountain, Manassas, Chancellorsville and 
other engagements. He was captured at Get- 
tysburg on the second day, and was impris- 
oned both at Belle Isle and Libby. When 
exchanged, he returned to his regiment. On 
Dec. 24, 1857, he was married to Harriet 
Dellinger, who was born in this county on 
April 28, 1836, and died Dec. 30, 1870, leav- 
ing five children — Elodia, Frank, Ida, Jennie 
and Minnie. He again entered the married 
state March 19, 1871, Susan Park becoming 
his wife. She is a daughter of Amos and 
Sarah (Baker) Park, and was born in Fairfield 
Co., Ohio, Jan. 22, 1839. She came to this 
county when quite young, and for many years 
previous to her marriage had been a leading 
school teacher in the county. She has blessed 
their union with foui' children — Nettie, Daisy, 
John D. and Lettie. He has for several years 
been one of the leading teachers in the man- 
agement of the Teachers' Institute in Craw- 
ford Co. Both he and wife are members of 
the Methodist Episcopal Church, as also is 
his daughter Ida. He is a Republican. 

JOHN W. MILLER, farmer; P. O. Ly- 
kens; is one of the successful and energetic 
farmers of the county, and was born in North- 
ampton Co., Penn., July 18, 1841. His father, 
Jacob S. Miller, was a native of that county. 
and there he was married to Mary Mills. He 
learned the trade of blacksmith in early life, 
and has followed it much of the time ever 
since. In 1854, he left the Keystone State, 
and, coming directly to Ohio, located in Craw- 
ford Co. Securing a farm in Lykens Town- 
ship, he conducted it as well as working some 
at his trade, until 1877, when he relinquished 
farming, and went to Bloomville, Ohio. He 
has been blessed with six children, three of 
whom are living — John W., Richard and 
Jacob. John W. commenced doing for him- 
self when of age, and has always been devoted 
to agricultural pursuits, except while in the 
army. He enlisted in Company H, 55th O. 
V. I.^ and served nearly three years. He par- 
ticipated in the battles of Peach Tree Creek, 
Marietta and other engagements, and went 



IV 



^'. 



LYKENS TOWNSHIP. 



1039 



with Sherman on his "march to the sea." He 
was slightly wounded at the battle of Averys- 
boro, N. C, and, three days later, at the bat- 
tle of Bentonville, he received a serious 
wound in the arm, from which he has never 
fully recovered. He was also prostrated by 
a sunstroke while gone, which he considers a 
permanent injui-y. On Dec. 27, 1867, he was 
united in marriage with Miss Emma, daughter 
of John and Elizabeth (Allbaugh) Shalter. 
She was born in this county Sept. 21, 1843, 
and died June 5, 1878. He again entered 
the married state on October 14, 1879, Sarah 
Allbaugh, daughter of David and Rebecca 
(Keeran) Allbaugh, becoming his wife. She 
was born in this county Sept. 4, 1848, and is 
a member of the Free- Will Baptist Church, 
while he belongs to the United Brethren 
Church. He has a model farm of 100 acres, 
on which he has erected tasty and convenient 
buildings. He is a Republican. 

JOHN MOORE, farmer; P. O. Lykens; 
was born in Harrison Co., Ohio, July 7, 1823, 
and is one of the well-to-do and floiu'ishing 
farmers of the county. His father, Mam-ice 
Moore, was born and reared in the State of 
New Jersey, and was there married to Han- 
nah Davis, who came to this country from 
Wales in her childhood. He was a farmer by 
occupation, and, a few years after his mar 
riage, emigrated to Harrison Co., Ohio, and 
cleared a farm. In the year 1834, he moved 
to Seneca Co. and entered aquarter-section of 
land, which he cleared and improved, with 
the help of his sons, and on which he is now 
living. The subject of this sketch received 
only a meager ediication, and vividly remem- 
bers many of the privations through which 
the family passed, in their pioneer home. He 
recollects distinctly the time when they 
ground buckwheat through their coffee-mill,' 
for a family in which there were nine chil- 
dren. He was married Oct. 9, 1845, to Sarah 
R. McLaughlin, daughter of Joseph and 
Sarah (Fisher) McLaughlin, her father being 
of Scotch-L'ish descent, while her mother was 
of Dutch extraction. She was born in 
Columbiana Co., Ohio, May 10, 1825, and 
came to Seneca Co. when 16 years old. After 
marriage Mr. Moore lived west of Bucyrus 
about two years, and, in the spring of 1848, 



moved to where he now lives, having cleared 
his farm from the dense forest, and has an 
elegant and attractive home. He has erected 
substantial and tasty buildings, and can now 
enjoy the benefits to be derived fi'om his life- 
time of industry. Four children have blessed 
their union — Eliza J., Hannah A., Sarah F. 
and Ai'della A. The three eldest married, but 
the first one has since died. The joungest 
died Jan. 16, 1864, when in her 9th year. 
Mrs. Moore has of late years been afflicted, 
but places her trust in Him that do6th every- 
thing for the best. She is a member of the 
Presbyterian Church. Mr. ]\loore is a char- 
ter member of the Patrons of Husbandry, 
and identifies himself with the Republican 
party. 

DAVID PERKY, retired farmer; P. O. 
Lykens; was born in Westmoreland Co., 
Penn., April 1, 1811. His father, Christo- 
pher Perky, was born in what is now Fayette 
Co., Penn., and reared to the pursu.it of farm- 
ing. He maiTied a lady by the name of 
Elizabeth Slau.ghter, of Westmoreland Co., 
and there lived a number of years. He served 
in the war of 1812, and was under Gen. Har- 
rison at Fort Meigs, and in the fall of 1819 
moved to Ohio, whei-e he ever after lived. 
He lived in Perry Co. a short time, and then 
went to Fairfield Co., where he remained until 
1827. In that year he moved to Seneca Co., 
where he died, Aug. 28, 1833, on the 57 th 
anniversary of his birth. His companion 
departed this life in July, 1849. David was 
married, April 15, 1834, to Mary, daughter of 
John and Magdalena (Spitler) Seitz. She 
was born in Fairfield Co. in March, 1814. He 
has always been a tiller of the soil, and has 
been a resident of Crawford Co. since 1848. 
He has cleared two different fai'ms, one being 
in Seneca Co., and for the last ten years has 
done but little manual labor. His wife died 
July 15, 1853, having -borne eleven children, 
four of whom died in infancy. Those who 
grew up were named respectively — John, J ane 
E., Lewis, Franklin, Abigail, David ands 
Henry. He was again married Oct. 18, 1855,.' 
Elizabeth, daughter of Jacob and Mary 
( Hoover) Kanel, becoming his wife. She was 
born in Adams Co., Penn., Dec. 10, 1810, and 
came to this State when 16 years old. Mr. 



J^ 



1040 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



Perky's sons were among the patriotic young 
men who hastened to the defense of their 
country when her flag was insulted by traitor- 
ous hands. John enlisted in Co. G, 25th O. 
V. I., and served three years, coming home 
uninjured. In 18(32, Lewis and Franklin 
entered Company H, 55th O. V. I. Lewis 
was killed at the battle of Resaca, Ga., and 
his ashes now repose in the National cemetery 
at Chattanooga, Tenn. ; and Franklin, being 
discharged when disabled by sickness, died 
soon after his return. Wlien only 16, David 
entered the army, and died at Alexandria, Va. 
We thiis see that Mr. Perky's family contrib- 
uted four heroes to the late war, three of 
whom thereby lost their lives. The youngest 
son, Hemy, died in February, 1869. He is a 
Democrat. His wife belongs to the German 
Reformed Church. 

T. F. POPE, farmer; P. O. Lykens; was 
born March 30, 1845, in Delaware Co., Ohio. 
His father, S. C. Pope, was born and reared 
in Logan Co., Ohio, and for many years fol- 
lowed teaching. While engaged in his chosen 
vocation in Richland Co., he was married to 
Esther Btutow, who was a native of that 
county. He shortly afterward moved to Del- 
aware, Ohio, and from there went to Williams 
Co. and ran a saw-mill. Some ten years later, 
he returned to Logan Co., and from there 
went to Paulding Co., where he now lives, 
his companion dying in 1860. The subject of 
this sketch, being of a patriotic nature, was 
one of the first to hasten to the defense of his 
country, and, when scarcely 17 years old, 
enlisted in Company L, 10th O. V. C. He 
served three years, and came out without a 
mishap or a sick day, and was under Kilpat- 
rick when he raided through Georgia with 
Gen. Sherman. When discharged, he returned 
to this county, where he has since lived, and, 
April 23, 1866, was married to Amy, daughter 
of Jonas and Mary (Thomas) Yingling. She 
was born in Crawford Co., Ohio, Sept. 16, 1848, 
and is the happy niother of five children — 
Mary Esther, Kate Irene, Ada J., Sanoma B. 
and Jonas Adolphus. Mrs. Pope belongs to 
the Free-Will Baptist Church. He belongs 
to the I. O. O. F., and is a charter member of 
the Patrons of Husbandry. He has held town- 
ship offices, and is a stalwart Republican. 



JACOB RHOAD, farmer; P. O. Bloomville; 
is one of the energetic and enterprising farmers 
of this county, and a thorough business man. 
He was born in Seneca Co., Ohio, Sept. 24, 
1835. His father, George Rhoad, was born 
in Pennsylvania, and when 15 years old moved 
to this State, with his father's family. They 
lived in Crawford Co. two years, and then 
went into Seneca Co., where they afterward 
lived. They settled at first near where the 
town of Repuljlic now stands, the county then 
being almost an unbroken forest, and helped 
clear the land on which the town was built. 
George was married to a lady named Sarah 
Webster, who was born in Fairfield Co., Ohio, 
and came to Seneca County when in her youth. 
He has cleared up a fine farm in that county, 
on which he now lives, enjoying the benefits 
derived from his early labors. Jacob's edu- 
cational advantages were quite limited, but 
through his own efforts and improvements he 
now possesses a fair education. He com- 
menced doing for himself when of age, and 
has always followed agrieultiu'al pursuits. 
Having a natiu'al taste for music, of which he 
is passionately fond, he cultivated this gift of 
nature, and for the last twenty years has 
taught singing schools with good success. 
Feb. 20, 1859, he was married to Alvira, 
daughter of Albert and Catharine (Grews- 
beck) Hammond. She was born in Crawford 
Co. on the 20th day of February, 1839. He 
served at Fort Worth during the late war, 
being in Company C, 36th O. V. I. His mar- 
riage has been fruitful of seven childi'en — Eva 
A. (deceased), Elmer E., Charley, Nellie (de- 
ceased), Odessie, Nettie G. and Ira D. Both 
he and wife are members of the Free-Will 
Baptist Church, of which he is Deacon. He 
is Superintendent of the Sabbath school, an 
office for which he is well qualified, and takes 
great interest in the common schools. He 
was raised by an "Old-Line Democrat," and 
remained in that party until the Brough cam- 
paign, when he joined the Republican ranks, 
to which he now belongs. 

JACOB SEERY, farmer; P. O. Poplar; 
was born in Ross Co., Ohio, Nov. 19, 1825, 
and is a son of Solomon Seery, Sr., one of the 
pioneers of this township. He passed his 
youth and early manhood in assisting his 



f^ 



LYKENS TOWNSHIP. 



1041 



father and elder brothers to clear the old 
homestead. Not until 25 years old did he 
commence doing for himself. On Jan. 22, 
1852, he was united in the bonds of wedlock 
to Miss Lavinia A. Coon, who was born Dec. 
18, 1833, in the Dominion of Canada, and is 
a daughter of Elisha and Olivia (Boyce) Coon. 
In October, 1840, they moved to Ohio, and 
settled in Crawford Co. After his marriage, 
Mr. Seery located on the farm on which he 
now lives, the improvements consisting of a 
small cabin and stable. It was partly cleared, 
and by industry and careful management he 
has brought it to a high degree of cultivation, 
and possesses one of the most valuable farms 
of the township. His marriage has proved a 
happy and prosperous one, and has been 
blessed with four childi-en — Alvaro, De Forest 
B., Lorenzo M. D!, and Reno Roscoe. The 
eldest died when 12 years old. Mr. Seery 
served in Company C, 136th O. N. G., diu'ing 
the late rebellion, being located at Fort Worth. 
He has served as Trustee, has been a Repub- 
lican since the organization of the party, and 
was a Whig in earlv life. 

PETER seery", farmer; P. O. Poplar; is 
one of the substantial and well-known citizens 
of this township, and is prominently identified 
with her growing interests. He was born Oct. 
5, 1818, in Ross Co., Ohio, and is a son of 
Solomon Seery, Sr., whose sketch is given 
elsewhere. He has always been a farmer, 
and, July 13, 1845, was married to Margaret 
A., daughter of William and Rhoda Pen- 
nington. She was born Oct. 13, 1818, in Vir- 
ginia, and came here about the year 1826. 
After marriage, Mr. Seery settled on the farm 
on which he now lives, the improvements con- 
sisting at that time of a cabin and a few acres 
cleared. By years of patient and steady labor, 
he has created a productive farm, and many 
years ago their primitive house was replaced 
by one more commodious and elegant. His 
wife departed this life Nov. 3, 1873. She 
had borne five childi'en — Mary F., who died 
in infancy; William H., Willard W., Rhoda 
M. and Phoebe J. The sons are married. 
Both he and his wife united with the United 
Brethren Church before their marriage, and 
have devoted their lives to Christianity. He 
was identified with the Whig party in early 



life, and cast his first vote for Gen. Harrison. 
He is at present a Republican. 

CHARLES SOLZE, farmer; P. O. Broken 
Sword; was born in Saxony, Germany, Nov. 2, 
1840, and is a son of John Frederick and 
Fredericka (Fodenerhaur) Solze. His father 
was a farmer, and, in the spring of 1841, with 
his wife and six children, embarked for Amer- 
ica. They came direct to Crawford Co., Ohio, 
and, in attempting to walk from Attica here, 
wei'e lost, and compelled to pass the night in 
the woods under a large tree. The next day 
they reached their friends. He at first bought 
40 acres of land, on which a small improve- 
ment had been made, and, when circumstances 
wovild admit, sold, and secui'ed a better situa- 
tion. He died in 1867. One of his sons, 
Cliristian, was killed at the battle of Fair 
Oaks, being in Company C, 82d O. V. I. 
Charles, who is the subject of this sketch, 
worked on his father's farm until the breaking- 
out of the war, when he cheerfully responded 
to the call of his country, and, against the 
advice of friends and kindred, enlisted in the 
army. His name was enrolled in Company 
L, 10th O. V. C, and his term of service ex- 
tended over a period of three years. He served 
under Kilpatrick on the " march to the sea," 
and, during his whole term of service, never 
lost a day's duty. He was married, Nov. 6, 
1870, Mary C, daughter of Alfi-ed and Fanny 
(Foy) Park, becoming his wife. She was born 
in this county Sept. 20, 1838, and has borne 
five children — John A., Fannie, Ada, Jose- 
phine and Scott. Mi-. Solze is a successful 
and enterprising farmer, and has a handsome 
property. He has always been a Republican. 

SOLOMON SEERY, farmer; P. O. Poplar; 
was born Sept. 22, 1823, in Ross Co., Ohio. 
Solomon Seery, Sr., his father, was born in 
Washington Co., Perm., and when 10 years 
old accompanied his mother to Ross Co. Ed- 
ucational advantages were meager at best, but 
he, being the only child, was compelled to 
forego these, and labor for the support of his 
mother, and is said to have learned to read 
after his marriage. His mother was after- 
ward united to Jacob Foy, and came to this 
county. He was married in Ross Co., to 
Magdalena Van Gundy, who had come there 
from Pennsylvania when yet young. He 






•k^ 



1043 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



developed a farm there, and in the fall of 
1882, with his two eldest sons, came here, and 
commenced clearingf, having entered three 
80-acre lots. He I'e turned to his family, and 
the following spring came here, erected a 
cabin, planted a small crop of corn, and then 
leaving his eldest son and daughter to keep 
house, himself and second son went back, and, 
after harvesting, started for the place with the 
family, and arrived here Sept. I, 1833. He 
afterward entered three 80-acre lots, making 
480 acres of Grovernment land taken by this 
one man, which he and his sons developed as 
fast as possible. He died July 2, 1860, and 
his companion on July 24, 1873. The sub 
ject of this sketch has always been a tiller of 
the soil, and his early life was spent in devel- 
oping forest land. On Sept. 4, 185(3, he 
united his fortunes with those of Elizabeth 
Park. She was born Nov. 9, 1832, in Hamp- 
shire Co., Va., and is a daughter of Amos and 
Sarah (Baker) Park. Her father moved from 
there to Licking Co., Ohio, in 1836, and, two 
years later, came to this county, where he 
lived until 1873, and has since been located 
in Williams Co., Ohio. His wife died in 1871. 
Since man-iage, Mr. Seery has lived on the 
farm where he now resides, and where he has 
erected convenient and elegant buildings. His 
marriage has been blest with three children — 
Independence, John W. and Russell O. Both 
he and his amiable companion have devoted 
many years to Christianity, and are consistent 
members of the United Bretln-en Church. He 
is identified with the Republican party, and 
advocates temperance. 

WILLIAM SWALLEY, farmer; P. O. Ly- 
kens; was born Nov. 20, 1810, in Mifflin Co., 
Penn. His father, John Swalley, was born 
and reared in New Jersey, and, moving to 
Pennsylvania, was man-ied to Barbara Ai-ma- 
gast. He was a weaver by trade, and also 
conducted a farm, and, in the year 1817, 
moved to Ohio, and settled about fifteen miles 
soiTth of Zanesville. The father died soon 
after this, and the family then returned to 
Mifflin Co. In 1834, the mother again came 
to Ohio, and this time located in Crawford 
Co., being accompanied by her two daughters, 
other members of the family being here 
already. The subject of this sketch was mar- 



ried Dec. 8, 1833, to Catharine, daughter of 
Philip and Catharine Wonsetler. She was 
born in Washington Co., Penn., June 5, 1817, 
and has blessed her husband with the follow- 
ing children: Martin Van Buren, David W., 
Cornelius, Abel Sylvenus, Ann Eliza, Lafay 
ette, Sarah Ann. All are married except 
David, Sylvenus being a merchant at luka, 
111. Since coming to this State, Mr. Swalley 
has developed a quarter-section of land, which 
he himself entered, and has bought other lots, 
owning at present 200 acres. The cabin of 
primitive days was years ago replaced by a 
more tasty and commodious structure, and but 
little is left to remind one of the forest home 
they occupied and enjoyed years ago. Both 
Mr. and Mrs. Swalley are members of the 
Free- Will Baptist Chiu-ch. He cast his first 
vote for Andrew Jackson, but left the party at 
the time of the war, and is now a stalwart 
Republican. 

CORNELIUS SWALLEY, farmer; P. O. 
Lykens; was born in Crawford Co., Ohio, 
March 31, 1838, and is a son of William 
Swalley, of this county. His early life was 
uneventful, being passed on his father's farm 
and at the quiet country school. AVhen 20 
years old, he commenced working out, and 
followed that until the year 1862, when he 
responded to the call of his bleeding country, 
I and, entering Company K, 45th O. V. L, 
served for tlxree years. He participated in 
the battles of Franklin, Nashville, and other 
engagements. He was captured at Mount 
Sterling, Ky. : was immediately paroled, and, 
as soon as exchanged, joined his regiment. 
He was again captured at the battle of Phil- 
adelphia, Tenn., and imprisoned at Belle Isle 
for five months, after which he joined his 
regiment at Atlanta. He was married, Oct. 
15, 1867, Soi)hia, daughter of Milton Waller, 
becoming his wife. She was born in Craw- 
ford Co., May 4, 1839, and has borne five 
childi-eu — Dillie, Don E., Minnie, Clara and 
Willie M. Both he and wife are members of 
the Free-Will Baptist Chui'ch. He is a 
Republican, and cast his first Presidential 
vote for Abraham Lincoln. 

LUCY ANN SMITH, farmer; P. O. Bro- 
ken Sword; is a daughter of Michael Shupp, 
one of the first settlers of Crawford Co., and 



\ 



— " jy 



LYKENS TOWNSHIP. 



1043 



was born here June 3, 1830. Her parents 
dying when she was yet in her childhood, she 
lived with her brother Michael until her mar- 
riage, Dec. 20, 1847, to Frederick Smith. He 
was born and reared in Saxony, Germany, and, 
when gi'own to maturity, emigrated to Amer- 
ica. He came direct to Coktmbus, Ohio, and, 
being a stone-mason by trade, immediately 
went to work, and soon established his repu- 
tation as a iirst-class workman. He secured 
contracts for bridges on the National pike 
then being constructed, and in a few years 
had saved several hundi'ed dollars, with which 
he bought a quarter-section of Government 
land in Lykens Township, Crawford Co. He 
moved on this in 1840, develoj)iug, and bring- 
ing it to a high degree of culture. His first 
marriage was to Christiana Lipman, a native 
of Saxony, Germany. She died in 1846, leav- 
ing four children — Louis F., John F., Adol- 
phus G. and Clara. By his second union, 
eleven childi-en were born, ten of whom are 
living — Cornelius, Matilda, Catharine, Fred- 
erick, Hemy, Lucy Ann, Jefferson, Emma J., 
Melancthon and Serepta. Mr. Smith departed 
this life Dec. 3, 1877, and the farm has since 
been conducted by his wife. He was an influ- 
ential and prominent citizen, and well known 
throu-ghout the county. In November, 1862, 
he was elected Justice of the Peace, an office 
which he held till his death. He was Town- 
ship Clerk for many years, and School Di- 
rector most of the time since living in the 
county. He was connected with the Grange, 
and was Master at the time of his death. He 
was also a member of the county and State 
Granges. He was a member of the Evangel- 
ical Association, but had been a Lutheran in 
early life. He was a Democrat. 

CORNELIUS SMITH, carpenter. Broken 
Sword; is the eldest child born to Frederick 
and Lucy Ann (Shupp) Smith, and was born 
in Crawford Co., Ohio, Dec. 25, 1847. He 
received a good common-school education, 
much of it being secm-ed by his own exertions 
when not at school, through his habits of 
study at odd hours. When 18 years old he 
commenced teaching, and followed it for sev- 
eral years with fair success, but relinquished 
it for the carpenter's trade, which is his pres- 
ent business, and his efforts have been crowned 



with like results. He was married April 3, 
1870, Mary Catharine Ludy becoming his 
wife. She was born in this county March 17, 
1850, and is a daughter of Michael and Cath- 
arine (Leimenstoll) Ludy, who came to this 
country from the Old World. They have two 
childi-en — Joseph Clarence and Cora Ellen. 
Both he and wife are consistent members of 
the German Reformed Church. He has a 
pleasant property situated at Wingert's Cor- 
ners, and is one of the cultiu'ed citizens of the 
place. He is a Democrat. 

MICHAEL SHUPP, retired farmer; P. O. 
Broken Sword: the eldest of a family of nine 
childi'en; was born in Dauphin Co., Penn., 
July 24, 1809. His father, whose name was 
also Michael Shupp, was a native of that 
county, and was there man-ied to Rebecca 
Wise. Being a farmer by occupation, he con- 
cluded to emigrate to the West, where land 
was plenty and also cheap, and, the 28th day 
of May, 1828, he landed at Bucyrus, Ohio, 
with his family. He immediately entered 80 
acres of land in Lykens Township, which he 
carefully developed, and then sold, and bought 
a quarter-section of new land.- He again 
entered the struggle with the elements of 
Nature, but had the satisfaction of possessing 
a larger farm when once he had it cleared. 
He died in 1836, and his wife in 1843. The 
subject of this sketch coromenced doing for 
himself when 22 years old, and, working out 
one year, received the sum of $100 for his serv- 
ices, with which he entered 80 acres of land. 
After improving it he sold, and bought the 
quarter-section where he now lives. This he 
has also cleared and rendered valuable by a 
lifetime of industry and careful attention to 
the minute details connected with the duties 
of a successful farmer. He was man-ied, March 
4, 1834, to Susannah, daughter of John Adam 
and Anna Maria (Wirt) Miller. She was born 
June 19, 1817, in Union Co., Penn., and came 
to this county in 1830. She died Dec. 19, 
1877, having borne foui'teen children, twelve 
of whom are living — Isaac, Amanda, Mary 
I Ann, Lavina, Noah, Caroline, Luciuda, Benja- 
min, Henry, Susannah, Catharine and Julia. 
All are married except the youngest thi'ee. 
IVIi-. Shupp is a member of the church known 
as the Evangelical Association, in which his 



>[^ 



1044 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



son Noah is a minister. His wife also was a 
member of the same church. 

LOUIS F. SMITH, farmer; P. O. Lykens; 
was born in Cokimbns, Ohio, Oct. 21, 1886, 
and is a son of Frederick Smith, one of the 
most prominent farmers of the county. Louis 
was reared to agricultural pursuits, but, pos- 
sessing good business qualifications, he has 
made himself useful in other ways, while con- 
ducting his farm. He was mamed Sept. 5, 
1859, to Christean Wilhelm. She was born 
in Stuttgart, Germany, Dec. 6, 1840, and came 
to this country when six years old. Their 
union has proved a happy and prosperous one, 
and has been blessed with eight children, five 
of whom are living — Sophia, Adolphus, Clara, 
Loretta and John H. Mr. Smith owns a pleas- 
ant farm, which is the result of well-directed 
labor and care. He is a man of recognized 
ability, being at the present time Master of 
Subordinate Grange, No. 245, and has impor- 
tant relations with the county and State 
Grange. He is prominently identified with 
the Crawford Co. Agricultural Society, and 
manifests a degree of interest in its success. 
Both he and his companion are members of 
the Pyethist Church. He has always been a 
Democrat. 

WILLIAM TIPPIN, farmer; P. O. Lykens; 
was born in Wayne Co., Ohio, Nov. 11, 1827, 
and is a son of John and Margaret (Miller) 
Tippin, both of whom were born and reared 
in Pennsylvania, and were there married. 
John's father, James Tippin, came to that 
State from Ireland when 21 years old, and was 
married to a Dutch lady, and, in the latter 
part of his life, moved to Wayne Co., Ohio, 
where they both died, he being in his 85th 
year. John moved to this State shortly after 
his marriage, and, locating in Wayne Co., 
remained there until 1837, when he came 
into Crawford Co. In 1851, he went to Wood 
Co., where he remained some time, and then 
returned to the county of Wyandot, where he 
now lives. The subject of this sketch remained 
under the parental roof until they started for 
Wood Co., when he remained behind, and has 
since been doing for himself. His marriage 
was celebrated Dec. 18, 1852, Miss Frances, 
daughter of Solomon Seery, becoming his 
wife. She was born Oct. 26, 1828, in Ross 



Co., and has blessed their happy union with 
nine children — David E., Owen W., Elbridge 
F., Emma C, Charley R., Seery S., Anna 
May (deceased), Harvey B. and Alta. The 
three oldest are married. Mr. Tippin and 
wife are consistent members of the United 
Brethren Church, of which he is a Trustee. 
He is a Republican. 

ELI WINTERS, farmer; P. O. Lykens; 
was born Sept. 28, 1824, in Jefferson Co., 
Ohio. The Winters family were among the 
first settlers of Jefferson Co., coming there 
from Pennsylvania when this State was yet a 
Territory, and it was there that Eli Winters, 
Sr., the father of the above-named gentleman, 
was born, in February, 1802. He was married 
to Annis Andrews, who came there from Ches- 
ter Co., Penn., the place of her birth, and, in 
March, 1884, moved to this county, and set- 
tled on a tract of Government land which he 
had entered the previous year. Mr. Winters, 
with the assistance of his sons, developed a 
good farm, besides doing much work for 
others, and in 1865 disposed of his property, 
and retired to Bloomville, where he now lives. 
The partner of his joys and sorrows departed 
this life in 1879. The subject of this sketch 
was deprived of many of the advantages that 
are necessary to the ac(jaisition of a liberal 
education, there being a demand for his serv- 
ices at home, even during the short session 
of winter school. However, in his father's 
family a " night-school " was organized, in 
which the children were scholars, and an 
older member of the family would act as in- 
structor, and thus he received the most of his 
schooling. He taught school one winter, and 
has been doing for himself since he reached 
the legal age. He did "job-work " for several 
years, ran a threshing machine, and at length 
secured a half-interest in a saw-mill at "Buljo," 
with which he was connected for a number of 
years. He qu.ite naturally drifted into the 
mercantile business at that place, and at the 
same time was Deputy Postmaster. In the 
spring of 1865, he bought his father's farm, 
and has ever since followed agricultural pur- 
suits. He is now serving as Justice of the 
Peace, an ofiice to which he was first elected 
in 1858, and has held ever since, except a 
short time during the war, when party spirit 



"^ a) 



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^< 



^ 



LYKENS TOWNSHIP. 



1045 



ran high, and, being a Eepublican, he was 
deposed a short time, as the township was 
mostly composed of the opposite party. In 
1851, he was married to Eliza Howenstein, 
who came to this coimty from Pennsylvania a 
few years before their union. Six children 
have blessed their marriage, f oiu' of whom are 
living— Orelia A., Thomas H., Laura and 

STEPHEN WALLER, farmer; P. O. Ly- 
kens; was boi-n Aug. 25, 1831, in Chautauqua 
Co., N. Y., and is a son of Milton Waller, one 
of the hai-dy pioneers of this township. He 
has always followed agricultiu*al pursuits, and 
is one of the well-to-do and respected farmers 
of the county. On Dec. 25, 1853, he was 
married to Martha, daughter of James and 
Mary (Rose) McKinley. She was born May 
17, 1827, at New Lisbon, Columbiana Co., 
Ohio, and departed this life Oct. 4, 1879. 
She was an amiable companion, an affection- 
ate mother, and a friend to all. Her union 
with Mr. Waller gave nine children, five of 
whom are living— Osmar L., Stephen Milo, 
Ellen E. and Helen E., twins, and Mary J. 
The eldest has taught school, and is now 
attending the Hillsdale College, at Hillsdale, 
Mich. IVIr. Waller belongs to the I. O. O. F., 
and was a charter member of the Patrons of 
Husbandry. He was the second Master of the 
Lodge, and was, the same year, delegate at 
large to the State Grange from Crawford Co. 
He is a consistent member of the Eree-Will 
Baptist Church, as was also his wife. He is 
a Democrat. 

LYSANDER M. WALLER, farmer and 
stock-raiser; P. O. Lykens; was bom in 
Orleans Co., N. Y., July 20, 1827. His father, 
Milton E. Waller, was born Aug. 7, 1807, m 
Washington Co., N. Y., and in early life 
learned the cooper's trade, and in 1825 accom- 
panied his parents to Orleans Co., where he 
was maiTied the following year to Polly Coon. 
He afterward moved into Chautauqua Co., 
where he secured a farm, and, ti'ading this off, 
received part of his pay in dry goods. He 
emigi-ated to Ohio in the spring of 1833, and 
located in Seneca Co. The same year he en- 
tered 80 acres of land in Lykens Township, 
Crawford Co., and the year following, moved on 
to his property. He soon secured 40 acres more, 



which he paid for by day work, and, besides 
developing this, had to labor for others, for 
the support of his family. He would work 
at the trade during bad weather, and often at 
night, after the completion of a hard day's 
labor. He departed this life Feb. 28, 1880, 
and his companion on Aug. 17, 1872. The 
subject of this sketch received only a meager 
education, such as the pioneer schools of those 
days furnished, many years of his life being 
devoted to the more practical occupation of 
clearing and assisting to develop the " forest 
home." He was manned in 1848 to Arietta 
Cory, and in 1851 she departed this life, leav- 
ing one child- Ai'della, now the wife of 
Franklin La Rue. He again entered the 
marriage relation Feb. 16, 1859, Miss Ann J. 
Yingling becoming his wife. She is a daugh- 
ter of Jonas and Mary (Thomas) Yingling, 
and was born in 1836, in this county. Their 
union has given one child— Amy Sophia, who 
died in her infancy. Mr. Waller is a member 
of the Masonic Order, Knights of Honor and 
Patrons of Husbandry. He is now serving 
his second term as Commissioner of Craw- 
ford Co., giving almost universal satisfaction. 
He has always been a Democrat. 

ROBERT WALCUTT, farmer and agent; 
P O Poplar; is one of the well-known and 
genial citizens of Crawford Co., and one of 
her thorough business men. He was born m 
Pickaway Co., Ohio, Feb. 21, 1832. His 
father, Jacob Walcutt, was born m Loudotui 
Co., Ya., in 1790, and sei-ved in the war of 
1812. He came to Ohio after reaching his 
manhood, and was mairied in Pickaway Co., 
to Elizabeth Riley, who was also from the 
" Old Dominion," having been born there in 
1800. He was a farmer, and while Robert 
was yet in his infancy moved with his family 
into Franklin Co., where he soon after died. 
He had, however, entered 80 acres of land 
near Benton, in this county, some time previ- 
ous, on which he contemplated moving, when 
Providence interposed, and his untimely death 
left a family of se -en childi'en to a mother's 
However, a iew years later, they came 



care. 



to this coimty, and sottled on the farm secured 
to them by the husband and father before his 
death. Robert received only the rudiments 
of what is now considered a common-school 



■^ 



1046 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 



education, but his time has not been unim- 
proved, and he has added greatly to his early 
accomplishments. He has, until recently, 
l)aid special attention to farming, and in 1857 
went to Iowa, where he lived one year, the 
rest of his time being passed in the Buckeye 
State. In 1877, he commenced working for 
the well-known W. H. Houpt, of Shelby, 
Ohio, one of the largest dealers in marble, 
o-ranite, etc., in the State. He has been a 
successful salesman, and is held in high esti- 
mation by the firm. During the past year, 
he has also dealt in agricultural implements 
and machinery, with uniform results. In 
1854, he was married to Sarah, daughter of 
Abraham and Susannah (Cline) Knisely. She 
was born in Pennsylvania in 1836, and came 
to this coimty when 6 years old. She died 
Aug. 18, 1876, having borne nine children, 
six of whom are living — Mary Virginia, James 
R., John Brough, Frances J., Minnie B. and 
Nellie A. The eldest is married, being the 
wife of Torry C. Linn. The eldest son has 
been a successful school teacher, and is now 
attending the Starling Medical College, at 
Columbiis, Ohio. Mr. Walcutt belongs to the 
I. O. O. F. ; is a Republican, and cast his first 
vote for Gen. Scott. 

WILLARD WICKHAM, farmer; P. O. 
Poplar; was born in Columbia Co., N. Y., Aug. 
26, 1814, and is a son of David and Louisa 
(Hilliard) Wickham, both of whom were natives 
of that State. The father served in the war 
of 1812, and, being a farmer by occupation, 
came West to better his circumstances and 
iinprove his surroundings in life. In 1837, 
he came to Crawford Co., Ohio, and seciu'ed 
a partly developed farm in what is known as 
Texas Township, on which he passed the rest 
of his life, dying in September, 1849. His 
wife departed this life in August, 1875, and 
was residing at that time in Michigan, at the 
home of a daughter. The subject of this 
sketch commenced doing for himself when of 
age, and has always been a tiller of the soil. 
He taught school for several winters when a 
young man, and in 1 840, secured the farm on 
which he now lives. It v/as all heavy forest, 
and this he has develope(\ and made valuable 
by a lifetime of industry and toil. During 
the administration of Franklin Pierce, he was 



appointed Government farmer among the 
Winnebago Indians, located at Long Prairie 
agency in Minnesota. Of late years he has 
led a more retired life. He was united in the 
bonds of matrimony Oct. 21, 1838, Phoebe, 
daughter of William and Rhoda (McKeever) 
Pennington, becoming his wife. She was 
born in Virginia, in the year 1820, and ac- 
companied her parents to this State at an early 
day. Their union has been blessed with ten 
children, seven of whom are living — George 
W., Margaret A., Mister W., Anson, Mary L., 
William H. and Wallace M. All received a 
good education, and all have been successful 
school-teachers. Mr. Wickham is now serv- 
ing his fourth term as Justice of the Peace, 
and is a member of the Patrons of Husbandry. 
His companion has been a member of the 
United Brethren Chiu'ch most of her life. 
He is a Republican. 

JOHN P. YINGLING, farmer; P. O. Ly- 
kens; is one of the industrious and energetic 
farmers of the county, and was born Aug. 6, 
1838, in Crawford Co., Ohio. His father, 
Jonas Yingling, was born and reared in Hunt- 
ingdon Co., Penn., and when a young man 
came to Ohio. He was a mason and stone- 
cutter by trade, and for awhile worked on 
the Baltimore & Ohio R. R. when it was being 
built. He was married in Portage Co., Ohio, 
to Mary Thomas, who was born in Wales, and 
came to America after reaching maturity. She 
remained a short time in New York, and then 
came to Pittsburgh, and soon went to work for 
a man named Appleton, who was a contractor 
on the Baltimore & Ohio R. R. It was here 
that she first met Mr. Yingling, who afterward 
followed her to Portage Co. and made her his 
wife. They started for Crawford Co. as soon 
as married, where he entered 80 acres of Gov- 
ernment land, and, although he made several 
changes, never left the county. He died Aug. 
27, 1867, having at that time 260 acres of 
land. John received only a meager educa- 
tion, being required on the farm much of the 
time. He has always been a tiller of the soil, 
and confesses that he has not yet completed 
the trade, although his farm bears evidence 
of careful tillage. In the late war, he served 
i^ Company C, 49th O. V. I., being stationed 
at Fort Worth. Oct. 2, 1870, he was united 



:^ 



— ^ 



ERRATA. 



1047 



in the bonds of marriage with Miss Sarah F. 
Moore, who was born in this county Aug. 7, 
1852, and is a daughter of John Moore, a 
sketch of whom is given in this work. Two 



children have blessed their union — Myrtie, 
born Aug. 7, 1871, and Ora, born July 7, 1873. 
He is a Republican. 



ERRATA. 



BUCYRUS TOWNSHIP. 



THOMAS P. HOPLEY, printer and journal- 
ist, Bucyrus ; the fourth son, or third living 
son, of John and Georgianna (Rochester) Hop- 
ley ; born at Logan, Hocking Co., Ohio, Nov. 
13, 1853. He has been a resident of Crawford 
Co. since April, 1856. He was educated in the 
public schools of Bucyrus, from which he 
graduated in the class of 1872. He is a 
printer by trade, and a journalist by profes- 
sion ; he has worked in the Bucyrus Journal 
office for about ten years, since May, 1868. He 
has been a member of the First Presbyterian 
Church of Bucyrus since February, 1868. He 
hasn't done anything worthy a place in the 
Crawford Co. History except vote the Prohibi- 
tion ticket since he became of age, including 
Presidential votes for G-reen Clay Smith in 
1876, and Neal Dow in 1880. He is consid- 
ered a "fool" by many who do not like his 
views on the Temperance question, and thinks 
their opinion a compliment. His mother is the 
fourth daughter of John Rochester, who was 
born near London, England, Jan. 9, 1796. 
Rochester was married in 1816, to Miss Marian 
Gladle, a descendant of the Westley family on 
her mother's side, and the daughter of a rene- 
gade Frenchman, who left his native land dur- 
fng the French Revolution, and served as an 
otflcer in the English army ; Gladle was killed 
in Spain, while fighting against France. Mr 
Rochester emigrated to America in 1820, and 
settled at Englishtown, Athens Co.; he removed 
to Logan, Hocking Co., in 1829, and was, for 
nearly fifty years, engaged in the mercantde 
business at that place. He united with the 
Presbyterian Church in 1832, and was, for 
forty-four years, a member of that religious 



society, serving thirty-four years as an Elder, 
and twenty-eight years as a Trustee in the 
church : he was for many years Superintendent 
of the Sunday school. He died Nov. 29, 1876, 
in the 81st year of his ag6 ; his first wife died 
in September, 1832. Georgianna Rochester 
was born Feb. 22, 1826, and was married April 
19, 1848, to John Hopley ; they are the 
parents of ten children ; nine are still Uving. 
Mrs. Hopley is a member of the First Presby- 
terian Church of Bucyrus, and took an active 
part in the Woman's Temperance Crusade of 
1874. 

W. H. HOUPT, Bucyrus, proprietor of Shelby 
Marble Works, importer and wholesale dealer in 
all kinds of marble and granite ; born in Sen- 
eca Co., Ohio ; his parents removed to Craw- 
ford Co., Ohio, where he spent his youth on a 
farm ; at the age of 26, he went to Somerset 
Co., Penn., and engaged in the marble business 
for some two years and a half; he then came 
to Ohio and purchased an interest in the works 
and ran in partnership for about a year; in 
the spring of 1872, he purchased his partner's 
interest and took control himself; he has su- 
perior advantages in the purchase of material ; 
he buys directly from the quarries of England, 
Scotland, Ireland and Canada; he purchases 
American granite and marble from all quarries 
in the United States; he has recently pur- 
chased the marble works of Plymouth, Ohio, 
and opened works in Bucyrus, Ohio ; from the 
long experience of Mr. Houpt in his business, 
ancT his well-known and honorable dealing, 
coupled with first-class material and workman- 
ship, he has established a large and increasing 
trade. 



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